I did a quick search in Google news and found this headline, which caught my attention quickly as it could have a pejorative slant with respect to Chinese-made stuff (which I would suggest is totally wrong-headed considering the volume and diversity of stuff made in China, or in any country really):
As my former colleague and advisor, Jerry Neumann says – there is no starting gun. Go and start a company now. It’s not as hard to get started as you think, and there is no such thing as failure.
A few books I’ve read recently (and some not so recently) about randomness, probability, human behavior, ALL of which are worth looking at:
Fooled by Randomness by Nicholas Taleb. Instant classic, the followup Black Swan is great too but this is better IMO.
The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow. Great stuff, some great examples and overall I enjoyed it very much – good lay pieces on probability and misunderstandings around that.
Here are some others I recommend highly:
Predictably Irrational:The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)
Awesome stuff, all.