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WORK TITLE: The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World’s Most Successful People Launched Their Careers
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 8/10/1992
WEBSITE:
CITY: Los Angeles
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born August 10, 1992.
EDUCATION:Attended University of Southern California.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and public speaker. Alsop-Louie Partners, San Francisco, CA, venture associate, 2012–.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals and websites, including the Entrepreneur, Fast Company, the Washington Post, and TechCrunch.
SIDELIGHTS
Alex Banayan was an eighteen-year-old college freshman when he decided to track down some of the most successful people in the world. His goal was to write a book about how they were able to launch their successful careers. The book would include their advice to the upcoming generation of entrepreneurs. Banayan was successful in reaching many successful people and since that time has become a noted venture capitalist and entrepreneur named to Forbes “30 under 30” list and Business Insider‘s “Most Powerful People Under 30.”
In his memoir and advice book, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World’s Most Successful People Launched Their Careers, Banayan reveals how he was able to track down and interview such notable personages as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Maya Angelou, Lady Gaga, Steven Spielberg and other. Banayan also reveals what he learned from them, namely that they all took what Banayan calls the “Third Door.” In the book’s opening chapter Banayan tells readers that almost all of life, business, and success is “just like a nightclub” in that there are primary three ways in, two conventional and the other not.
The first way in is through the front door, where people may be lined up down the block waiting. According to Banayan, ninety-nine percent of people approach life and success this way. The second way in is a the entrance for VIPs, which allows notables from entertainers to billionaires to slip into the club. According to Banayan, however, there is “always the Third Door,” which essentially means doing whatever it takes, from running down an alley looking for the back entrance to sneaking in through a window to get into the club.
Banyan writes early on about being a freshman in college and questioning his goals and is disinterest in school. He points out that his family background seemed to lead to the expectation that he would become a doctor. However, lying on his bed in the dorm, he began questioning what he really wanted to do in life. He found that his college textbooks were of little interest and that he had run across people who had college degrees but were working low-level jobs that had nothing to do with their college education. Banyan began to do some research, reading sketches and short biographies of successful people. That’s when he came up with the idea of learning from those who had achieved success.
Still, Banyan faced a problem, namely paying for the travel and time it would take to track successful people down and interview them. Then he ended up getting tickets to the “Price Is Right” game show. The night before going to the show he studied, trying to learn how to beat the game. He ended up a contestant and won a sailboat that he sold for $20,000. Problem solved. He would spend the next four years tracking down various people, interviewing them, and writing his book.
Banyan recounts how he chased down the isles of a grocery store to talk to journalist and interviewer Larry King and hid himself in the bathroom to talk to Tim Ferriss, the American author, entrepreneur, and public speaker who focuses on self-help issues. Banyan informs readers about what he learned from each of the people he interviewed, including how to interview people from King. Some of the advice focused less on specific steps for success and more on personal improvement, such as how to be humble and thinking in new ways about the meaning of success. “Banayan’s approach is off-the-wall, but in some ways it’s much more relatable,” wrote Jesus Jimenez in Success. Barbara Jacobs, writing in Booklist, noted Banayan’s “stories establish and give credibility to his Third Door framework.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Banayan, Alex, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World’s Most Successful People Launched Their Careers, Currency (New York, NY), 2018.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 15, 2018, Barbara Jacobs, review of The Third Door, p. 6.
Publishers Weekly, April 16, 2018, review of The Third Door, p. 87.
Success, fall, 2018, Jesus Jimenez, review of The Third Door, p. 83.
UWIRE Text, April 9, 2015, “‘World’s Youngest Venture Capitalist’ Shares Story,” p. 1.
ONLINE
Third Door website, https://thirddoorbook.com (August 28, 2018).
ABOUT ALEX
“There’s always a way.”
ALEX BANAYAN
about alex
The day before his freshman year final exams, ALEX BANAYAN hacked The Price Is Right, won a sailboat, sold it, and used the prize money to fund his quest to learn from the world’s most successful people.
Since then, Banayan has been named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list and Business Insider’s “Most Powerful People Under 30.” He has contributed to Fast Company, the Washington Post, Entrepreneur, and TechCrunch, and has been featured in major media including Fortune, Forbes, Businessweek, Billboard, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, Fox News, MSNBC, and CBS News.
An acclaimed keynote speaker, Banayan has presented the Third Door framework to business conferences and corporate leadership teams around the world, including Apple, Google, Nike, IBM, Snapchat, Salesforce, Disney, Harvard, and countless others.
Alex Banayan
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ALEX BANAYAN is the author of the national bestseller The Third Door, which chronicles his five-year quest to track down Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, Warren Buffett, Maya Angelou, Steven Spielberg, and dozens more of the world’s most successful people to uncover how they broke through and launched their careers.
