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."

    After teaching himself the basics, he turned pro as an eighteen-year-old in 1956 and over the next twenty-three years fought some of the sport's greatest names: Joe Frazier, George Foreman and, most famously, Muhammad Ali (twice). Since retiring from the ring in 1979, Chuvalo has had to come to terms with a series of crushing body blows. His youngest son, a heroin addict, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Two other sons died from heroin overdoses. His first wife, overcome with grief, took her own life. Yet Chuvalo has stoically fought back. He formed his Fight Against Drugs foundation in 1996 and has spent the past seventeen years travelling across Canada and to parts of the United States, talking to tens of thousands of students and young adults about what happened to his family.An inspirational story of a Canadian icon, Chuvalo is both a top-flight boxing memoir and a poignant, hard-hitting story of coping with unimaginable loss.

    Keeping my hands off her is hard. Cass is a good girl and I'm a bad guy. If she gets involved with me, she'll get hurt. Again.I should leave her alone and continue on my quest for revenge against the people who wronged me.But Cass has a habit of running head-first into danger, and she needs my protection. Not that I mind spending time with the scorching-hot vixen who constantly challenges my self-control.She may be exactly what I need to heal my scarred heart.—I swore off dangerous men like Cutter Twist for a reason.I'm focusing on my career, and I can't afford to get distracted by another broken heart.But the more I push him away, the hotter the flames between us burn.When I find out who caused the horrendous scars on his body, everything changes.Cutter needs someone to help him fight his greatest enemy.And I'm just the girl to do it.If you like steamy romantic suspense with a wounded alpha-male hero and a strong quirky heroine, you'll love Captivated by Cutter.

    Always a protective mother, Cora has never left her children alone. That is until a well-intentioned friend encourages her to. This is a story that will leave you questioning your parenting skills and wanting to read more great running adventures by Diane Strong.

    a short Bible study on 1 Timothy 4:12 for 9-12 year olds

    To celebrate, all books are only 99 cents this week. Suria: I live in a world anything but normal. Lies, cheats, cons and fortune tellings are all part of my everyday life. Most people call us Gypsies, but they don't know us. I love my family and I’m proud of being part of the Romani people. Except for one thing. One day soon, I’m supposed to marry a man I haven’t even met yet. Yes, arranged marriages are all the craze in our world but there’s no way in hell I’ll live in a loveless marriage. Kian: I didn’t have it easy growing up. My father left before I was born. He sends gifts to ease his guilty conscious, but I see through his guise. I’m the one taking care of my mother, I run a pretty decent garage, and I enjoy a casual hookup every now and again. But last night I met someone special. She makes the single life seem like a waste of life. We flirted at the club and now I can’t get her out of my head. Hardworking Kian is dedicated to improving his high-end car shop and caring for his mother. The night he meets a beautiful and mysterious woman, his life was already a delicate balancing act but now his attention is driven away from his obligations and causing him to rethink his priorities. Follow the mysterious Suria and the hardworking Kian in LIES, book 1 of Cassie Wild’s new Deceit and Desire series.

    Rumours abound that Napoleon has surrendered, been murdered, or fled. But before the French are finally defeated and Sharpe can lay down his sword, one of the bloodiest conflicts of the war must be fought: the battle for the city of Toulouse.Sharpe and the Waterloo Campaign, 15 June to 18 June 1815It is 1815. Sharpe is serving on the personal staff of the Prince of Orange, who refuses to listen to Sharpe’s reports of an enormous army, led by Napoleon, marching towards them.Richard Sharpe and the Emperor, 1820-21Five years after the Battle of Waterloo, Sharpe’s peaceful retirement in Normandy is shattered. An old friend, Don Blas Vivar, is missing in Chile, reported dead at rebel hands – a report his wife refuses to believe. She appeals to Sharpe to find out the truth.

    No more than eeny, meeny, miney, mo and who we were supposed to catch by the toe.Wish Mooney’s earliest memory in life is finding a corpse in the Waterford River. Jarring stuff for a four-year-old, yet far from the most shocking or bizarre he would witness growing up in west end St. John’s next door to the Waterford Hospital. Or, as it was unabashedly labelled before the advent of political correctness: the Mental.An unfortunate moniker, but one legitimately derived from the original name of the place—the Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases—when it opened in 1854. Not until 1972 would it be renamed after the river that runs by it. But in Mooney’s world, which revolved mostly in and around the asylum’s drab, depressing confines in the mid-1970s, it was colloquially the Mental, just as its largely despondent inhabitants were the mental patients.Thus was the oft-surreal environment that unavoidably enveloped Wish and the rest of the Irish Catholic Mooney clan, including the quietly acknowledged other realities of the place—the sad, the tragic, the maniacal. Little did Wish ever consider that any or all of that would come full circle later in life when, as the court reporter for the Daily News, he would be thrust into the middle of his own life story, replete with shocking conclusion.

