/biz/ - Business & Finance

>>55560993
I own two construction companies, and half that business is dealing with confrontation and strategy with type A personalities.
I use stuff from 48 Laws of Power and 33 Strategies of War all the time.

is it more like a mindset book (think and grow rich, 4hrs ww, fastlane) or does it give actual execution scripts to follow

if it's like the the first then you got fooled and you are just in honeymoon phase

>>55561049
The 48 Laws of Power is a completely useless book for two reasons.

1. It's all contradictions.
2. It only applies to people already in very, very high positions of power.

So it's ENTIRELY useless. Don't know shit about "33 Strategies of War", never even heard of it. Do recommend "Art of War". "On War" is ok, but only if you are in a military academy.

Still, do tell us about your construction companies, what do you build, how did you get started? Let's make /biz/ useful today. I will get you started.

House-flipping is an over-saturated market. Everyone heard that it's the thing to do, and now "investors" are buying houses that won't pay for themselves in 20 years, even if you do everything right and do the work yourself and/or have an experienced crew, which most people don't. You can also AirBnB them out to make money back faster, but it's a very hands-on strategy. Furthermore, people rent apartments just to AirBnB them. This works ok near "real" convention centers, hospitals, and universities. The apartment can be in the ghetto, but convey a premium due to location.

Anyway, back to construction companies. Buying land and building is an alternative strategy with higher barriers to entry:|
1. Skillset
2. Higher capital investment
3. Very active management of construction sites at which you can fail critically if things aren't to code.

An example of someone who gets into it are immigrants that start in construction/HVAC despite having a civil engineering degree. Then they get into drafting and get a job drafting franchises to code. After that, they find investors and build condos.

Hopefully >>55561049 is not a faggot and will tell us more.

bump for interest.
Marketing anon here.
Learned a lot from Ogilvy on Advertising and by far the most on They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan.

Business often struggle just getting off the ground and the few that do completely fumble just getting their name out there.

There's a lot of bs fluff metric, tiktok memeing, diversity quota chasing nonsense when basic human psychology and hard facts can solve most issues.

>see the bud light fiasco

Anyways, good thread. Anons spam some good books to keep it going.

>>55561120
>or does it give actual execution scripts to follow
It explicitly tells you there is no execution script to follow if you want a business, not self-employment (at best). I agree with that. If anyone has a "script", they don't give it out.

>>55561049
id say more then half. The other % is trying to get your drug addict or mexican emplyees to show up on time and not do it half assed get it get out style

>>55561189
I think one of the "hacks" is to have an ethnic crew. The guy I am using as an example is Tajik that was active in the Kazakhstan/Tajikistan/Whatever-the-fuck-stan "community" in his state and knows all the HVAC/foundation/roofing immigrants, and can find a "common language" with them (more so than just speaking the language). Speaking Spanish is probably at least somewhat of an advantage.

Construction site stories time:
>done with pressure-treated-wood bathtub frame
>go to sleep
>wake up, commotion outside
>look out of window
>cat tore up a gas line
>dry wall guy says "I guess we will be here a while" as he puts a cig in his mouth and goes for his lighter
>people start running
>based electrician slaps the cigarette out of the guy's mouth

>>55561147
who are you to agree with things? have you made anything? let me give you a huge bro tip.
if someone always shilling you big ideas and cool stories without getting into detail then you've fallen into this dude sales funnel.

everything he sold you is opinion.
think and grow rich is really good at pumping you up but not sure about what you read tho.

Look there def can be scripts and biz owners use them all the time.

here is small "start" of a script to create coffee shop

1. you gonna need to cover the credit payments, find a service that would allow you to do this
2. you gonna need to calculate the ROI on materials, create math formula that calculate cost - tax with how many employees u gonna have etc
3. what bullshit bureaucracy you need to deal with to have workers, deal with tax and all this bullshit
4. where do you get suppliers
5. gonna need to buy big expensive coffee machines
6. who is gonna do my ads
...

etc
as you answer this questions for yourself you will quickly have a script

but see u haven't even started and u are looking at $15k+ and shitload of bureaucracy

and here you want to get into this without using any script yeah sure dude

find books that answer direct questions to your problems for the biz you are gonna make not some mindset bullshit books

if you know how to code you can check readmake

>>55560993
The Sovereign Individual.

>>55561286
Everything you just said is called "a franchise". Your ability to pick the right location for that franchise is way more valuable than the list you just provided.

>find books that answer direct questions to your problems for the biz you are gonna make not some mindset bullshit books
At the end of the day, the "direct questions for your biz" fall into two categories "exceedingly simple if you have a modicum of education" or judgement based on a ton of experience. There is a reason there is no "script" for flipping cars - you either can appraise a car, or you can't. You either can sell / negotiate, or you can't. The "brake pads cost $120 for all four corners and will take me an hour of work" calculations that you are selling as a "script" are all known factors and not competitive advantages. You really need to read Thiel's book.

Still, I appreciate the discussion - give me an example of a "business script" that is actually profitable. And please don't say coffee shop - it's all about location and hitting a "vibe", unless you are franchising, at which point you have your "script", which again, depends on the location and the quality of employees you get.

>if you know how to code you can check readmake
Are you literally recommending this blatant sales scheme on par "Here is my lambo I read 2 books a day": https://readmake.com/?

>>55561299
Thanks, checking it out. Could you give a sentence or two of summary of why you think it's useful?

>>55560993
Anything Peter Lynch for newfags.

