Reviews

The Third Door by Alex Banayan

Imagine being an 18-year-old kid who wanted to meet, interview and publish how the rich and famous got that way. This book explores how a young college freshman took a five-year hiatus from his college studies to track down the likes of Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, Jessica Alba, Quincy Jones, Pitbull, Jane Goodall, Larry King, Tony Hsieh, Warren Buffett, Dean Kamen, Steve Wozniak, Sugar Ray Leonard and countless other successful entrepreneurs to understand how they got their start and the trials and tribulations along the way.

Alex starts out with the best intentions following a list of names and a linear path to meeting and interviewing them and realizes almost immediately that the rich and famous aren't going to simply take interviews from a young unknown. Along the way, he adapts his strategy, builds a network that feeds on itself and helps him to develop life skills that he shares with his readers.

It's an excellent read and an engrossing story - the idea of a Third Door is that there are three doors in life - the first door in is the main entrance where the majority of people go through, the second door, which would be the VIP entrance, reserved for the celebrities and rich and famous and then the third door, which is the back alley, sneak in through a window or kitchen entrance to find your way into the venue. It's this third door that these famous people took to make their mark in history.

I highly recommend this book to anyone.