Disrupted
Disrupted

Author: Dan Lyons

Publisher: Hachette Books

Published: 2016-04-05

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 031630607X

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An instant New York Times bestseller, Dan Lyons' "hysterical" (Recode) memoir, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "the best book about Silicon Valley," takes readers inside the maddening world of fad-chasing venture capitalists, sales bros, social climbers, and sociopaths at today's tech startups. For twenty-five years Dan Lyons was a magazine writer at the top of his profession--until one Friday morning when he received a phone call: Poof. His job no longer existed. "I think they just want to hire younger people," his boss at Newsweek told him. Fifty years old and with a wife and two young kids, Dan was, in a word, screwed. Then an idea hit. Dan had long reported on Silicon Valley and the tech explosion. Why not join it? HubSpot, a Boston start-up, was flush with $100 million in venture capital. They offered Dan a pile of stock options for the vague role of "marketing fellow." What could go wrong? HubSpotters were true believers: They were making the world a better place ... by selling email spam. The office vibe was frat house meets cult compound: The party began at four thirty on Friday and lasted well into the night; "shower pods" became hook-up dens; a push-up club met at noon in the lobby, while nearby, in the "content factory," Nerf gun fights raged. Groups went on "walking meetings," and Dan's absentee boss sent cryptic emails about employees who had "graduated" (read: been fired). In the middle of all this was Dan, exactly twice the age of the average HubSpot employee, and literally old enough to be the father of most of his co-workers, sitting at his desk on his bouncy-ball "chair."

The Boss of Bosses
The Boss of Bosses

Author: Attilio Bolzoni

Publisher: Orion

Published: 2015-09-03

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1409153819

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This is the true story of Totò Riina, the Cosa Nostra boss who rose from nothing to become the most powerful man in Sicily. The picture emerges of a bloodthirsty, power-hungry monster who, despite his lowly beginnings, is able to outmanoeuvre the other Mafia chiefs and take control of the organisation. However, the story is not just that of Riina, but also of Sicily itself. D'Avanzo and Bolzoni have transformed a complex series of events spanning several decades into a gripping narrative. In prison for 18 years now, Totò Riina still remains the dictator of the Cosa Nostra. This book tells the haunting and disturbing tale, with thorough investigation and testimony of the Sicilian Corleone.

The Boss
The Boss

Author: Stan Pottinger

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2006-11-28

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9780312276775

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Spin Patterson is a Texas Golden Boy who has it all-a company he's inherited from his father-in-law and built into a multi-billion dollar goliath, a wife as glamorous as she is ruthless-and a mysterious past. He also has a beautiful mistress, Tacoma Reed, a briliant part-Cherokee woman with ambitions of her own. When Spin's wife Audrey files for divorce and threatens to sue him for everything he's worth, he must protect his empire-even if it means resorting to fraud and violence. Max McLennon, Spin's devoted protege and executive assistant, has grown up in the shadow of oil rigs where he's seen his father killed and his brother horribly maimed. Now, as he watches the employees of his company threatened with bankruptcy by the very man he has admired like a father, he is forced to choose between loyalty and justice-between his mentor and the families and friends he grew up with. His choice must be made, but not without risking his own life and the life of the woman he loves.

The Smart Money
The Smart Money

Author: Michael Konik

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2006-11-14

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 0743281721

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A riveting inside look at the lucrative world of professional high-stakes sports betting by a journalist who lived a secret life as a key operative in the world's most successful sports gambling ring. When journalist Michael Konik landed an interview with Rick "Big Daddy" Matthews, the largest bet he'd placed on a sporting event was $200. Konik, an expert blackjack and poker player, was no stranger to Vegas. But Matthews was in a different league: the man was rumored to be the world's smartest sports bettor, the mastermind behind "the Brain Trust," a shadowy group of gamblers known for their expertise in beating the Vegas line. Konik had heard the word on the street -- that Matthews was a snake, a conniver who would do anything to gain an edge. But he was also brilliant, cunning, and charming. And when he asked Konik if he'd like to "make a little money" during the football season, the writer found himself seduced . . . So began Michael Konik's wild ride as an operative of the elite Brain Trust. In The Smart Money, Konik takes readers behind the veil of secrecy shrouding the most successful sports betting operation in America, bypassing the myths and the rumors, going all the way to its innermost sanctum. He reveals how they -- and he -- got rich by beating the Vegas lines and, ultimately, the multimillion-dollar offshore betting circuit. He details the excesses and the betrayals, the horse-trading and the paranoia, that are the perks and perils of a lifestyle in which staking inordinate sums of money on the outcome of a single event -- sometimes as much as $1 million on a football game -- is a normal part of doing business.