About the Founder

My name is Scott Dinsmore and I am the founder and reviewer of Reading For Your Success. Thank you for visiting my site! I have been an avid reader for years and as it developed into a passion bordering on obsession, I felt compelled to share things with others. I can only begin to explain to you how the ideas, tools and strategies I have learned in books have improved my relationships, happiness, outlook on life, my career prospects and the overall understanding of my life mission and purpose.

I will be forever grateful for the books I come across and the best way I can show my appreciation is by paying it forward to other prospective readers. That is why I created Reading For Your Success. For now this is my favorite and most effective way to give back and help those around me become better people (although to be honest, I have been fortunate to be surrounded by some pretty incredible hearts and minds). As far as I’m concerned, that’s what life’s about.

As I write this I am not yet thirty years into life, and I am fortunate to have had quite the full experience until now. It’s hard to believe it’s just getting started. Let me give you a quick idea of what I’ve been up so far in life.

A number of years ago I finished up university at UC Santa Barbara where I studied business and Spanish. While in Santa Barbara I also stayed busy with some golf, competitive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and of course reading, not to mention plenty of fun. I also went to the London School of Economics and the University of Seville, Spain for a while, which proved to be more than worthwhile adventures. Little did I know they were just beginning.

After University, a seven-week graduation tour of Europe turned into another year living in Sevilla as I saw an opportunity to start and run a small teaching business with a close friend. We spent the year teaching, hiring interns, and even working as part time tour guides through Spain, Portugal and Morocco on the weekends.  The learning, the culture and the experience were endless.

At the end of the year we were fortunate enough to sell the business and return home to dive into the American business world (to be clear, the fortunate part was selling the business, not having to leave that wonderful place…). Once home, I dabbled in Corporate America enough to know it wasn’t for me—I was an entrepreneur at heart. Since then I have worked as a consultant and operator with small and growing companies in product development, marketing, market validation and customer experience. I have even gotten the chance to host a few guest lectures at UC Santa Barbara covering a number of the above topics.  For the past few years I have spent my time between San Francisco (I grew up in a small suburb east of SF) and Santa Barbara and I anticipate continuing the schedule for a while to come. It’s pretty tough to beat those two spots.

All this small company work got me itching to do something on my own again and before long I co-founded Cumbre Capital Partners, a long-term value investment fund headquartered in Santa Barbara. This is currently my biggest project. Our focus is on finding, investing in and holding well-run public companies with durable competitive advantages that are selling at attractive prices often due to short-term market conditions. I am a firm believer that good businesses will prevail in the long run as long as the investor has the discipline to withstand short-term distractions.

I have always been fascinated with investing and have long since been a student and admirer of Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger and other incredibly successful members of the investing field. I admire them not just for their investing success but more importantly for their addiction to life and learning. Investing seemed like a perfect way to get a chance to read, write, interact with a bunch of interesting people, learn about great businesses and of course build a successful business of my own. So far it has proven to be all of the above.

So I guess that leaves me with my spare time. When I am not working on my business, reading or writing, I try to fill my time with the things and people I love: my girlfriend (oh wait, now fiancée!) of six years, family, friends, exploring, traveling and adventurous exercising. My most recent journey took me to Dubai and the beaches of Oman. I also spend some time donating my time to a few not for profits including Catalyst For Thought (www.catalystsb.org), a charity dedicated to the continuing development of young entrepreneurs. Giving back is one of my ways of showing gratitude for life as I try to do each day. I am blessed with the people in my life and the interactions I get to have every day just by living and loving. Those are the interactions that make each day so worth it and I hope that this site provides you as readers another daily interaction, because I know it does for me.

I have discovered how to use reading to gain the knowledge needed to achieve extraordinary success—don’t get me wrong, my journey towards success will never be over but I have picked up some incredible tools for the ride. It has guided me to become more efficient with my time, enhanced my personal relationships, improved my wellness through better nutrition and exercise, and has made me a more confident speaker and conscientious citizen. Reading and modeling has enabled me to accomplish all this much faster than if I had to figure it all out on my own, and I’m so excited to share this approach with you!

Now that you’ve heard my story (for more of it check out my LinkedIn profile), I look forward to hearing yours and being a friend on your successful journey, wherever it happens to lead. I am here to help you and me grow, so please don’t be shy with getting in touch.

To loving and appreciating the adventure,

~Scott

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