About This is Broken

I’m a big fan of Seth Godin, and if you are reading this, you probably are too.

I first discovered Seth through his blog back in maybe 2005. It’s the only blog I’ve consistently read ever since. Seth’s posts are thought-provoking and inspirational, and I have many memories of sitting on the London Underground on my Blackberry reading his blog posts via RSS feed, and the posts triggering waves of ideas and things to do. As a marketer and entrepreneur, the posts can be like a daily jolt of lightning to awaken my brain.

His books have been with me through my professional life; Purple Cow made me fall in love with marketing, Linchpin made me realise that being irreplaceable in any job gave you power, The Dip made me re-evaluate relationships and projects, Tribes made me realise the value in community, The Bootstrapper’s Bible guided me on my current path to solopreneurship, and I’ve just started reading This Is Marketing because the fundamentals of marketing I was taught in London thirty years ago don’t always apply in today’s world.

Back in 2009, I was looking to buy books for an upcoming holiday. On Amazon, surrounded by choice, I didn’t know what to buy. I remembered Seth had recently put together a recommended reading list on his blog. I found it and saved it to a text file on my PC. A few months later, a few more book recommendations were added. Here and there more books were recommended. My text file list grew, as did my Amazon Wishlist.

All the recommended books I purchased for that trip in 2009 were gold – Crush It!, How We Decide, Made to Stick, The Tom Peters Seminar… And ever since then I have avidly followed any of his book recommendations.

Back in 2017, I decided to take the list further and turn it into this website. My small little tribute to Seth. It took me a few months of manually trawling Seth’s old blog, old Squidoo posts and old interviews to extract a decent list of recommendations. I wanted to create something longer lasting. So, I scoured the web, scoured the Wayback Machine and pulled them all together into one place – This Is Broken.

I can honestly say Seth’s blog, his books and his recommendations have changed my career, my life, and every business I’ve run. There are so many hidden gems in this directory, that I hope you find the change you need within them.

Why is this site called This is Broken?

Obviously this site is not broken. But This is Broken is a little in-joke or reference to anyone who knows Seth’s work. This is Broken is the name of a talk Seth gave in 2006 at Gel Conference.

It was a humorous, but I guess very revealing, talk about how companies’ systems and workflows can fail. That opening minute and a half makes me laugh every time (and internally cry a little at the corporate decision that made that event).

I think watching that talk changed me as I can’t unsee some of the things I now notice. You should go and watch it.

Is this site affiliated with Seth Godin?

No. Not at all. I’m just a big fan.

Does Seth know about this site?

Yes, he does, and he’s contacted me about it. I’ve heard through the grapevine he recommends this site as a reading list to students on altMBA and the Marketing Seminar. He mentioned the site on his blog once (lifetime achievement unlocked). Oh and this is what happens to your website traffic when Seth links to your blog…

Does the site use affiliate links?

I added affiliate links to all Amazon links so I can see if people click, see if people buy anything and maybe see which books are popular. Any money made from this endeavour has been and will be donated to The Acumen Fund, which seems to be Seth’s most preferred charity. The Acumen Fund invests in entrepreneurs who build scalable, sustainable businesses at the bottom of the pyramid in the developing world.

Is this legal?

I’m not a lawyer but I’m assuming the use of copyrighted material (Seth’s quotes) are permitted under the doctrine of fair use. All sources of quotes are listed alongside the quote. Quotes are taken from websites alive and dead. If I use Seth’s image somewhere, it’s from this image on Flickr.

How can I get in touch with you?

You can find me at my website.