The World's Best Book Summaries
Why is “Buy Now, Pay Later” regulation in the works? Who do these programs help and harm? Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services provide short-term financing that enables people to make large purchases they might otherwise not be able to afford. But critics argue that the services put financially vulnerable individuals at greater risk. Continue reading to learn about BNPL programs and regulations.
How should companies allocate capital? How important is it for businesses to resist trends? If you’re looking at a company as a potential investment, you need to assess its leadership. Warren Buffett looks for three things: how they allocate capital, how transparent they are with their finances, and how resistant they are to trends. Continue reading to discover how to evaluate management in the same way that Warren Buffett does.
When should you give up on an idea or a project? What’s the best way to identify diminishing returns? Sometimes it’s hard to give up, especially when you’ve invested so much and you don’t want to be a quitter. But, sometimes cutting your losses and moving on is the best course of action. In The Voltage Effect, economist John A. List explains why, sometimes, quitting is for winners. Continue reading to learn how to avoid the sunk cost fallacy and stop wasting valuable resources.
Do you tend to give up when you don’t reach a breakthrough right away? What’s the best way to find a solution without wasting a lot of time? In The Third Door, Alex Banayan shares the insights into success that he learned from interviewing inventor Dean Kamen. Kamen’s secret is kissing frogs—in other words, persistently trying lots of solutions. Kamen cautions, though, that this must be done strategically so that you don’t waste time. Keep reading to learn how kissing frogs might be your ticket to success as it has been for Kamen.
As your organization grows, how can you maintain your culture? How should your teams be organized, and what should they prioritize? The Voltage Effect by John A. List is an economics text designed to help you understand the characteristics of scalable ideas. He argues that you should focus on building a sustainable culture while you scale your ideas. Read more to learn how to scale culture by embracing collaboration and diversity.
Should you apologize to your team when you mess up? Is it possible to apologize too much? As difficult as it can be, it seems obvious that leaders should admit their mistakes. However, it’s not so cut and dry when and how they should apologize. In The Voltage Effect, John A. List discusses what accountability in business should look like. Keep reading for List’s advice that can help you be a better leader and teammate.
Are you trying to establish credibility in your field? How did Bill Gates do it when he was starting out? Alex Banayan interviewed successful people from a wide range of fields to discover what insights, tricks, and motivations helped them find success. He chose interviewees who started out as unknowns and, thus, lacked credibility. One of these is Bill Gates, who shared how he got people to invest in him. Continue reading to learn what Bill Gates has to say about the importance of knowledge in business, especially as you seek to build credibility.
Have you ever had an idea with the potential to change your organization, your city, or even the world? How can you give it the best chance to succeed? In The Voltage Effect, economist and professor John A. List offers his advice for how to take things from the small scale to the big stage. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, an activist, or anyone else with a brilliant idea, you can make use of his scaling strategies. Keep reading to find out how to help your idea succeed over time.
Is your target audience scalable? How can you make sure that it is? Just because your initial audience loves your idea, it doesn’t mean that a larger audience will feel the same way. John A. List provides advice on how to understand your target audience initially and as you grow so that you don’t lose momentum over time. Keep reading to learn how to scale your target audience.
Can credibility be borrowed? Does “fake it ’til you make it” actually work? The Third Door by Alex Banayan is a compilation of what Banayan learned about success—not only from the people he interviewed—but also from the process of pursuing them. From his interviews with Tim Ferriss, Bill Gates, and Maya Angelou, he learned about the importance of credibility. Keep reading to learn how these three life stories illustrate how credibility is a key to success.