Category Archives: Books

Timeless Thoughts on Business by Henry Ford

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Mark

I finished reading Henry Ford’s autobiography, written in 1922, free for Kindles and other e-readers. It’s better than most free books, and I quote a few favorite parts below about business and human nature that apply in his epoch and … Continue reading →

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Musings on the Steve Jobs Biography

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Mark

I’ve just finished “Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography” by Walter Isaacson, and I had planned on writing a review, but James Cridland wrote it for me: I’d heard some stories about Steve Jobs, but the stories I’d heard were nothing … Continue reading →

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Everything is Amazing, Especially Google

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Mark

My wife Mary is reading Cutting for Stone, a fabulous story I recommend where in the opening scene a nurse crossing the sea revives an incapacitated doctor of seasickness by placing him in a hammock. Mary asked me if the … Continue reading →

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Why Tech Investors Enjoy Kitesurfing More Than Golf

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Mark

If you are an entrepreneur seeking investors, you may have been given dated advice in business school to learn to golf, but CNet has another idea. Want a VC deal? Go fly a kiteboard: Valley VCs and entrepreneurs have long … Continue reading →

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The Paleo Caveman Diet of Tennis Star Novak Djokovic

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Mark

The modern dietary regimen known as the Paleolithic diet (abbreviated paleo diet or paleodiet), also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a nutritional plan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various human species habitually consumed during the Paleolithic era—a period of about 2.5 million years duration that ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture. Continue reading →

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Bottom-Up Strategies in Business, Part 3

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Mark

While economist Tim Harford emphasizes the need to transform large organizations and Peter Sims offers ways to spark creativity, in part 3 of this bottom-up strategies series, Skeptic magazine editor and former bicycle racer Michael Shermer, author of The Mind … Continue reading →

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Bottom Up Strategies in Business, Part 2

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Mark

While venture capitalist Peter Sims in Part 1 of this bottom-up strategies series describes the iterative experimental process of discovering solutions to problems used by individuals such as comedian Chris Rock and architect Frank Gehry, economist Tim Harford, in Adapt: … Continue reading →

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Bottom Up Strategies in Business, Part 1

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Mark

Do exceptional leaders that plan new products grow faster than those using bottom up strategies, experimenting and failing often? Authors Peter Sims (Little Bets), Tim Harford (Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure), and Michael Shermer (The Mind of the … Continue reading →

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Grape Juice Diplomacy and Other Amusing Stories

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Mark

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition is an amusing collection of stories best summarized by Mark Rutherford: This book masquerades as a book full of great stories and wonderful personalities – some well known, some utterly new – … Continue reading →

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Poor Turbulent Families: Misfortune or Opportunity?

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Mark

Is it possible for a child to overcome life with parents who act like children, too? Two memoirs of poor girls describe the pains and joys of surviving, and eventually prospering, by seizing opportunities despite difficult parents and poor surroundings. … Continue reading →

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