Interesting story of Jack's success in business and failure---after much ...
358312
Interesting story of Jack's success in business and failure---after much of his $ and effort to get the product which saved his life---to the USA to acknowledge the benefits of it----

Not much about Nixon's addiction to it and alcohol tho!

He was a close friend of Nixon's.
3941316
I enjoyed the telling of Laura's story and all she went through in life, from starting out prospecting with her father to being taken to a large city to grow up with an uncle. I thought the story was well written and it did keep me interested as it went along. What you do not realize is that while reading this book you are also learning a lesson in business. Another thing that I liked abou tthis book it that it had such a strong female character that gets what she wants in business and life. This book was easy to read and short enough that you can read it just a day or two. The author not only gives you a good story but a lesson in business. - I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review
3917483
The book tied its lessons in the story of a newly promoted operations manager who finds himself in a mess. While the story if a good way to share information I found it hard to believe that any operations organization supporting a company of the size described could be as poorly organized as it was described in this book. I found it a little frustrating to have to wait to get to the more useful information. I will say that once you get to that information you will learn some things that may help in your own journey to continuous delivery.
1395546
Let's face it - there are business failures, and then there are BUSINESS FAILURES. Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui have written a well-researched and, dare I say it for a business book, entertaining account of some of the biggest business failures in business history. "Billion Dollar Lessons" provides chilling lessons for those of us looking for how NOT to grow our businesses.

Carroll, a former writer for the Wall Street Journal, and Mui, a fellow at Diamond Management and Technology Consultants, dive deep into some of the biggest business failures of the last 50 years. This is no small feat, because there are a number of failures from which to choose. According to the book's research, 250 companies have taken asset write-offs of over $350 billion (yes, billion is with a "b") over the last 25 years. "Billion Dollar Lessons" demonstrates several themes that drive many of the largest business failures documented in the book, including the following.

  * Poor understanding of adjacent markets - Avon believed that since it had a "culture of caring", it could expand from its traditional market of cosmetics into operating nursing homes.
  * Failure to adequately plan for major changes to the business model - Kodak was fully aware of digital imaging's threat to its business in 1981, yet it could not change its mindset away from reliance on traditional film processing.
  * Not forecasting the problems that can come from consolidation efforts - Carroll and Mui show how many businesses justify rollup strategies with grand forecasts of synergies from cross-selling or back-office integration. However, these businesses do not plan for the problems that arise with integrating different businesses.

My favorite parts of the book are when Carroll and Mui provide personal stories related to these lessons. For example, one Federal Express employee expressed discomfort with FedEx's Zapmail business, which was a precursor to the ever-present public fax machine system. The employee voiced his disapproval, only to learn that he disagreed with two vice-presidents who vowed to "squash" him. The employee soon left FedEx. There are other stories like this that will make you wonder how some of these decisions ever saw the light of day.

Carroll and Mui spend the final third of the book discussing how businesses can avoid these types of major mistakes. The ideas, such as an internal devil's advocate, work very well with larger companies where group think and bureaucracy can run rampant. Individual entrepreneurs and very small businesses may need external resources such as an advisory board or a trusted friend to offer challenges and disagreements to consider, but the general concepts of the book can be applied for all small businesses or entrepreneurs.

I enjoyed this book. Yes, there were times where it had a "train wreck" quality to it, because I could not turn away from how awful some of these decisions were. I did enjoy the suggestions Carroll and Mui offer to reduce the odds of making poor decisions. My one area of potential improvement would have been to offer even more suggestions for small businesses on how to implement some of the lessons. However, the overall stories and concepts are very good and should give any business owner cause to reflect on how they can reduce the probability of making very poor business decisions.
2841345
It's a story from a good pit bull. His adventures very from wonderful, to heart wrenching, and to happiness. In my opinion, I wish there were mostly just Good times for Jack.
1091300
wow - what a story.  Difficult to read, stories that are full of tragedy and triumph usually are.  I've never been in this situation and oh dear God, hope I never will but the idea that there is an end to the tunnel of pain...  Just to know that there are really good men out there like Jack make love worth looking for.  To any parent who has lost a child, my heart breaks for you.
3109297
Eva & Jack Ryker met as young college students, fell in love, became business partners and parents. They worked long hours building their successful business and love flourished. Jack & Eva included family in their business and thought of ways to include their employees as the business grew and success followed. Providing employees with stock options, retirement plans, bonuses and more insured loyalty and low turnover. As Eva & Jack approached time when they could easily retire and spend years enjoying the good life as billionaires, Eva was killed in a tragic accident. Jack lost his best friend, love of his life and business partner in one moment and it destroyed him! He fell into a deep depression, excused himself from social events, self-care became a part of his past and long hours poured into working became his norm. It was no way to live, but he couldn't find the zest for life and his adult children worried.

As Jack was preparing for another grueling day at the office, watching the morning news (rather than focusing on presenting his best self) a story about a new way young ladies were paying for college came on. The news story focused on a website where Sugar Daddies (rich older men) connected with beautiful young college women, Sugar Babies, and began arrangements or relationships. The men chose the girl(s) from website profiles and could send a message to meet. The type of arrangement was up to the couple, but sex was usually involved. Jack took a look at the site and found Kate. Actually, she used an alias, but revealed her real name at a later date.

This story is about the relationship between Jack & Kate. She brought him happiness, zest for life, sex like he was 20 instead of 49 and drew him completely out of his depression. Jack gave Kate her first orgasm  and made her fashion dreams come true. Just as Eva & Jack started a business, he gave the same to Kate. He helped build-up her self-confidence, enriched her life with beautiful clothing and exotic travel plus many orgasmic opportunities. The only thing that was an issue, their 27-year age difference. She was just starting life and he was retiring. His mind on getting out of New York, grandchildren and seeing the success of his son & daughter.

