1. What motivated you to write your book, to force you from taking an idea or experience and turning it into this book? I grew up in poverty, one of four boys born to a disabled single mother, crammed into a basement apartment in Queens, New York. Early on, I realized the traditional path to success wasn't going to be available to me, and I was going to have to do something different. I intuited that if I dropped out of high school, I could take the GED, go to college two years early, and, overnight, qualify for better paying jobs as a college student. I went all in on that plan, and figured it was a one-off, and that I'd settle into a "normal" career path after that. Except as I started looking around at successful people in all walks of life, I realized something -- it wasn't just me, and there was no "normal" path to great achievements. Everyone who did something great went all in, and burned the boats to get there. I was working for the Jets in 2011 when I heard our head coach, Rex Ryan, tell the team about how military strategists always summon maximum effort by eliminating any possibility for retreat - they literally burn the boats - and it hit me that this was the strategy for greatness, and had been for centuries. Then, once I realized this could be a book to inspire everyone to achieve their full potential, I talked to 50+ entrepreneurs who all had their own Burn the Boats story -- and the whole thing came together perfectly.
2. What is it about and who is it for? In many ways, it's for entrepreneurs and those
aspiring to create something new -- a roadmap for finding inspiration, having
the courage to take the leap, and then the tactical choices they need to make
in order to achieve success. But as I shared it among early readers, so
many of them came back to me and said it's more than that -- it's really a
roadmap for anyone looking to level up their lives and understand that taking
the ordinary road is not the way to achieve extraordinary things. You
have to be unafraid to listen to your instincts, to avoid backup plans, and so
much more.
3. What takeaways might the reader be left with after reading it? A reader should emerge from the book with the
inspiration and the tools to access the gifts within them, and to understand
that what they need for greatness is already there. It's about trusting
yourself, cradling your ideas with love and support, and then being smart about
how you go about executing. It's about surrounding yourself with the
right people, in the right roles, and not letting failure drag you down.
Already, readers have told me that the book helped them give themselves
permission to stop hedging -- to embark on something new, finally build what
they've always dreamed of. That's the power of this book, and what I'm
really hoping to achieve with it. I want readers to understand that it's
hard for everyone -- no matter how famous they are, or how easy they make it
seem -- and yet it's all reachable for every one of us. We can all live
our fullest potential, if we go about it with the energy that I hope this book
can unleash in readers.
4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? Once I heard Rex Ryan shout the "Burn the Boats" line to the team, it really stuck -- for almost a full decade until I started working on the book. I've talked to a lot of writers who say that the title came last in their process, and I get it -- but for me, it was absolutely the place I started, because it really is the philosophy that has fueled my life. For the cover, I must be honest -- I saw a vision in my head, but I am no artist. I would go to Barnes and Noble and sit on the floor for hours staring at covers to see what resonated, what worked and why. I've always loved Adam Grant's covers, especially Think Again, and that became the high-water mark to strive for. My wife Sarah put together a mood board for inspiration pulled from design, literature, history. Then once I had the essence down, I turned to an amazing designer I've worked with for years, Carol Lehmann, and she translated our vision into a reality that I think is so much more striking and impactful than I ever could have hoped for. We did over 400 iterations, and it wasn't until the 410th that I realized something was missing. I wanted the cover to break form, as that's the point of Burn the Boats - to fearlessly defy convention. So, I decided we needed to char the letters to convey that once you burn those metaphorical boats holding you back, watch out! Also, Carol did an amazing job creating an image of a boat that is reminiscent of a child's boat floating in a bathtub… I wanted the boat to be an image from childhood because that's the first boat many of us have to burn, the unreconciled legacy issues that weigh us down. I love the design so much because every aspect of it was intentional and meant to stop you dead in your tracks.
5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers? The idea of writing a book -- especially for a first-time author -- is intimidating at first, but when you start to break it down, you realize, 250 pages with maybe 8, 9, 10 chapters -- that's 25 pages each, and then you break that down into 5 or 6 ideas and stories in each chapter, and suddenly you're talking about a series of 50 or 60 mini-essays, each with a story or an example to back them up, and, sure, that's still real work, but suddenly it feels far more doable. And then you just attack it, and figure out what a reader really needs to hear, what you can't wait to tell them. I didn't think the process would be nearly as fun as it ended up being, so I would encourage aspiring writers to stick with it. If you have an idea that you know has legs -- you can write that book. But a word of caution: I think a lot of books written by prominent individuals fall flat because they think everyone will be enamored with their own personal story. And while I'm sure that is true for a minority of authors, it's safer to assume the opposite -- which I certainly did. I started with the premise that no one cares about every last detail of my life and a reader is going to pick up a book to enhance their own lives, not my ego. It was my job to deliver exponential value for the time and money someone invests in Burn the Boats. I tried to always keep the reader's needs front and center and in every sentence I wrote, I asked myself, why is this useful?
