Arrested for fraud in 2008--during the depths of the global financial crisis--the 70-year-old market maker, investment advisor, and former chairman of the NASDAQ had orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in world history, fleecing thousands of investors across the globe to the tune of $65 billion. To this day, questions remain: Why did he do it? How did he get away with it for so long? What did his family know? Who is the elusive Bernie Madoff?In Madoff Talks, author Jim Campbell presents the most comprehensive, insider account of the Madoff saga to date. Based on exclusive interviews with all the players--the Madoff family and their associates, the Wall Street wheelers and dealers, the army of lawyers, analysts, and investigators, the victims of the scheme, and Bernie Madoff himself--the book reveals: what motivated a respected financier to commit such a massive fraud--and why he thought he could get away with ithow Madoff managed to keep the scheme hidden in plain sight--despite numerous SEC investigationsthe shocking failures of Wall Street oversight--and how it could happen againthe true scale of the investment losses―and the victims' ongoing fight for justicewhat Ruth Madoff and the rest of the family knew--and how it shattered their livesMadoff Talks features the first, and likely only, interviews with Ruth Madoff and defense attorney Ira Sorkin, for which Bernie waived attorney-client privilege, as well as never-before-published details from the author's personal communications with Bernie Madoff in prison. A vivid, powerful piece of investigative reporting, the book takes us behind the headlines to show the full human cost of Madoff's crimes, and offers a cogent analysis of the reforms necessary to prevent it from happening again.Meticulously researched and relentlessly riveting, Madoff Talks is the full story of an American tragedy.

    When inexperienced entrepreneurs ask my advice about their idea for a tech startup, they often worry "What if Google decides to compete with us? They will crush us!" I respond that far more startups die of suicide than homicide. If you can avoid hurting yourself, then you are already better off than most of your competitors. Startups are a chance to build something entirely original with brilliant and ambitious people. But startups are also dangerous. Limited money means there is little room for mistakes. One bad decision can mean bankruptcy. The potential payoff attracts capital, which in turn attracts scam artists. The unscrupulous often lack the skills needed to succeed, but sometimes they are smart enough to trick investors. Even entrepreneurs who start with a strong moral compass can find that the threat of failure unmoors their ethics from their ambition. Emotions matter. We might hope that those in leadership positions possess strength and resilience, but vanity and fragile egos have sabotaged many of the businesses that I’ve worked with. Defeat is always a possibility, and not everyone finds healthy ways to deal with the stress. In this book I offer both advice and also warnings. I've seen certain self-destructive patterns play out again and again, so I wanted to document one of the most extreme cases that I've witnessed. In 2015 I worked for a startup that began with an ingenious idea: to use the software techniques known as Natural Language Processing to allow people to interact with databases by writing ordinary English sentences. This was a multi-billion dollar idea that could have transformed the way people gathered and used information. However, the venture had inexperienced leadership. They burned through their $1.3 million seed money. As their resources dwindled, their confidence transformed into doubt, which was aggravated by edicts from the Board Of Directors ordering sudden changes that effectively threw away weeks' worth of work. Every startup forces its participants into extreme positions, often regarding budget and deadlines. Often these situations are absurd to the point of parody. Therefore, there is considerable humor in this story. The collision of inexperience and desperation gives rise to moments that are simply silly. I tell this story in a day-to-day format, both to capture the early optimism, and then the later sense of panic. Here then, is a cautionary tale, a warning about tendencies that everyone joining a startup should be on guard against."

    Never-been-told stories of sex, drugs and rock & roll. Plus exclusive photos! It's your all-access pass...a behind-the-scenes VIP tour of when rock was great. The author takes you backstage and inside bands' dressing rooms, hotel suites and private planes of Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney and dozens more.

    So we’ve created a guide that will show you (or a friend or relative who’s just getting started): * How much you need to start investing. * The key steps for building long-term wealth. * Proven ways to find great companies to buy. Understanding these life-changing concepts will get any investor on the path to financial freedom. Built upon our 13 Steps to Investing Foolishly, The Motley Fool Guide to Investing for Beginners includes our top investors’ biggest mistakes, insights into different styles of investing, and much more. Plus, you get 3 great stock picks that we think could make a strong foundation to any portfolio.

    In this issue you will find out all there is to be known about Design Thinking, the different and creative approach to businesses everyday challenges.

    Given the intricacies of the industry, it's also going to be the most resistant to change. Alan Wolk, an industry veteran and longtime analyst and observer, lays out how the television industry is adapting to the digital era, explaining what's really happening in a tone that will appeal to laypeople and insiders alike. In the first section, Wolk takes us through how the industry works today, focusing on how the various players actually make money and who pays who for what. The next section deals with the changes that are taking place in the industry today–everything from time shifting to binge viewing to cord cutting–and how those changes are starting to create some seismic shifts. In the final section, Wolk reveals his predictions for the future and what the industry will look like in ten years time. Andrew Wallenstein, co-editor-in-chief of Variety says "Alan Wolk is one of the most insightful observers writing about the media business today. There's no better expert to help you navigate the confusing, complicated nexus of TV and the Internet." David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications says "Alan Wolk has a deep understanding of the complex nature of television today… this is a fantastic primer of the business and one of the most educated perspectives on the future of our rapidly evolving industry."

    

    From the movie Flipped, a delightful piano solo arrangement by renowned composer Marc Shaiman.