The story is beautiful fiction. There are lots of errors that a good editor could have fixed, but I still give it five stars. The end of the story isn't a cliffhanger, but definitely is left wide open for the sequel. Some might say it's a happy ending based on Jack's intentions and what's probably best overall. However, there is plenty of room for change and I believe a reuniting will occur in the next book based on the title alone. I will read it and hope to learn more about Jack's kids too.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy love stories, enthusiastic sex scenes, spicy chemistry and open minds to the possibilities of ways people find love.
3132470
Accident or not?  This true story of an extremely successful, self-made millionaire, his incredible rise and shattering fall is well worth reading for many reasons:  In an engaging, riveting style, it illuminates the successes and excesses of Southern California in the "blazing" 80's.  "Pride comes before a fall" - his life comes crashing down and we observe the inner workings of the justice system as witnessed firsthand by the author.

For the business person, there are many lessons within the book, which are well worth remembering.  For the recreational reader, this gripping account of intrigue, wealth and deceit is very difficult to put down.  Sometimes, you feel you must be reading a fictitious tale but this is indeed a very true story of a very complex man.
3466981
Alibabas World is a an autobiographical-business book hybrid that chronicles the rise of Alibaba-a Chinese e-commerce company from an apartment building to a company that challenges corporate goliaths E-Bay and Amazon. Porter Erisman knows what hes talking about because he was the former VP at Alibaba. From his vantage point, Erisman writes about the the successes and to a lesser degree the failures of the company because Jack Ma wasn't a conventional businessman who did things the way an MBA might have.

While the story itself is interesting, the book is perhaps most useful for the forty lessons gleamed from Alibaba found in the last section of the book. These represent universal wisdom that is not just helpful for business people, but everyday life as well things like don't dwell on mistakes and don't fear tough decisions. Overall, I came away from this book with both an education on Alibaba and inspired to take on new challenges in my own life.

The best autobiographical-business-inspirational book Ive read.
2752277
Although the story was interesting and the success amazing this book was a bit dry. It's a good read but fell slightly short of what I'd consider a great business book.
4000453
4.5 stars

"Given a long enough period of time,
not only is it possible for the impossible
to occur, but eventually it does.
 Jack Joseph

Jack Joseph is caught between a rock (the chaos of his substance-fueled existence) and a hard place (the awareness that his lifes purpose is lost somewhere between universal truths and his daily choices.) While Jack is many things -- a philanderer and a pool cleaner with Masters in physics  when we meet him hes a full-time juggler trying to keep the increasingly slippery aspects of his life from hitting the ground -- women, customers, and the remnants of his dreams.

Jack is a chameleon  alternating between manipulator and manipulated in any given moment as he navigates through his daily life. And the people in Jacks orbit? They alternate between waiting for him to change to just plain waiting for him. His wife Elles decision to stop the one-more-chance-dance changes the trajectory of Jacks everyday life.

...read the rest of this review at UndergroundBookReviews(dot)com!
2792270
"The Rise and Decline of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company" by William L. Walsh is a reasonably well-written, highly detailed account of this mindboggling tale of managerial ineptness.  A literal cornucopia of misdirected leadership DNA, "The Rise and Decline" outlines in great detail how a good idea can go bad; how home-grown, school-of-hard-knocks, promote-from-within managers can miss the proficiency mark; and how a failure of successor management can doom even the mightiest enterprise (c. 1950, A&P was the largest retailer in the world and second only to General Motors in sales volume).  This head-in-the-sand narrative of business bungling should serve as a wake up call, and is must reading for those who think that it could never happen to them.  While even a casual acquaintance with the Wall Street Journal would disclose that these inane corporate practices occur over and over again, almost as if such featherheaded outcomes resulted from a genetic senior-manager defect.  One need only review the "Fortune 500" list from 1980 to see how many made it to 2014 for proof of this malignant corporate pathology.  On the brighter side, being forewarned is being forearmed, and though there are many more "Decline" stories than "Phoenix" stories, there are enough companies that have persisted for a century or more to show the way.  An invaluable antidote for boardroom or CEO hubris.
4698675
The story got my attention right away with action and interesting characters. Good story about how a great and unique business idea gets "out" there, which I found interesting. The real story is the characters involved and the great adventures they are involved in to pursue their goals and how their true inner personalities lead them to success or lead them astray. I thought the character development was excellent, you really got to know them. The only draw back for me was there were a few times when the story droned on a bit. Overall, I enjoyed the book.
1246102
Apparently there is a lot more to home business than meets the eye. Lillian Vernon's story illustrates the challenges and exhilarations she faced juggling her business, personal and family relationships. This book is a good overview of a personal success story, from the point of view of a woman who was only looking to earn a little extra cash and instead amassed an empire.
4775697
Some interesting insight from a man who worked in the business in the second half of the 20th century....a lot of which probably still applies to the business.
2679780
Jack Noble is the guy who will do anything to achieve his goal. In this case where he is recuperating from his adventures in Russia, in a little village in Greece he finds it unacceptable how the waitress in the hotel is treated by some obscure guys. In spite of being undercover he gets involved and takes the necessary beatings. There are some big surprises for him as things do not turn out the way he thought but in the end all is good. A very entertaining book.
1023637
Forget the Yellow Brick Road was an interesting read. Overall, my take away was that I felt the author was trying to do was give some career advice to the reader in a creative way. Jim Rohn once famously said, You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with, and through the book the author shows the value of getting the right people around you, investing in them as friends and championing each others careers and lives in general. This is not overly stated, but a clear lesson to be learned through the book. There are some other great business lessons that surface throughout the story. I also found it pretty amusing how the author alluded to different characters and scenes from The Wizard of Ozdamn that Wendy West!