Black Swan Start-ups

Black Swan Start-ups
Author: Sami Mahroum
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2016-05-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1137577274

This book explores startups that have thrived against the odds in places where startup success was deemed to be unlikely. Discussing a number of technology startups from around the world that have succeeded without state backing nor local venture and seed capital, Black Swan Start Ups provides unique insights into unsung models of success beyond the two dominant narratives of Asia’s ‘Tiger Economies’ and America’s Silicon Valley miracle. The author describes these stories of success as ‘black swan events’ and ascribes their achievements to the ability of entrepreneurs to leverage the ‘place surplus’ of their locations, while building connections to support networks outside their immediate geographies. Including case studies such as Skype in Estonia, SoundCloud in Germany and Bayt.Com in Dubai, this insightful book gives a holistic and wide-ranging view of how technology startups have, and can, succeed in less likely places.

The Black Swan

The Black Swan
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2000-05-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101119063

After his wife's untimely death, a powerful sorcerer dedicates his life to seeking revenge against all womankind. He turns his captives into beautiful swans--who briefly regain human form by the fleeting light of the moon. Only Odette, noblest of the enchanted flock, has the courage to confront her captor. But can she gain the allies she needs to free herself and the other swan-maidens from their magical slavery?A monumental tale of loyalty and betrayal, of magic good and evil, of love both carnal and pure, and of the duality of human nature, The Black Swan is a rich tapestry which is sure to become an all-time masterpiece of fantasy.

The Black Swan of Paris

The Black Swan of Paris
Author: Karen Robards
Publisher: MIRA
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2020-06-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1488055335

An exquisite WWII novel illuminating the strength of three women in occupied Paris, for fans of The Nightingale, The Alice Network and The Lost Girls of Paris. "A truly outstanding novel...reminds us of the power of love, hope and courage."—Heather Morris, #1 bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz Paris, 1944 Celebrated singer Genevieve Dumont is both a star and a smokescreen. An unwilling darling of the Nazis, the chanteuse’s position of privilege allows her to go undetected as an ally to the resistance. When her estranged mother, Lillian de Rocheford, is captured by Nazis, Genevieve knows it won’t be long before the Gestapo succeeds in torturing information out of Lillian that will derail the upcoming allied invasion. The resistance movement is tasked with silencing her by any means necessary—including assassination. But Genevieve refuses to let her mother become yet one more victim of the war. Reuniting with her long-lost sister, she must find a way to navigate the perilous cross-currents of Occupied France undetected—and in time to save Lillian’s life. In this heart-wrenching novel, bestselling author Karen Robards showcases the extraordinary lengths one goes to save their family from a German prison. A web of spies, the resistance and a vivid portrayal of Paris in wartime.

The Black Swan

The Black Swan
Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Publisher: Random House Digital, Inc.
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: Forecasting
ISBN: 0812979184

In the author's point of view, a black swan is an improbable event with three principal characteristics - It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don't know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the 'impossible'.

Black Swan Green

Black Swan Green
Author: David Mitchell
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2006-04-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 158836528X

By the New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Clocks and Cloud Atlas | Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize Selected by Time as One of the Ten Best Books of the Year | A New York Times Notable Book | Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post Book World, The Christian Science Monitor, Rocky Mountain News, and Kirkus Reviews | A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist | Winner of the ALA Alex Award | Finalist for the Costa Novel Award From award-winning writer David Mitchell comes a sinewy, meditative novel of boyhood on the cusp of adulthood and the old on the cusp of the new. Black Swan Green tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982. But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world of Kissingeresque realpolitik enacted in boys’ games on a frozen lake; of “nightcreeping” through the summer backyards of strangers; of the tabloid-fueled thrills of the Falklands War and its human toll; of the cruel, luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry boyfriend, Ross Wilcox; of a certain Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian emigré who is both more and less than she appears; of Jason’s search to replace his dead grandfather’s irreplaceable smashed watch before the crime is discovered; of first cigarettes, first kisses, first Duran Duran LPs, and first deaths; of Margaret Thatcher’s recession; of Gypsies camping in the woods and the hysteria they inspire; and, even closer to home, of a slow-motion divorce in four seasons. Pointed, funny, profound, left-field, elegiac, and painted with the stuff of life, Black Swan Green is David Mitchell’s subtlest and most effective achievement to date. Praise for Black Swan Green “[David Mitchell has created] one of the most endearing, smart, and funny young narrators ever to rise up from the pages of a novel. . . . The always fresh and brilliant writing will carry readers back to their own childhoods. . . . This enchanting novel makes us remember exactly what it was like.”—The Boston Globe “[David Mitchell is a] prodigiously daring and imaginative young writer. . . . As in the works of Thomas Pynchon and Herman Melville, one feels the roof of the narrative lifted off and oneself in thrall.”—Time

Stalking the Black Swan

Stalking the Black Swan
Author: Kenneth A. Posner
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2010-03-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0231521677

