Risk Roulette: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Businesses Work and Others Fail reviewed

We look at Risk Roulette, by Graham Ruddick.

Risk Roulette: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Businesses Work and Others Fail reviewed

This is an enjoyable and thought provoking book. It also used examples and case studies from paths less regularly travelled. This was a bit of a relief for the reviewer because sometimes you can almost do entrepreneurs bingo when the same anecdotes and inspirational examples tend to come up again and again.

The pace is rapid, as the whole book comes in at under 200 pages. The tone is good too, informative and helpful, written in an accessible way. We enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it to other readers, both younger students and also people using it for college and to inform their own business ideas too.

More about Risk Roulette

Risk Roulette: The surprising reasons why some businesses work and others fail

NEW BOOK: Interviews reveal lessons from sports, finance and iconic entrepreneurs to show how to make risk work for you

Why This Book Matters:

• Explains why those who have a real understanding of how risk and reward works will succeed
• Shows why taking excessive risk is likely to end in disaster and that entrepreneurs are not the buccaneering risk-takers they are often portrayed as
• Features interviews and case studies from businesses including Marks & Spencer, Castore, and Deliveroo, as well as football, Formula 1 champions, and skydivers
• Written by award-winning journalist who has interviewed some of the world’s leading business executives, financiers and sports people

Business success requires taking a risk, or two. But have you ever bet the house on a seemingly good idea only for it to become a bad business decision? And why is that some business leaders seem to be able to take long shots, and still come up trumps?

Now a fascinating new book Risk Roulette from leading journalist Graham Ruddick, reveals the surprising reasons why some businesses work, and others fail.

As a journalist with the Telegraph, Guardian, The Times and now Business Leader, Graham Ruddick has spent more than fifteen years researching and interviewing leaders, including the founders and chief executives of some of the biggest businesses around the world. Through this series of exclusive interviews, he has found that there’s a pivotal trait leaders have when it comes to success: they understand risk.

Through a collection of thought-provoking stories, interviews and case studies from leaders in business, finance and sport, Ruddick reveals that risk isn’t just about being risky and having a blasé attitude to responsibility. It’s about understanding risk more broadly, from the level of risk involved in a decision and how to reduce it, to the difference between short-term and long-term risk.

Risk Roulette is a highly entertaining and informative read which joins icons from the worlds of business, finance, journalism and sports who know how to make risk work for them and push the boundaries and reveals their tried and tested secrets so you too can elevate your business.

Risk Roulette: The surprising reasons why some businesses work, and others fail by Graham Ruddick is published by Kogan Page on 03 October 2024, priced £13.94

More about the author

Graham Ruddick is the editor-in-chief of Business Leader magazine and host of the Business Leader podcast. He founded the podcast and the Off to Lunch newsletter in 2022.

He has been Retail Editor at the Daily Telegraph, Senior Business Reporter and then Media Editor at the Guardian and from 2018 to 2022 he was Deputy Business Editor at The Times.

He was shortlisted for business and finance journalist of the year at the Press Awards in 2019 and named young financial journalist of the year by the Wincott Foundation in 2013. He is based in London, UK.

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