Tagged in Book ReviewsWe LOVE to read here at XNV. Check out our reviews. You might find something interesting to read.
The Wealth of Networks - How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom15 September, 2013
I've said that before [https://www.xnv.io/posts/wikinomics-how-mass-collaboration-changes-everything], and I'll say it again: you know when a book is outdated when it keeps referencing MySpace [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace] and as a model for Social Networks [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network]. Unfortunately, this is not the only downside of this book. It is too tedious, full of long sentences that explains deeply everything that is being stated. It makes so many references th
Adriano Marques
The Innovator's Solution - Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth17 August, 2013
This book's message could be easily summarized by saying that there are only two kinds of companies: the ones that disrupts, and the ones that are being disrupted. There is no middle ground, and companies that have once disrupted, will soon going to be at the loosing side of the game. Christensen and Raynor do an impressive job in bringing up real world example of disruptions, and the common thinking behind the managers in both companies - the disruptor and the disrupted - that led them to ultim
Adriano Marques
The Post-American World - Release 2.012 August, 2013
The title may lead you to think that the author is going to picture a pretty chaotic picture for USA [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667 (United%20States)&t=h] in the next decade. Not true. In fact, it talks a lot more about the balancing out of power and the rising of developing countries than anything else. Been raised and educated in a developing country [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country], I tend to disagree
Adriano Marques
Parkinson's Law02 August, 2013
Quick and easy read. This book is short but full of pearls. Published in 1957, but still very much current when it comes to predicting, understanding, and managing human beings. One of this author's famous quotes is "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." Full of interesting anecdotes, it is a very colorful and memorable book. It is not sophisticated, and show some outdated facts and data, but the substance will never be outdated. I recommend!
Adriano Marques
Decisive - How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work12 July, 2013
About 5 years ago, I had the chance of attending to one of the Heath brothers presentations, while at the Creativity World Forum 2008, in Antwerp [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.2166666667,4.4&spn=0.1,0.1&q=51.2166666667,4.4 (Antwerp)&t=h]. I loved their simplified approach to hacking life issues and finding creative solutions to make a change in the world. Right there at the event, I bought their book "Made to Stick [http://www.amazon.com/Made-Stick-Ideas-Survive-Others/dp/1400064287%3FSubsc
Adriano Marques
The Discoverers - A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself (Book One - Time)10 July, 2013
This book [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_%28process%29] is a treasure chest full of memories on how we have gotten where we are today. Learning of the past mistakes and successes helps us avoid present pitfalls and flirt with a brighter future. The author, Daniel Boorstin [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_J._Boorstin] - the Librarian of Congress [http://www.loc.gov] from 1975 to 1987, did an amazing trip through man's most important discoveries revealing motivations, fortunes, and mis
Adriano Marques
The Long Tail - Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More06 July, 2013
Even if you don't plan to read it, you can't get away without understanding the phenomenon described by Chris Andersen [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Andersen] in his book The Long Tail [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_tail] and expect to thrive in the age of the Internet [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet]. And this is no exaggeration -  the long tail is a social phenomenon enabled by the internet and it extends beyond the realm offline retail stores, predicting customer behavior ac
Adriano Marques
Digital Disruption - Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation05 July, 2013
Short book, inspiring if you were born before 1980 and never been too much into the tech world or have never been an entrepreneur [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur] and want to understand the driver of today's digital disruptions. If you don't fit this description, it is still an ok book to learn some good examples of what have digital disruptors done out there and some cool concepts that the author have coined like disposable companies and adjacent technologies. I enjoyed the book, al
Adriano Marques
Wikinomics - How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything10 June, 2013
You know when a book is outdated when it mentions MySpace [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace] as the leading Social Network [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network], and makes short references to Facebook [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook]. This book was once very relevant, but now it is so outdated that I wouldn't recommend its read unless it undergoes a major review. Time has only made this subject even more relevant, and understanding it is a requirement for leveraging the giga
Adriano Marques
Reviewing The 21st Century Economy - A Beginner's Guide04 June, 2013
If you're that kind that often feels lost at lunch time when people begin talking about economy, the various indexes and acronyms, and economics theory this is the book to ease your pain. Although somewhat convoluted in describing some of the concepts, the books does a great job going through all the important pieces and factors that define our economy at the beginning of this century, being impressively current besides the fast paced changes we've witnessed in the past couple years. It goes fr
Adriano Marques
Lucky or Smart? Fifty Pages For The First-Time Entrepreneur28 May, 2013
Quick read, features some relevant lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur]. I somewhat enjoyed the book, but wasn't much impressed by it. Maybe it would be more useful if I've never read any other entrepreneurship or business book before. One other negative detail, in my opinion, is that author tries to teach you lessons using examples from his experience as entrepreneur in the early 90's when internet wasn't anywhere near what it currently is today and use
Adriano Marques
Free - How Today's Smartest Businesses Profit27 May, 2013
We've all used free services, and we all love it when money doesn't seem to fly out of our pockets. Free high quality e-mail, web search [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_search_engine], photo sharing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_sharing], social network [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network], open source software [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_software], etc. Yet, we rarely stop and think of how business who provides us free services make a living. If you think, you may
Adriano Marques
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