>>55560993
The next set of books to consider is the Incerto Series by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. In some ways, Nassim is in contrast to Thiel. Thiel focuses more on strategy while Taleb focuses more on prospects (read: things we could not have predicted by strategy). Both are important because both put emphasis on the power law and nonlinearities, though, through different: Thiel assumes that the individual already as one important truth that no one else while Taleb assumes that the individual is small and weak but can get *antifragile* via convexity bias. I'd personally start with the Black Swan first, then Antifragile second. You are free to shift around the series after that.

After the Incerto Series, consider the author David Deutsch, a quantum physicist who improves upon the philosophy of Karl Popper. How do we discover new secrets? How do we determine what concepts will *not* last the test of time, specifically, what concepts will not survive at the end of the universe? If Thiel and Taleb focus on the power law, David Deutsch focuses on what is infinite. In a paradoxical way, perhaps it is even wiser to read Deutsch before anyone else.

>>55561345
he does have like 5 bizs running on u can check his twitter 2/5 were made this year with Ai

not sure what ur expecting do u really wanna go and be a titan something like amazon or tesla or do u wanna be rich boy with freedom like tate

you gonna be needing to have a lot of skills beside reading a book and have 180+ iq with insane connections if u want to be a titan

>>55561416
Why do you think Lynch is worth reading?

>>55561509
Thanks, I kind of fell into the "Taleb is a meme" viewpoint without actually bothering to read anything by him. Tbh, reading Thiel, I thought Thiel was espousing a couple of original ideas, but it looks like he is borrowing from other authors quite a bit. Saved to list and thank you.

>>55561528
I mean "come up with random ideas, spam them, and hope your IQ is high and you get lucky" IS an approach. I am sure his "book" (clear marketing gimmick) is completely useless though.

With that said, if anyone has any recommendations on how to do motion detection with open-source libraries, please do share. Especially if:
1. It's not static camera.
2. It's not some gimmick that doesn't apply to all motion (e.g. filter blue channel to look for blue ball moving).

Will be a little slow, getting a lot out of this thread, ty for contributing guys.

>>55561581
Taleb is a meme only because his social media account, which run counter to /pol/.

Slight correction: Thiel is espousing unique ideas into the mainstream. Thiel is not borrowing ideas from Taleb.

The Art of the Deal

>>55561581
i have read the book it goes like this pretty much
1. you gonna need to solve a problem, look into problems in your own life that you can solve. chances are that other people have same problems

2. aim small, not big. it's better to start small and then grow. pretty much the opposite of think big meme

3. you need to know a lot about your niche.

that's pretty much the first 2 chatpers
then he goes about showing you where to share it when u lunch, comparing payment services,
ur advantages vs disadvantages against funded startups (this book is aimed as solopreneurs)
and how to exploit them.
how to automate things. the dude has about 700 cron jobs scripts

>>55561652
I don't think you mis-represented it, I just thought Thiel was the first with the "secrets" idea in recent years. His writing (or his editor's) is really good, to the point where it got me out of "all books are worthless" phase. You are getting me out of that phase further - looks like I missed quite a bit of stuff recently.

>>55561738
All of that isn't a "workable" system though, it's just another approach philosophy. At its root, the key is "have a good idea".

I guess if someone doesn't understand something you posted specifically in your post that I am quoting, maybe they SHOULD read the book.

> how to automate things. the dude has about 700 cron jobs scripts

I am only nitpicking because you posted something overall useful to people - that's not an impressive metric by any means. Nor is the LAMP stack a modern/great way to do things unless you are shitting out 1-page websites. Point is, the technical part of his book is also likely useless and he advertises what he knows. You can use the JAM stack with Netlify/Gatsby/Contentful if you want to spam websites and overpay for "speed-to-market" just as well. Point is that he has no technical edge.

Anyway, I was about to call you a Zoom Zoom, but you are redeemed. P.S. pic related of a site following all the steps that will fail because the timing is off, and it just won't get enough traffic because it's missing that magic sauce, even though it "provides value to a niche group".

>>55561882
what is the magic sauce?

>>55561936
Right place, right time. Honestly, for the strategy in your book, it's probably trying to ride hype waves, and I say that with no negative connotations.

People who made crypto sites in 2009. People who built drone companies just as it became possible at a reasonable price and the quad became an established idea. People who jumped on the Bluetooth idea. All the crypto variations of the above.

>>55560993
>How to Win Friends and Influence

never read this, why do u not like it?

>>55561581
Lynch goes into how he analyzes the fundamentals of companies to choose what you know and trust for long term gains. He says it in plain english for the average biztard. He also help build Vanguard into what it is today.

>>55560993
The 7 habits of highly effective people

what about this?

>>55562099
Falls under the self-help bullshit. It's not technically wrong, it's just that you might as well read the wikipedia entry. Literally every one of these books copied Jim Rohn, who has good points, but never really accomplished shit in his life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People

>>55562052
Common sense / boomer salesman shit. Nothing useful unless you are a complete autist, which is maybe why this board likes it.

>>55562076
Is it kind of like a more-readable "The Intelligent Investor"?

>>55561134
>It only applies to people already in very, very high positions of power.
brainlet take

>>55560993
>Someone here recommended Zero to One. It's genuinely a good book
>DOOD just start a monopoly and hide the fact you are a monopoly by using crony-capitalism then bribe off the government if they suspect a thing!
Absolute shit book

>>55562128
It's a lot shorter and noob friendly.

Reading the books from pic, would recommend the list to anyone starting out and doesn't want to be a brainlet

>>55562138
https://www.allnewbusiness.com/48-laws-of-power-list/
This is all entirely useless and hopelessly vague.

>>55562154
My main take away was the rant on trying to compete for scraps in very well defined business areas. It definitely explains things like house flippers, car flippers, drop shitters, IT consultancies, etc struggling.

