Becoming Facebook
With the recent nomination by President-elect Trump of Rex Tillerson to Secretary of State, this book became even more timely as a window into how large corporations interact with both the US and foreign governments to achieve their ends and how that might influence a Sec. A critical takeaway is that viewing ExxonMobil, and likely any corporation its size, as a monolithic entity that is 'good' or 'bad' is deeply flawed. And the assumption that they and the US government have aligned interests at all times is as well. Rather than looking to USA foreign policy as a guide, it is better to understand the past actions, current motivations, and overall culture of a company. This will give a better picture of how it's CEOs and others will act in other environments rather than dragging in preconceived notions that may be wholly inaccurate.
Hoefflinger worked himself up the latter, eventually becoming Intel’s General Manager of Worldwide Partner Marketing. He continued his career at Facebook for seven years as the Director of Global Business Marketing. Currently, he serves as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at XSeed Capital, a speaker, and advisor to startups and entrepreneurs entering the tech market.
It skips the focus on justifying realistic technology that is common in "hard" sci-fi, and though the plot revolves around a war, it is not "military" sci-fi either, in that it's less about space marines and more about xeno-archaeologists and politicians. This is a people-centric story all the way, with the spotlight on the struggles of the individual characters as they each try to navigate the webs of intrigue, conflicting cultural values, and ancient secrets that surround them. Think the grand scale of Star Wars mixed with the plot style of Game of Thrones, featuring a varied cast of Point-of-View characters whose stories conflict, intersect, and illustrate the plot from different perspectives.
But the closer you are to fully owning your customer, the better. If you have a platform-based business, like an Etsy shop or a Depop page, it might feel like there’s no point leaving the nest. You’ve grown on those platforms and because of those platforms, and they’ve provided a safe environment for you to experiment and evolve. That being said, if you want to expand your business, an ownedand-operated Shopify or Squarespace site might be part of your toolkit.
And you will enjoy the piles of books I’ve got for myself in my latest Book Token Splurge, lots of interest there. This is the first novel in a two-part series detailing the creation of an international cosmetics empire. It is set in Hollywood beginning in the late ’80s or ’90s and continues into the present. Ostensibly, it’s an insider’s look at how big business rolls, but it is also a sprawling melodrama featuring characters readers will love to hate. Babur had transitioned between two completely different places, writing his version of his story.
During the last 18 years of his life, he gave away to charities, foundations, and universities about $350 million (in 2011, $225 billion) – almost 90 percent of his fortune. His 1889 article proclaiming "The Gospel of Wealth" called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society, and it stimulated a wave of philanthropy. It is trapped by expectations of profits that are unsustainable. Left-leaning elements of the Catholic church continue to condemn “conspicuous consumption†and the inequalities attendant on the retail sales boom. John XXIII denounced consumerist values in his 1963 encyclical Pacem in terris as anti-communitarian.
As viewers and readers, we must read and see Babur in his times. Today, each side claims to have the 'right' history and pervade its versions to the current times to satiate egos of supremacy, often forgetting that we are in a different universe now. A Harvard student and programming prodigy, Mark Zuckerberg, created a social networking site for his fellow students at thefacebook.com. The site would have more than 1,000 students in one day and half of the undergraduate population in a month. The site grew like wildfire beyond its humble beginnings to other schools and Empire of Business high schools.
That’s how he comes across in the print version, too, very inspirational and also funny. I listened to an abridged version of this fairly recently , and it was so interesting. What I particularly liked was Akala’s honesty and forthright tone. He came across as very open and authoritative and yet compassionate too – such an inspirational speaker.