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One of the Design Primers for Businesspeople. Eschewing the received wisdom that the customer is always right, Politecnico di Milano professor Verganti focuses on game-changing designs that up-end expectations and create entirely new markets... Verganti also includes a useful section on how executives can attempt to instigate their own programs of radical innovation. One of the Best Innovation and Design Books of 2009. (from Amazon)

Until now, the literature on innovation has focused either on radical innovation pushed by technology or incremental innovation pulled by the market. In Design-Driven Innovation: How to Compete by Radically Innovating the Meaning of Products, Roberto Verganti introduces a third strategy, a radical shift in perspective that introduces a bold new way of competing. Design-driven innovations do not come from the market; they create new markets. They don't push new technologies; they push new meanings. It's about having a vision, and taking that vision to your customers. Think of game-changers like Nintendo's Wii or Apple's iPod. They overturned our understanding of what a video game means and how we listen to music. Customers had not asked for these new meanings, but once they experienced them, it was love at first sight. But where does the vision come from? With fascinating examples from leading European and American companies, Verganti shows that for truly breakthrough products and services, we must look beyond customers and users to those he calls "interpreters" - the experts who deeply understand and shape the markets they work in. Design-Driven Innovation offers a provocative new view of innovation thinking and practice.

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Even if you know you should see a lawyer... [WillMaker's] question-and-answer technique can help you sort through the options. (from Amazon)

A Complete Estate Plan for Your Entire Family Quicken WillMaker & Trust 2025: Book & Online Software Kit is the easiest way to create your estate plan, whether you're just getting started or want to update your previous arrangements. With this book, you get access to powerful software that guides you through the process from beginning to end, giving you the practical and legal information you need to make the best decisions for you and your family. Quicken WillMaker & Trust 2025: Book & Online Software Kit is the original estate planning software created and updated regularly by Nolo's experts. Buying this book gives you access to the software. You can choose to make your estate plan online or using software downloaded to your computer. As you’re making your estate plan, you'll use the book as a guide and legal manual. Included Documents: • Wills. The heart of every estate plan is a will, also known as a last will and testament. This legal document puts you in control of who inherits your property and who would take care of your children if it were ever necessary. Without a will, state law determines these issues. Making a will rarely involves complicated legal rules. If you're like most people, you won't need a lawyer. With good do-it-yourself materials, it's simple and easy to make a will that takes care of basic concerns, such as leaving a home, investments, a small business, and personal items to your loved ones. • Living Trusts. A revocable living trust, unlike a will, offers a fast, private, probate-free way to transfer one's property after death. Although a living trust is not a complete substitute for a will (it doesn't allow you to name a guardian for a child, for example), it can be a more efficient way to transfer property at death, especially large-ticket items such as a house. • Transfer on Death Deeds. Transfer on death (TOD) deeds transfer property to your beneficiary when you die, without probate. Before your death, you still own the property, and you can revoke the deed (or make a new one) at any time. TOD deeds provide some of the best features of both wills and living trusts. Like living trusts, TOD deeds keep the property out of probate. Like wills, they are simple to make, revise, and revoke. So for many people, particularly those whose largest asset is their house, TOD deeds can replace the need for a living trust. (You'll still almost certainly need a will.) • Financial Powers of Attorneys. A durable power of attorney ensures that someone you trust (called your "agent" or "attorney-in-fact") will be on hand to manage the many practical, financial tasks that will arise if you become incapacitated. • Health Care Directives (Living Will and Medical Power of Attorney). Spare your loved ones difficult decisions by laying out your wishes for medical care and naming someone to carry out your instructions. Includes a health care power of attorney and a living will. • Letters to Survivors. Use the Letter to Survivors to leave your loved ones detailed explanations about your decisions. You can also use your letter to leave some general thoughts about your life. • Final Arrangements. Plan a funeral or other ceremony and ease the burden on your loved ones. Describe your preferences for burial, cremation, memorials, obituaries, and more. Download the software or make your documents online in your secure WillMaker customer account. Then follow the step-by-step interviews to create an estate plan that’s tailored to your wishes and the laws of your state. You’ll get detailed instructions on how to sign your documents and make them legal. Quicken WillMaker & Trust is reviewed year-round by Nolo’s expert attorneys and it receives ongoing legal and technical improvements. WillMaker’s downloadable software receives automatic legal and technical updates through 2025. Online, you can make changes to your WillMaker documents for one year after activating your WillMaker account.  (With your purchase you get both the software and online versions of WillMaker, see above.) *Documents reflect the laws of your state—estate planning documents are not valid in Canada, Louisiana, and US Territories

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Scads of tax and legal considerations, with forms and state rules. (from Amazon)

The process of becoming a tax-exempt organization may appear intimidating, but with How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation, you can do it quickly, easily, and with confidence. This bestselling book includes complete instructions for obtaining federal 501(c)(3) tax exemption and for qualifying for public charity status with the IRS. It will help you: . complete an IRS tax-exemption application . prepare articles of incorporation . write the bylaws of your nonprofit . fill in minutes of the organizational meeting . understand your state’s specific nonprofit requirements This edition is completely updated to reflect the latest changes in the law, and includes contact information for finding updated state-specific instructions. You'll also get information on new online services and options related to forming your nonprofit. Plus, all the forms you need are included in this complete guide. Forms are available to download at nolo.com.

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Brings the drama alive with unusual inside access and compelling detail. A deeply researched account of the financial meltdown. (from Amazon)

A real-life thriller about the most tumultuous period in America’s financial history by an acclaimed New York Times Reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first true behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment account of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global tsunami. From inside the corner office at Lehman Brothers to secret meetings in South Korea, and the corridors of Washington, Too Big to Fail is the definitive story of the most powerful men and women in finance and politics grappling with success and failure, ego and greed, and, ultimately, the fate of the world’s economy. “We’ve got to get some foam down on the runway!” a sleepless Timothy Geithner, the then-president of the Federal Reserve of New York, would tell Henry M. Paulson, the Treasury secretary, about the catastrophic crash the world’s financial system would experience. Through unprecedented access to the players involved, Too Big to Fail re-creates all the drama and turmoil, revealing never disclosed details and elucidating how decisions made on Wall Street over the past decade sowed the seeds of the debacle. This true story is not just a look at banks that were “too big to fail,” it is a real-life thriller with a cast of bold-faced names who themselves thought they were too big to fail.

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An entertaining tour of the many ways people act against their best interests, drawing on Ariely’s own ingeniously designed experiments. . . . Personal and accessible. (from Amazon)

The groundbreaking bestseller from iconic behavioral psychologist Dan Ariely, now the inspiration for the Fall 2023 NBC show The Irrational "A marvelous book… thought provoking and highly entertaining." —Jerome Groopman, New York Times bestselling author of How Doctors Think "Ariely not only gives us a great read; he also makes us much wiser." —George Akerlof, 2001 Nobel Laureate in Economics "Revolutionary." —New York Times Book Review Why do our headaches persist after we take a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a fifty-cent aspirin? Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup? When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we? In this newly revised and expanded edition of the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller, Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, we consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They're systematic and predictable—making us predictably irrational.

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Case studies and sharp analysis make this a book worth pondering. . . . They make a compelling case. (from Amazon)

Presents a theory of competition that challenges the methods of Michael Porter's Competitive Strategy, arguing that a competitor's ease in entering or expanding in a given market is the only essential factor in determining advantage, in a guide that also provides a range of examples and application lessons. 50,000 first printing.