    The sheriff wonders if it has something to do with the lawsuit Amos filed against his own granddaughter, Lizzie Crenshaw. When someone tries to kill Amos' wife, she points the finger at Lizzie, who must work with the new deputy to figure out what is going on before she is either thrown in jail...or becomes a victim herself.Death Makes the Front Page - Lizzie Crenshaw, who is now working at the local newspaper, sees someone assaulting her boss, Dale Gordon. Hours later, Dale's assailant ends up dead. As Lizzie helps Sheriff Owen Greene investigate, details about Dale's past come back to haunt him when they learn he has a past connection to the dead man. Did Dale exact a dish of cold revenge, or is someone setting him up to take the fall? It's up to Lizzie and her friends to discover the truth, before she ends up a blurb on the obit page in the newspaper.Death Stalks the Law - Debra Cosgrove, has come back to town, and Lizzie's life begins to fall apart. It seems people who are close to Lizzie are keeping secrets, and Aunt Debra knows what those secrets are. Adding to the confusion is an old college boyfriend of Lizzie's who seems to have ulterior motives. When an explosion seriously injures an FBI agent as well as Lizzie, all bets are off. Secrets are exposed, and Lizzie has to try to pick up the pieces while trying to keep Aunt Debra from killing someone she loves.

    Kids love jokes! Jokes can aid in story-telling, create laughs, and help with conversation and social skills. Your child will love this hilarious joke book full of clean jokes about dogs and puppies. ** Amazon Prime Members can borrow this book for FREE! ** Kids and children can practice their reading and joke telling skills with this funny dog joke book. Beginning and early readers can enjoy hours of fun and entertainment. This book is especially great for traveling, waiting rooms, and reading aloud at home.Special Note: The illustrations in the book are optimized for a vivid and colorful experience in e-readers, tablets, phones, and computers! Jokes from this funny book... Q: Where do you usually find lost dogs?A: It all depends on where you lose them! HAHA! Q: What kind of dog sniffs out flowers?A: A bud hound! LOL! Q: What do you call a happy Lassie?A: A jolly collie! HAHA! Q: What kind of dog is a human's best friend?A: Palmation! LOL! Q: How do you stop a dog from barking in the front yard?A: Put him in the back yard! HAHA! Q: Why did the dog run in circles?A: Because it is not that easy to run in squares! Funny Dog Jokes for Kids! The Funniest Dog Jokes for in the World! (Clean Jokes for Children) 100+ funny dog and puppy jokes Excellent for early and beginning readers Hours of fun and entertainment for your child Great for long trips, waiting rooms, and reading aloud This funny joke book is full of funny dog and puppy jokes that will have you laughing for hours! This is one of the best joke collections in the world. These jokes about dogs and puppies will have you laughing for hours. These funny jokes are excellent for kids, children, teens, and adults. Early and beginner readers can practice reading aloud and learning. Scroll up and click 'buy' to get your paws on this funny joke book! 100% Money Back Guarantee Tags: funny dog jokes for kids, funny joke, funny jokes, lol, jokes, dogs, dog book, dog jokes book, ebook, dog books, funny, dog jokes, ebooks, dog jokes, kids, haha, hilarious, children, joke, kid, funny jokes for children, kids books, childrens books, childrens book, kids book, puppy books, puppies, cute, illustrations, illustrated, books for kids, childrens book, pupppy, puppy ebook, funny, haha, funny dog jokes, joke book, funny book, joke books, hilarious, lol, funny joke book, book about dogs, kindle book, kindle ebook, jokes online, comedy, humor, early reader, beginning reader, laugh, children, child, kid, kids, kids book, laughter, funniest jokes, laughing, kids comedy