>>55562128
Nah I can tell you haven't read it.

>>55562099
It's good. Give it a try. Just treat it as management book

>>55562181
Law 20. Don’t Commit to Anyone
Greene argues that by aligning yourself with someone else, you give them the power to control you. And while it’s true that forming alliances can help you achieve your goals, it’s important to remember that you can only truly rely on yourself. After all, people are fickle, and even the most loyal friend may eventually betray you. So instead of making promises, you might not be able to keep, simply let others know that you’re open to cooperation – but not commitment.

love this one. forget about being an employee, or being in a relationship

>>55562181
Maybe because that’s just a list with a brief synopsis of each law. The actual book provides more depth, actual examples of the law being applied and also a contrary take on each one.

>>55561049
33 strategies is a very enjoyable one, my personal favourite of greene’s

>>55560993
I've read a pretty big number of business books, own an ok biz (turning over just over 1M this year, probably double next). Here's my small bit of advice based on category you might fall into.

>I want to start a business but I don't know what to start or where to start
Millionaire fastlane by MJ DeMarco

>I have started a small biz with no aspiration to grow into a big company but just want to have a good life
Profit First or anything by Mike Michalowitcz

>I have started a small biz but it's killing me and I don't know how to navigate it and get to the next step
The E-myth by Gerber

>Entrepreneur/Success psychology
The hard thing about hard things by Marc Memedreesen
How to get rich by Felix Denni

>Practical navigation of problems almost workbooks for businesses. Drier than cardboard
Traction by Wickman
High output management by the ex Intel CEO

Outside of this, you'll find that books will fall into two categories for advice
>Find success by being unique
>Find success by doing things better

Personally, I think the second is better. Unless you are in the VC/PE/Angel ecosystem your idea barely matters, it's pure execution and you'd know if you are in the first category. If you don't have the network and advantages your best bet is to just try and outcompete people and hope you find a niche along the way that you can grind out and grow. Just read MJ's book though first and actually start something, you'll learn more by setting up and running a business for 3 months than 3 years of reading books without any practical application. And join the /entg/ discord >CMkh5FbY

>>55561509
Based Taleb enjoyer.
I always recommend pic related. It really powered up my bullshit detector massively and gave me a clear idea about non-linearities as you mentioned.

Other than that I just finished The Millionaire Fastlane and I actually quite enjoyed it. The title put me off for a long time but there's plenty of wisdom inside. I agree with OP that Think and Grow Rich is a total meme and devoid of any real knowledge. Rich Dad Poor Dad does a good job conveying the rich mindset, but after the first few chapters it becomes unintelligible drivel and semi-illegal financial advice.

I also just started with David Deutsch. A very tough read but the man has an very clear and bright form reasoning and some extraordinary ideas. I haven't felt that sense of intellectual illumination since reading Darwin and Feynman. Just brilliant.

Also one extra protip for biz anons: listen the Naval podcast called How to get rich without getting lucky. It's loaded with nuggets of wisdom and I find myself coming back to it every year or so.

>>55561299
>>55561359
Not obviously. I don’t know how useful it still is but it’s definitely /biz/‘s book. The authors predicted the creation of a decentralized borderless digital currency, digital nomads, the breakdown of nation states (yet to happen but some of the processes that are signs or prerequisites are happening now) and many other things. It was written I believe in 1998, and some of their predictions were good and others either weren’t or haven’t happened yet but in any case it’s worth reading because it will get you thinking about things in a different way and open your eyes to some of what’s going on in the world.

>>55562730
*not that anon obviously

Good thread.

Here you go for those of you who really want to make it. Read it three times from cover to cover. This will set into motion for you a quest that will ultimately lead you to unlimited money. If you have the patience and work ethic,

>>55560993
>How to Win Friends and Influence
Why not?

>>55562896
Does reading it three times really have an effect at all?

>>55561134
I started in construction as a laborer when I was still in high school and just kept with it through college until I was a really good concrete finisher.
I like construction from the beginning and loved the sense of accomplishment you get from pouring a big concrete slab.
In 2010, I was still a finisher but looking for opportunities to move up in the company I was working for.
That didn't work out and I got laid off that winter because everything was super slow.
Instead of following some of the other guys to a union job, I decided to take a chance and start my own company because I was only 23 and the worst that could happen would be for it to not work out, sell any equipment I bought and go back to working as a finisher.
So I ended up financing a tool truck, a skid loader, and bought a trailer and all the tools I'd need.
At the same time, I opened an LLC, got all the workers comp and insurance going, and started looking for work.
At first, I went around to warehouses I worked on at my old job and talked to the maintenance managers to see if they had any concrete work I could do.
Pretty quickly I was able to pick up 20k worth of simple tear out and replace jobs, and I started knocking those out.
Soon after that, I got a 150k sqft parking lot job from a guy I knew from before, and I was able to make 70k from that by pouring in smaller sections and paying my old coworkers on the side to help.
From there I continued to get bigger and bigger jobs and hiring more people to the point where I'm operating just like any other concrete company.
I bid work, figure out how to get it done, deal with the inevitable bevy of problems that happen, and try to make money to keep it all together.
The other company I have is on the excavating side that puts in stone bases, but it's a smaller operation.
A lot of my day is conflict resolution and that's why I try to glean strategies from books

>>55563470
Do you do foundations for single family homes? If yes, what's the cost/profit/margin on that?

Do you feel like you are capped in growth, or is it pretty easy to "just expand to other markets"?

>>55562896
I've read this once, really good book and W.D. Gann is a pretty fascinating man, ostensibly one of the greatest traders of all time. There's a guy on youtube who claims to have discovered the "secret code" hidden in the book and runs a course on it for several k.

