By now, I’ve gotten used to seeing Joe Bastianich in the role of a judge, just as I’ve grown accustomed to hearing my son Federico say—every time I put a not-so-perfect dish on the table, and with a spot-on imitation of Joe’s voice—“for me, this is a no…” (of course, spinning the plate halfway before setting it down).
It was a pleasant surprise to find myself holding Joe’s book, “Le Regole del Successo.” In it, Joe tries to distill the fundamental principles of his approach to business. I have to say, I found myself agreeing with many of his points—both in terms of what’s been done right and the big mistakes I’ve made along the way.
It’s a very “Joe” way of summarizing things, but highly effective.
Courage, education, appeal, respect, cleanliness, humility, fairness, and so on—these are the core values behind his method, which is ultimately a synthesis of the teachings he received from his Istrian father, who emigrated to Queens.
I’ll admit, I approached this book with some preconceptions and doubts. But then I let myself get into it. It’s not an economics textbook, but a book that entertained me and made me reflect at the same time. A book that, in its simplicity, would have been very useful to me twenty years ago—if only someone had left it in plain sight on my desk.
