The Sierra Adventure is a great book, but very different from mine. I did read it, but most of the information was new to me. My book is about things like marketing strategy, product strategy, technical strategy, etc. Whereas Shawn’s book was focused on what it was like to work for Sierra, deep down in the trenches. Shawn did a huge amount of research, conducting dozens (probably hundreds) of interviews — whereas I sat in front of my computer and typed out my distant memories. If my book had required the level of research that Shawn did, it never would have happened.
Together, the two books compliment each other nicely.
As a side note: I always think in terms of “takeaways” — meaning, if you invest 10 hours in doing something, what did you take away from the experience? There are things that are done purely for entertainment value, that have no takeaways. But generally, when reading, I expect to takeaway some new skill. My goal with my book was to give others tools they can use in their own lives. I wanted the “takeaway” from my book to be that people would boost their analytic and strategic skills, regardless of the business they are in, and that through seeing my mistakes, they could avoid similar mistakes in their own lives. That was my goal anyhow. Whether or not I achieved it, only time will tell.
-Ken W