The company was forced to write-down $900 million in inventory and Surface’s future was in jeopardy.Beneath A Surface tells the inside story of how Microsoft turned its hardware dreams into a reality with new details about the challenges Panos and his team had to overcome as well as the internal politics that nearly killed the brand.For fans of Microsoft and those who are interested in the business of building brands, Beneath A Surface is a must read that tells the inside story of how Microsoft turned a failure into a fortune.

    As a result, many people are left with an incomplete understanding of this transformative new technology and its massive implications for the future. The goal of this book is not to plumb the depths of the mathematical wizardry used to code blockchain-based applications, but rather to serve as an introduction to the broader architecture and conceptual background behind blockchain technology. We will take a practical approach, examining how Blockchains are used in the real world. In this short, concise guide you will learn: A Brief History of Blockchain Technology Blockchain Basics: Managing Digital Transactions What is a Distributed Ledger? Blockchain Beyond Bitcoin Implications Of Blockchain: Big Data, Privacy & Personal Data Profiting from Blockchain Technologies Limitations & Challenges of Blockchain The Future of Blockchain For Centuries, people have relied on corrupt Centralized Institutions like banks and Governments to serve as intermediaries when it comes to storing and transacting financial assets. This is ALL About To Change... Make sure you take action and join the Financial Revolution by reading this book!

    This book is going to provide you with everything you need to know about Ethereum and whether it is worth investing in now. Like many people, I became interested in Bitcoin years ago, when Bitcoin was still relatively new, but hinting at a huge profit margin for those who took the risk and invested. It was after a couple of years playing around on the Bitcoin market that I heard about a new type of blockchain technology, one that wasn’t just a digital form of payment, but one that could support potentially endless different types of applications. Not only that, but it comes with its own currency. This, to me, sounded like a potentially profitable situation, so I decided to dig a little deeper. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum is still largely unknown to those who don’t keep up with the cryptocurrency world, so the amount of information available is limited or highly technical. Still, it was fascinating and the more I read about Ethereum, the more I began to see its huge potential. And I’m not alone. More and more Fortune 500 companies are investing in Ethereum technology as it becomes increasingly lucrative and poises to change business processes as we know them. I decided to condense my research and share my knowledge on Ethereum by writing this book. The book is designed for those who are new to cryptocurrency, but want to invest in it or learn more about it, as well as for more experienced traders looking to expand their portfolios. With a 5,000% increase in value in the first few months of 2017, Ethereum is proving to be a profitable currency. Still, as it is so new – it was only launched in 2015 – it comes with many infancy-related risks. It’s partly this that makes it so exciting. This book will help you make your own investment decisions and decide if Ethereum is the right coin for you after weighing up the pros and cons that are presented here. So far, Ethereum has made me good money and I was lucky to make the investment when I did. However, now is not too late to invest, not by a long shot. In fact, now is the perfect moment to make the most of Ethereum’s infancy and gain potential first-mover advantages. Ethereum’s technology is only at the beginning of its potential growth stages, possibly reaching to dozens of industries and thousands of services. If its technology is adopted the way it is expected to be, Ethereum will enjoy a long and lucrative spot at the top. The profits are ripe for the taking. Here Is A Preview Of What’s Included… What Is Ethereum? Smart Contracts, Dapps, And DAOs The Technology Behind Ethereum What Is Ethereum Mining? Uses Of Ethereum What Is Ether? The Financial History Of Ether How to Buy, Sell, And Store Ether The Mining Process Of Ether Should I Invest In Ether? The Future Of Ethereum Much, Much More! Get your copy today!

    Yet, not many people understand how payment systems in the US work. Those that do "get it" are unlocking multi-billion dollar opportunities. If you've ever wondered what happens when you actually swipe/dip/tap your credit card or debit card then The Anatomy of the Swipe breaks down the details in the simplest manner possible. Here are some questions answered within these pages:How does money move from my credit card to my favorite coffee shop? How can I build a neo-bank? How can I build my own debit or credit card? How can I accept card based payments? The Anatomy of the Swipe speaks to software developers and entrepreneurs who are looking at implementing card-based payments for the first time, merchants who want to be able to accept payments for a website or store, or those who want to issue their own debit/credit card. This book walks beginners through modern innovations created because of card-based payments, as well as the motivations and revenue models of each party in the payments ecosystem.

