Slbranin's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 11 Jan 2018 02:56:59 -0800 60 Slbranin's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future]]> 25541028 392 Ashlee Vance 0062301233 Slbranin 4 4.12 2015 Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
author: Ashlee Vance
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2015
rating: 4
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date added: 2018/01/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]> 23692271 512 Yuval Noah Harari Slbranin 0 to-read 4.33 2011 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/01/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers]]> 61329 211 Geoffrey A. Moore 0060517123 Slbranin 0 to-read 4.00 2006 Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers
author: Geoffrey A. Moore
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/12/31
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]]> <![CDATA[The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company]]> 13557008 sparked the Lean Startup revolution, comes its sequel�
The Startup Owner's Manual

The Manual incorporates 10 years of learning and best practices
that have swept the startup world. It:

Incorporates the "Business Model Canvas" as the organizing principle for
startup hypotheses
Provides separate paths and advice for web/mobile products versus
physical products
Offers a wealth of detailed instruction on how to get, keep, and grow
customers recognizing the different techniques for web and physical channels
And teaches a "new math" for startups: "metrics that matter for fueling growth"

The Startup Owner's Manual is a step-by-step, near-encyclopedic reference manual or "how to" for building a successful, scalable startup.
Want to know what to do the first, week, month or year?
What's the right distribution channel for your product?
How to get traffic to your web site?
…and how to activate customers or users on arrival?
Who are the right "first customers," and why?
…plus many more great tips in nearly 500 pages, complete with index,
glossary, and Customer Development Checklists

It's the indispensible reference guide for any startup founder, entrepreneur, investor or educator.]]> 608 Steve Blank 0984999302 Slbranin 0 to-read 4.10 2012 The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company
author: Steve Blank
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/12/18
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]]> Your Money or Your Life 78428 400 Joe Dominguez 0140286780 Slbranin 4 3.99 1992 Your Money or Your Life
author: Joe Dominguez
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1992
rating: 4
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]]> The War of Art 1319 168 Steven Pressfield 0446691437 Slbranin 4 3.95 2002 The War of Art
author: Steven Pressfield
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2002
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration]]> 18077903 “What does it mean to manage well?�
From Ed Catmull, co-founder (with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter) of Pixar Animation Studios, comes an incisive book about creativity in business—sure to appeal to readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust� sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.� For nearly twenty years, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner thirty Academy Awards. The joyousness of the storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here, in this book, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable.
Ěý
As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah, where many computer science pioneers got their start, and then forged a partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the thirteen movies that followed—was the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies that protect the creative process and defy convention, such as:
Ěý
� Give a good idea to a mediocre team, and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team, and they will either fix it or come up with something better.
� If you don’t strive to uncover what is unseen and understand its nature, you will be ill prepared to lead.
� It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them.
� The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them.
� A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody.
� Do not assume that general agreement will lead to change—it takes substantial energy to move a group, even when all are on board.]]> 368 Ed Catmull 0812993012 Slbranin 4 4.19 2014 Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
author: Ed Catmull
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2014
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us]]> 6452796 The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation

Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.]]> 242 Daniel H. Pink 1594488843 Slbranin 0 to-read 3.94 2009 Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
author: Daniel H. Pink
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers―Straight Talk on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship]]> 18176747
In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology companies to offer essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems business schools don't cover. His blog has garnered a devoted following of millions of readers who have come to rely on him to help them run their businesses. A lifelong rap fan, Horowitz amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs and tells it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, from cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in.

His advice is grounded in anecdotes from his own hard-earned rise—from cofounding the early cloud service provider Loudcloud to building the phenomenally successful Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm, both with fellow tech superstar Marc Andreessen (inventor of Mosaic, the Internet's first popular Web browser). This is no polished victory lap; he analyzes issues with no easy answers through his trials, including demoting (or firing) a loyal friend;
whether you should incorporate titles and promotions, and how to handle them;
if it's OK to hire people from your friend's company; how to manage your own psychology, while the whole company is relying on you; what to do when smart people are bad employees; why Andreessen Horowitz prefers founder CEOs, and how to become one; whether you should sell your company, and how to do it.