>>55562463
The e myth is really good and removes a lot of the vagueness about what a business is. After reading it I realized I am not interested in starting my own business

>>55563296
its one of those that will lead you down new roads if you've never delved into the role of astrology in financial markets and life/history in general

>>55561136
>Ogilvy on Advertising
I kekked at the ethics chapter.

>>55560993
Zero to one is gay because they basically just defrauded a bunch of people and didn't get punished for it. The key to making it is to have connections that's itm

This book names the Jews

>>55563876
does it really tho?

Summary of pic related

>Cost Leadership: One approach is to strive for cost leadership by achieving the lowest production and operational costs in the industry. This enables a company to offer products or services at lower prices than its competitors, attracting price-sensitive customers.
>Differentiation: Acompany seeks to create unique and valued products or services that set it apart from competitors. By focusing on aspects such as design, quality, technology, or customer service, the company can charge premium prices.
>Focus: Targeting a specific market segment or niche. A company can choose to focus on either cost leadership or differentiation within this narrow market, catering to the unique needs of a specific customer group.
>Competitive Scope: A company can opt for broad market coverage, serving a wide range of customers, or narrow its focus to a specific segment. This choice impacts the overall competitive strategy.
>Competitive Advantage: Businesses should aim for sustainable competitive advantage, meaning they possess unique qualities or resources that are difficult for competitors to replicate. This advantage allows them to outperform rivals consistently.
>Five Forces Analysis: A framework that helps analyze an industry's competitive dynamics. It assesses the bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitute products or services, and the intensity of competitive rivalry. Understanding these forces helps shape competitive strategies.
>Value Chain: Maps out the activities involved in creating and delivering a product or service. By analyzing each step, a company can identify areas where it can gain a competitive edge and allocate resources accordingly.

>>55564569
Forgot pic

>>55563876

going to read this after the 'sovereign individual', thanks

I say read them all. This way you'll reach the same conclusion I did, otherwise you won't believe what I'm about to tell you. They're all shit. Worthless. Won't increase your income or net worth by a cent. In fact if you pay for them you're actually losing money. The truth is only taking action will help you progress and you will learn what works along the way as long as you persist through any obstacles. With that being said, if you MUST read something to help you make money... read the old school sales books. It's the only literature under the umbrella of business that's actually written by people with careers and experience in directly making money. So they will contain truthful, actionable advice that has produced results before. But even then, those are just tips and advice, you have to apply them.

>>55561509
thank you for having a brain

>>55561509
>Incerto Series by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
kek this is exactly what TA fags do
https://youtu.be/Av7kpPJqac0?t=169

>>55560993
tried ti start this thread a month ago and it died, anyway this book is nice

>>55561136
>Ogilvy on Advertising
fun book and it's sad that a lot of ad people haven't read it. like you said they neglect research and follow fluff

>>55562463
good advice!

>>55562610
>fooled by randomness
changed my outlook at reading news. read the other Taleb books but I'm not that impressed anymore especially after I read Dynamic Hedging by him which presents most ideas which he later recycles.

>>55564569
Porter also works nicely with Mauborgne & Kim's Blue Ocean Strategy

>>55560993
Here's a book for people in corporate settings. Don't read this book if you are an entrepreneur or work in/at a small business. However, for corporate people it's a gold mine: cuts through all the bullshit and gives you tactics for climbing the career ladder, upward management, and so on. Worked very well for me

>>55561509
fooled by randomness is such a shit book
idk if nassim is like this generally but I hate books that just babble for a while without commiting to making a point
saying that the future is unpredictable and thus the previous events that occured were random and could've unfolded differently doesn't really mean much
I'm about 70% with it but honestly this book doesn't really give you much, really disappointed desu

>>55564832
this is truth u better read books like suggested here >Ogilvy on Advertising
I can tell u the most 100% time waste book that I would trade my time back (they can keep the money) i just want my time back is books like:
> the millionaire fastlane
> 4 hour work week
they give u 0 skill it's all mindset garbage that means shit.
I will be 100% honest idgaf while I was reading this shit mindset books thinking i am gonna be rich and fuck, my uncle opened a barber shop.
with reading 0 books.
that was 4 years ago now he is already buying new house and a tesla

another uncle started working in doors, installing and what not and now he opened his own doors store. his website is garbage and u would think by judging it that he is brokie but he is making more than software engineers and has huge asset(his biz)

I am telling u this because I was in a phase where i read pretty much all entrepreneur books they gave me no action and i could never craft an actionable plan it was all just bullshit mindset

Here is what I can recommend you from watching people in my day to day life succeed.

> If you are in a rich western country, start LOCALLY, not online! otherwise go online

> start SMALL do not go big unless you've 2 years exp in this or more

> read books on actionable skills, not mindset, always avoid mindset and books that are too abstract

> do not be afraid of competition, instead look for it. competition means the product work. change your mindset around instead of looking for original product, look for existing product and think how you can make it better and cut off your competition profit. many shitty bizs make tons of profit. small spa salon or barber can easily get 300k a year. you can corner them

> this is from programming but it's true to everything: PREMATURE OPTIMIZATION IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

>>55565611
Part 2:
only learn what you need to do right now, do not read book on ads if u are not doing it now
skills/books to learn: advertising, management, finance, programming, design/art(for better taste)


economics:
https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain

andrew tate (quality video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uehzr2Lomr8

Geohotz(quality video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2bXEUSAiTI

most important:
MASTER the bureaucracy of operating a biz in your area and turn it into step by step processes

Wish there were more threads like this, anyone know if there are TG's with likeminded people for stuff like this? If not I could create one if there's enough interest. Could be intetesting building a small community which helps eachother that is not focused purely on crypto

>>55565614
t. Pajeet

>>55561509
>thiel
>taleb
>student of popper
Even if the content of these writings were anything meaningful they should not be taken in good faith. But perhaps no infornation made in the post modern world should be

>>55565462
The human condition is ruled by randomness and bias. Theres basically no way for any single person to escape. Antifragility is not really feasible for any individual, one can only mitigate risk (all meaningful risk is tail risk).
The guy debounced btc and told everyone to get jabbed. Hes a functional midwit.

