Oren Klaff, What Are You Reading?

Oren Klaff shared an hour of his day with me recently as a guest on my radio show. You can listen to our conversation at this link.

Oren pitches deals for a living. And judging from his success, he pitches them very well. As Director of Capital Markets for investment bank Intersection Capital, he is responsible for managing their capital raising platform with both direct capital raising and deal syndication.  During the previous five years, Oren supervised and assisted in the placement of over $400 million of investor capital.

He also has written one of the better books on pitching, selling, presenting I have read. Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Pitching, Presenting and Winning the Deal is the work of one who loves his work, has achieved outstanding results with his work, and desires to share how he works, how he achieves his success, with others.

Look at our economy. We need to be able Pitch Anything or at least something.

Given all this, it made sense for me to ask him:

You're a leader. Jim Rohn says Leaders are readers. What are you reading with all free time?

And he gave a great answer:

It may be cliche’ but I have 2 books that kinda never leave my desk. One is my own book...I’m just kidding.

Jeffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm. I read and I re-read.

Michael Porter’s book on Competitive Advantage. I read and re-read.

And in some ways that question is

“Hey. What’s all the new stuff coming out.”

The new stuff to me...you know there hasn’t been any investment since 2008 - 2010 by the publishers in really good writing. I know the publishers. They’re going with known names who have existing platforms. It’s kinda like saying X-man 2-3-4-5. There hasn’t been an investment in great new writer. So, you’re not seeing a ton of great new stuff coming out.

There’s one third book I would add to that. And it’s not new either. Joseph M. Williams wrote a book called Style: Towards Clarity and Grace. If you write or need to communicate, that’s just a great book.

Those are the things I’m reading now.

Fantastic. I thought you might say you weren’t one of those people who read a lot. But I can tell you’re a discerning reader.

Want more from Oren Klaff?

• Read his blog

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• Buy his book: Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Pitching, Presenting and Winning the Deal