    In this transcript of the audio series, Gene Kim and John Willis present a nine-part discussion that includes an oral history of the DevOps movement, as well as discussions around pivotal figures and philosophies that DevOps draws upon, from Goldratt to Deming; from Lean to Safety Culture to Learning Organizations.The book is a great way for listeners to take an even deeper dive into topics relevant to DevOps and leading technology organizations.

    after taxes! What are his investing secrets? How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett contains the answers and shows, step-by-profitable-step, how any investor can follow Buffett's path to consistently find bargains in all markets: up, down, or sideways.How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett sticks to the basics: how Buffett continually finds bargain stocks passed over by others. Written by an actual financial analyst who uses Buffett's strategies professionally, this tactical how-to book includes:Comprehensive financial tools and informationStrategy-packed Buffett in action boxesBuffett's own stock portfolio­­continually updated on the author's website!

    Worse, it often causes dysfunctional and unethical managerial behavior. Based on an intensive, international study into pioneering companies, Beyond Budgeting offers an alternative, coherent management model that overcomes the limitations of traditional budgeting. Focused around achieving sustained improvement relative to competitors, it provides a guiding framework for managing in the twenty-first century.

    The passive investment strategies for wealth building and income generation described in this book have traditionally been used by some of the world’s most sophisticated institutional investors, but are now available to nearly everyone thanks to recent regulatory changes. This handbook will guide you through the process of building your own diversified real estate portfolio by identifying and making investments with established and experienced private real estate operators. This is NOT another get-rich-quick real estate fix & flip scheme. You will NOT be encouraged to sign up for conferences or clubs to learn a no-money-down investment strategy. This IS a practical guide meant to help you avoid common mistakes and navigate more skillfully through an often byzantine industry. You will learn: - What a private real estate investment is; the mechanics of syndicates, funds, and crowdfunding - Fundamentals of basic real estate evaluation - How to evaluate operators and investments - Fees, incentives, and other loads - Common terms and structures - Strategies to evaluate and manage risk - How to create and execute a personalized investment strategy Most people underestimate the time requirements, complexity, risk, and general brain damage involved with buying real estate directly. Thankfully, private real estate investments provide most of the same benefits as direct ownership, while taking advantage of established real estate companies’ years of experience, market knowledge, industry reputation, negotiating leverage, and expertise. Even better, they allow investors to diversify their investment allocation across a range of real estate product types (multifamily, retail, office, self-storage, etc.) and throughout the capital stack (equity, debt, mezzanine, and preferred equity), all while working with specialists in each strategy. Written by an experienced practitioner with over $3 billion in transactional experience, this book challenges conventional wisdom and provides an inside look into how the industry actually works. Using the practical tips and strategies found here, you can build your own unique real estate portfolio, manage risk, avoid common mistakes, hopefully make money, and perhaps even have some fun along the way.

    Vaughn Vernon couples guided approaches to implementation with modern architectures, highlighting the importance and value of focusing on the business domain while balancing technical considerations.Building on Eric Evans’ seminal book, Domain-Driven Design, the author presents practical DDD techniques through examples from familiar domains. Each principle is backed up by realistic Java examples–all applicable to C# developers–and all content is tied together by a single case study: the delivery of a large-scale Scrum-based SaaS system for a multitenant environment.The author takes you far beyond “DDD-lite” approaches that embrace DDD solely as a technical toolset, and shows you how to fully leverage DDD’s “strategic design patterns” using Bounded Context, Context Maps, and the Ubiquitous Language. Using these techniques and examples, you can reduce time to market and improve quality, as you build software that is more flexible, more scalable, and more tightly aligned to business goals.

     From the founder of Dividend Mantra, this is a definitive guide on why you should aim to achieve financial independence early in life and how to actually get there. It includes information on my background, the strategies I've used to grow my wealth from below zero to well into the six figures, and practical, nuts-and-bolts advice. I've written over 650 articles, and this book includes some of my most useful, inspirational, and evergreen content I've ever put out there. If you're looking for information on how to execute a a real-life journey to financial independence in real-time, this is the book for you. I describe why you should aim for financial independence and I explore the idea of true sacrifice. I also discuss the 4% safe withdrawal rate, index funds, the power of dividends and dividend growth, living below your means, and how to analyze and value stocks. I've been featured in major media, including USA Today, CNBC, Today, Yahoo, and Mr. Money Mustache. I'm hoping this book inspires you. Living below your means and investing your excess capital into high-quality companies that pay and grow dividends is not only an incredibly easy and fun way to achieve financial independence early in life, but also incredibly robust.

    A person would spend their entire career with ONE company and then upon retirement they would receive a pension which was a guaranteed paycheck every month for the rest of their life. Most Americans have no chance at getting that deal anymore. The burdens, challenges, and risks of today's world are far greater. The stock market has seen negative returns for an entire decade. Health care costs are up but benefits are down. Life expectancy has dramatically increased but pensions are all but extinct! We are in a time when people need guaranteed income more than ever, yet fewer people have it than ever before. Paychecks and Playchecks: Retirement Solutions For Life is a guide for retirement that is BUILT for markets like these. It's a roadmap for surviving, and thriving, in difficult economic times. This book is not an Op-Ed on how "Average Joe" can invest to generate huge returns. It is a mathematical and scientifically proven guide on how to create a solid retirement with as much upside potential and downside protection as possible. Its purpose is to help you make absolutely sure that you have guaranteed lifetime income to keep you and your family protected in any market.By using simple financial products properly, having a plan for long term care, and utilizing cutting edge estate planning ideas, Paychecks and Playchecks will show you how to retire with enough guaranteed lifetime income to cover your basic expenses and optimize the rest of your portfolio to make sure you receive your "playchecks." It's not rocket science - it's financial sense. Despite what most experts say, "Happily ever after" still exists and it starts with Paychecks and Playchecks: Retirement Solutions For Life.