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This is the ONLY Book About "Networking" You'll Ever Need
Matt Karamazov
November 26, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes
Very little of the success I’ve achieved in my life so far has been just because of me and my own efforts. I, like everyone else on this planet, had a lot of help.
You could say that a lot of it was the result of becoming good at “networking,” but really, it mostly just comes down to being a decent human being. Someone who’s valuable to know, and who also genuinely wants to see other people succeed too.
That might sound a little preachy or pious, but I stand by it.
As Zig Ziglar said, “You can get anything you want in life, just as long as you help enough other people get what they want.”
I’ve lived my entire life like that - or at least I have ever since coming across that quote - and it’s quite literally paid off in an abundance of opportunity, rewards, and professional success.
Tonight’s main book recommendation is called Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi, and what I’ve described above encapsulates much of what you’ll find inside.
I first read Keith’s book in 2022, and applying what I learned has directly and indirectly helped me to build a powerful network of authors, podcasters, creators, businesspeople, and more.
It’s even led to some pretty cool opportunities, like being invited to appear on the Bookstagram influencer panel at BookThinkers Live 2025 in Boston a few weeks ago!
From left to right: Alex Wieckowski (Alex & Books), Blake Randall (Blake Book Club), Me, and Owen Sammarone (Unleash the Knowledge)
Regardless of what business you’re in though, Never Eat Alone is going to teach you how to become a key person of influence, become indispensable, and start attracting a flood of new opportunities that will help you achieve your goals 10X faster than trying to do it alone.
Very few people succeed alone, and it’s not even as fun anyway!
I’d much rather win alongside a bunch of friends, if you ask me.
Now, before our coffees get cold, let’s hit the books!
“Aggressively defend against things that steal your time, energy, and potential.”
“Don’t be afraid of deviating from social norms. The norm is two paychecks away from broke.”
Inside my private business mastermind, Creator Launch Academy, we’re tackling one nonfiction book per month and implementing its lessons inside our businesses.
This month’s book is The Millionaire Fastlane, by MJ DeMarco, a great business book about building a profitable business around the C-E-N-T-S Framework, and a book that helped me leave a dead-end job in my twenties and never look back.
Click here to claim your free trial, and join our business book club for educational content creators!
After achieving my (somewhat meaningless) goal of reading 1,000 books before I turned 30, I set a new (also meaningless but cool) goal of reading 10,000 books. As of today, I’ve read exactly 1,432 books, including 80 books so far this year, and if you’re interested, here’s my full Reading List.
“Today’s most valuable currency is social capital, defined as the information, expertise, trust, and total value that exist in the relationships you have and social networks to which you belong.”
No one is self-made anymore, if they ever were at all. Total self-reliance doesn't exist either, which is actually great news for all of us, because we rise or fall together.
Connection and relationship are the law of the universe, and this book will help you put that law into action to build a powerful network that will help you realize your greatest ambitions.
In order to achieve what's possible for you in life and business, you need a strong, healthy network full of other altruistic individuals who want to see you succeed, and...more good news...it's never been easier - and more necessary - to do that as it is today.
Keith Ferrazzi became the Chief Marketing Offer at Deloitte & Touche Consulting, the youngest-ever CMO at Starwood Hotel & Resorts, then the CEO of Yaya Media, before starting his own company. He's built up a personal network of more than 10,000+ people that he can rely on to take his calls, and whom he can assist in helping to get what they want in life.
Never Eat Alone is one of the greatest networking books ever written - a certified classic - but it's not literally all about who you have dinner with. Not completely. It's so much more than that, and Keith uses both his own story and the stories of influential power connectors like Katherine Graham, Bill Clinton, and Dale Carnegie to illustrate his best tactics for gaining influence by being valuable to others and cultivating your network.
It's about becoming valuable to the people you're connected to and being a resource for them, someone your whole network can rely on to help them get things done. It's about winning yourself, while making sure that, at the same time, your friends are winning too.
Now is the most exciting time to be alive in the history of the planet, and more opportunities exist today to both get everything you ever wanted and to help other people do the same.
Goodwill isn't finite, and Ferrazzi demonstrates the truth of this statement throughout the entire book. As we assist others and accept their assistance in turn, we expand our total possibilities and begin to access our full potential - together.
“Your network is your destiny.”
“Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone.”
“I learned that real networking was about finding ways to make other people more successful. It was about working hard to give more than you get.”
“There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.”
“Until you become as willing to ask for help as you are to give it, however, you are only working half the equation. That’s what I mean by connecting. It’s a constant process of giving and receiving – of asking for and offering help. By putting people in contact with one another, by giving your time and expertise and sharing them freely, the pie gets bigger for everyone.”
“No one becomes an astronaut by accident.”
“In today’s world, mean guys finish last.”
“In building a network, remember: Above all, never, ever disappear.”
“The more new connections you establish, the more opportunities you’ll have to make even more new connections.”
“Never forget the person who brought you to the dance.”
“Connecting is a philosophy of life, a worldview. Its guiding principle is that people, all people, every person you meet, is an opportunity to help and be helped.”
“The only way to get people to do anything is to recognize their importance and thereby make them feel important. Every person’s deepest lifelong desire is to be significant and to be recognized. What better way is there to show appreciation and to lavish praise on others than to take an interest in who they are and what their mission is?”
“Real power comes from being indispensable.”
“To paraphrase Dale Carnegie: ‘You can be more successful in two months by becoming really interested in other people’s success than you can in two years trying to get other people interested in your own success.”
“You are 100 percent responsible for anything that has your name on it.”
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OK, that’s it for now…
I’ve got plenty more excellent book recommendations coming your way soon though!
There’s also my YouTube channel, where I publish book reviews, reading updates, and more each week.
And if you want to learn how I’ve built an audience of 180,000+ followers across social media, became a full-time creator, and how I’m rapidly growing my audience and my profits in 2025, join us inside Creator Launch Academy and that’s exactly what I’ll teach you — we’d love to have you in the community!
With that said, I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Reading Life, and enjoy the rest of your day!
Until next time…happy reading!
All the best,
Matt Karamazov
P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are two more ways I can help you:
Creators: Book a 1-1 strategy call with me and I’ll show you how to reach $5K/month in revenue by following a custom plan that we’ll build together.
Join Creator Launch Academy, my private business mastermind for educational content creators who want to stand out in their niche, build multiple revenue streams, and go full-time with their creative passions.
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