Germany’s Midsize Manufacturers Outperform Its Industrial Giants
I have always been fascinated by the German 'Mittelstand' something for all kiwi growth companies to think about ...
Stop for a minute and think of some of the most successful German companies. BMW and Siemens and Bayer might come to mind. But if you really want to learn from the best of German business, you’d be smart to turn your attention to companies named Rimowa, Jungbunzlauer, and Strama-MPS. They belong to a class of small-to-medium German enterprises that are outperforming the country’s top public companies.
Why spies make the best entrepreneurs | Business Insider
The New Yorker once called Stanford “a giant tech incubator with a football team.” Although the publication clearly intended this as an insult, it’s also an ode to the dominance that Harvard and Stanford have held over Silicon Valley in the last few decades.
To Reduce Complexity in Your Company, Start with Pen and Paper
I'm a fan of Rita McGrath, I really enjoyed her book - Discovery Driven Growth, anyway .... Companies that grow face a predictable problem: over time, the business becomes way too complex for its own good. I see this a lot in companies that have moved heavily into what I call the “exploitation” phase of a competitive advantage, or the phase that comes after the initial launch and successful ramp-up. Chris Zook and James Allen have also recently tackled this issue their recent HBR article “Reigniting Growth.”
Alan Kay on Sharing Ideas
With all the intensity and brilliance for which he is known, Alan Kay envisions better techniques for teaching kids by using computers to illustrate experience in ways -– mathematically and scientifically — that only computers can.
5 Books to Read This Summer | Bill Gates
Here in Seattle, summer is a gift you earn by gutting out nine months of rain and gloom. The skies are clear, there’s hardly any humidity, and the nights are cool. Best of all, you sometimes get the chance to sit outside reading a great book ....
When Was the Last Time You Asked, “Why Are We Doing It This Way?”
During a time when many retailers are struggling, business is booming at Target. But it wasn’t too long ago that the discount retailer’s future didn’t glow so bright. When CEO Brian Cornell took the reins two years ago, he inherited a company that had been struggling for years, taking far too few risks, and sticking too close to the core.
This is the Best CEO Email I Ever Sent — Medium
So Julian writes ... So, I’ve been running my startup at this point for about 3 years. We have achieved a ton — raised ~$30m, hired a bunch, launched 10 cities — but, despite my prior career as a writer, I never, until recently, wrote CEO emails to my team. When I finally started, it changed everything. So here’s the best one I have ever written. Hope you like it and it encourages you to do the same.
Don Tapscott: How the blockchain is changing money and business | TED Talk | TED.com
What is the blockchain? If you don't know, you should; if you do, chances are you still need some clarification on how it actually works. Don Tapscott is here to help, demystifying this world-changing, trust-building technology which, he says, represents nothing less than the second generation of the internet and holds the potential to transform money, business, government and society.