Filled with Horowitz's trademark humor and straight talk, and drawing from his personal and often humbling experiences, The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures.]]> 304 Ben Horowitz 0062273205 Slbranin 0 to-read 4.20 2014 The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers―Straight Talk on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship
author: Ben Horowitz
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/12/18
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]]> <![CDATA[The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life]]> 28257707 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062457738

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited�"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.]]> 212 Mark Manson Slbranin 4 3.87 2016 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
author: Mark Manson
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2016
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything]]> 1202
These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives -- how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they set out to explore the hidden side of ... well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.

What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a surfeit of obfuscation, complication, and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and -- if the right questions are asked -- is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Steven Levitt, through devilishly clever and clear-eyed thinking, shows how to see through all the clutter.

Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.
(front flap)]]> 268 Steven D. Levitt 0061234001 Slbranin 4 4.01 2005 Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
author: Steven D. Levitt
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2016/12/18
date added: 2016/12/18
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]]> <![CDATA[The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success]]> 9420697 162 Darren Hardy Slbranin 4 4.20 2010 The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success
author: Darren Hardy
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2010
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy]]> 998 CAN YOU SPOT THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR?

Who are the rich in this country?

What do they do?

Where do they shop?

What do they drive?

How do they invest?

Where did their ancestors come from?

How did they get rich?

Can I ever become one of them?

Get the answers in The Millionaire Next Door, the never-before-told story about wealth in America. You'll be surprised at what you find out....

]]> 258 Thomas J. Stanley 0671015206 Slbranin 4 4.05 1995 The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy
author: Thomas J. Stanley
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1995
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die]]> 69242 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The instant classic about why some ideas thrive, why others die, and how to improve your idea's chances--essential reading in the "fake news" era.

Mark Twain once observed, "A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on." His observation rings true: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus news stories circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas--entrepreneurs, teachers, politicians, and journalists--struggle to make them "stick."

In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the human scale principle, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating curiosity gaps. Along the way, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds--from the infamous "kidney theft ring" hoax to a coach's lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony--draw their power from the same six traits.

Made to Stick will transform the way you communicate. It's a fast-paced tour of success stories (and failures): the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of the Mother Teresa Effect; the elementary-school teacher whose simulation actually prevented racial prejudice.

Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winning ideas--and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick.]]> 291 Chip Heath 1400064287 Slbranin 4 3.98 2006 Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
author: Chip Heath
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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]]> The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error� are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills � and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit � he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

]]> 384 Andy Weir 0804139024 Slbranin 3 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future]]> 18050143
The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shows how we can find singular ways to create those new things.

Thiel begins with the contrarian premise that we live in an age of technological stagnation, even if we’re too distracted by shiny mobile devices to notice. Information technology has improved rapidly, but there is no reason why progress should be limited to computers or Silicon Valley. Progress can be achieved in any industry or area of business. It comes from the most important skill that every leader must master: learning to think for yourself.

Doing what someone else already knows how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar. But when you do something new, you go from 0 to 1. The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. Tomorrow’s champions will not win by competing ruthlessly in today’s marketplace. They will escape competition altogether, because their businesses will be unique.

Zero to One presents at once an optimistic view of the future of progress in America and a new way of thinking about innovation: it starts by learning to ask the questions that lead you to find value in unexpected places.]]> 195 Peter Thiel 0804139296 Slbranin 4 4.15 2014 Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
author: Peter Thiel
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training]]> 2098799 320 Mark Rippetoe 0976805421 Slbranin 4 4.43 2005 Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training
author: Mark Rippetoe
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body]]> 25049103
Here's the deal:

Getting into awesome shape isn't nearly as complicated as the fitness industry wants you to believe.

You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars per month on the worthless supplements that steroid freaks shill in advertisements.

