When Hazem Mulhim was starting out in life, his father presented him with two brown envelopes: one bulging with money, the other flat with some dollar bills. Only one—and its contents—would be his. After a brief but memorable discussion, his father made the decision that would influence the rest of Hazem’s life.

Two Brown Envelopes offers a refreshingly candid account of the ups and the downs of building a business in the age of globalization. Hazem started out as a shop owner, opening the first computer store in Jordan in the 1980s. Since then, he has built a global business that provides anti-money-laundering and other technology solutions for almost 10 percent of the world’s banks.

Unlike most business memoirs that only recount achievements, Two Brown Envelopes takes you on a roller-coaster journey—revealing the humbling lows of defeat and the highs of winning—proving that what defines your future is how well you shrug off setbacks and bounce back from failure.