    OKRs translate a company's vision and strategy into a coherent set of performance measures. The three layers of organization: Dreams, OKRs, and To dos, offer a balance between long-term goals and short-term planning, between outcomes that are desired by the organization and actual performance KPIs that drive these outcomes, between harder and softer performance measures. Francisco Mello, founder of Qulture.Rocks, the leading performance management software company, takes you through the history of using goals for management, from MBOs to OKRs, and presents OKRs with a constant focus on its key differences from older frameworks such as MBOs.

    

    Almost every major company today has made innovation its number one priority. Yet fewer than one in four executives believe their organizations are effective innovators. The pressure to innovate and the price paid for failure keeps rising, while most companies haven't progressed at all. They are still using the same antiquated techniques pioneered decades ago. This is why some of the biggest corporations in the world manage to lose entire markets to startups they've never heard of.In today's world, everyone will need to innovate to stay competitive. It doesn't matter if you're a startup founder, corporate executive, small business owner, freelancer or professional, there's a technology out there that's going to upend your industry. And if you aren't able to harness it to your advantage, someone else will. Innovation is no longer an option--it's the price of admission into the business world.Making Elephants Fly is designed to help you implement the same innovation methodologies and processes as Silicon Valley startups. It will teach you:How startups come up with breakthrough products and services.How to structure innovation teams.The best ways to identify and vet new ideas.What it takes to foster a culture of innovation.How to establish a process of innovation throughout your organization.By the time you've digested this book, you will have the tools needed to take your impossibly big idea and make it fly!

    They're burning through cash, sales have stalled, and investors are nowhere to be found. Welcome to the reality of the new tech boom. Sure, it has produced its glittering share of billion-dollar "exits." But for the vast majority of startups life is nasty, brutish, and short on glamour. NO EXIT explores the feverish world of company founders who are desperately trying to keep their dream afloat. It’s a harrowing and hilarious look at the Silicon Valley no one sees. This is an extended version of a story that appears in the May 2014 issue of WIRED magazine.

    This revolutionary device: Is Easy to Access Has Excellent Voice Quality Provides Superior Voice Recognition Handles Many Privacy Concerns Has Frequent Software Upgrades Offers Natural-Sounding Voices Allows for Cloud Processing Has Solid, Dependable Hardware What can this book do for you? Amazon Echo: Master Your Amazon Echo; User Guide and Manual teaches you how to use Alexa, how this feature is designed, and how to set it up. You'll learn about: The Body The Blue Light How to Use the Microphones Using Sensors Remote Control Functions Essential Setup Tips You'll find out how to Navigate the Echo and its App, Use the Echo Pen, and Activate your Echo with Voice Command and the remote control. You'll learn to use Bluetooth and connect other home devices to your Echo - including music services! Let Amazon Echo: Master Your Amazon Echo; User Guide and Manual take you by the hand and turn you into an Amazon Echo expert! Download your copy TODAY!

    It has led nothing short of a revolution in the entertainment industries, generating billions of dollars in annual revenue while capturing the imaginations of hundreds of millions of people in over 190 countries. But to reach these great heights, Netflix, which launched in 1998 as an online DVD rental service, has had to reinvent itself over and over again. This type of unprecedented flexibility would have been impossible without the counterintuitive and radical management principles that cofounder Reed Hastings established from the very beginning. Hastings rejected the conventional wisdom under which other companies operate and defied tradition to instead build a culture focused on freedom and responsibility, one that has allowed Netflix to adapt and innovate as the needs of its members and the world have simultaneously transformed.Hastings set new standards, valuing people over process, emphasizing innovation over efficiency, and giving employees context, not controls. At Netflix, there are no vacation or expense policies. At Netflix, adequate performance gets a generous severance, and hard work is irrel-evant. At Netflix, you don't try to please your boss, you give candid feedback instead. At Netflix, employees don't need approval, and the company pays top of market. When Hastings and his team first devised these unorthodox principles, the implications were unknown and untested. But in just a short period, their methods led to unparalleled speed and boldness, as Netflix quickly became one of the most loved brands in the world.Here for the first time, Hastings and Erin Meyer, bestselling author of The Culture Map and one of the world's most influential business thinkers, dive deep into the controversial ideologies at the heart of the Netflix psyche, which have generated results that are the envy of the business world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with current and past Netflix employees from around the globe and never-before-told stories of trial and error from Hastings's own career, No Rules Rules is the fascinating and untold account of the philosophy behind one of the world's most innovative, imaginative, and successful companies.