    “I’m willing to pay $100,000 to you for helping me to learn how to function as an adult, and pretend to be my girlfriend.”$100,000? For 3 months?That’s more money than Jacqueline Cross makes in three years!Dylan Brandt has just been given an ultimatum: Get your act together… or you’re getting cut off!No trust fund, no cars, no personal chefs, no bottomless expense cards, no nothing.That’s where Jacqueline Cross — Dylan’s sexy downstairs neighbor — comes in to the picture.After she barged in to his apartment at 2am on a Thursday morning to tell him off for his loud music and irreverent attitude……Dylan thinks he knows just the person to whip him in to shape… or at least pretend to.The plan works at first, his dad is happy and it looks like he’s making real progress… barring some confusing boundaries regarding sex……until Jaqueline finds out that Dylan’s father OWNS the company she works for and HR comes after her because she’s dating the boss’s son.It gets worse…A story breaks that Dylan knocked up two separate women — AT THE SAME TIME — and they say they’re carrying his children! The Playboy's Pretend Girlfriend is a stand-alone romance novel with a guaranteed HEA and no cliffhangers.

    My best friend. My one true love.Now I’m back in our small town, and ready to prove my worth.I’m a billionaire and somewhat of a celebrity.But Cassie is totally unimpressed. In fact, she almost seems put off by my wealth and fame.As the town veterinarian, I hire her to take care of my two horses,Hoping to find a way back into her good graces.But just when it seems we’ve finally found our way back,The trappings of my newfound celebrity rear their ugly heads.Now Cassie’s the one that’s left me in the dust.Now, three years later, fate has brought me face to face with her again,And the secret she took with her.

    You’ll learn how each of these platform-agnostic patterns work, when they might be useful in the cloud, and what impact they’ll have on your application architecture. You’ll also see an example of each pattern applied to an application built with Windows Azure.The patterns are organized into four major topics, such as scalability and handling failure, and primer chapters provide background on each topic. With the information in this book, you’ll be able to make informed decisions for designing effective cloud-native applications that maximize the value of cloud services, while also paying attention to user experience and operational efficiency.Learn about architectural patterns for:Scalability. Discover the advantages of horizontal scaling. Patterns covered include Horizontally Scaling Compute, Queue-Centric Workflow, and Auto-Scaling.Big data. Learn how to handle large amounts of data across a distributed system. Eventual consistency is explained, along with the MapReduce and Database Sharding patterns.Handling failure. Understand how multitenant cloud services and commodity hardware influence your applications. Patterns covered include Busy Signal and Node Failure.Distributed users. Learn how to overcome delays due to network latency when building applications for a geographically distributed user base. Patterns covered include Colocation, Valet Key, CDN, and Multi-Site Deployment.

    Noel Livingston wouldn’t learn that about Nicholas St. Clair until much later. Who she met was the owner of the Villa St. Clair. What happened is that two souls, stranded in a snowstorm, fell into each other’s arms when the power went out. It was a silent night, but not for Noel and Nicholas.This is a standalone that ends with a HFN. The continuation of Noel and Nicholas' story will appear in The Men of Mafia St. Clair series.

    Parties, booze, boys--you name it, she does it. Her parents don't care what she does, and when she is home they ignore her. Their attitude started over a year ago when Megan's older brother was tragically killed in a car accident. Then, when her parents die on the same road that took her brother, Megan decides to start over and move far away. She auctions off her parents' property, a country home in northwestern Minnesota, and heads down to the Twin Cities. Megan knows hitchhiking is dangerous, but lately has become a way of life. And this time is no different. She gets picked up by Bart Simms, an attorney from Minneapolis, who agrees to take her where she needs to go. But only after he conducts a bit of estate planning business. The Engels are a farming family who live not far from Megan's old place. They revel peacefully in their secluded backwoods sanctuary, and have a strong desire to keep as much of the government away from their family's farming legacy. Hence the reason they sought the impecable skills of Bart Simms, who has a deep reputation for saving many family farms from unwanted death and estate taxes. But Megan has a problem with the Engels. She has never heard of them, and she's lived in the area all of her life. When she explores their home, she finds more that is out of sorts. She discovers a picture of a teenage girl. A girl who resembles that of a recent murder victim from Minneapolis. Is there more to this backwoods family than meets the eye? This suspenseful story was inspired by the gruesome real-life tales of Ed Gein and the Master of Horror himself Stephen King. Also included in this are two bonus materials: a serial killer short story titled "Hatchet Harry" and an excerpt of Mark S. R. Peterson's thriller novel (published August 2013) titled BEHOLDER'S EYE.