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What You See Is What You Get: My Autobiography
by
Alan Sugar
Alan Sugar was born in 1947 and brought up on a council estate in Clapton, in Hackney. As a kid he watched his dad struggle to support the family, never knowning from one week to the next if he'd have a job. It had a huge impact on him, fuelling a drive to succeed that was to earn him a sizeable personal fortune. Now he describes his amazing journey, from schoolboy enterpr
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Kindle Edition
,
640 pages
Published
September 30th 2010
by Pan Macmillan
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Community Reviews
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I really don't get it how the average rating for this waste of trees is so high.
Let me explain: Sugar simply doesn't know how to write. When it comes to the business side of his life, not much new of importance comes out of its pages. There's very little insight or philosophy and the writing is very, very dry.
When it comes to his personal life... well, I guess not everyone has to have an interesting personal life, and Sugar's has been quite normal, but the way he writes about it is very forced, ...more
Let me explain: Sugar simply doesn't know how to write. When it comes to the business side of his life, not much new of importance comes out of its pages. There's very little insight or philosophy and the writing is very, very dry.
When it comes to his personal life... well, I guess not everyone has to have an interesting personal life, and Sugar's has been quite normal, but the way he writes about it is very forced, ...more
I like seeing Lord Alan Sugar on The Apprentice. His oneliners are great! That's why I expected a funny book. And yes, here and there there were some okay passages. But over all, I thought it was boring. How much can you tell about amplifiers and all that electrical stuff? Well, a lot, according to this book. So I cheated, I worked myself throught the first few chapters and then I only read the one about him being in The Apprentice. Then I closed it, but I will stick to enjoying Lord Alan Sugar
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Tragic for Britain that because he's a Labour peer he isn't continuing to advise government on start ups, micro biz and small biz policy.Worth reading because all is practical, proven, timeless, 'own biz' sense.
I was so lucky to have for a few months Amstrad, him but mainly his late friend and finance director, Jim Rice, as clients. He won't remember me and his distaste for consultants is well known, but I greatly benefited from the experience.
Since then I have read most of what he has written ...more
I was so lucky to have for a few months Amstrad, him but mainly his late friend and finance director, Jim Rice, as clients. He won't remember me and his distaste for consultants is well known, but I greatly benefited from the experience.
Since then I have read most of what he has written ...more
Jul 12, 2013
✿Claire✿
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
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atomic-tangerine-challenge
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5-stars
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over-500-pages
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non-fiction
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reviewed
Despite struggling to get past the first chapter the first time I picked this book up, I really enjoyed it when I picked it up 2 years later. Having become a firm fan of The Apprentice in the last few years, it was great to read Lord Sugar's story and how he grew from a young lad borrowing sugar and ginger off neighbours to the person he is today. Refreshingly, he says what he thinks and isn't afraid to admit to the mistakes he's made, along with the triumphs.
Definitely a recommended read.
Definitely a recommended read.
I ploughed my way through 80 pages of this and decided enough was enough! There's a point at which being honest simply becomes being rude and Alan is definitely on the rude side. I don't like the way he described the people he dealt with - he came across as totally lacking in respect. Also, there is just too much detail about exactly how much he bought and sold things for. There are too many good books waiting to be read to waste any more time on this.
This was a great book. Some of the computer techno stuff went over my head, but nonetheless the book was good. He comes across as a tough, hard, ruthless business man but has had to be to get where he is and stop people walking all over him. He appears to be a true friend to many and a supportive boss. A great father too. Well worth the read.
Honest, self effacing and very very good!! It's very much Lord Sugars voice that shines through, and he's not afraid to speak the truth with total, sometimes brutal, honesty. Highly recommended.
At last – I’ve finished this book!