    Never ask for the order. Get an I.O.U. for everything you do. Don t spill your candy in the lobby.Until now, these unique rules (and 45 more) were given out only to Sandler Training clients in special seminars and private coaching. After three decades of proven success, the secrets are out in The Sandler Rules. And when salespeople know the rules, they get results.Early in his sales career, David Sandler observed that some salespeople work hard and struggle for every deal, while others consistently, and almost effortlessly, uncover new opportunities and close sales. Why is it, he wondered, that two salespeople selling the same product in the same market can have such different results?Are great salespeople born with a special gift--perhaps the right personality? Were they better educated? Did they have more experience? Were they just lucky to find themselves in the right places at the right times with the right people? No, they simply understood human relationships.Using Eric Berne's Transactional Analysis, Sandler devised a selling system and distilled forty-nine unforgettable rules that are frank, sometimes fun, and always easy to put to use. Sandler Training CEO David Mattson, coauthor of Five Minutes with VITO, delivers this fresh and often funny guidebook, filled with real-world tactics for successful prospecting, qualifying, deal-making, closing, and referral generation.In the first week of release, the Amazon ranking of The Sandler Rules shot to:#1 in the Sales and Selling category#2 in Hot New Releases--business books#3 in business books#23 worldwide!

    Everybody knows mobile is the future, and every business wants in, but what are the elements of mobile success? SC Moatti, a Silicon Valley veteran, has created a unique Mobile Formula that makes it easy for any business to develop a strategy for creating mobile products that count. Moatti argues that we so identify with our mobile products that we expect from them what we wish for ourselves: an attractive body, a meaningful life, and increasing competence and ability. So the Body Rule dictates that mobile products must appeal to our sense of beauty but beauty in a mobile world is both similar to and different from what it means offline. The Spirit Rule says mobile products must help us address our deepest needs, both as individuals and as members of communities. And the Mind Rule explains that businesses that want to succeed in mobile need to continually analyze the user experience and use that data to refine and improve their products. Great mobile products replicate and amplify human behavior and interaction, writes Moatti. They don't replace human relationships; they enhance them. A strategy manual rather than a technical treatise, Mobilized includes case studies from mobile pioneers such as Facebook, Uber, Tinder, WhatsApp, and more. The market is full of how-to books for programming apps, but no works examine what is required for business success in the mobile era. Until now."

    

    

    Yet, for every public intervention that spurs entrepreneurial activity, there are many failed efforts that waste untold billions in taxpayer dollars. When has governmental sponsorship succeeded in boosting growth, and when has it fallen terribly short? Should the government be involved in such undertakings at all? "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is the first extensive look at the ways governments have supported entrepreneurs and venture capitalists across decades and continents. Josh Lerner, one of the foremost experts in the field, provides valuable insights into why some public initiatives work while others are hobbled by pitfalls, and he offers suggestions for how public ventures should be implemented in the future. Discussing the complex history of Silicon Valley and other pioneering centers of venture capital, Lerner uncovers the extent of government influence in prompting growth. He examines the public strategies used to advance new ventures, points to the challenges of these endeavors, and reveals the common flaws undermining far too many programs - poor design, a lack of understanding for the entrepreneurial process, and implementation problems. Lerner explains why governments cannot dictate how venture markets evolve, and why they must balance their positions as catalysts with an awareness of their limited ability to stimulate the entrepreneurial sector. As governments worldwide seek to spur economic growth in ever more aggressive ways, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" offers an important caution. The book argues for a careful approach to government support of entrepreneurial activities, so that the mistakes of earlier efforts are not repeated.