Banayan has been named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, Business Insider’s Most Powerful People Under 30, and been featured in major media including Fortune, Forbes, Businessweek, Billboard, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, Fox News, MSNBC, and CBS News.
An acclaimed keynote speaker, Banayan has presented the Third Door framework to business conferences and corporate leadership teams around the world, including Apple, Google, Nike, IBM, Snapchat, Salesforce, Disney, Harvard, and countless others.
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Alex’s Articles & Activity
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The Ingenious Methods Warren Buffett Used to Launch His Career
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Cherry Lane Theatre Presents MAX STOSSEL LIVE: WORDS THAT MOVE
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“The most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success, then let go of the outcome. The ride is a lot more fun that way.” ―Phil Jackson
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Experience
The Third Door
Author
Company NameThe Third Door
Dates Employed2010 – Present Employment Duration8 yrs
LocationGreater Los Angeles Area
The larger-than-life journey of an 18-year-old college freshman who set out from his dorm room to track down Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, Steven Spielberg, and dozens more of the world’s most successful people to uncover how they broke through and launched their careers.
Media (1)This position has 1 media
The Third Door | Official Website of Author Alex Banayan
The Third Door | Official Website of Author Alex Banayan
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Fast Company, The Washington Post, and TechCrunch
Contributor
Company NameFast Company, The Washington Post, and TechCrunch
Dates EmployedJun 2012 – Present Employment Duration6 yrs 3 mos
Media (1)This position has 1 media
How I Became A 19-Year-Old Associate VC
How I Became A 19-Year-Old Associate VC
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Alsop-Louie Partners
Venture Associate
Company NameAlsop-Louie Partners
Dates EmployedMar 2012 – Present Employment Duration6 yrs 6 mos
LocationSan Francisco Bay Area
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FORTUNE MAGAZINE Feature: "Introducing: The kid VC"
FORTUNE MAGAZINE Feature: "Introducing: The kid VC"
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Skills & Endorsements
Entrepreneurship
See 82 endorsements for Entrepreneurship82
Endorsed by Teju Ravilochan and 14 others who are highly skilled at this
Venture Capital
See 55 endorsements for Venture Capital55
Endorsed by Gilman Louie, who is highly skilled at this
Start-ups
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Endorsed by Emerson Spartz and 2 others who are highly skilled at this
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Interests
Writing on LinkedIn
Writing on LinkedIn
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Bill Gates
Bill GatesBill Gates is a LinkedIn Influencer
Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
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Jeff Weiner
Jeff WeinerJeff Weiner is a LinkedIn Influencer
CEO at LinkedIn
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Barack Obama
Barack ObamaBarack Obama is a LinkedIn Influencer
Former President of the United States of America
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Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House
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Alsop Louie Partners
Alsop Louie Partners
490 followers
'World's Youngest Venture Capitalist' Shares Story
UWIRE Text. (Apr. 9, 2015): p1.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Uloop Inc.
http://uwire.com/?s=UWIRE+Text&x=26&y=14&=Go
Full Text:
Byline: Elizabeth C. Keto
Alex Banayan, a 22-year-old who was called the world's youngest venture capitalist by Business Insider when he was 19, shared his stories and entrepreneurial strategies in a question-and-answer sponsored by Harvard Ventures, an undergraduate entrepreneurship club, on Wednesday evening.
Banayan urged the audience of around 40 people to pursue the ideas that inspire them and offered tips ranging from interview advice to his own methods for overcoming failure.
"If you're trying to do really big things, you're going to fail a lot more than you succeed. The opposite of success is not failure; it's apathy. It's not trying," he said.
Banayan's venture capital career began in his freshman year at the University of Southern California, with an idea for a book in which successful businesspeople gave advice to the next generation's entrepreneurs. Then, two days before final exams, Banayan obtained tickets to the game show "The Price Is Right." Instead of studying, he spent the night before the show figuring out how to beat the game. The next day, he said he won a sailboat that he sold for $20,000.
With the money, Banayan began work on his book, which he has spent the past four years writing and will include interviews with Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, and Warren Buffet, among others.
Banayan used the experiences and contacts he gained through writing the book to earn a job at venture capital firm Alsop Louie Partners at age 19.
Speaking from his own experience as a young venture capitalist, he urged members of the audience to see their youth as an asset.
"Being in college is the biggest advantage ever. You're surrounded by smart people," he said.
Banayan connected with Harvard Ventures through Alexander A. Wirth '15, co-founder of political analytics startup Quorum, who met Banayan at a conference.
"I thought it might be interesting for him to come to Harvard and share the experiences he's collected with students interested in startups," Wirth said. "He's our age and can relate to where we're coming from and the problems we're facing, but he's also had professional experience on the VC side."