This is a real weighty tome to read – packed full of home truths and 626 pages of (first hand) business advice. It’s the ‘War and Peace’ of business autobiographies in other words! I’ve always been quite inspired by Alan Sugar and, until now, didn’t know much about the man behind the persona. Now after reading, I still hold Sugar in great esteem. He explains his business philosophy in extreme detail through the book leaving no stone unturned on his long history ...more
This is a real weighty tome to read – packed full of home truths and 626 pages of (first hand) business advice. It’s the ‘War and Peace’ of business autobiographies in other words! I’ve always been quite inspired by Alan Sugar and, until now, didn’t know much about the man behind the persona. Now after reading, I still hold Sugar in great esteem. He explains his business philosophy in extreme detail through the book leaving no stone unturned on his long history ...more
This is a lengthy book, but one that pulls few punches and is hard to put down once you start reading it.
Whilst Lord Sugar undoubtedly deserves his huge success through hard work and perseverance, he's far from modest within the book - rarely crediting others for their help, and often making out other (equally highly successful) individuals to be dummies who are silly for not following his advice. It can be a little grating, and I found myself researching some of the stories Lord Sugar recounts ...more
Whilst Lord Sugar undoubtedly deserves his huge success through hard work and perseverance, he's far from modest within the book - rarely crediting others for their help, and often making out other (equally highly successful) individuals to be dummies who are silly for not following his advice. It can be a little grating, and I found myself researching some of the stories Lord Sugar recounts ...more
A very enjoyable book tracing the life of Alan Sugar from his humble origins to the man he is today. Having been a young man when most of the shenanigans in this book were actually happening I found myself getting more and more interested in the stories. I remember only too well seeing the Amstrad name appearing on the shelves of Laskys next to my Cambridge Audio gear. Those cheap looking speakers taking up the same shelves as my Wharfdale Diamonds was incredulous. Bt at the end of the day this
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Feb 19, 2011
Paolo
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction
,
biography
This is a very good autobiography and I have to say I really enjoyed it from start to finish.
Granted I have a huge interest in engineering, innovation, football, television and politics - everything Lord Sugar of Clapton was involved in throughout his life, but either way his life is so interesting and influential that it is hard not to find his story amusing.
You begin to realise what a significant player Alan Sugar was in the UK over the past 40-50years. He bridged the gap between the classes b ...more
Granted I have a huge interest in engineering, innovation, football, television and politics - everything Lord Sugar of Clapton was involved in throughout his life, but either way his life is so interesting and influential that it is hard not to find his story amusing.
You begin to realise what a significant player Alan Sugar was in the UK over the past 40-50years. He bridged the gap between the classes b ...more
This book was as good an insight into the thinking behind Alan Sugars business decisions as any reader is likely to find. It is also a comprehensive account of his rise to become one of the most revered businessmen in the UK today, from his childhood in the East End of London, to his award of a peerage in 2010.
It suffers slightly from being very long. Also, certain events and stages in Sugar's life obviously affected him emotionally to a degree whereby he feels he has to dedicate large sections ...more
It suffers slightly from being very long. Also, certain events and stages in Sugar's life obviously affected him emotionally to a degree whereby he feels he has to dedicate large sections ...more
A serial and relentless entrepreneur, Alan Sugar tells of his inspiring odyssey from a place of complete lack to becoming one of Britain's most successful self-made millionaires. In What You See Is What You Get, he describes his business ventures in technology, football and the stock market. He gives a vivid description of the challenges, the encounters with influential people in business and government, and how he managed to stay on top of his empire.
This is a great read offering worthwhile ins ...more
This is a great read offering worthwhile ins ...more
No great work of literature, but an interesting view on a very interesting life. It would be great to read the book alongside the views of all the people that Sugar mentions, as I'm sure they see this modern history in a very different light. Fascinating to read how he built up his business empire. It reminds me that I should read more about other entrepreneurs of the era.
I wasn't sure about reading this book, I didn't think I would find it that interesting. It started off well with his childhood story, and then into his business life. I honestly didn't know that he owned Amstrad and that the AMS was his initials! I felt I lost interest slightly through the Tottenham era, as football really isn't my thing, but when describing this book to my husband I was able to give good accounts of what had happened, so must have taken it all in more than I thought! It was a g
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As a big fan of the Apprentice, I thought I might like this book.
