Tag Archives: Business

In My Hands Today…

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The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World – Atossa Araxia Abrahamian

A globe shows the world we think we neatly delineated sovereign nations that grant or restrict their citizens’ rights. Beneath, above, and tucked inside their borders, however, another universe has been engineered into existence. It consists of thousands of extraterritorial zones that operate largely autonomously, and increasingly for the benefit of the wealthiest individuals and corporations.

Atossa Abrahamian traces the rise of this hidden globe to thirteenth-century Switzerland, where poor cantons marketed their only bodies, in the form of mercenary fighters. Over time, economists, theorists, statesmen, and consultants evolved ever more sophisticated ways of exporting and exploiting statelessness, in the form of free trade zones, flags of convenience, offshore detention centers, charter cities controlled by foreign corporations, and even into outer space. By mapping this countergeography, which decides who wins and who loses in the new global order—and helping us to see how it might be otherwise—The Hidden Globe fascinates, enrages, and inspires.

In My Hands Today…

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Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics – Richard H. Thaler

Traditional economics assumes rational actors. Early in his research, Thaler realized these Spock-like automatons were nothing like real people. Whether buying a clock radio, selling basketball tickets, or applying for a mortgage, we all succumb to biases and make decisions that deviate from the standards of rationality assumed by economists. In other words, we misbehave. More importantly, our misbehavior has serious consequences. Dismissed at first by economists as an amusing sideshow, the study of human miscalculations and their effects on markets now drives efforts to make better decisions in our lives, our businesses, and our governments.

Coupling recent discoveries in human psychology with a practical understanding of incentives and market behavior, Thaler enlightens readers about how to make smarter decisions in an increasingly mystifying world. He reveals how behavioral economic analysis opens up new ways to look at everything from household finance to assigning faculty offices in a new building, to TV game shows, the NFL draft, and businesses like Uber.

Laced with antic stories of Thaler’s spirited battles with the bastions of traditional economic thinking, Misbehaving is a singular look into profound human foibles. When economics meets psychology, the implications for individuals, managers, and policy makers are both profound and entertaining.

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Handwritten: The Founding Story of Yuppiechef – Andrew Smith

In 2006, from a lounge in Cape Town, two friends launched an online kitchen-tool store with 32 products, no credit-card facilities, and zero marketing budget. They packaged orders themselves, dropping in a handwritten card with every purchase to prove to skeptical consumers that there were real humans “on the other side of the internet”.

Over the next 16 years, Yuppiechef evolved into a retail pioneer. Handwritten takes you on the rollercoaster journey of scaling an e-commerce empire. From sharing a rusted 1989 Toyota Corolla and battling early credit card fraudsters, to securing multi-million-dollar backing from global venture capital giant Tiger Global. It chronicles the chaotic highs of holiday-season and warehouse floods, the bold move into physical retail, and the ultimate acquisition by the Mr Price Group in 2021.

But beyond the timeline of a successful startup, this is a deeply human memoir drawn from decades of the author’s private journals. It strips away the glossy veneer of the “optimistic, confident” entrepreneur to reveal the profound emotional toll of leadership.

Inside Handwritten, you will discover:

  • The Bootstrapper’s Reality: How Yuppiechef survived its fragile early years without funding, driven by the philosophy of “growing as fast as we can and as slowly as we need to”.
  • Culture as a Strategy: Why true customer loyalty and teamwork is built on genuine human connection, empathy, and “relational hygiene”.
  • The Cost of Success: An honest look at the burnout, anxiety, and imposter syndrome that accompany the relentless pursuit of startup growth.

Whether you are founding a company, leading an organization, or simply someone who often feels like you’re not good enough, Handwritten proves that you can build something extraordinary without having to be perfect.

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Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World – Parmy Olson

In November of 2022, a webpage was posted online with a simple text box. It was an AI chatbot called ChatGPT, and was unlike any app people had used before. It was more human than a customer service agent, more convenient than a Google search. Behind the scenes, battles for control and prestige between the world’s two leading AI firms, OpenAI and DeepMind, who now steers Google’s AI efforts, has remained elusive – until now.

In Supremacy, Olson, tech writer at Bloomberg, tells the astonishing story of the battle between these two AI firms, their struggles to use their tech for good, and the hazardous direction they could go as they serve two tech monopolies whose power is unprecedented in history. The story focuses on the continuing rivalry of two key CEOs at the center of it all, who cultivated a religion around their mission to build god-like super intelligent machines: Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Demis Hassabis, the CEO of DeepMind.

Supremacy sharply alerts readers to the real threat of artificial intelligence that its top creators are ignoring: the profit-driven spread of flawed and biased technology into industries, education, media and more. With exclusive access to a network of high-ranking sources, Parmy Olson uses her 13 years of experience covering technology to bring to light the exploitation of the greatest invention in human history, and how it will impact us all.

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Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most – Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, Roger Fisher

Whether you’re dealing with an under performing employee, disagreeing with your spouse about money or child-rearing, negotiating with a difficult client, or simply saying “no,” or “I’m sorry,” or “I love you,” we attempt or avoid difficult conversation every day. Based on fifteen years of research at the Harvard Negotiation Project, Difficult Conversations walks you through a step-by-step proven approach to having your toughest conversations with less stress and more success.

You will learn:
— how to start the conversation without defensiveness
— why what is not said is as important as what is
— ways of keeping and regaining your balance in the face of attacks and accusations
— how to decipher the underlying structure of every difficult conversation

Filled with examples from everyday life, Difficult Conversations will help you on your job, at home, or out of the world. It is a book you will turn to again and again for advice, practical skills, and reassurance.