Kenneth A. Posner spent close to two decades as a Wall Street analyst, tracking the so-called "specialty finance" sector, which included controversial companies such as Countrywide, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CIT, and MasterCard many of which were caught in the subprime mortgage and capital markets crisis of 2007. While extreme volatility is nothing new in finance, the recent downturn caught many off guard, indicating that the traditional approach to decision making had let them down. Introducing a new framework for handling and evaluating extreme risk, Posner draws on years of experience to show how decision makers can best cope with the "Black Swans" of our time. Posner's shrewd assessment combines the classic fundamental research approach of Benjamin Graham and David Dodd with more recent developments in cognitive science, computational theory, and quantitative finance. He outlines a probabilistic approach to decision making that involves forecasting across a range of scenarios, and he explains how to balance confidence, react accurately to fast-breaking information, overcome information overload, zero in on the critical issues, penetrate the information asymmetry shielding corporate executives, and integrate the power of human intuition with sophisticated analytics. Emphasizing the computational resources we already have at our disposal our computers and our minds Posner offers a new track to decision making for analysts, investors, traders, corporate executives, risk managers, regulators, policymakers, journalists, and anyone who faces a world of extreme volatility.

Against the Grammarians (Adversus Mathematicos I)

Against the Grammarians (Adversus Mathematicos I)
Author: Sextus (Empiricus.)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 500
Release: 1998
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780198244707

Blank presents a new translation into clear modern English of a key treatise by one of the greatest of ancient philosophers, together with the first ever commentary on this work. Sextus Empiricus's Against the Grammarians is a polemical attack on ancient Greek ideas about grammar, and provides one of the best examples of sustained Sceptical reasoning.

The Formula

The Formula
Author: Albert-László Barabási
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2019-05-14
Genre:
ISBN: 9781509843534

'This is not just an important but an imperative project . . . Barabási is the person' Nassim Nicholas Taleb, bestselling author of The Black Swan The ground-breaking international bestseller that reveals the indisputable scientific laws that can turn your achievements into success and how to use them to your own advantage. In The Formula, Albert-László Barabási, one of the world's leading experts on the science of networks, reveals the unspoken rules behind who truly gets ahead and why, and outlines the five laws that govern this phenomenon and how we can use them to our own advantage. Drawing on Big Data research that covers everyone from the ace fighter pilot The Red Baron to graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat; Miles Davis and his recording of 'Kind of Blue' to Marcel Duchamps and Tiger Woods, Barabasi, shows why success can come at any time, as long as we are persistent, why in successful teams one person gets the lion share of the credit and why the last interviewee almost always gets the job. Unveiling the scientific principles that drive success, and how to leverage them, Barabasi offers a new understanding of the very foundation of how people excel in today's society, and how to harness these principles for yourself.

VUCA in Start-ups

VUCA in Start-ups
Author: Dr. Aseem Chauhan, Prof. (Dr.) Manoj Joshi, Prof. (Dr.) Ashok Kumar & Suhayl Abidi
Publisher: Jaico Publishing House
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2021-12-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9391019315

How to Thrive as a Start-Up in an Uncertain World What motivates a start-up in its journey? Wealth and fame? Or is it hunger for innovation? VUCA in Start-Ups attempts to capture a start-up’s entrepreneurial journey and find out why some do well when others don’t. It’s a highly volatile environment out there for entrepreneurs and start-ups, thanks to the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis filled with volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). Many businesses that did well in the past had to shut shop as a result. So what went wrong? To find the answer, it’s important to understand what worked in the past and why a new venture must discover fresh and innovative opportunities to survive. Learn from those who chose the road less travelled, including Zomato, Paytm, Flipkart, Ola Cabs and Quikr, and discover the underlying causes for start-up successes and failures. These well-researched case studies aim to inspire those who wish to embark on an entrepreneurial journey.

Keeper of the Lost Cities

Keeper of the Lost Cities
Author: Shannon Messenger
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 512
Release: 2012-10-02
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1442445955

A New York Times bestselling series A USA TODAY bestselling series A California Young Reader Medal–winning series In this riveting series opener, a telepathic girl must figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world before the wrong person finds the answer first. Twelve-year-old Sophie has never quite fit into her life. She’s skipped multiple grades and doesn’t really connect with the older kids at school, but she’s not comfortable with her family, either. The reason? Sophie’s a Telepath, someone who can read minds. No one knows her secret—at least, that’s what she thinks… But the day Sophie meets Fitz, a mysterious (and adorable) boy, she learns she’s not alone. He’s a Telepath too, and it turns out the reason she has never felt at home is that, well…she isn’t. Fitz opens Sophie’s eyes to a shocking truth, and she is forced to leave behind her family for a new life in a place that is vastly different from what she has ever known. But Sophie still has secrets, and they’re buried deep in her memory for good reason: The answers are dangerous and in high-demand. What is her true identity, and why was she hidden among humans? The truth could mean life or death—and time is running out.