>>55561882
Basically what you are saying is Bitcoin will go parabolic around a year and a half from now (post halving) and so I should get a job and buy lots of stinkies?

>>55560993
'eat that frog' by brian tracy, it's a very short book, it has been personally recommended to me by many successful people

Books don’t help, unless you sought out a specific book for your own needs.

A lot of what made someone successful is lost when it’s written down.

>>55560993
>Richest man in Babylon
These parallels to ancient times are a slog to read through.

This thread shoul be archived

Great thread, saving

>>55562154
You wanted to know how people get rich. He told you. You just don't like that the answer is shitty.

>>55562239
Employees with commitment get taken for a ride, and management advice for business and politics should probably not apply to your friends, family, and partner

Pretty much required reading for anyone in an agie work place, or at least for anyone who wants to break down silos and improve cross functionality across teams.

>>55566545
God damnit, forgot pic.

>>55562463
I want to start freelancing work, I will fall into the doing things better category. I will start with MJ, any recommendations for that field?

>>55562463
Thanks for the write up. What is entg?

>>55566530
>management advice for business and politics should probably not apply to your friends, family, and partner
They absolutely should. These things have always been politcal and poor management will fuck with your business.

>>55566619
entrepreneur general
get's killed here

>>55566626
Agreed. I've read some leadership books and they absolutely helped me as a dad. >>55566626
Based, ty.

>>55566649
With children every conversation is a sale.

Alright, I've been waiting for a thread like this.

Here's a book that no one has heard of which is maybe one of the most important, most insightful books ever written (also dense and academic so I already know most people won't read it, thereby preserving its competitive advantage). It's called Picoeconomics by George Ainslie. And it's even free.

It applies game theory (in particular the prisoner's dilemma) to understand human behavior (in particular, hyperbolic discounting). Its immediate application is in understanding your own behavior and how to change it. If you're even slightly clever you can also see how you'd use it to manage and understand other people's behavior.

I can give a tl;dr of the highlights if people are interested, though I'd strongly recommend reading the book.

>>55566751
>Picoeconomics by George Ainslie
Which one specifically? A lot of his work has picoeconomics in the title.

>>55566788
Pico in a Nutshell is the one I recommend to start.

>>55566751
>the prisoner's dilemma to understand human behavior
its good for understanding the circumstances people find themselves in, but the prisoners dilemma applied to behaviour asks more questions than it can answer

>>55560993
There's only one step necessary to be successful in business: Be willing to exploit people, then find a way to do so. ez
There's definitely harder ways to be successful, but they all require talent

>>55560993
The Simple Path to Wealth by Collins is the only finance book you need to read. If you're not some retard HS dropout or libtard degree owner, you can get rich with that knowledge.

How to Win Friends and Influence People is a good book if you're an autistic, which the vast majority of 4chan browsers are.

Not surprised that $100m offers by Hormozi hasn’t been mentioned. Insane value that changed the market offer structure for most service based businesses in a positive way.

His next book 100m leads is coming out soon

>>55566987
what ways do you recommend for exploiting?

>>55567245
Thinking about reading this. Why do you like it so much?

>>55565852
I don't think it can really work. At the end of the day, it's like >>55564832 said: What you actually need is very specific most of the time. If you try to form a "community" it will just be a bunch of losers who don't know anything and a couple of names trying to flex. It's how conferences work irl - people trying to sell and clueless people hanging around for the most part. You can only have threads like these once in a while and it's either luck or a bunch of effort to keep conversation going. The main take away though is that there are enough books listed here to last you years. To be more specific - if you actually work on anything, you will find that you need very specialized, narrowly-focused advice. If you are young and not actively working on anything yet, these could be a good start. Or if you are old and missed what's been "new" in the last decade.

>>55566111
Well, your trips seem to confirm.

>>55566363
It's only for people who genuinely have no idea what interest in and can't tell you the difference between monthly, yearly, and continuous compounding.

>>55566545
>>55566548
Is this worth reading if you already know that devs should do DevOps and now that there is the cloud and you can spin up instances from a yaml file, there is no real reason for fucking DevOps to exist?

>>55566599
What's MJ?

>>55566987
>>55567447
Exploiting people is way more difficult than it sounds. It's "if only I wasn't a nice guy" tier cope most of the time.

I really like The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks
Atomic Habits is also good

>>55560993
my secret garden

>>55564832
What are the
>old school sales books
?

>>55563489
I usually only do commercial and industrial concrete, but I'll also do a larger residential project every once in a while.
Residential jobs vary on the margins, but you don't want to take it unless you can get 15% at a bare minimum.
Lots of guys stick to residential because it's easy to get going and it's also easier to maintain, but it's hard to scale residential once you get to a certain point.
I don't like the idea of having to be physically pouring concrete until I retire, which is what you're signing up for if you have a residential company with 1 crew.
I only know of one company around me who does residential on a big scale, and they have to pour 2-3 home foundations a day because the margins are so thin on that work.

