Business Book Blog

Author: Paul Ormerod

Failure is a part of life, both in business and science, which is very much ignored in the business world, actually causing more failure. The book examines failure from three different aspects.

• a documentation of failure
• the subtle patterns found in the apparent disorder of failure
• the causes of failure

According to the author, understanding failure is more likely to lead to success than understanding success. Below is an excerpt that seems to sum up the author’s stance on failure.

I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, “How do I build a small firm for myself?” The answer seems obvious: “Buy a very large one and just wait.”

Read a few review snippets »

Author: Glenn Reynolds

Glen Reynolds’, the voice behind instapundit.com, most recent book, is one of the most optimistic books I have come across in a long time. The book gives a big-picture view of how tachnology is making the little guy matter a lot more than he has in a long time.

Reynolds’ optimism is infecting. Any aspiring blogger, entrepreneur, or anyone starting out on their own, especially in the content-creation and online publishing areas, will be greatly inspired by this book. It’s a refreshingly positive outlook of the future.

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Author: Tom Asacker

I apoligize for not posting towards the end of last week. I have been sick for the last few days. But it’s a new week and we’ve got new books.

A Clear Eye for Branding focuses on debunking branding myths that permeate the business world. The author is a former strategic planner for GE, co-founder of a medical device company, and a well-know brand consultant and author.

The best decription of the ideas in the book I found is an excerpt from the book itself.

Behavorial economics have taught us that there is a lot more involved in a purchase decision than a simple price/benefit analysis… Feelings drive behaviour… Your ultimate business or organizational advantage lies in discovering your audiences desired feeling. And then, once discovered, to get creative and develop consistently positive experiences so your audience can bring those expected feelings to life.

The book focuses on the last part, how to create consistently positive experiences with your audience.

Read a few review snippets »

Author: Michael Corbett

I’m pretty leary of any book written by a TV show host, especially the host of a show called Extra’s Mansions and Millionaires. But, Find It, Fix It, Flip It! seems to avoid a lot of the cliches that make many real estate books unbearable to read. There isn’t much talk of “achieving your dreams” or “gaining the financial freedom you deserve”, though it is a real estate investing book, so there is a certain amount of the pre-requisite motivational speaker talk.

One thing I particularly liked while flipping through the book was the idea of adding value to the house before reselling it. Adding upgrades and making improvements that people want and will actually pay for. The whole idea of adding value seems entirely lost to a large portion of the real estate industry, as any southern California home buyer can attest.

Overall the book is refreshingly different from most real estate books in that it focuses on taking something, making it better and then selling it for a profit, while giving useful tactical tips along the way. There are even before and after pictures of properties the author has flipped to show the types of change that can be made.

I didn’t find much good content about the book online, but I did find some basic reviews.

Read a few review snippets »

Author: Douglas Rushkoff

The first line of Get Back in the Box pretty much sums up the book. “There is no Next Big Thing. In fact, the more things seem to change, the better opportunity you have to stay the same.”

Rushkoff, who is a writer of ten-or-so bestsellers, explains throughout this book that the best way to innovate is to focus on your core competencies, create an innovation conducive work environment, and focus on your customers needs. Pretty straight-forward, but very insightful into the way to do this and full of all sorts of examples. Th interview by Kris Krug in the review snippets is great as well.

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Author: Barbara Weltman

Being that it’s tax season and I’m assuming that many, like myself, have not yet finished this yearly nightmare. So, I decided to find some help for my tax system ignorant self. This book goes through every conceivable tax break that you could receive. The layout and explanation of each deduction and break is very “non-accountant” and each one has the following short sections.

• Benefit
• Conditions
• Planning Tip
• Pitfall
• Where to Claim the Benefit/deduction

And sometimes an example is included on the more abstract ideas. Overall it seems very useful and hopefully will make my return a bit more than it has in years past.

See the review snippets for some articles on tax breaks

Read a few review snippets »

Author: John Battelle

I have to admit that I am a bit of a google-phile. I like a lot of their products and a lot of the way they do business, so my overview may seem a bit positively biased. The book isn’t just a biography of the rise of Google though. It is more an examination of search, how it has changed our culture and uses Google (obviously) as the rat to study.

Battelle introduces a term he calls “Database of Intentions, which is the sum total of all queries that pour into search engines daily, revealing the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of our culture.” It is obvious in the book that Battelle is more interested in search in an anthropological sense more than Google itself, though a lion’s share of the book is focused on Google. He has a great blog about search that can be found here.

You can also get it on audiobook here.

Read a few review snippets »

Author: John Perkins

The subject of this book is the thing John Grisham novels are made of. An economic planner for an international consulting firm persuades developing countries to enter into deals that make American companies rich. Somehow the NSA ties into all this as well, which I don’t exactly understand how, but I guess that’s an incentive to read it. After years of being an “economic hit man”, Perkins leaves his former life and writes his expose, despite bribes and threatenings.

I can already see major studio execs salivating over the story, corporate corruption, governmental cover-up and a lone soul that tells his story despite threatening phone calls and blown up mailboxes. Anyways it sounds like an interesting read, even if it doesn’t provide much business knowledge.

In the review snippets is a link to an interview between the author and democracynow.org as well as a statement from the State Department about the book. Intriguing stuff.

Read a few review snippets »

Author: Jeffrey L. Cruikshank

Today’s entry is brought by Brian from freemacblog.com and freemacware.com. Since he read the book, I figured it would be better to have him be the reviewer instead of me. Everything below is his review. Thanks Brian.

I am a fan of Apple Computer products. They make make computing easy and more productive. But not only are the products unique, but the company itself is run in a unique way as well. In fact, I believe that their “insanely great” products are a direct extension of the decisions they make in the business division of 1 Infinite Loop. This book explains those unique decisions. Both the good and the bad.

More than just a history book, “The Apple Way” offers “12 Management Lessons From The World’s Most Innovative Company.” With topics ranging from the love/hate relationship with Mac User Groups to why Apple has an edge over Microsoft because they control the hardware AND the software of their products.

In all, this book addresses the history and business side of Apple and not so much the technology side. In it’s most basic reading, you learn the four rules.

• Make the customer king
• Make the product king
• Break the marketing mold
• Build the learning organization

And how Apple did them right…and wrong.

Read a few review snippets »

Author: 37signals

This is one of the best books on software design I have ever read. Though not necessarily the appropriate approach for all types of software design, it provides tons of great insight into how to efficiently and effectively build web applications. In the words of the 37signals “Anyone working on a web app — including entrepreneurs, designers, programmers, executives, or marketers — will find value and inspiration in this book.”

37signals is a web application software that has a refreshingly fresh take on software design. Instead of packing their products full of features, they keep them simple and easy-to-use, which in turn makes them more useful. I personally use a few of their products and wouldn’t ever switch back to previous solutions. The book even follows their simple mantra, it is easy to read without all the extra fluff that so many authors can’t seem to avoid.

Read a few review snippets »