Rory Sutherland
Vice Chairman, Ogilvy Group The Spectator's Wiki Man.
Book Recommendations:
Recommended by Rory Sutherland
“#WeAreRent Book 1: Capitalism, Cannibalism and why we must outlaw Free Riding. For the Georgists among you. https://t.co/89hUhBcBMh” (from X)
To overcome the economic aftermath of Covid-19 and empower people to "build back better", our world needs a new social paradigm. That model would need to launch humanity on to a moral growth path by enabling societies to survive the looming existential crises which, Fred Harrison reveals, will converge as a result of the peak in house prices in 2026. That paradigm exists, explains the author, in the form of a financial anti-dote to what economists call "rent seeking". In testing his thesis, the author discovered that the world's systemic crises originated in a single cause. Free riding is an anti-social form of behaviour that incubated the social, demographic and environmental threats to life on Earth. A single financial reform would deliver the synergy to simultaneously neutralise the cannibalistic phase into which free riding has consigned our world. It would do so by transforming governance to serve the common good. The author provides an enriched theory of evolution, which reveals the blueprint that would empower people to reframe behaviour and heal the damage inflicted on nature and society.
Recommended by Rory Sutherland
“@AlexHormozi Actually I listened to it in the car. And I love the fact you narrate your own book. Adds a huge amount.” (from X)
** OVER 500,000 COPIES SOLD!! ** Number 1 Amazon BEST SELLER for over TWO YEARS! I took home more in a year than the CEOs of McDonalds, IKEA, Ford, Motorola, and Yahoo….combined….as a kid in my twenties….using the $100M Offer method. It works. And it will work for you. Not that long ago though, my business had gotten so bad that I literally couldn’t even give my services away for free. At the end of each month, I would look at my bank account hoping to see progress (but there wasn’t). I knew something had to change...but what? Over the next 48 months, I went from losing money to making $36 for every $1 spent. In that time period, we generated over $120,000,000 across four different industries: service, e-commerce, software, and brick & mortar. But, unlike everyone else, we didn’t have great funnels, great ads, or a wealthy niche. In fact, we didn’t even send emails until we had crossed $50M in sales(!). Instead, we were able to do this one thing really well….we created offers so good, people felt stupid saying no. Here’s exactly what this book will show you how to do: How To Charge a Lot More Than You Currently Are… a- The Tiny Market Big Money Process we use to laser focus on niche markets overflowing with cash b- The “Unfair” Pricing formula….how we 100x’d our pricing (and got more people to say yes….for real) c- The Value Flip...so you never get price compared again (that’s a promise) d- The Virtuous Cycle of Price...use it to outspend your competition (for good) while using your product to attract the best talent 2.How To Make Your Product So Good, Prospects Find A Way To Pay For It a- The Unbeatable Value Equation….to make what you sell worth more than your prospects have ever received b- The Delivery Cube….to make delivering your products and services cost less but provide more c- The Trim & Stack Hack….to maximize profit using the absolute best delivery methods. (This has never been shared publicly and was how we made $17M in profit on $28M in revenue in a year when I was 28 years old) 3.How To Enhance Your Offer So Much, Prospects Buy Without Hesitating a- The Scarcity Stack….how to use the three different types of scarcity in every offer you make (without lying) to get people to buy the moment you ask b- The “Everyday” Urgency Blueprint... to get prospects to buy RIGHT NOW, using everyday life to create real, ethical time pressure c- Unbeatable Bonuses...and watch your prospects' hesitations melt away as they begin reading their credit cards to you before you even finish! d- God-mode Guarantees...so good they make anyone say yes (even people who would never normally consider buying). I’ll show you how to stack and layer all 4 types of guarantees together. I even give you my 13 favorite guarantees word-for-word to swipe for yourself. e- Magic Naming Formula to get the absolute highest response rates and conversion rates from everything you do to get new clients and so much more… The methods contained within this book are so simple, so instantaneous, and so effective, it’s as if they work by magic. If you implement even one tactic in this book, you’ll see the change in your prospects' demeanor. And you’ll know the $100M Offer method worked when you start hearing “What do I need to do to move forward?” ...before you even ask for the sale. If you want to get more prospects to reply to your ads for less advertising dollars and get them to say YES to breathtaking prices...then ADD TO CART, use its contents, and see for yourself.
Recommended by Rory Sutherland
“This book is now reprinted. Joy! Fascinating brand story https://t.co/rgfQbLRvg4 "The original gangster rude boy dem, a Clarks dem wear," producer Jah Thomas tells Newman in the book. "And in Jamaica a rude boy him nah wear cheap ting." A sentiment with which I concur.” (from X)
by Al Fingers·You?
by Al Fingers·You?