I've never felt like I was capped in growth. Actually it's kinda the opposite where it would be pretty easy to take on a lot more/bigger work, but you have to make sure you can manage it or else it's worse than not having enough work to keep the guys busy.
Also, when you get to a certain size, the big hurdle is bonding. I could be the low bid on a massive project and the GC could want us to do it, but if I can't get bonded for it, they'll go with a higher bid with a shittier company.

I rarely go into other markets. If I do, it's a negotiated job with an existing client who likes to work with us.
Expanding into another market is very difficult in construction, which is why so few companies have multiple offices in different cities.

I live in a growing market, so there's no shortage of commercial work.
Right now, we mostly do warehouses, which is pretty straight forward if you have the infrastructure in place (manpower and equipment).

>>55565462
That's not what he says in his book. He essentially saying that people are midwits without mathematical training and confuse signal and noise constantly.

Literally all he says in his entire series is that don't just assume something is being driven by anything other than noise unless you KNOW it's not. This is pretty well accepted in any field dealing with digital signals or stochastics.

He also, rightfully, encourages people to play around with probabilities and randomness on their computer since it's so fucking cheap. It's literally basic advice that you'd expect from anyone with even basic applied mathematical background.

It's fairly true as well, it's why you should be careful in investments unless you have insider information (which is something that is mathematically known in stochastic finance problems). Also, he states the simple fact that losses are psychologically worse than wins and cause people to death spiral.

bump, actual biz thread and not /crypto/ scam

I made a tg if like minded people want to join, might be a good place for entrepreneurs and business owners to help and give advice to eachother? Instead of all the bs biz groups only talking about crypto.

t (dot) me/+KBDRPhnBK8w3NWQ0

>>55567893
>It's only for people who genuinely have no idea what interest in and can't tell you the difference between monthly, yearly, and continuous compounding

The problem is a lot of people don't know shit about money and economics with plenty of morons getting themselves into credit card debts etc.
My thoughts reading it was that it should be read in every school. It puts these concepts in a easy to understand perspective.

>>55560993
Taleb's most accessible book - easy to read and no calculus. Every aspect of investing includes opportunities to delude yourself into believing you're smarter than you think you are.

>>55560993
>>55560993
"How you. An find happiness during the collapse of western civilazation." By Robert Ringer.

>>55565611
>Premature optimization is the root of all evil.

This is probably the most important line in the whole post. If you spend all your time at the beginning of your project worrying about efficiencies, you will never actually build up at a nuts and bolts level. You may worry that you can't compete against bigger or more well established market participants. I would suggest that these competitors are often not nearly as efficient as you might think, and that the best way to compete with them is to actually come to market with your product or service, rather than spending all your time in an abstract, head-space optimizing your non-existent business.

>>55561652
>Taleb is a meme only because his social media account, which run counter to /pol/.
It's not that, the dude suffers from massive Trump derangement syndrome which is why people make fun of him nowadays. /Pol/ doesn't even know who the fuck this guy is.

>>55560993
All of these books are gay. Zero to One is decent is good, but good with coming out with a new innovative technology to meet a demand that has not been seen in the current market of Google Startups.
You could also enjoy trying to earn as high of an income as you can, then living below your means for 20 years to take advantage of "compound interest" which is still being siphoned off by elites inflating money.
Or you can just believe broo. Positive affirmations, frequencies and visual boards.bRaIn wAsH yOuR miNDsEt


Might as well join hustler's university and escape the matrix. Or wait, read 12 long dense college textbooks on finance and economics without any course work or lectures.

>>55568908
try to boil that down
is that actually useful advice or just psued mumbo jumbo
>ignore noise and find signals
>play with probabilities lol
>be careful when buying securities!
again I do think he has an odd gem of insight in his book here and there but I was super disappointed in the book and its length does not justify the content
but again sometimes people see something that others don't, he might just not be my cup of tea writer

>>55561359
the first parts of the book are a prediction of what has happened in the past 20 years with pretty remarkable accuracy, and then the later parts are what the author predicts will happen soon (relative to our point of view), and basically how to not get rekt by nation-states ceasing to exist. In summary the world will naturally shift towards a meritocratic society and governments will get buckbroken by digital technology, tribute payments (which we call taxes, politely) will fall by the wayside and countries will have to actually be competitive for people to want to live there. the 'cognitive elite' will benefit massively from it and normies will be left in the dust.

Nathan Latka: How to be a Capitalist without any Capital.

Read it after listening to 200 or so of his podcasts, he's a super switched on guy and the podcasts are basically 15 minute grillings on founders where he gets into the financial details. The book itself is incredibly comprehensive and goes over how he built businesses and acquired others via debt/credit to grow faster

>>55565611
>they give u 0 skill it's all mindset garbage that means shit.
100% and I wish more people understood that. A lot of "authors" are grifters who became successful writing about becoming successful (lol) or they got lucky once and based their entire identity on it (good for them and I happy for them as well but the advice they give is suspect). Honestly, once you start doing things then you realize what you need to learn which is usually a specific skill (how to use QuickBooks Online, how to game your local building codes, etc.) but those are easy to learn because you are motivated and the knowledge you are learning is straight forward and precise (should take you a few hours). For example, if you are a MSP and you are supporting a client and they need SQL support then you are going to figure how SQL works or bring in someone that does; unless you are completely incompetent you don't need a book for someone to tell you need to satisfy your client's needs. I think earlier generations were lucky in the sense that there was less information out there (and if you did go to the library any book you picked off the shelf would be halfway decent), less barriers to get going, and most people had a family member that ran a business who could advise.

Anyhow, pic related is one of the best books I have ever read and actually comes from a person who did the grind and learned how to deal with the business world (who provides you with practical skills).

>>55565611
>>55565614
bit jeety and I don't want to ride MJ Demarco's cock too hard but you missed the point of the book if you think it's a mindset book. It might be a different book where he talks about "action faking" and doing things that don't actually move you forward.

>>55566599
I don't know too much about freelance (also what industry?) in general it's about increasing you $$/hr and seeing where you can systemise or try and get as much recurring revenue as possible. Honestly, I would say think of just doing what works in one market and take in an underserved market. Books won't help as much, unironically google will be the best tool. Search up competition in different areas, see who's doing what you want to do and copy the best ones.

>>55566619
/entg/ is a failed general that 9/10 times dies after 3 posts and 1/10 turns into 100+ posts of gold where you get random people that actually are decently successful. -> CMkh5FbY is the link for the discord

>>55568807
nice stuff, do you do any other kind of flooring? It would make sense as a layman that the concrete pouring company might also do epoxy or latex or other stuff too.

To anons, take some time to understand how to build a cashflow sheet, read a balance sheet and other practical bits too. Understand gross profit, gross margin, net profit, fixed costs, variable costs, this shit is super basic but if you don't know what all this and how to work it out no business book is going to help. Just take it step by step.

>>55560993
literally every book u posted is sold for pure profit of its authors.
none of those books offer any valuable financial wisdom.
literally the most plain jane book of antiquity didnt make your list which just contains financial parables of real world money use cases.
its arguably more valuable than all the books you listed combined.
your attempted effort post is just vain marketing for such shills.
you should feel bad, honestly.

>The Richest Man in Babylon

>>55565852
THIS

>>55566751
please do i will also read it

>>55569674

>delude yourself into believing you're smarter than you think you are.

Lmao that’s literally Taleb’s entire personality.

>>55561049
Both of those books are useless because every fucking beta on the planet (like you) has read them. If everyone knows the secret strategy then the strategy immediately becomes useless. My OODA loop is much better than yours and I would probably dab on you if I were to enter your field frfr

>>55570523
The basic ideas of Picoeconomics are hyperbolic time discounting and the iterated prisoner's dilemma. I'll assume familiarity with the prisoner's dilemma (if not, just look it up). Hyperbolic time discounting is the idea that the relationship between delay and reward is experimentally best described as a hyperbola and not an exponential curve. Put simply, we tend to fall for short-term impulses even though we know the longer-term alternative has greater reward--especially as the delay gets shorter. Ainsley describes these two types of reward as SS and LL, smaller-sooner and larger-later.

When we make a decision, we are playing a version of the prisoner's dilemma with our future selves. Defection means taking SS reward over LL (LL being the future self's reward). Since the present self defects, the future self will also defect if/when the same decision arises again in the future. Whatever you do today, you'll do again and again and again. Because of hyperbolic discounting, SS rewards often blind us to the fact that this prisoner's dilemma is actually iterated. We ignore that whatever conditions have arisen around this decision will probably arise again in the future, and therefore, taking the dilemma as a singular instance, we defect.

It turns out that if you instead regard such SS/LL decisions as bundles, if you consider the decision you make today as one you will be making for the rest of your life, if you properly see the prisoner's dilemma as an iterated process instead of a singular instance, you will not defect. You will cooperate with your future self and thereby have a much greater chance of choosing LL over SS, now and in the future.

>>55566751
All books are free it's called libgen fren

>>55570633
Le iq isn't real because my sandnigger people score low on the test I'm very smart btw here's why you should never do cardio and only deadlift and be 300 lbs and diabetic
>checked

>>55570654
There's a difference between reading, knowing, and applying.
Few who ask for recommends for books, read them.
Few of those who being to read, finish.
Few who finish, apply.
A large portion of readers are looking for secret sauce and cheat codes that don't exist, not clarification.
This is why there are always anons posting that no amount of books will help you. Because books can't do anything but teach you something assuming you're even willing to learn in the first place. And learning is useless if the knowledge is inapplicable/not applied by the learner.
It's also why there are so many frauds, they have a whole customer base that is only looking for excuse porn.

>>55570720
Damn I actually learned something on /biz/ today

>>55570073
A shitskin I know bought Hustler's niggieversity two years and made quite a bit of money while I insulted him for being a faggot. Still don't care not giving a dollar to that ugly chinless mulatto bald faggot

>>55566545
Based buzzworder

>>55561509
nassim has the most brainlet takes, expresses himself like shit and repeats himself through the whole book, its anything but based. i legit dont understand what his target audience is, anyone with a brain will skip him anyone without a brain isnt interested in his shit

>>55570950
Fr this shit was actually insightful

>>55570720
When I was around 20 years old I realized that I was often sabotaging my future self or doing things harmful to him, and decided to not do that anymore and instead do what I could to help my future self. It felt almost like taking care of a pet or a houseplant or something, I’d take little actions to take care of future self, like eating healthier, paying down debt, not taking on debt, maintaining my car better etc. I assume every successful adult does this whether they realize it or not. Contrast this to when I was a teenager, I saw my future self as someone to borrow from.

>>55570227
i read both his books. it mostly read like a rant about how 401k is bad and blabla he pretty much try to convince you to be entrepreneur which is not I buy the book, a better book would be a reading stuff here https://www.sba.gov/

in the start i thought it's good book but not anymore i even joined his forum. What I now consider useful is actual problem solving skills (if it's books or not doesn't matter) that can be applied as you read them, this way the info will stick in ur brain and you will benefit from it

>>55562463
how to get rich by dennis is a great book and doesn't get mentioned nearly enough. cuts through a lot of bullshit on goals and motivation

>>55561936
Why does the toilet explode?

