Book picks similar to
Ikea Edge by Anders Dahlvig


business
finance
business-models
biography

Exponential Organizations: Why New Organizations Are Ten Times Better, Faster, Cheaper Than Yours (and What To Do About It)


Salim Ismail - 2014
    In performance, how you organize can be the key to growth. In the past five years, the business world has seen the birth of a new breed of company - the Exponential Organization - that has revolutionized how a company can accelerate its growth by using technology.

Comic Wars: How Two Tycoons Battled Over the Marvel Comics Empire--And Both Lost


Dan Raviv - 2002
    In the late 1980s, financier Ronald Perelman, worth billions and riding high after his hostile takeover of the cosmetics firm Revlon, bought Marvel Entertainment–legendary creator of Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and other superheroes–and he had big plans. He not only began churning out more comic books, he also acquired sports cards and other subsidiaries, impressing Wall Street so much that after he took the company public, Marvel’s market value ballooned to over $3 billion. Perelman took advantage of the company’s inflated valuation by selling junk bonds, and personally pocketing nearly $500 million. Meanwhile, Marvel’s bank debt rose to more than $600 million. And then came the collapse of the comic-book and trading-card markets.Enter rival corporate raider, Carl Icahn, who sank a fortune into Marvel’s bonds in an effort to wrest away control of Marvel–and to beat Perelman at his own game. As the competing tycoons went head-to-head, Ike Perlmutter and Avi Arad, two entrepreneurs who ran Toy Biz, a company that depended on Marvel superheroes, realized that their fate hung in the balance. They soon put in motion plans to take control themselves.Bunkered in The Townhouse, his high-security Manhattan corporate headquarters, Perelman had Marvel declare bankruptcy. Icahn, an avid poker player, had to figure out if his foe was bluffing; the Toy Biz entrepreneurs needed to find a way to save the company they loved from ruin; and a team of killer lawyers representing the banks was faced with recouping their colossal debt. Thus, in United States Bankruptcy Court, began the comic war–as ferocious and outlandish as any of Marvel’s tales of good vs. evil.Combining meticulous investigative reporting with entertaining storytelling, Comic Wars exposes the actions and motives of two Goliath-style corporate raiders, two innovative Davids, and some of the world’s most prominent banks. It is the rollicking true tale of a unique Wall Street showdown, of Marvel’s surprising emergence from the ashes of bankruptcy, and of its triumphant reinvention as the producer of such hit Hollywood movies as X-Men and Spider-Man.

Driving Honda: Inside the World's Most Innovative Car Company


Jeffrey Rothfeder - 2014
    One has been endlessly studied and written about, the other has been generally underappreciated and misunderstood. Until now. Since its birth as a motorcycle company in 1949, Honda has steadily grown into the world's fifth largest automaker and top engine manufacturer, as well as one of the most beloved, most profitable, and most consistently innovative multinational corporations. What drives the company that keeps creating and improving award-winning and bestselling models like the Civic, Accord, Odyssey, CR-V, and Pilot? Read and find out!

Five Frogs on a Log: A CEO's Field Guide to Accelerating the Transition in Mergers, Acquisitions And Gut Wrenching Change


Mark L. Feldman - 1998
    Four decide to jump off. How many are left? Answer: Five Why? Because there's a difference between deciding and doing. Written by Mark L. Feldman and Michael F. Spratt of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Five Frogs on a Log offers readers an entertaining and no-nonsense field guide to the mergers and acquisitions jungle, packed with insight and instruction for executing corporate change and capturing shareholder value. Whether you're buying another company or acquiring a new vision of the future, this book proffers an unconventional perspective and a practical, readily accessible set of solutions to the single greatest challenge facing today's managers: executing rapid transitions ion mergers, acquisitions and gut wrenching change.Designed for corporate managers and CEOs caught up in the whirlwind of change, every chapter provides accessible ideas and wisdom for navigating the most demanding business transitions. The authors offer a unique hands-on perspective based on their work with top Fortune 500 firms. As they state:"Increasingly, the companies that win are those that learn faster, act quicker and adapt sooner. They will compress time by making and executing early, informed decisions about economic value creation, ruthless prioritization and focused resource allocation. They will use these decisions to take early firm stands on management deployment, organization structure and culture. Their actions will increasingly be linked to long-term, sustained economic value creation." The advice and expertise offered in this book can be used to solve a range of operational problems from speeding up new product development to merging two businesses; from changing company culture to repositioning a business in a while new marketplace.Whatever the challenges and opportunities facing you, your company, your industry, Five Frogs on a Log will move you from deciding to doing.