You don't need to constantly change up your exercise routines to "confuse" your muscles. I'm pretty sure muscles lack cognitive abilities, but this approach is a good way to just confuse you instead.

You don't need to burn through buckets of protein powder every month, stuffing down enough protein each day to feed a third world village.

You don't need to toil away in the gym for a couple of hours per day, doing tons of sets, supersets, drop sets, giant sets, etc. (As a matter of fact, this is a great way to stunt gains and get nowhere.)

You don't need to grind out hours and hours of boring cardio to shed ugly belly fat and love handles and get a shredded six-pack. (How many flabby treadmillers have you come across over the years?)

You don't need to completely abstain from "cheat" foods while getting down to single-digit body fat percentages. If you plan cheat meals correctly, you can actually speed your metabolism up and accelerate fat loss.

In this book you're going to learn something most guys will never know: The exact formula of exercise and eating that makes putting on 10 to 15 pounds of quality lean mass a breeze...and it only takes 8-12 weeks.

This book reveals secrets like...

The 6 biggest myths & mistakes of building muscle that stunt 99% of guys' muscle gains. (These BS lies are pushed by all the big magazines and even by many trainers.) (Page 28)

How to get a lean, cut physique that you love (and that girls drool over) by spending no more than 5 percent of your time each day. (Page 61)

The 4 laws of muscle growth that, when applied, turn your body into an anabolic, muscle-building machine. You'll be shocked at how easy it really is to get big once you know what you're doing... (Page 32)

How to develop a lightning-fast metabolism that burns up fat quickly and leaves you feeling full of energy all day long. (Page 41)

The carefully-selected exercises that deliver MAXIMUM results for your efforts, helping you build a big, full chest, a wide, tapered back, and bulging biceps. (Page 91)

A no-BS guide to supplements that will save you hundreds if not THOUSANDS of dollars each year that you would've wasted on products that are nothing more than bunk science and marketing hype. (Page 100)

How to get shredded while still indulging in the "cheat" foods that you love every week like pasta, pizza, and ice cream. (Page 83)

And a whole lot more!

The bottom line is you CAN achieve that "Hollywood hunk" body without having your life revolve around it--no long hours in the gym, no starving yourself, no grueling cardio that turns your stomach.

Imagine, just 12 weeks from now, being constantly complimented on how you look and asked what the heck you're doing to make such startling gains. Imagine enjoying the added benefits of high energy levels, no aches and pains, better spirits, and knowing that you're getting healthier every day.

SPECIAL BONUS FOR READERS!

With this book you'll also get a free 75-page bonus report from the author called "The Year One Challenge." In this bonus report, you'll learn exactly how to train, eat, and supplement to make maximum gains in your first year of training.

By applying what you learn in the book and in this report, you can make more progress in one year than most guys make in three, four, or even five (seriously!).]]> 327 Michael Matthews 1938895274 Slbranin 3 4.21 2011 Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body
author: Michael Matthews
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2011
rating: 3
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]]> The 48 Laws of Power 1303 Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control � from the author of The Laws of Human Nature.

In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling� and “fascinating,� Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum.

Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master�), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness�), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally�). Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.]]> 452 Robert Greene 0140280197 Slbranin 4 4.11 1998 The 48 Laws of Power
author: Robert Greene
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1998
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk]]> 33449 143 Al Ries 0887306667 Slbranin 4 4.05 1993 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk
author: Al Ries
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1993
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman]]> 7148931 571 Timothy Ferriss 030746363X Slbranin 3 3.69 2000 The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman
author: Timothy Ferriss
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2000
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior]]> 13058637 The Drunkard’s Walk and coauthor of The Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking), gives us a startling and eye-opening examination of how the unconscious mind shapes our experience of the world and how, for instance, we often misperceive our relationships with family, friends, and business associates, misunderstand the reasons for our investment decisions, and misremember important events.

