In praise of audiobooks: edification for the time-poor entrepreneur

I love literature. I love to produce and consume it in all forms. I love the stories and the language they use. After falling in love with Crime and Punishment and Invisible Man in high school, I decided to be an English teacher. In college I majored in English literature (doubling in Italian and minoring in secondary education), and I taught literature and drama to middle and high school students for several years after college. I loved living through books and stories and bringing people along that journey with me, and I still do.

However, I have two problems. First, I’m not a very fast reader. I can read deeply, analyzing texts to death, but reading with speed and breadth has always been a challenge. Second, I also have other interests that require time, and convincing myself to plop down and read, thereby taking time and attention away from other activities, is tough, and it always has been. When I was supposed to be reading two hefty novels a week in college, plus writing a weekly paper, all for just one of my courses, I couldn’t keep up. The hours I had available for reading were just not enough to get through the material.

Fifteen years later I face similar challenges. I have a business, which, as any entrepreneur will tell you, is fairly time consuming. I have a wife, two kids, a dog, and a cat, all of whom deserve my attention, and all of whom I enjoy spending time with. Friends, fitness, food, entertainment, travel… oh, and a bit of shut-eye now and again.

Snuggling up with a book in a quiet corner for hours on end is just not something that can happen in my household or in my life. And if, by some miracle, I do have an hour or two to read, it’s certainly not enough to get through much of a book, especially at my speed.

A couple of years ago I began to miss reading, and I felt an especially compelling drive to learn, to expose myself to new ideas. I tried buying a book at the airport for a flight. I got through a bit, but then the book just wound up sitting in my bag, becoming more abused and worn each day. I then tried the library, but I ran into a similar problem and could never finish a book before it was due.

Then I noticed the Singapore National Library has e-books. I tried reading on my iPad, but again, similar challenges. I tried reading them on my phone, which was more convenient, but for some reason I had trouble with the fact that there was so little on each page, so I wound up abandoning that approach as well.

Finally I tried audiobooks. I had avoided audiobooks for years, because I had tried listening to books on tape in the 90s, and I couldn’t stand the voices, the poor recording quality, and the fact that every little mouth noise was picked up by the microphone. However, as I quickly learned with my first audiobook, technology and production quality have advanced over the past couple of decades. The voice actors are trained, the breaths and the mouth noises are removed, and volume is stabilized. They were tolerable!

But the reason audiobooks have revolutionized reading for me, re-introducing books into my time-poor life, is that I can listen to them at any time, anywhere. I don’t have to carry around anything extra – I have my phone and headset with me anyway. I don’t have to be stationary, occupying my hands and focusing my eyes on something – I can be commuting to work, walking the dog, exercising, packing a suitcase, on the plane, running errands, wherever! This discovery ignited a mini celebration within me, because time is my most valuable asset, and audiobooks allow me to utilize that asset a bit more fully. Whereas I would typically use the walk to the train to hum nonsense or agonize about an upcoming meeting, I can now feed my brain with an audiobook. Rather than get nauseated trying to read in the backseat of a taxi, I can take in the scenery while listening to a book. It’s efficient, convenient, easy, and enjoyable.

For me, that is. I’ve tried to evangelize a few of my friends. Some are already converted, and others are exploring, but some have tried and failed to enjoy audiobooks. They’re not for everybody. “I can read that book better and faster myself,” says one of my friends. But for me, I’ve learned that while I simply don’t take the time to read books for myself, I find it a treat to switch on an audiobook while completing some of my daily tasks. I suppose I also generally learn better through listening than through reading. Maybe it’s the former actor in me, but having a human read me a book introduces an interesting dramatic element that keeps me entertained and attentive.

So what does this have to do with search funds?

When I finished my MBA and started my search fund, my reading went from virtually nonstop to nil. I wanted to spend every spare moment working on my search, and I felt pangs of guilt whenever I did anything else. My anxiety often increased when engaging in leisure activities because I knew it was time I wasn’t spending on my search, and I therefore couldn’t justify investing time in reading, which I knew could pay long-term dividends but would not help me achieve my short-term goal, buying a business.

I’m not immune to these feelings today, as I build SMEVentures. However, at times when I can’t be working on my business anyway, I am thrilled to listen to a good book. When I’m commuting, washing the dishes, eating a solo lunch, walking the dog, or running errands, I can’t be simultaneously sending emails or building resources. However, what I can do is build my knowledge bank by listening to a book. Brain not fully occupied? I can immediately whip out my phone, which I always have in my pocket, and start a book.

As a search fund entrepreneur, you may not be as obsessive and anxious about time utilization as me, and honestly I hope you’re not. However, you may find yourself too busy to satisfy your intellectual curiosity, especially if you’re relatively fresh out of b-school where your brain was stimulated hourly. One way to satisfy that cerebral craving, as many busy executives have discovered, is by reading. And one way to read without interrupting the rhythm of your daily life is to try an audiobook.

Action Items

• Check out your public library’s digital offerings. My library uses an app called OverDrive through which I can borrow e-books and audiobooks.

• Short of that, try Audible.com. Buy a book and give it a shot.

• See whether any of the periodicals you enjoy have audio versions. For example, the Economist has an audio file, accessible through the app, for every article. Especially good if you enjoy a proper British accent.

• Check out my reading list.