Summary - Hillbilly Elegy: By James David Vance - A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis


e-Summary - 2016
    The book is written by JD (James David by author's full name) Vance and in it the author tries to describe the overall life and struggles of people in post-industrial time in the United States. This book deals with the problems of white working-class and the book is not just some book where the author tries to describe lives of ordinary white people. The book is actually a memento and a message to the readers; in it Vance describes his life and his starts, especially growing up while being poor in Ohio. We can find out about this when we find out that Vance's family is of Scottish-Irish descent and that his ancestors have longer history of poverty and hard work that they need to endure in order to survive the hard times that were at hand. We also find out that since the 18th century many Scottish-Irish people were working as plantation workers, as miners and/or as millworkers. Because these people worked only the hardest jobs that hardly anyone else would take many people belittled them. Words like 'white trash, redneck' and/or 'hillbilly' were unfortunately a common everyday word for those people. Hillbilly Elegy is a fascinating work, not because it was written based on a true story but because it was written from a man who lived 'through' his story. The fact that the entire book contains a message is, of course, welcoming plus and something we want from literature of this genre. Here Is A Preview Of What You Will Get: In Hillbilly Elegy, you will get a summarized version of the book.In Hillbilly Elegy, you will find the book analyzed to further strengthen your knowledge.In Hillbilly Elegy, you will get some fun multiple choice quizzes, along with answers to help you learn about the book.Get a copy, and learn everything about Hillbilly Elegy.

No One Man Should Have All That Power: How Rasputins Manipulate the World


Amos Barshad - 2019
    Amos Barshad has long been fascinated by the powerful. But not by elected officials or natural leaders—he’s interested in their scheming advisors, the dark figures who wield power in the shadows. And, as Barshad shows in No One Man Should Have All That Power, the natural habitat of these manipulators is not only political backrooms. It’s anywhere power dynamics exist—from Hollywood to drug cartels, from recording studios to the NFL. In this wildly entertaining, wide-ranging, and insightful exploration of the phenomenon, Barshad takes readers into the lives of more than a dozen of these notorious figures, starting with Grigori Rasputin. An almost mythical Russian mystic, Rasputin drank, danced, and healed his way into a position of power behind the last of the tsars. But not every one of these figures rose to power through lechery or magical cures. Barshad explores how they got there, how they wielded control, what led to their downfall or staved it off, and what lessons we can take from them, including how to spot Rasputins in the wild. Based on interviews with well-known personalities like Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber’s manager), Alex Guerrero (Tom Brady’s trainer), and Sam Nunberg (Trump’s former aide) and original reporting on figures like Nicaragua’s powerful first lady Rosario Murillo and the Tijuana cartel boss known as “Narcomami,” No One Man Should Have All That Poweris an eye-opening book from an exciting new voice.

The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould and J.P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy


Charles R. Morris - 2005
    Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan. They were the giants of the Gilded Age, a moment of riotous growth that established America as the richest, most inventive, and most productive country on the planet.Acclaimed author Charles R. Morris vividly brings the men and their times to life. The ruthlessly competitive Carnegie, the imperial Rockefeller, and the provocateur Gould were obsessed with progress, experiment, and speed. They were balanced by Morgan, the gentleman businessman, who fought, instead, for a global trust in American business. Through their antagonism and their verve, they built an industrial behemoth—and a country of middle-class consumers. The Tycoons tells the incredible story of how these four determined men wrenched the economy into the modern age, inventing a nation of full economic participation that could not have been imagined only a few decades earlier.

The Players Ball: A Genius, a Con Man, and the Secret History of the Internet's Rise


David Kushner - 2019
    Only 5 percent of Americans were using the internet at the time, and even fewer were looking online for love. He quickly bought the Sex.com domain too, betting the combination of love and sex would help propel the internet into the mainstream. Imagine Kremen’s surprise when he learned that someone named Stephen Michael Cohen had stolen the rights to Sex.com and was already making millions that Kremen would never see. Thus follows the wild true story of Kremen’s and Cohen’s decade-long battle for control. In The Players Ball, author and journalist David Kushner provides a front seat to these must-read Wild West years online, when innovators and outlaws battled for power and money. This cat-and-mouse game between a genius and a con man changed the way people connect forever, and is key to understanding the rise and future of the online world. “Kushner delivers a fast-paced, raunchy tale of sex, drugs, and dial-up.” —Publishers Weekly

No Nonsense Real Estate: What Everyone Should Know Before Buying or Selling a Home


