Do Cool Sh*t
Authors: Miki Agrawal
FIRST, THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO YOU.
Thank you for wanting to do cool shit in this lifetime. It’s a short one, so we need to make it count!
Second, this book is dedicated to baby Emi, my first niece and the very first baby to be born in the next generation of my family.
Emi, may your journey be thoughtful, courageous, and without hesitation. I am so looking forward to watching you choose your own adventure. I will be right next to you, cheering you on!
CONTENTS
1 Is “Success”
Really
What You Think It Is?
8
Business Plans
Don’t Raise Dollars,
People
Do
16 Stop with the Same-Old, Same-Old
19 You Are as Cool as the Friends You Keep
I
would love to give my deepest gratitude to the following people:
Mama and Daddy—for marching to your own drums and bravely coming to this country on your own and making the American dream come true. Thank you for thinking about us before thinking about yourselves. Also for creating Agra-Palooza; we’re cool because of you.
Yuri (a.k.a. Dr. Agrawal)—for being the most admired big sister and setting the bar at an unreachable level and for becoming a surgeon and allowing our Asian parents to be satisfied with one doctor in the house, thus allowing Rads and I to pursue our dreams. This journey was made possible because of you!
Benny Z—for getting my big sis pregnant. And for helping save our planet from extinction.
Radha (a.k.a. Rads)—for our egg splitting and for giving me someone fun to play with for a few months while I was chilling in the womb. Oh, and also for being a constant source of competitive inspiration (and being my best friend). I also happen to think that the Super Sprowtz are the raddest bunch ever.
Andrew Horn—for being my rock and my light, and for teaching me the important lessons of slowing down and appreciation.
Colleen Lawrie—for editing this crazy book and for being
super
patient with me. You’re a saint!
Michele Rubin—for kicking ass and helping me get a book deal in two weeks flat.
Antonia Dunbar—for going through each chapter with me and editing this book as I wrote it. You’ve been an incredible friend and business partner; the future is bright for us!
Sam Horn—for supporting this book and for helping me get the book proposal to a place where I could sell it! And for producing a magical son.
Zach Iscol and the Iscol family—for your endless support; for putting up with your little hellions for a very, very long time; and for being catalysts to some of our “life breaks.”
Zach Lynd—for being a first-class confidant and for designing a restaurant brand that I am truly proud of.
John Arena—for being my sensei and perspective-check in all my crisis moments.
To the
WILD
team—you guys are so good-looking and make me so happy going to the best restaurant in New York (and Vegas!).
To all of my incredible friends—“I am who I am because of who we all are” (Ubuntu).
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
I
’ve never met anyone quite like Miki.
Actually, that’s not true.
I also know her identical twin sister, Radha, who looks a lot like Miki, but that’s beside the point.
When Miki first asked me to write the foreword for her book, I was a little reluctant. I told her I wanted to wait and read a draft of the entire book first before committing to write anything.
So after a few weeks, she sent me the rest of her book. And I procrastinated and didn’t read it for a few more weeks, until one day when I was getting on a long flight from Los Angeles to Munich I decided to finally start reading the book.
To my surprise, on that flight, I ended up finishing the entire book.
Even though I’ve hung out with Miki many times as friends, and we are about to partner together professionally as she opens up her pizza place in downtown Vegas (it’s an important part of our Downtown Project revitalization efforts), I never knew her full story before, or really understood what drove her. I guess I just assumed she was born that way.
As I read through Miki’s journey, I found myself nodding and agreeing with a lot of the lessons learned and the advice and tips she gives. Her stories are great stories, not just for entrepreneurs, but really for anyone who wants to lead a more fulfilling life.
In a lot of ways, Miki is like a little sister to me. So I guess this is my roundabout way of saying that although I was at first a little reluctant to write the foreword (as any big brother that likes to tease his little sister would be), I was pleasantly surprised and am really proud of her for writing this book. It’s actually a really good book.
Don’t let the fact that it’s an easy read fool you. It’s full of great insights that could have a transformative effect on your own life.
And, Miki—no, this does not mean I will stop teasing you.
Tony Hsieh
Zappos.com CEO
Author of the number one
New York Times
bestseller
Delivering Happiness
DowntownProject.com
T
o ensure that this book has found its way into your hands for the
right
reasons, please ask yourself, “Do I fall into one or more of these following categories?”
- I don’t want to work a day job in a “respectable industry” just to make a buck.
- I want to have the social life I always dreamed about.
- I want to get the blessing of my parents/significant others to chase my
real
passion. - I actually don’t know what my
real
passion is yet, and I really want to figure it out. - I have a really great idea and want to start a business but I have no clue where to begin.
- The books that
do
teach me how to start a business put me to sleep after page three. - I want to raise money for my business, but I have never raised money before.
- I’m sick of feeling self-conscious when I walk into a room full of strangers, and I want to know how to break into a new circle with sparkle and confidence.
- I’m done going to bars and watching football for ten hours on weekends with my college friends who drink their faces off, and I want more.
- I want to build a new community of friends who challenge, support, and inspire me.
- I realize that there are people in my life who aren’t helping me be my best; they may even be holding me back. I want to surround myself with the right people.
If you nodded your head to any one of those statements, buckle up and get ready to do the coolest shit you’ve ever done.
From now on, you will no longer feel envious of others who “have the perfect life” or intimidated by anyone trying to keep you from your perfect life. You will have the courage, clarity, and confidence to become authentic, empowered, and actualized—the best version of yourself you could ever imagine.
IS “SUCCESS”
REALLY
WHAT YOU THINK IT IS?
Why Do You Want to Be Successful?
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.
—
W
INSTON
C
HURCHILL
Miami, Florida—April 8, 2011, 11:55 a.m.
T
he instructions were very clear on the invitation: the cruise ship would set sail at noon on Friday. If I missed it . . . well, I would miss the whole trip.
I was determined to beat my internal time clock. I’m half Indian (from India), and for those who don’t know, following “Indian standard time” means showing up a minimum of an hour late, sometimes two. Thankfully my other half is Japanese, and “Japanese standard time” means you show up ten minutes early, following the old Marine Corps adage that if you’re not ten minutes early, you’re ten minutes late.