Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book • Hacker News Board

Re: Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book

#51

Post by mtdewcmu » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 1:43 AM UTC

larrys wrote: post #40

biot wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite inappropriate to speculate on a person's private health matters in a public forum. It's little different than being in the same room as someone, then pointing at them and asking "What's wrong with that person's funny skin? Is anyone a doctor here? Let's have a discussion about it!"

"It's quite inappropriate to speculate on a person's private health matters in a public forum." I don't agree at all. And what are you basing that on? Is there some "rules of public forum" that has been agreed upon and accepted by the internet rule setting committee? Is there anything in the HN faq that states this? Even more importantly, Gates is a very public and well known person. I'm not making comments on some u…

Indeed. The courts have ruled that it's almost impossible to slander or defame someone as famous as Bill Gates.

Re: Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book

#52

Post by mtdewcmu » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 2:41 AM UTC

dumbarton wrote: post #21

stillsut wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out the Innovator's Solution, the follow up. It explains why most of the profit (ability to charge your costs plus a premium) was dominated in the 90's by OS's, and not by the now notorious disk-drive companies. Gates probably understood this (how to position yourself not be disrupted) and it's why we're all reading his favorite book - which is great by the way.

And for the other side of the coin -- Jill Lepore's "What the Theory of Disruptive Innovation Gets Wrong" http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/06/23/140623fa_fact_...

I haven't read Christensen's books, but the story Jill Lepore tells in that article sounds totally credible.

Disruptive innovation is a theory of history. Given any historical event with winners and losers, it reframes it as a contest between innovator and non-innovator with a preordained outcome. Microsoft succeeded and Xerox failed because PCs were the inevitable future, which Microsoft embraced and Xerox denied. Xerox should have seen that the PC was inevitable and planned accordingly, the theory says.

However, there is a problem when trying to apply the theory in real time, as Lepore points out: "Disruptive innovation can reliably be seen only after the fact." She explains the theory's circularity: "Christensen has compared the theory of disruptive innovation to a theory of nature: the theory of evolution. But... advocates of disruption have an affinity for circular arguments. If an established company doesn’t disrupt, it will fail, and if it fails it must be because it didn’t disrupt. When a startup fails, that’s a success, since epidemic failure is a hallmark of disruptive innovation. ... When an established company succeeds, that’s only because it hasn’t yet failed. And, when any of these things happen, all of them are only further evidence of disruption." It works well only in retrospect, and it can't be disproven. Like all theories of history, it only explains things that have already happened.

Re: Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book

#53

Post by dobbsbob » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 3:48 AM UTC

larrys wrote: post #23

Separately Gates looks amazingly old in the last few years way beyond his age. Especially in that photo. That is not the skin of a man in his late 50's. I've speculated that he has either to much sun exposure [1], smokes (but he doesn't?), or has some sickness that has caused him to age. Actually when he retired from Microsoft I had thought that health might have something to do with it. (I don't remember many cases…

Did you watch the video? He looks normal to me. Maybe it's just an awful pic.

Re: Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book

#54

Post by biot » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 4:09 AM UTC

larrys wrote: post #40

biot wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite inappropriate to speculate on a person's private health matters in a public forum. It's little different than being in the same room as someone, then pointing at them and asking "What's wrong with that person's funny skin? Is anyone a doctor here? Let's have a discussion about it!"

"It's quite inappropriate to speculate on a person's private health matters in a public forum." I don't agree at all. And what are you basing that on? Is there some "rules of public forum" that has been agreed upon and accepted by the internet rule setting committee? Is there anything in the HN faq that states this? Even more importantly, Gates is a very public and well known person. I'm not making comments on some u…

The word "forum" is a Latin word, and I'm using it in its traditional meaning (ie: a "public venue"), not in the recent "internet message board thingy" meaning. And I think I'll just have to disagree with you as (1) I don't consider today's media as demonstrating exemplary values, and (2) it's not about whether or not a wealthy/public person needs protection; it's about whether a particular activity is right. Obviously my value system is different from yours in that regard.

Re: Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book

#55

Post by mindcrime » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 4:14 AM UTC

bitwize wrote: post #44

It's not Business @ the Speed of Thought???

Apparently not, but I personally am a huge fan of Business @ The Speed Of Thought. Even though I'm not a huge Gates fan, and definitely not a Microsoft fan, there's no question that Gates hit on some good stuff in that book. And amazingly, as old as it is, I'd argue that most businesses (heck, most organizations period) to this day have still not achieved anything quite equal to his idea of a "Digital Nervous System" (and yes, I know term didn't originate with Gates, but he did a brilliant job of articulating and popularizing it).

I still keep that book near my bed and re-read sections of it from time to time. From even an avowed "Micro$oft" basher from back in the Slashdot days when the GatesBorg image was The Thing, I have to give the devil his due - B@TSOT is solid stuff.

Re: Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book

#56

Post by mandeepj » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 6:24 AM UTC

> I know I'm not alone in seeing this decision as a mistake on Xerox's part. I was certainly determined to avoid it at Microsoft.

But they still missed on touch and social. I am not counting in tablets, mobile because they at least tried in this space

Re: Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book

#57

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 7:08 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book

#58

Post by dsinha » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 8:12 AM UTC

nbouscal wrote: post #41

Bill Gates also recommends My Years with General Motors [1], calling it "probably the best book to read if you want to read only one book about business." I would second that recommendation. [1]: http://www.amazon.com/Years-General-Motors-Alfred-Sloan/dp/0...

Agree, one of the best business books I have read!

Re: Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book

#59

Post by marincounty » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 8:25 AM UTC

larrys wrote: post #23

Separately Gates looks amazingly old in the last few years way beyond his age. Especially in that photo. That is not the skin of a man in his late 50's. I've speculated that he has either to much sun exposure [1], smokes (but he doesn't?), or has some sickness that has caused him to age. Actually when he retired from Microsoft I had thought that health might have something to do with it. (I don't remember many cases…

Why does anyone care what he looks like? I sometimes think Fancy boys are drawn to tech? Yea, down vote me; I don't care, nor even know what a down vote is? I don't think I want to know either. I just found out what Hell-banning is--and it seems petty, and something a spoiled, angry, teen would do to someone.

Re: Bill Gates's Favorite Business Book

#60

Post by HSO » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 9:20 AM UTC

jessep wrote: post #24

If you have a New Yorker subscription, you can read all of John Brooks' work online: http://www.newyorker.com/search?qt=dismax&rows=10&sort=score... Each of these links (after a summary) to a scanned archive version of the actual magazine, which is cool. You can see the ads and layout of the day. Edit: I actually want to read all of them, so here's the direct links to the original articles: - Fluctuations: http://arc…

And if you don't…

"Beginning July 21, the magazine’s new and archived articles will be free to everyone, a move it hopes will attract more readers. […] The three months during which articles will be free, a promotion that will most likely be sponsored by a large corporation, will provide the magazine with data it plans to use in deciding how to position and price its “metered paywall” — allowing a certain number, or certain kinds, of free articles, but then charging its most avid readers through a subscription plan."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/business/media/the-new-yor...

Ha, another instance of my filing system "paying off" ;-)