Mircea Scarlatescu's favourite books & reading habits
“Overnight success usually takes 15 years” – this is Mircea Scarlatescu‘s blog tagline and a thing I always try to remember when everyone else around me is looking for shortcuts.
Mircea is an online entrepreneur from Romania, with a web programming background. In 2003, he co-founded his first business, FYB (Fit Your Business), an agency specialized in web application developments.
123Flori.ro is his second startup, a floral arrangements online shop he founded in 2008. Specialized in flower delivery services delivered free of charge in Bucharest (Romania’s capital), it became one of the most important local players. In 2009, 123Flori.ro received a seed investment.
Read on to find out more about the books Mircea read and recommends:
What’s your favorite book and why? Business and non-business, if possible.
As a child I grew up dreaming after Jules Verne books. As a teenager I began reading lots of tech books (programming, algorithms and so on). Nowadays I tend to read history and economics books as well as entrepreneurship books.
I don’t really have some sort of Top10 of my books but I enjoy reading things my friends read and also things from people I get inspired by. But, to choose something, a very interesting business book is the E-Myth by Michael E Gerber and one non-business… I really enjoyed “De ce este Romania altfel?” by Lucian Boia.
Was there a moment, specifically, when something you read in a book helped you? Can you tell me about it?
Lately, parenting books told me that having a child is hard but amazing. I felt great knowing that others had gone through the same issues with young children and survived the experience. 🙂
What books had the biggest impact on you? (perhaps changed the way you see things, dramatically changed your career path)
One changing point for me was reading Blog Marketing by Jeremy Wright lots of years ago. 😀 Made me rethink my entire online business orientation
What books would you recommend to youngsters interested in your professional path? Why? (no number limit here)
Many, but here’s a short list, for both entrepreneurs and team leaders:
- The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- Scrum and XP from the Trenches by Henrik Kniberg
- ReWork – Jason Fried
I’m interested in finding out more about your reading habits. How often do you read? In what format?
Usually in the evening, at home, and Kindle 90% of time. I try to read more on weekends thus depending on the location I’m in.
How do you make time for reading?
Harder and harder but I tend to try to read at least 30 minutes / day after my daughter gets to sleep at night.
Do you have a favorite place where you read or are you able to read just anywhere?
Depends on the location. When at home, reading next to my daughter is the best place to be
Do you take notes or have any other technique for conquering the torrent of information?
Rarely, notes, Evernote.
How do you choose what books to read next?
As any workaholic, I have a list. 😀
Do you prioritize those recommended by certain people? Is there anyone that you consider a book-recommendations guru?
Usually books recommended by my friends. But for example I’ve read books recommended by bloggers and journalists.
Links where you can follow Mircea Scarlatescu or find out more about his projects:
- Mircea’s blog: Scarlatescu.ro
- Mircea’s Twitter account
- Mircea’s LinkedIn account
- FYB (Fit Your Business)
- 123Flori.ro
Books mentioned by Mircea in this interview:
- The E-Myth – Michael Gerber
- Blog Marketing – Jeremy Wright
- Zero to One – Peter Thiel
- The Lean Startup – Eric Ries
- Scrum and XP from the Trenches – Henrik Kniberg
- ReWork – Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson