What is happening to the so called mass market? Seth Godin has some answers and we discuss them on the latest episode of Bookcasting. They short answer: The mass market is fragmenting into ever smaller mass markets that nurture its own weirdnesses.
Are you ready for a classic spy novel? Patriot Games is part of a series of novels about Jack Ryan. It's where you get all you expect. Action, cold-war-type plots and plenty of thrills. From the author of The Hunt for Red October and more recently Threat Vector.
While extroverts find networking energising, introverts need to prepare physically and mentally before they are able to cope with networking events.
Zack's book is about making the very valuable and rewarding activity of meeting new people available to the introvert half of us.
Silicon Valley has is the wealthiest region in the United States, while Detroit, MI is a desert city with marks of a distant prosperity. What is the relevance of geography in innovation and the job market. How does it affect productivity? What is the relevance for us at the other side of the Atlantic?
Hear Ola and Tom Erik discuss these questions and more in this episode of The Bookcasting Podcast.
Contrary to popular belief, we now live in the least violent times in human history. The Better Angels of our Nature is about the forces that helped us be less violent. Listen to Ola, Tom Erik and Qalbi talk about some of them on this episode of Bookcasting.
Pinker devotes larger parts of the book to convincing you that violence has in fact declined. Still, we find his book most helpful when he discusses the so-called "Angels of our Nature", the four forces that contribute to our peace. These are empathy, self-control, moral sense and reason.
According to Sam Harris, the concept of free will is an illusion. All our actions and decisions are a consequence of immense quantities of chaotically arranged physical events.
Harris' book is important because it brings in a relatively fresh discipline, neuroscience, to look at old philosophical questions in new ways.
The ethical implications of Harris' thesis are challenging. One may scientifically refute hate as a valid emotion, and some concepts of justice may have to be reconsidered.
Today, Ola is joined by expert guest Tom Erik Støwer and expert biologist Qalbi Khan.
"The innovation that matters the most is usually a small improvement in an established product or service category executed elegantly."
In this episode we discuss how to create a referral engine for your blog, and one advise is to make small elegantly executed steps, and always measure the effects.
It's time to join the revolution and "genchi gembutsu" — go and see for yourself. Lean Startup is the lean philosophy applied to startup. And a startup, according to Ries is anyone who is working on creating value with restricted knowledge of what will create value.
Experimentation is the key, not to success, but to learning, the KPI of Lean Startup. That's why we like this book so much.
Buy the book on Amazon or get it for free with on audibletrial.com/bookcasting — sign up for the 30-day trial and search for The Lean Startup for your first free book.
Platform was recommended to us by Serena Star-Leonard, author of How To Retire in 12 Months, and guest on Bookcasting Episode 9.
Serena told us that she had only read a few pages when she had to run off and do something that Hyatt had recommended. That's exactly how we felt when reading the book too. It is packed with practical how-to's about maintaining an online platform that your tribe will love.
Buy the book on Amazon or get it for free with on audibletrial.com/bookcasting — sign up for the 30-day trial and search for Platform for your first free book.
On today's episode Ola and Tom Erik talk about The Experience Economy by the authors with difficult names.
We actually reviewed this book in writing previously, and the main conclusion still holds: Don't expect wonders from this book.
Pine II and Gilmore present very traditional examples to illustrate the mistakes of very traditional marketing and business operations.
How can your blog be an experience, rather than a service? How to move towards transforming? Hear some of our thoughts on the subject in this episode of Bookcasting.
On this episode of Bookcasting Ola and Tom Erik talk about the main points of Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
The Tipping Point is concerned with identifying methods to make product "epidemics", or finding their "tipping points".
We feel that Gladwell's book doesn't offer much practical advise that is relevant to bloggers and online marketers.
After the success of having Serena on last week, we were so excited we decided to invite Robert Kelsey for this week's episode, to talk about his book What's Stopping You?: Why Smart People Don't Always Reach Their Potential and How You Can.
We talked to Robert for nearly one hour! It was great, because he had a lot to say :-)
Check out Robert's website here. And follow him on twitter: @RobertKelseyWSY.
We also reviewed Robert's book here. If you have thoughts or comments to this episode, leave a comment below or visit us on Facebook.
Ola, Tom Erik and Qalbi discuss Christopher Hitchen’s God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.
Hitchens is one of the Four Horsemen of New Atheism along with Daniel Dennet, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris.
Is Religion responsible for everything that went bad with our society — or just a necessary artifact of a humanity already inherently evil?
WARNING: This episode is one hour and thirty minutes long :-)
For this book we have also written a review. The review has also been posted to Amazon.com and Audible.com.
If you want to help us out, you can go to the external reviews and like them. This and other ways to help the show are explained here.
On today’s show Ola and Tom Erik talk about journalist professor Jeff Jarvis’ Public Parts, a treatment of privacy vs publicity in the modern (internet) age. Recorded July 26, 2012.
Ola Vea, Tom Erik and their guest Andreas discuss John Williams’ Screw Work Let’s Play, a book about getting paid to play.
Ola wrote a blog post about this book on his blog - check it out: http://olavea.com/and-get-paid-well-for-it/.
This episode was recorded on July 24, 2012.
Listen to Ola Vea talk to Tom Erik about Seth Godin’s We Are All Weird. This Episode is in Norwegian.
Ola Vea and his guest Tom Erik discuss Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs, the official biography of one the most influential business executives of our time.
Ola Vea discusses Stephen King’s 11-22-63 with guest Tom Erik. This episode was recorded in a car, and it is in Norwegian.