Book Review: Kon-Tiki
One of the most entrepreneur-forming experiences of my childhood was reading Kon-Tiki. The last several nights I’ve been watching the recent movie while on my treadmill and those good childhood memories have resurfaced.
It is the story of how a group of daring men built a raft in the 1940s and sailed from South America to Polynesia without any modern assistance. They proved that the people of Polynesia could have come from South America, rather than from Asia.
The trip was full of adventure and unknowns. There were no safety nets. If they had failed, they would have died. The odds of success were very slim. They survived lack of food and water, sharks, weather, raft construction problems, lack of wind, lack of control of current, razor sharp reefs, and all the psychological trials that accompany such an adventure. There were at sea 101 days.
The success of the Kon-Tiki adventure became an amazingly heroic beacon for the post WWII generation. It was an inspiration for those who a few decades later set out to conquer space and land on the moon.
I highly recommend the book as a great way to motivate adventurism and daring that is essential for entrepreneurs.
What are your thoughts on Kon-Tiki? What other adventure books do you like?