Your preference in politicians, the amount you tip your waiter—all judgments and perceptions reflect the workings of our mind on two levels: the conscious, of which we are aware, and the unconscious, which is hidden from us. The latter has long been the subject of speculation, but over the past two decades researchers have developed remarkable new tools for probing the hidden, or subliminal, workings of the mind. The result of this explosion of research is a new science of the unconscious and a sea change in our understanding of how the subliminal mind affects the way we live.

Employing his trademark wit and lucid, accessible explanations of the most obscure scientific subjects, Leonard Mlodinow takes us on a tour of this research, unraveling the complexities of the subliminal self and increasing our understanding of how the human mind works and how we interact with friends, strangers, spouses, and coworkers. In the process he changes our view of ourselves and the world around us.]]> 260 Leonard Mlodinow 0307378217 Slbranin 4 4.04 2012 Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior
author: Leonard Mlodinow
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> Rework 6732019
Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you'll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don't need outside investors, and why you're better off ignoring the competition.ĚýThe truth is, you need less than you think. You don't need to be a workaholic. You don't need to staff up. You don't need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You don't even need an office. Those are all just excuses.Ěý

What you really need to do is stop talking and start working. This book shows you the way. You'll learn how to be more productive, how to get exposure without breaking the bank, and tons more counterintuitive ideas that will inspire and provoke you.

With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs they hate, victims of "downsizing," and artists who don’t want to starve anymore will all find valuable guidance in these pages.]]> 279 Jason Fried 0307463745 Slbranin 4 3.97 2010 Rework
author: Jason Fried
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2010
rating: 4
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]]> The Richest Man in Babylon 1052
The Success Secrets of the Ancients�
An Assured Road to Happiness and Prosperity

Countless readers have been helped by the famous “Babylonian parables,� hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth. In language as simple as that found in the Bible, these fascinating and informative stories set you on a sure path to prosperity and its accompanying joys. Acclaimed as a modern-day classic, this celebrated bestseller offers an understanding of—and a solution to—your personal financial problems that will guide you through a lifetime. This is the book that holds the secrets to keeping your money—and making more.

The Richest Man in Babylon
Read it and recommend it to loved ones�
and get on the road to riches.

MORE THAN TWO MILLION BOOKS SOLD]]> 194 George S. Clason 0451205367 Slbranin 4 4.25 1926 The Richest Man in Babylon
author: George S. Clason
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1926
rating: 4
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]]> The Old Man and the Sea 2165 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

This short novel, already a modern classic, is the superbly told, tragic story of a Cuban fisherman in the Gulf Stream and the giant Marlin he kills and loses—specifically referred to in the citation accompanying the author's Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.]]> 96 Ernest Hemingway 0684830493 Slbranin 4 3.81 1952 The Old Man and the Sea
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1952
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business]]> 12609433 375 Charles Duhigg 1400069289 Slbranin 5 4.13 2012 The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
author: Charles Duhigg
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Josh Kaufman’s The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business Summary]]> 29904905

Getting an MBA is an expensive choice-one almost impossible to justify regardless of the state of the economy. Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business. You can get better results (and save hundreds of thousands of dollars) by skipping business school altogether. True leaders aren't made by business schools - they make themselves, seeking out the knowledge, skills, and experience they need to succeed. Read this book and you will learn the principles it takes most business professionals a lifetime of trial and error to master.


This summary provides the essentials of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, negotiation, operations, productivity, systems design, and much more, in one comprehensive volume. The Personal MBA distills the most valuable business lessons into simple, memorable mental models that can be applied to real-world challenges.


Available in a variety of formats, it is aimed for those who want to capture the gist of the book but don't have the current time to devour all 464 pages. You get the main summary along with all of the benefits and lessons the actual book has to offer. This summary is not intended to be used without reference to the original book.]]> Ant Hive Media 1311784209 Slbranin 4 3.86 Josh Kaufman’s The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business Summary
author: Ant Hive Media
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.86
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]]> The Lean Startup 10127019 Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.

Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom. What they have in common is a mission to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business.



The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively. Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on "validated learning," rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute.

Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs - in companies of all sizes - a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it's too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in a age when companies need to innovate more than ever.]]> 299 Eric Ries 0307887898 Slbranin 4 4.11 2011 The Lean Startup
author: Eric Ries
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products]]> 22668729 How do successful companies create products people can’t put down?

Why do some products capture widespread attention while others flop? What makes us engage with certain products out of sheer habit? Is there a pattern underlying how technologies hook us?
Nir Eyal answers these questions (and many more) by explaining the Hook Model—a four-step process embedded into the products of many successful companies to subtly encourage customer behavior. Through consecutive “hook cycles,� these products reach their ultimate goal of bringing users back again and again without depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging.


Hooked is based on Eyal’s years of research, consulting, and practical experience. He wrote the book he wished had been available to him as a start-up founder—not abstract theory, but a how-to guide for building better products. Hooked is written for product managers, designers, marketers, start-up founders, and anyone who seeks to understand how products influence our behavior.


Eyal provides readers with:


� Practical insights to create user habits that stick.
� Actionable steps for building products people love.

� Fascinating examples from the iPhone to Twitter, Pinterest to the Bible App, and many other habit-forming products.]]> 256 Nir Eyal 1591847788 Slbranin 4 4.12 2013 Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
author: Nir Eyal
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion]]> 28815
You'll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader—and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of Influence will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.]]> 320 Robert B. Cialdini 006124189X Slbranin 5 4.21 1984 Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
author: Robert B. Cialdini
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1984
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat]]> 2490652 375 Michael Masterson 0470182024 Slbranin 4 3.96 2007 Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat
author: Michael Masterson
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2007
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions]]> 1713426
Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn't possibly be caught?

Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?

Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are already full?

And how did we ever start spending $4.15 on a cup of coffee when, just a few years ago, we used to pay less than a dollar?

When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we're in control. We think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we?

In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.

Not only do we make astonishingly simple mistakes every day, but we make the same "types" of mistakes, Ariely discovers. We consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. We fail to understand the profound effects of our emotions on what we want, and we overvalue what we already own. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They're systematic and predictable--making us "predictably" irrational.

From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, Ariely explains how to break through these systematic patterns of thought to make better decisions. "Predictably Irrational" will change the way we interact with the world--one small decision at a time.]]> 247 Dan Ariely Slbranin 4 4.12 2008 Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
author: Dan Ariely
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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]]> Thinking, Fast and Slow 11468377 Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.]]> 499 Daniel Kahneman 0374275637 Slbranin 4 4.17 2011 Thinking, Fast and Slow
author: Daniel Kahneman
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Outliers: The Story of Success]]> 3228917 Learn what sets high achievers apart � from Bill Gates to the Beatles � in this #1 bestseller from "a singular talent" (New York Times Book Review).

In this stunning book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"—the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.]]> 309 Malcolm Gladwell 0316017922 Slbranin 4 4.19 2008 Outliers: The Story of Success
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference]]> 2612 The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.]]> 301 Malcolm Gladwell 0316346624 Slbranin 4 4.01 2002 The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Slbranin
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2002
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking]]> 40102 The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.

Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant - in the blink of an eye - that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work - in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?

In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of "blink": the election of Warren Harding; "New Coke"; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police. Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing" - filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.]]> 296 Malcolm Gladwell 0316010669 Slbranin 4 3.97 2005 Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
author: Malcolm Gladwell
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average rating: 3.97
book published: 2005
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]]> <![CDATA[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin]]> 52309
Few men could compare to Benjamin Franklin. Virtually self-taught, he excelled as an athlete, a man of letters, a printer, a scientist, a wit, an inventor, an editor, and a writer, and he was probably the most successful diplomat in American history. David Hume hailed him as the first great philosopher and great man of letters in the New World.]]> 143 Benjamin Franklin 0743255062 Slbranin 0 currently-reading 3.84 1791 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
author: Benjamin Franklin
name: Slbranin
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1791
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