6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? I think it's striking the way the media landscape has changed -- even just within the past few years. I've realized as I've started to figure out how to find my audience: micro influencers reach far more people than TV or traditional media can these days, and I think reaching out to micro influencers across social media channels, while it's not so common right now, will very soon become par for course for authors. Writers should consider hiring a social media firm that can aggregate smaller, sticky audiences. Check out a firm called The Village if you want to explore further.
7. What challenges did you overcome to write this book? I think perhaps the biggest challenge was one that I end up talking about in the book -- for a long time, the book began with the story of my SPAC. I launched a special purpose acquisition company during the pandemic, with the mission to find an undervalued company and, using the unique resources I brought together on my team, take it public and unlock tremendous value. After an incredible amount of work, we found the right company, Kin Insurance, led by an amazing leader, Sean Harper, and I opened the book with the triumphant story of how I rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, on the way to huge success. And then the deal fell apart. The SPAC market collapsed, and we couldn't move forward. My big triumph became a failure. Figuring out how to tell that story, honestly and sincerely, in the pages of the book without feeling like it undercut my entire story was a real challenge. And then I realized -- I needed to take my own advice. Failure is okay. No, we don't want to fail, but when we do, we can extract lessons and move on to bigger and better things next time. So, I kept the same opening, only now the book starts with my latest failure instead of my boldest move.
8. How would you describe your writing style? I hate cliches, and I hate repetition. I made countless passes over the text of the book, each time trying to make sure that every story, every sentence, every piece of advice was there for a reason. I hate when I pick up a book and feel like there's nothing new there. I didn't want to rehash material that people can find elsewhere; almost everyone I talk about in the book is someone I interviewed myself, and when I relied on third-party sources, it was because the story was so compelling that I couldn't bear to leave it out. I felt an obligation to readers to give them value they couldn't find elsewhere, and I scrubbed the book in the hope that there's something they can walk away with on each and every page to change their life. Also many business books are written like reference manuals. But we assimilate information through storytelling and modeling of behavior. Textbooks don't stay with us. In reality, I don't feel as if I wrote a book as much as engineered a feeling that is meant to linger long after — the feeling of infinite possibility.
9. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? My hope is that Burn the Boats becomes more than a book, and inspires people to take the leaps they're right now only dreaming of. Those readers who have come back to me and said they're making big life changes -- amazing ones -- just because of the book — they make me feel like it's all worth it. So, I think people should read this book because it can truly alter their trajectory, just like the trajectory was altered for so many of the people I write about. I hope they walk away feeling inspired -- and that feeling should make it worth the investment of time that I know it's so hard to make these days, especially when books are competing not just with each other, but with social media, streaming platforms, and more.
About the Author: Matt Higgins is a self-made serial
entrepreneur with deep operating experience that spans multiple industries over
his twenty-five-year career. Higgins holds dual roles as cofounder and CEO of
the private investment firm RSE Ventures. His business-building acumen also
earned him a spot as a recurring guest Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank during seasons
ten and eleven. He is a prolific investor in the direct-to-consumer space and
leveraged this expertise to become an executive fellow at Harvard Business
School, where he coteaches the course “Moving Beyond DTC.” A lifelong New
Yorker, Higgins was appointed press secretary for the New York City mayor’s
office at age twenty-six—the youngest in history—managing the global media response
during the 9/11 terrorist attacks before ultimately becoming chief
operating officer of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. After
transitioning to the private sector, he spent fifteen years in senior leadership
positions with two National Football League teams, starting as EVP of business
operations for the New York Jets before serving as vice chairman of the Miami
Dolphins for nearly a decade. Higgins received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor
in 2019, joining the ranks of seven former US presidents, Nobel Prize winners,
and other leaders for his work to improve society. He is also a longstanding
board member of Autism Speaks, advocating for scientific research and greater
acceptance of neurodiversity For more information, please see https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-higgins-rse/linked
or
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mhiggins/
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Book Marketing Help?
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About Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter
@theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and
Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer
and IBPA’s The Independent. This award-winning
blog has generated over 3.3 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past
dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by
www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades,
including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book
publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with
many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with
best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen,
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Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C.
Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a
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Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction
Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland)
Writers Association, APEX, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association.
His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA
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