In Jamaica, Clarks are loved like no other brand. They are the island's ruling name in footwear ― the “champion shoes” ― and it has been that way for as long as anybody can remember. This book celebrates the rich history of Clarks in Jamaica, with a focus on the Jamaican reggae and dancehall musicians who have worn and sung about Clarks shoes through the years. Documenting the origins of the Clarks brand in 1825 through to the introduction of their shoes into Jamaica in the 1920s and the impact of styles such as the Desert Boot, Wallabee and Desert Trek on the island, Clarks in Jamaica explores how footwear made by a Quaker firm in the quiet English village of Street, Somerset became the “baddest” shoes in Jamaica and an essential part of the island's culture. Building on the success of the first release in 2011, this updated second edition includes new interviews, previously unseen photographs, insights into Jamaica's favourite styles of Clarks from former company employees, and an expanded chapter on Jamaican fashion detailing the histories of island fashion staples such as the mesh marina (string vest), Arrow shirt, knits ganzie and beaver hat. Beautifully presented and thoroughly researched, Clarks in Jamaica is a wonderful document of Clarks' deep roots in Jamaican culture, a fitting tribute to the rich cultural exchange that has taken place between Jamaica and the UK that will appeal as much to Jamaicaphiles and lovers of Clarks shoes as to musicologists, fashion stylists and cultural historians.
Recommended by Rory Sutherland
“@JonathanShedler You'll enjoy a fabulous book called Seeing Like a State.” (from X)
by Professor James C. Scott·You?
by Professor James C. Scott·You?
Why have large-scale schemes to improve the human condition in the twentieth century so often gone awry? James C. Scott analyzes diverse failures in high-modernist, authoritarian state planning-collectivization in Russia, the building of Brasilia, compulsory ujamaa villages in Tanzania, and others-and uncovers conditions common to all such planning disasters. What these failures teach us, he argues, is that any centrally managed social plan must recognize the importance of local customs and practical knowledge if it hopes to succeed.
Recommended by Rory Sutherland
“@GuruAnaerobic Love it. His best book.” (from X)
Recommended by Rory Sutherland
“@d_f_stone @EconTalker I completely agree. The @peterthiel book, along with @ProfJohnKay 's Obliquity, is the best short read for businessfolk since R Updegraff's Obvious Adams and The Specialist by Charles Sale.” (from X)
A leading economist charts the indirect road to happiness and wealth. Using dozens of practical examples from the worlds of business, politics, science, sports, literature, even parenting, esteemed economist John Kay proves a notion that feels at once paradoxical and deeply commonsensical: The best way to achieve any complex or broadly defined goal-from happiness to wealth to profit to preventing forest fires-is the indirect way. As Kay points out, we rarely know enough about the intricacies of important problems to tackle them head-on. And our unpredictable interactions with other people and the world at large mean that the path to our goals-and sometimes the goals themselves-will inevitably change. We can learn about our objectives and how to achieve them only through a gradual process of risk taking and discovery-what Kay calls obliquity. Kay traces this pathway to satisfaction as it manifests itself in nearly every aspect of life. The wealthiest people-from Andrew Carnegie to Bill Gates-achieved their riches through a passion for their work, not because they set materialistic goals. Research has shown that companies whose goal (as declared in mission statements) is excellent products or service are more profitable than companies whose stated goal is increasing profits. In the personal realm, a large body of evidence shows that parenthood is on a daily basis far more frustrating than happy- making. Yet parents are statistically happier than nonparents. Though their short-term pleasure is often thwarted by the demands of childrearing, the subtle-oblique-rewards of parenthood ultimately make them happier. Once he establishes the ubiquity of obliquity, Kay offers a wealth of practical guidance for avoiding the traps laid by the direct approach to complex problems. Directness blinds us to new information that contradicts our presumptions, fools us into confusing logic with truth, cuts us off from our intuition (which is the subconscious expression of our experience), shunts us away from alternative solutions that may be better than the one we're set on, and more. Kay also shows us how to acknowledge our limitations, redefine our goals to fit our skills, open our minds to new data and solutions, and otherwise live life with obliquity. This bracing manifesto will convince readers-or confirm their conviction-that the best route to satisfaction and success does not run through the bottom line.
Recommended by Rory Sutherland
“By bridging the gap between brain science and business effects, Matt Johnson and Tessa Misiaszek have produced the most insightful book on branding of the last twenty years.” (from Amazon)
by Matt Johnson, Tessa G Misiaszek PhD·You?
by Matt Johnson, Tessa G Misiaszek PhD·You?
A revelatory guide on how to build, sustain and grow a brand. A brand is either beloved, or it’s noise. We live in a fast-paced world of immediate gratification where consumers can listen to any song, watch any movie, or read any article, with the touch of a few buttons. They are peppered with hyper-personalized targeting for products that can be ordered seamlessly and arrive within hours. And if your brand isn’t the first to come to mind, they’ll click that button and it’ll be delivered by someone else. So how do you make sure your brand connects with consumers? Branding that Means Business draws from the authors’ experience and business literature as well as psychology, sociology, and even anthropology to show readers that while any brand serves the business, the mechanisms that enable it are all about connecting with people. Readers will learn how to create, maintain, and operationalize their brand, and think creatively about how to differentiate their product and most importantly, make consumers fall in love with it.