>>55572382
Gold post

>>55570720
>>55572382
Based LL enjoyers

>>55570949
This is true for once if you want to open pizza restaurant, going to work in one for few months will give you better chances of success than reading 10000 books over 2 lifetimes
let that sink in.

I read an ebook called the 2x method.

It was a simple idea about balancing your income vs expenses ratio. You don't feel financially comfortable until your income become roughly 2x the expenses you demand for a comfortable life. If your income is just 1x your expenses, meaning you don't save any money each month, then you'll constantly be on edge that any reduction in your income will lead you into detb.

If you can generate the 2x amount (whatever it may be, based on your expenses) passively then you will be and feel financially free.

If you let lifestyle creep push up your expenses as your income increases, you will never feel financially free.

>>55570220
Robert Ringer wrote several excellent books. I really liked "How you can find happiness during the collapse of western civilization."

>>55560993
someone recommended The Merchant Bankers by Joseph Wechsberg, it was really good. in-depth profiles of the heads of Warburg, Deutschebank, Rothschild, old merchant banks in the City of London, etc

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-merchant-bankers-a-fascinating-candid-chronicle-of-the-great-financial-families-of-the-world_joseph-wechsberg/1478828/#edition=8856427&idiq=27502310

>>55570720
I am too brainlet to understand, how is delay/reward a hyperbola

>>55570160
>normies will be left in the dust
What does this look like, over the years I realised I'm not very smart and barely hanging onto my career

>>55561581

>>55562896
How much financial knowledge do I need before trying to read this?

>>55573465
Zero

>>55566626
depends on how smart and autistic your kids are. going machiavellian dad wont work when they see through your shit because they arent normie

>>55566711
oy vey. you will run out of things to sell very quickly as a parent in current year

>>55565614
Is it is it? The unabridged complete version of 100 business lessons?

Best thread on /bi/z rn, and for some time.

>>55570654
>OODA loop
based Boyd appreciator

>>55573020
Exactly even "friends and influence" will never be as effective as actual interactions. Best these types of books can do is give you clarity on something that you already have experience with, or focus your attention on learning from an experience you are about to have instead of obsessing over the embarassment/awkwardness of your interactions and beating yourself up.
But that's really for the self-help style books. Some of the recommends ITT are explaining specific concepts you might find in traditional education that some anons never attended, or who were learning about compeltely different subjects.
>>55573629
This is not what i meant anon. You're assuming being political translates to trying to control them with politcal bullshit. I'm talking about understanding the needs/wants and negotiating through relationships and disagreements. Some people and families can just do this naturally but not everyone.
Treating your family as a business doesn't mean treating them as employees.
>>55573671
I don't mean "things" anon, though sometimes that applies. Even dinner can be a negotiation with kids.

>>55560993

>>55573905
yeah anons don't get it here. honestly books like friends and influance/marketing are better because they give u some skills. Look for books that give u skills not for books that give you opinion/ideas.
also anons here saying "there is no formula or step by step." you are horrible wrong, you were given this mindset to keep consuming books. It's not about having cool idea or knowledge, it's about doing the work and executing
just go open regular brik and mortar store and u will see how much friction you get from bureaucracy, needing money/loan etc and to put 10 hours + work a day constantly. it's not a secret on how to do it, just go to https://www.sba.gov/ and start,

it was never about the how but always about the do, spoiler alert you are constantly reading books because you are a lazy bitch looking for shortcut secret

I refuse to let it die.

>>55573048
What I really want is this. I'm gonna feel poor till I can stack away 2x my expenses in cash savings each month and then some more for stocks and crypto. I'm not sure if it's greed, paranoia, or both

>>55575545
Maybe try to lower your expenses if that's a possibility?

>>55573905
>i dont mean things
Neither do i

>>55575670
I already live at the bare minimum, it gets demoralizing living like this and I want to increase my cash flow now instead of paring away what little joy related expenses I give myself each month

>>55562052
"How to Win Friends" definitely helped me in the workplace but it's clearly for the employee class seeking to achieve middle mgmt. rather than the employer class who already have wealth.

If I could recommend a book, "One Minute Manager" by Ken Blanchard. It teaches an effective form of management that minimizes your interactions with your underlings in favor of just getting shit done.

>>55561660
Based

>>55565614
>Tate
I too would like to learn how to get sent to prison for human trafficking toppest kek excellent advice Ranjeet

>>55561660
Unironically this. The book give a masterclass on negotiation and meeting the other side in the middle.

Best thread on biz, I also think most books are time wasters, it's ego circle jerking that you do something, you must take action and this is the main goal, I think people and especially me are too scared to take risks, and afraid of judgement and have work ethic issues due to procrastinating, so this is all based on trauma and childhood stuff, no business book will adress this,
Still got few books I liked, models by mark manson, charisma myth by cabane, and for sales (I did sales multiple years) I just read zero books, it's try and error and understanding that humans have emotions and they buy how they feel

>>55561134
“It’s all contradictions.”

“Oh know there aren’t rules that apply to every situation and a person must have a nuanced understanding of life to be effective!!! Noooooo”. What a dumbass thing to say.

If you aren’t making 100k a year whilst self-employed you aren’t allowed to give advice in this thread

Bump this is what all the threads on biz should look like.

I’m currently reading the fiat standard. I like it, follow up on the bitcoin standard

>>55576185
Yeah i'm in the exact same position mate. What kind of work do you do?

>>55578968
What is the fiat standard about?

Mob Rules: What the Mafia Can Teach the Legitimate Businessman

By Louis Ferrante.