by Scott Duffy ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 20, 2014
Solid advice for novice risk-takers.
A breezy handbook for entrepreneurs on how to launch a new business, product or service.
Business consultant Duffy debuts with a realistic view of entrepreneurship, balancing both inspiration and caution. “There has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur,” he writes. “Today there are more businesses, products, and services being launched than at any time in history.” However, success demands vision, passion and perseverance, as well as the ability to move from idea to the marketplace quickly—within 90 days. Speed is critical in an era of exponential change when the competition is faster, more agile and better equipped. Based on his experiences working with business coach Tony Robbins and with major media brands, Duffy describes a three-part systematic approach to entrepreneurial ventures, from limiting your personal risk to assembling financial and other resources to developing the strategies and partnerships needed to introduce your product. Stressing that large companies take too long to execute their best ideas, he explains how an unhappy customer can start a competitive company with just a laptop, a mobile phone, an Internet connection and a social media account. For instance, Sara Blakely, a young Floridian, invested $5,000 in her vision for the future of underwear to create Spanx, a company that now boasts yearly sales of more than $250 million. Duffy balances dream-come-true stories with cautionary advice on how to mitigate risk and how to manage when things go awry. His practical tips include the need to stay focused, avoid perfectionism, surround yourself with positive people, build a culture of teamwork and innovation, and get plenty of stress-relieving exercise. Be fast, and keep it simple (one-page business plans only).
Solid advice for novice risk-takers.Pub Date: March 20, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59184-606-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Portfolio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
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by Daniel Kahneman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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by Rebecca Henderson ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2020
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.
A well-constructed critique of an economic system that, by the author’s account, is a driver of the world’s destruction.
Harvard Business School professor Henderson vigorously questions the bromide that “management’s only duty is to maximize shareholder value,” a notion advanced by Milton Friedman and accepted uncritically in business schools ever since. By that logic, writes the author, there is no reason why corporations should not fish out the oceans, raise drug prices, militate against public education (since it costs tax money), and otherwise behave ruinously and anti-socially. Many do, even though an alternative theory of business organization argues that corporations and society should enjoy a symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit, which includes corporate investment in what economists call public goods. Given that the history of humankind is “the story of our increasing ability to cooperate at larger and larger scales,” one would hope that in the face of environmental degradation and other threats, we might adopt the symbiotic model rather than the winner-take-all one. Problems abound, of course, including that of the “free rider,” the corporation that takes the benefits from collaborative agreements but does none of the work. Henderson examines case studies such as a large food company that emphasized environmentally responsible production and in turn built “purpose-led, sustainable living brands” and otherwise led the way in increasing shareholder value by reducing risk while building demand. The author argues that the “short-termism” that dominates corporate thinking needs to be adjusted to a longer view even though the larger problem might be better characterized as “failure of information.” Henderson closes with a set of prescriptions for bringing a more equitable economics to the personal level, one that, among other things, asks us to step outside routine—eat less meat, drive less—and become active in forcing corporations (and politicians) to be better citizens.
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.Pub Date: May 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5417-3015-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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