What do you think?
Rate this book
BUILDER: Builders & Tradesmen Tell Their Stories
BUILDER is a gathering of insights and the telling of tales from residential builders. It offers guiding principles, lessons learned, and a glimpse into why we take up a trade, and why so many of us are passionate about what we do. Its purpose, apart from telling these wonderful stories, is to help you navigate the process of opening and growing a company, by listening in as builders explain what they wish they’d known, how they learned, and what they would have done differently.
386 pages, Paperback
Published December 13, 2020
1 person is currently reading
16 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 1, 2023
Review from Fine Home Building magazine:
You’d think that by now I’d have read The Elements of Building, Mark Q. Kerson’s highly-recommended book on the business of building. But I’ve never run my own construction company, so I haven’t. When Mark’s new book, Builder, arrived a few months back, the subtitle struck me: Builders & Tradesmen Tell Their Stories. If I’ve avoided the slog of learning about the business of building, I do like stories, and have now read a lot of this book of interviews.
Mark’s questions are straightforward and repeated in most of the builders’ interviews. This allows him to weave a narrative throughout the book with themes that include the nature of craft, the role of education for builders, the intersection of craftsmanship and business, and the value of learning from mistakes. There is wisdom in Mark’s questions, but he doesn’t belabor his introduction. He doesn’t even take the time to explain the format of the book, though you’ll pick it up quickly once you read a few interviews. One of my favorite parts is the word association: Mark provides a list of words like “integrity,” “profit,” and “gratitude,” and the builders share what that word means to them. It’s an easy-to-read, insightful part of each interview.
You’d think that by now I’d have read The Elements of Building, Mark Q. Kerson’s highly-recommended book on the business of building. But I’ve never run my own construction company, so I haven’t. When Mark’s new book, Builder, arrived a few months back, the subtitle struck me: Builders & Tradesmen Tell Their Stories. If I’ve avoided the slog of learning about the business of building, I do like stories, and have now read a lot of this book of interviews.
Mark’s questions are straightforward and repeated in most of the builders’ interviews. This allows him to weave a narrative throughout the book with themes that include the nature of craft, the role of education for builders, the intersection of craftsmanship and business, and the value of learning from mistakes. There is wisdom in Mark’s questions, but he doesn’t belabor his introduction. He doesn’t even take the time to explain the format of the book, though you’ll pick it up quickly once you read a few interviews. One of my favorite parts is the word association: Mark provides a list of words like “integrity,” “profit,” and “gratitude,” and the builders share what that word means to them. It’s an easy-to-read, insightful part of each interview.
April 4, 2021
Interviews with builders. Could have used some editing, it is clearly self published.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews