I got this book a while ago but just read it now. I'm not sure why, but now was when I felt like it. In it, Jamie Bartlett delves deep into the dark net and reveals some of its secrets. He goes into legal and illegal sites and forums, and explores and explains their existence. Child and adult pornography, transhumanism, trolling, bitcoin, and drugs online markets are some of … [Read more...]

Bold is the follow up to "Abundance", that I haven't read, I must say. But it stands on its own, don't worry. The book is divided into three big sections. First, the authors talk about the promise and reality of the five exponential technologies: Networks and sensors, Artificial intelligence, Infinite computing, Robotics, and Genomics. In the second part of the book, … [Read more...]

Branding... Subject of much discussion. In my opinion, branding is the sum total of what all the people around you (Company, Brand, Product) say about you. And the author seems to agree. You can sure do a lot to influence and affect what others think of you, otherwise this book would make no sense, but after that it's the public, audience, consumer, customer, who … [Read more...]

After the big success of Business Model Generation, the authors decided to apply the business canvas to the person itself, in an effort to improve many different aspects: Work, personal, relationships, etc. The book goes through every sector of the canvas, explaining how it applies to oneself, giving many practical examples of people who used it successfully. One main … [Read more...]

Strategy is a crucial part of leading and management, but it's often overlooked, undervalued, or misused. Richard Rumelt hopes to clear things up with his book "Good Strategy/Bad Strategy". He gives us the three elements of what he calls the Kernel of good strategy: a) a diagnose of the current situation, b) a guiding policy, and c) a set of actions to carry out the … [Read more...]

In his short bio on his site, Derek Sivers describes himself as "Programmer, writer, entrepreneur, avid student of life". And that's exactly what he is. In his book "Anything you want" that I had read when it came out and just reread, he tells of the journey of founding CD Baby untill selling it for $22 million a few years later. He's an entrepreneur unlike any other. His … [Read more...]

Manuel Castells is a mandatory author if you do any studies in the areas of Sociology, namely communication studies. He has several 500+ page books that some of you may find interesting. However, "Networks of Outrage and Hope" is a much smaller book, dealing with the social movements that have appeared a little all over the world. From the Arab uprisings, to the Ocupy … [Read more...]

I'll start this post like I started my last book review: Most startups fail. That's a fact of life. The question is, how can we do it so that the chances of succeeding are higher? Eric Ries proposes a new approach that he tested in the companies he worked for, with good results. Terms like Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and Pivot became popular after this book. You … [Read more...]

The sad truth is that a huge percentage of small businesses fail in the first few years. All those plans of making it big on your own crumble to the floor. Michael E. Gerber takes us on a journey of transformation, from what I'd call an "amateur" company to a "professional" one. He starts by defining and distinguishing the three roles present in a company: The Technician, … [Read more...]