Quick Take
- Narration: Alan Sklar brings polished broadcast authority to the material, appropriately confident in tone, matching the book’s unapologetically aggressive philosophy.
- Themes: aggressive ambition and momentum, revenge as a business philosophy, contract discipline in professional and personal life
- Mood: Blunt, combative, and energizing for its intended audience
- Verdict: Delivers exactly what its title promises, no hedging, no nuance, no apologies, and listeners who know what they are signing up for tend to find it effective.
Think BIG and Kick Ass is not a book I would have sought out on my own. But it landed in the queue, I listened, and what I found was more coherent than I expected. Trump and co-author Bill Zanker, an entrepreneur who learned these tactics firsthand, have produced a business philosophy book that is, within its own terms, internally consistent. The terms include: pursue momentum aggressively, do not let betrayal go unanswered, put everything in writing, and under no circumstances think small. You can disagree with the philosophy. You cannot accuse it of hiding the ball.
The book was published in 2007, before Trump’s later political career reshaped how any work under his name is received, and it reads as a product of that earlier context: a business celebrity at the height of his cultural influence, co-authoring with someone who applied his methods and wants to share them. The framing is explicit about its grit, there are warnings at the front that the content is blunt. The revenge chapter, which advises hitting back fifteen times harder when someone crosses you, is the section reviewers most often cite as either the book’s defining feature or its most troubling one, depending on their own disposition.
Our Take on Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life
What the book does effectively is convey a coherent psychological orientation toward business competition. The Big Mo chapter, about momentum, how to generate it, how to recognize when you have lost it, and how to recover it, is the most practically useful section and the one most likely to transfer across contexts regardless of what a listener thinks of the author. Zanker’s contributions, which appear as testimonials and case studies, add texture and help abstract principles land on concrete scenarios. One reviewer noted it gives it to you straight in a way most business books do not, and that is accurate: this is not a book that nudges you gently toward incremental improvement. The strategies are presented as proven, attested to by those who applied them, which is the rhetorical mode the book sustains throughout.
Why Listen to Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life
Alan Sklar’s narration is well-matched to the material. He reads with authority and pace, which suits a book that has no patience for hesitation. At 8 hours and 12 minutes, the length is reasonable, the ideas are repeated and illustrated through examples rather than accumulated in layers, so the audiobook format works well. Listeners who respond to a declarative, energetic style will find the narration propulsive. Those who prefer a more reflective delivery may find Sklar’s polish a bit slick for the book’s self-proclaimed grit.
What to Watch For in Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life
The revenge philosophy, specifically the fifteen-times-harder formulation, warrants attention because it is not ironic or hyperbolic. The book means it as actionable advice. Readers who find this philosophically incompatible with their approach to professional relationships will hit a genuine friction point. The book also predates Trump’s political career, so references to his business record reflect the pre-2015 public narrative. Treating it as a historical artifact, a snapshot of a particular philosophy at a particular moment, is probably the most useful frame for listeners with strong feelings about the author’s later public life.
Who Should Listen to Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life
The audience is self-selecting: entrepreneurs and competitive professionals who want an aggressive, unapologetic framework for business growth, presented without the softening that characterizes most management titles. It is particularly suited to listeners who feel most business books are, as one reviewer put it, sugar coated. Skip it if you are looking for research-backed leadership science, collaborative management theory, or anything with citations; this is philosophy-by-anecdote and makes no pretense otherwise. Also skip it if the name on the cover will make the content impossible to hear on its own terms, that is a legitimate response and not one that requires justification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this book different from Trump’s earlier title The Art of the Deal?
Yes, though they share thematic DNA. The Art of the Deal is more narrative and autobiographical, structured around specific deals. Think BIG and Kick Ass is more explicitly prescriptive and co-authored with Zanker, whose entrepreneur’s perspective adds a second layer. The revenge philosophy is more foregrounded here, and the book is blunter about its adversarial approach to competition.
How does the revenge chapter hold up as business advice?
It depends entirely on your philosophy. The book advises responding to betrayal with disproportionate force, hitting back fifteen times harder. Reviewers who find this useful tend to work in high-stakes competitive environments where deterrence matters. Those who find it troubling prioritize relationship preservation and long-term trust. The book offers no nuance on this point; it is a governing principle.
Is the audiobook narrated by Trump himself?
No. Alan Sklar narrates this audiobook. He is a professional narrator with a polished, authoritative delivery that suits the book’s confident tone, but listeners looking for Trump’s own voice will not find it here.
Does the 2007 publication date affect the book’s relevance today?
In terms of core business philosophy, the ideas are timeless within their own framework, momentum, aggressive goal-pursuit, contract discipline. In terms of cultural context, the book predates Trump’s political career by nearly a decade, so the framing of his public persona is different. Readers should be aware they are engaging with a specific historical moment.
