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[My review of the 12min summary]

Gates wrote this back in 1999. It's kind of quaint looking back at it now.

He basic premise is that change is happening so fast now that companies have to be able to respond and adapt quickly to those changes. He advocates creating a "digital nervous system", modeled on the human nervous system, at your company.

He has 12 key steps to create a digital information flow within your company:

1. Create a communication flow in your organization in order to react to news with reflex-like speed.
2. Look at your sales data online to spot patterns and share your insights.
3. Let PCs do the business analysis so you can shift your knowledge workers to higher positions.
4. Create cross-departmental, global teams using digital tools.
5. Use digital systems instead of paper processes to reduce administrative bottlenecks.
6. Use digital tools to get rid of single-task jobs.
7. Create an easy-to-handle and accessible feedback loop to improve the quality of your products and services.
8. Create digital systems that route customer complaints to those who are specialized in the respective product or service.
9. Utilize digital communications to newly define the nature of your business and its boundaries.
10. Exchange information for time.
11. Eliminate the middleman from customer transactions with digital delivery of sales and services. If you are the middleman, use digital tools to increase your value in transactions.
12. Use digital tools to let customers solve routine problems for themselves.

This is all generally good advice. I doubt it was visionary when the book was released in 1999. These days you can find newer advice that is better suited to our current times in other books.

Final Notes (quoted from 12min)

"For any business to survive in the fast and ever-changing Information Age, a business needs to stay agile and alert. Create a 'digital nervous system' to connect the departments of your company and to allow for an open flow of information. In a company culture where everyone is involved, and people can freely communicate, opportunities for growth are identified quickly and the overall value of your company increases.

"'Business at the Speed of Thought' provides a unique historical window into how companies were adapting to the new digital age in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some of the lessons shared by Bill Gates in this book retain much of their relevance to this day."

[My review of the 12min summary]

Laura Vanderkam says that we're not over-worked and time deprived. There's 168 hours in a week, and you're going to use all of them, goddammit!

Yes, it's as bad as it sounds. She advocates using every scrap of slack time——the ten minutes you're in line at the store or the three minutes that you're waiting for your frozen burrito to reheat——to be doing something productive. This, of course, ignores the mountain of research that shows that constant task switching is counter-productive and also that it's just plain unrealistic.

There are a few good things in here. Keep a time diary for a week to find out where your time goes. If it shows that you're spending too much time on stuff that's not important, then reprioritize what you're spending your time on.

You should also try to get into the right line of work. "The right job leverages your core competencies——things you do best and enjoy——and meets certain working conditions, including autonomy and being challenged to the extent of your abilities."

Final Notes (quoted from 12min) [I mostly disagree with this] "Most of us are brought up on the idea that time is precious. Yet, rather than living this idea, we often use it as an excuse to avoid doing things that require more energy and creativity. By demystifying the ongoing cultural narrative of a time crunch, Vanderkam makes us reshape our relationship with time to live more successful and meaningful lives."

[My review of the 12min summary]

This is a good look at the history and future of artificial intelligence. It is especially concerned with the possible ramifications of superintelligence, which Bostrom defines as "any intellect that greatly exceeds the cognitive performance of humans in virtually all domains of interest."

Once a superintelligent AI is created, will we be able to control it? Not if it's smarter than us. The dystopian futures of science fiction are cautionary tales. We read those books, watch those movies, then rush madly forward developing these AIs anyway. When the robots start their extermination campaign, we won't be able to say that we weren't warned.

Final Notes (quoted from 12min) "Recommended by everyone from Bill Gates to Elon Musk, 'Superintelligence' is a really outstanding book that covers so much ground in its 400 densely populated pages, there are really just a few AI-related books you’ll need to read besides it.

"Moreover, it is a very timely book on a very timely subject. 'If this book gets the reception that it deserves,' wrote in a review mathematician Olle Haggstorm, "it may turn out the most important alarm bell since Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" from 1962, or ever.'

"It’s your job to make sure Bostrom’s book will earn this standing."

[My review of the 12min summary]

The book appears to be targeted at online sellers. The authors present their "ridiculously pragmatic" five-step marketing blueprint. This blueprint is based on a series of emails and your website. The book makes a lot of sense. If you're trying to run an online business, this is an excellent book to learn marketing from.

The authors say that an online business relationship follows the same path as an actual human-to-human relationship. These relationships are built slowly and move through three stages: 1. Curiosity 2. Enlightenment 3. Commitment

This is where the five-step marketing blueprint comes in. It guides the customer through this journey.

