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Disrupted

My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble
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Jun 06, 2016StarGladiator rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
20-starred review This book is both hilarious - - and scary! Disrupted is easily the best business book for 2016 - - and most probably the best book on the sociology of work [and the sociology of worker stupidity] and and also social economics! Please do pay especially close attention to pp. 116 to 121; most important! What the author describes applies to the majority [or vast majority - - surely there must be one exception?] of Internet startups over the past 20 to 25 years - - and save for a few details, is universal for the American business venue over the past 40 - - and equally applies to telecom tech startups I was at in the late 1970s, early 1980s! The ageism thing is really part and parcel of the lack of diversity, but more indicative that with the offshoring of jobs and insourcing of foreign visa workers, real experience is trivialized, and not recognized, costing American business untold innovative and creative wealth [programmers reach peak more towards 35 to 50, not 15 to 25, but there are those who would argue with me no doubt] - - but was the author really in a tech startup, since Internet startups aren't really about the technology, per se, but follow the telecom financial model: if profits are ever realized, it usually requires at least 10 years of existence, first! [This book brought back many frustrating memories, how the majority of companies I've worked at were really criminal enterprises, my first required office hacking to correct the results of back inventory programs mucking up everything, only to realize years later it was on purpose as the overall corporation was involved in money laundering - - and as a contractor at Micro$oft long ago attempting to explain the major flaw in Word's mailmerge design [mass mailings aren't normally made to the same address] but the 22-year-olds had no Real World expierience, and thought I was misguided!? And the HR person at one startup writing about Venn diagrams, which she considered complex, in the company newspaper - - were we introduced to Venn diagrams in 4th or 5th grade???] My advice to anyone just starting out today: be sure to bug your supervisor's workspace and, if possible, the CEO's office - - yes it is illegal, but they will be aiming endless illegal practices at you and the others!