How mistaken I was. After the 200 page mark it became clear that reading it would become a chore. The Chapters are so long that everything blurs into one, and whenever I pick it up and start reading, I think I'm where I was, but then, 15 pages later, I see something I've already read, meaning I've wasted nearly an hour of my time (yes, the pages really are that long - and there's 627 of them!) His new book, 'The way I see it', is f ...more
How mistaken I was. After the 200 page mark it became clear that reading it would become a chore. The Chapters are so long that everything blurs into one, and whenever I pick it up and start reading, I think I'm where I was, but then, 15 pages later, I see something I've already read, meaning I've wasted nearly an hour of my time (yes, the pages really are that long - and there's 627 of them!) His new book, 'The way I see it', is f ...more
An excellent, inspiring read with plenty of swearing and cockney slang. Its very a good personal account of Lord's Sugar's business dealings and interesting behind the scenes facts that viewers of the Apprentice would be interested in. Highly recommended
Brilliant read! I found this book a very detaiiled account of Alan Sugar's life. It inspired me and has increased my interest in business! I knew nothing of business (apart from a GCSE in Business Studies), and this book was so interesting. I love his honesty and I have a lot of respect for him. I love the Apprentice and his one liners which is why I wanted to read his book. Easy to read even if you don't know anything about business. I understood most of the things he spoke about, he explained
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Being the biography of a man which has been unknown outside UK, it is surprisingly well written, catches you from the beginning. A really good and inspiring read.
Quite an inspirational autobiography that I have read in a long time. The flow is quite nice and it has appropriate amount of detail. This book really gives good insight into the ups and downs of Alan Sugar's life and has a kind of motivating effect. Well worth a read!
As a fan of Amstrad's line of micro-computers from the 80's, I was looking forward to some insight as to how they were designed, but Mr. Sugar spends much more time writing about his early consumer electronics years, and when we get to the CPC era, it sounds like he had lost interest a bit. It was fun reading about the Sinclair purchase as well, but here again, details are lacking. As a non-fan of football, I also skipped much of the Tottenham part. Despite these shortcomings, I found Sugar's bi
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fast paced, his ego sometimes detracts a lot of I in there but he writes as he speaks,it's littered with humour, candour and pathos at times. I enjoyed reading it.
I got bored of him half way through, although he started off with wit
What a tool.
Read this as part of book group. Enough said.
Read this as part of book group. Enough said.
Gripping, Inspirational stuff.
I read about 150 pages of this book, until he got to do business in Japan and i found thereafter, it became very repetitive, too much info about products and not enough about how he did things and how he balanced it around his family life. But, it's different for men, or it was back then, men these days might look for more of a family / work balance. Anyway, up until i abandonned the book, i thought it was really good and loved the way he wrote it, just too business orientated, which i understan
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A breeze block of a book, as Lord Sugar takes us through the joys and tribulations of his life so far, and he has been through a lot as the thickness of this book will testify. It's a good read but if I have one criticism it is that it is too long and in the end you get tired of hearing about how well or disappointing Amstrad etc are doing. The chapters on his ownership of Tottenham are very informative and entertaining and there are a lot of amusing anecdotes on his dealings with people both pr
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Really enjoyed reading how Sir Alan (now Lord Sugar) got to where he is today. Some genuinely interesting and quite motivating stories. You will have to enjoy his style of talking as it is VERY much written as if he's sat telling a story (which I believe is how it was done with him dictating the story). Whilst this is fine in short stints, it does make things a bit tedious in longer sittings. There are only so many rants you can read in one go! Good thing a lot of the rants are justified and qui
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The title of this book is spot on. What you see is what you get. It's an amazing rags to riches story which tends to drag a bit too much at certain points. You might be a bit disappointed when you realize that the writing doesn't really inspire as much as you'd expect from such an amazing life journey. But that's simply Alan Sugar, not always popular, but a truly admireable, unique and simple person who is brutaly honest and straightforward. And that is exactly what you get out of this book. Rea
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A really absorbing book that delves into Alan's family life but mainly concentrates on his business interests and how he got started. I enjoyed it hut it may not be for everyone
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