STEPS ONE AND TWO You draw the customer through the Curiosity stage with the One-Liner and the Website.

The One-Liner has three parts: 1. Start with the problem 2. State the solution in the middle 3. Close things out by revealing the result of the solution

The Website should have most or all of these nine parts: 1. The header 2. The stakes 3. The value proposition 4. The guide 5. The plan 6. The explanatory paragraph 7. The video 8. Price choices 9. Junk drawer

STEPS THREE AND FOUR You then drag the customer through the Enlightenment stage with Lead Generators and Nurture Emails.

The Lead Generator should accomplish the following: 1. Position you as the guide 2. Stake claim to your territory 3. Qualify your audience 4. Create trust by solving a problem 5. Create reciprocity 6. Have an interesting title

The three most common types of Nurture Email campaigns are: 1. Weekly announcements 2. Weekly tips 3. Weekly notification

STEP FIVE Finally, you hogtie your customer with the Sales Email Campaign. There are many approaches to this. Here's one series they suggest: 1. Deliver the asset (the lead generator) 2. Problem + solution 3. Customer testimonial 4. Overcome an objection 5. Paradigm shift 6. Sales email

Final Notes (quoted from 12min) "In the first chapter of 'Marketing Made Simple,' Donald Miller and his contributing writer Dr. J.J. Peterson bemoan the fact that 'most business books are long on theory and short on application' and vow to tell their readers exactly what they should do and in what order to do it so that their marketing works. Anyone who has read 'Marketing Made Simple' would probably agree the two have delivered on their promise.

"The book is not just another theoretical introduction to marketing, but an easy-to-read, step-by-step practical guide to building a marketing platform and growing a company. Simple, specific, and straight to the point, 'Marketing Made Simple' will help anyone who struggles with the execution of a marketing strategy. Especially if you’re in charge of the marketing for your company——to quote Miller and Peterson——consider this your new playbook."

[My review of the 12min summary]

This book was written by Sam Kerns, who seems to specialize in writing and self-publishing how-to-be-self-employed-and-make-money books. This is an average book, at best. Most of the advice appears to be competently credible.

He starts with the top five lies about working from home: 1. You only have to work when you want to 2. You don’t have to answer to anybody 3. You can quit your job immediately 4. You need a college education to start a business 5. Clients won’t take you seriously if you operate your business from home

He then talks about the five online home-based business ideas that he recommends: 1. Virtual assistant 2. Online retailer (I've read elsewhere that Shopify is probably your best bet.) 3. Amazon/eBay seller (I disagree) 4. Indie author (He speaks from experience. This is his gig.) 5. Freelance writing manager

I dispute number three. I know someone who tried selling stuff on Amazon. The system is rigged heavily against you. Amazon competes with you and undercuts your prices, your Chinese suppliers steal your ideas and sell them direct on Amazon, and the Amazon algorithm is biased in favor of established sellers and Amazon's own products.

He also offers five off-line home-based business ideas: 1. Home-based food business 2. Vending machine business (My uncle did this profitably in the 1970s.) 3. Professional organizing business 4. Renting business (Airbnb) 5. Home cleaning business (Physically demanding and pays $14/hour!)

He then throws in three bonus work-from-home opportunities: 1. Sell online courses to bring in passive income 2. Teach your native language online 3. Earn recurring income with a box subscription service (This is the cleverest business in the whole book. If you have a good imagination, this could be a great niche.)

Final Notes (quoted from 12min) "'How to Work from Home and Make Money' by Sam Kerns is neither original nor particularly thorough, but it can be useful and inspiring.

"If you don’t want to spend your time scouring Google for advice and manuals, this is an okay-ish compilation of 13 home-based business ideas, with pretty elementary step-by-step instructions for each.

"But don’t expect anything more than that."

[My review of the 12min summary]

(Actually, there are no snakes in this book.)

This book was written way back in 1905. Wikipedia says "it was the first truly authoritative biography of Saint Patrick." Supposedly Bury approached his subject from a historical perspective instead of a religious one. This summary, at least, bears this out.

I found the book quite interesting as history. It tells the story of St. Patrick's life and how it fit into European history at the time. His biggest impact, of course is how he converted Ireland from paganism to Christianity. Whether that is a good or a bad thing I will leave as an exercise to the reader. No matter where you fall on that question, this book is still worth looking at if you have an interest in the subject.

Final Notes (quoted from 12min) "While St. Patrick was not the first to introduce Christianity to Ireland, he changed the shape of Christendom forever. With his missionary work in Ireland he firmly positioned Ireland within the larger framework of Europe and the world at the time."