Curren A. Iyer '17, Harvard Ventures director of community events, added, "[Banayan] has the sort of drive that you see a lot at Harvard, so he seemed a natural fit to come here."
Founded in 2011, Harvard Ventures aims to connect students to the startup and venture capital worlds.
"We want to create the most innovation-friendly environment on campus," said Ben I. Pleat '17, Harvard Ventures vice president. "We want to empower students who are trying to start companies."
For her part, Cindy Han, a member of the audience and a visiting student from Hong Kong, said she "never expected the talk would be so inspiring. He really showed me that if you have an idea, you should just follow it."
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"'World's Youngest Venture Capitalist' Shares Story." UWIRE Text, 9 Apr. 2015, p. 1. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A408881944/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=14272fda. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A408881944
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534188322211 1/4
Print Marked Items
THE THIRD DOOR
Jesus Jimenez
Success.
(Fall 2018): p83.
COPYRIGHT 2018 R & L Publishing, Ltd. (dba SUCCESS Media)
http://www.successmagazine.com/
Full Text:
THE THIRD DOOR
The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers
By Alex Banayan
When Alex Banayan was in college, he started reading biographies of powerful people such has Bill Gates
and Steven Spielberg, but he wasn't satisfied. He wanted to learn more about how people grew into great
successes. Banayan came up with an idea: Win on The Price is Right and then use the money to fund a
mission to learn from some of the world's most successful people. It worked.
His quest for the answers led him to a renowned speaking career and this book, in which he shares how he
traveled the country to learn from the icons. He chased journalist Larry King through a grocery store and
hid in a bathroom to meet Tim Ferriss.
While others who have written similar books take traditional approaches to get advice from leaders,
Banayan's approach is off-the-wall, but in some ways it's much more relatable.
June; Currency; $26
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Jimenez, Jesus. "THE THIRD DOOR." Success, Fall 2018, p. 83. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A546960238/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c1e94d4a.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534188322211 2/4
Gale Document Number: GALE|A546960238
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534188322211 3/4
The Third Door: The Wild Quest to
Uncover How the World's Most
Successful People Launched Their
Careers
Barbara Jacobs
Booklist.
114.18 (May 15, 2018): p6.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their
Careers.
By Alex Banayan.
June 2018. 304p. Currency, $26 (9780804136662); e-book (9780804136679). 650.1.
A teenager sets out to capture the world of celebrity success and becomes a famed one himself. After
deciding how, exactly, to make his mark on the world, Los Angeles native Banayan needed money to make
his book dream a reality. So he did what any entrepreneur would do: won merchandise on The Price Is
Right. In an easy-breezy narrative, he chronicles his journey, from hooking up with Microsoft's Qi Lu (who
built the Bing search engine) and being mentored by media mogul Elliott Bisnow to nabbing interviews
with Larry King and Lady Gaga. With each conversation comes learning: Musician Pitbull, about the
humbling of self; Larry King, the art of interviewing; Steve Wozniak, the redefinition of success; and more.
All these stories establish and give credibility to his Third Door framework: avoid the main and VIP
entrances and persist to find a different way into the situation. The most important door of all? "That
everyone has the power to make little choices that can alter their lives forever."--Barbara Jacobs
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Jacobs, Barbara. "The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People
Launched Their Careers." Booklist, 15 May 2018, p. 6. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541400726/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=89837fa8.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A541400726
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534188322211 4/4
The Third Door: The Wild Quest to
Uncover How the World's Most
Successful People Launched Their
Careers
Publishers Weekly.
265.16 (Apr. 16, 2018): p87.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their
Careers
Alex Banayan. Currency, $26 (320p) ISBN 9780-8041-3666-2
Professional speaker Banayan debuts with a self-aggrandizing memoir unconvincingly couched as a
business book. As a college freshman under great parental pressure to succeed, Banayan writes of how he
was looking for a way to forge his own path, like the entrepreneurs and entertainers he admired. To fund
this, he "hacked" The Price Is Right (by researching the casting producer's name and taking last-minute
advice from an audience member) and used the money from his winnings to start pursuing interviews with
famous, successful people. He frames the book around his quest to reach them via the "third door"--neither
over the transom nor personal connections, but via sheer persistence and audacity. In this way, he won
access to such luminaries as Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Tony Hsieh, and Steven Spielberg.
While he covers a few lessons imparted by his interviewees, most of the book consists of stories of how he
blustered his way into their offices. This work has little to offer to readers beyond a tribute to the author's
own chutzpah. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their
Careers." Publishers Weekly, 16 Apr. 2018, p. 87. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536532769/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c0e105b1.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536532769