Alex Goldstein - 2016
    straight from an experienced pro that has seen millions of dollars exchange hands at the closing table.” - Peter Voogd, #1 International Bestselling Author of 6 Months to 6 Figures There are countless real estate books on the market today, so why read this one? What sets it apart from all the others out there?Bestselling Author, Alex Goldstein, brings a unique perspective that many others do not. As a successful realtor and investor, Alex has been on both sides of a real estate transaction, so he knows what strategies and techniques will lead to a successful deal, and which ones should be avoided at all costs. That’s why he chose the name, "No Nonsense Real Estate," for his third book.Goldstein offers practical, proven home buying techniques, free of fluff or confusing jargon.This book is for anyone who is getting ready to buy or sell a home and wants to be as informed as possible as they get ready to begin the process so there are no surprises – whether they will be working with a realtor or doing it on their own. 9 REASONS TO READ THIS BOOK NOW: 1. AGENT - Go through the pros and cons of working with a real estate agent, and the two ways that they can add the most value,2. ECONOMICS - You'll understand the fundamental economics of the housing market in the simplest terms possible3. INVESTING - Avoid the top five mistakes (almost) all new real estate investors make4. NEGOTIATIONS - Five critical elements of a successful negotiation5. FINANCING - Possible financing options, from traditional loans to seller financing6. SELLING - Seven secrets that make selling a home as painless as possible7. BUYING - Demystifying contracts and closing costs takes the fear out of the process8. CLOSING - Walk through eight steps involved in a real estate transaction closing9. PRACTICAL - Learn how all the different parts come together in a real life case studyYou also receive three free gifts. Goldstein has put together a special document answering the most popular questions every buyer, seller or investor has during a real estate transaction. You also get special access to an easy-to-understand glossary of the most popular real estate jargon. Last but not least, every reader is access to a free video training that will teach you how to choose the best home for your family.

The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary


Joseph A. Michelli - 2006
    Since 1992, its stock has risen a staggering 5,000 percent! The genius of Starbucks success lies in its ability to create personalized customer experiences, stimulate business growth, generate profits, energize employees, and secure customer loyalty-all at the same time. The Starbucks Experience contains a robust blend of home-brewed ingenuity and people-driven philosophies that have made Starbucks one of the world's most admired companies, according to Fortune magazine. With unique access to Starbucks personnel and resources, Joseph Michelli discovered that the success of Starbucks is driven by the people who work there-the partners -and the special experience they create for each customer. Michelli reveals how you can follow the Starbucks way to Reach out to entire communities Listen to individual workers and consumers Seize growth opportunities in every market Custom-design a truly satisfying experience that benefits everyone involved Filled with real-life insider stories, eye-opening anecdotes, and solid step-by-step strategies, this fascinating book takes you deep inside one of the most talked-about companies in the world today. For anyone who wants to learn from the best-and be the best-The Starbucks Experience is a rich, heady brew of unforgettable user-friendly ideas.

Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide


Stephen Fishman - 2005
    This edition covers updates on the laws, numbers, and planning strategies. Illustrations.

Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United


Alex Ferguson - 2015
    From hiring practices to firing decisions, from dealing with transition to teamwork, from mastering the boardroom to responding to failure and adversity, Leading is as inspiring as it is practical, and a go-to reference for any leader in business, sports, and life.

Graham and Dodd's Security Analysis


Sidney Cottle - 1980
    Now the fifth edition of this classic updates the application of the Graham and Dodd valuation approach for today's greatly changed investment environment.

Business Adventures


John Brooks - 1969
    What do the $350 million Ford Motor Company disaster known as the Edsel, the fast and incredible rise of Xerox, and the unbelievable scandals at General Electric and Texas Gulf Sulphur have in common? Each is an example of how an iconic company was defined by a particular moment of fame or notoriety. These notable and fascinating accounts are as relevant today to understanding the intricacies of corporate life as they were when the events happened.Stories about Wall Street are infused with drama and adventure and reveal the machinations and volatile nature of the world of finance. John Brooks’s insightful reportage is so full of personality and critical detail that whether he is looking at the astounding market crash of 1962, the collapse of a well-known brokerage firm, or the bold attempt by American bankers to save the British pound, one gets the sense that history really does repeat itself.

The Billionaire's Apprentice: The Rise of The Indian-American Elite and The Fall of The Galleon Hedge Fund


Anita Raghavan - 2013
    Citigroup, PepsiCo and Mastercard are just a handful of the Fortune 500 companies led by a group known as the "Twice Blessed." Yet little is known about how these Indian emigres (and children of emigres) rose through the ranks. Until now...The collapse of the Galleon Group--a hedge fund that managed more than $7 billion in assets--from criminal charges of insider trading was a sensational case that pitted prosecutor Preet Bharara, himself the son of Indian immigrants, against the best and brightest of the South Asian business community. At the center of the case was self-described King of Kings, Galleon's founder Raj Rajaratnam, a Sri-Lankan-born, Wharton-educated billionaire. But the most shocking allegation was that the éminence grise of Indian business, Rajat Gupta, was Rajaratnam's accomplice and mole. If not for Gupta's nose-to-the-grindstone rise to head up McKinsey & Co and a position on the Goldman Sachs board, men like Rajaratnam would have never made it to the top of America's moneyed elite.Author Anita Raghavan criss-crosses the globe from Wall Street boardrooms to Delhi's Indian Institute of Technology as she uncovers the secrets of this subculture--an incredible tale of triumph, temptation and tragedy.