I learned all of this stuff because someone left a copy of the book Skunk Works on a shelf in a storage closet at work. I never was interested in the topic beforehand and didn't expect to be so enthralled but it offers a fascinating insight into the world of US black military programs. I'm not usually one to offer endorsements but legitimately I couldn't put this book down. The matter of fact nature and the first hand account is fascinating.
From Ben Rich's book, SkunkWorks, he would take ball bearings and roll them across desks at the Pentagon "Here's your new plane on radar". Took them a while to prove to many that it was true.
I seem to recall, in Ben Rich's book "Skunk Works", more engine wasn't enough. They had to use the computer to constantly manipulate the control surfaces to keep the thing in the air.
Read Measure What Matters by John Doerr. It's a meta-answer to your question, but useful nonetheless. Running a business is a series of experiments and treating it as such creates a robust methodology for growth, reacting to shocks, etc. I can't recommend this book more highly.
That story (or a variation on it) was in Ben Rich's Skunkworks memoirs, yep.
The radar demonstrator's RCS was considerably smaller than a bird—more on the order of a large bird's eyeball. Birds sitting on the test stand definitely would be noticeable.
I was able to find alternate shoes for my interview outfit. I don't love them as much, but they'll work--they're these, but in mauve/light pink. I like them.
Tomorrow I need to read Brave New World for book club, flip through this book for my interview, and do overall interview prep. Ugh. Since I have a lot of reading to do, I am instead watching The Great British Bake Off. So charming!
I read this like 20 years ago, and have the audiobook now. I've spent many a commute hour listening to Mr. Rich's memoirs. Here's a linky to Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003
Fun side note, my stepmom's father (step-grandpa?) was a machinist @ Skunk Works. I mentioned this book to her and she said, oh yeah dad gave Kelly Johnson rides home every so often when his car was in the shop. Uhhh, what Mari?
It was in the book "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich: (assuming my memory isn't shot)
https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003/
The story of the development of the Stealth Fighter is absolutely riveting. The book to read is:
(Skunk Works)[https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003] by Ben Rich. Ben Rich was the head of Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works" division that developed this amazing airplane. The book reads like a Tom Clancy thriller, but it's non-fiction and all true. Deserves the incredible 4.8 average star rating on Amazon, everyone loves this book.
When they were testing the car-sized wooden model of the initial stealth design, the radar operator at first thought the model had fallen off the 12 foot pole it was mounted on. The radar was only 1500 feet away from the model. Then, the radar operator all of a sudden picked up the model. A crow had landed on top of the model and the radar saw the crow. When the bird flew off, the model of the aircraft was invisible again. The stealth design technology was so unexpectedly incredible, they had to spend half a million dollars designing a new stealth pole, because the radar would see the pole.
If I remember correctly, the radar cross section of the final stealth fighter -- the first true stealth aircraft ever built -- was the equivalent of a marble, roughly the size of an eagle's eyeball.
Sure, here is a fantastic presentation of how SkunkWorks was created: https://youtu.be/pL3Yzjk5R4M It talks about U2, A-12/SR-71 and F-117. it's very interesting. Also, you can find a book from Ben Rich itself about SkunkWorks. https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003
I haven't read the book so I can't adequately analyze the quote since I am seeing it out of context. That said, do the authors document how the monopolies emerged? If the late 19th century was a truly laissez-faire free market society (meaning absolutely no government or central bank intervention), then they might be right. If, however, there was intervention, we need to see if those interventions themselves aided in the creation of monopolies. In the former case, we would also need to question how the monopoly formed and why it persisted. There are just too many questions unanswered from the context you gave. This also reflects the popular ideas of the era which most people swallow whole without question and get upset when it is challenged.
The historian Burton Folsom has done some work on the era. Below is a link to an article he wrote on the origin of the term and idea of the "robber barron" and a book he wrote on the nuanced economic history of the era:
https://fee.org/articles/how-the-myth-of-the-robber-barons-began-and-why-it-persists/
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Robber-Barons-Business-America/dp/0963020315
(Please note that I am open minded enough to have my mind changed, but a reddit comment is not sufficient. If you disagree with my assessment, point me to a well written history of the Guilded Age that takes the questions I mentioned above into account. Two other questions that the book(s) need to answer are: if the urban work and quality of life were so awful even by that era's standards, why did so many people choose to abandon the rural life and European nations to undergo such conditions? Did working class wealth stay static or regress, or did their wealth increase alongside the rich?)
One book I would suggest for a new manager:
Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
Get the audiobook for a quick listen.
The Myth of the Robber Barons by Burton Folsom
Capitalism and the Historians by F. A. Hayek and others. (might be too early to be considered "progressive era", but I think it is pretty related).
Also, what u/properal said
Have you shared this with him in detail? Cofounder disagreements are a very common way for startups to self destruct. If you can't get over this and/or you don't feel like he is going to acknowledge the problem, I would leave. It's not going to get better until you forgive and forget.
There is forgetting details and there is being unethical and only you really can tell the difference. If he's unethical, leave immediately because you and future employees will get screwed down the line again. If he's forgetful, this is a valuable lesson learned that you ALWAYS get things in writing. Its so shocking to me how money changes people in my previous startups. I always get things in writing now for any agreement. A simple email is even fine to start because it forces both sides to clarify what they heard and discussed.
One other thing is understanding the value each of you bring to the company and how it impacts how the company is divvy'd up. One book that helped me a lot early on was the Founder's Dilemna by Noah Wasserman. Really helped me see how important structuring the company correctly and setting proper expectations at the beginning has a huge impact on success. I would encourage you to read through this to help you make your decision on if this is a good situation for you to stay in. https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Dilemmas-Anticipating-Foundation-Entrepreneurship/dp/0691158304
Also, do not forget founder vesting! The last thing you want is dead equity! It can kill a company. That's in the book as well.
No. You mean the guys that built the country and made us an economic power house and a world power?
This is probably a good book for you to check out.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Myth-Robber-Barons-Business/dp/0963020315
I am talking about Wilson and the how he really got us on the path to socialism and how that trying to mix socialism with just enough capitalism to pay for it has not and will not ever work.
But mainly my post was about the person who put this sticker on his car has no clue what they are talking about. We are moving closer and closer to European style socialism and Bernie would like to make us move that way even faster. So if you are "sick of this shit" the would mean you are sick of the move to socialism. Thus the bumper sticker is an sort of an oxymoron(doesn't quite fit the definition but it is close.)
Sort of like this one.
Cops are so violent and are killing people/only cops should have guns.
There's an interesting book about Skunkworks and how the F-117 nearly bankrupted them, how stealth had no believers, how a model airplane showed up in stores looking eerily similar, etc.
non-fiction.. pretty good up until the part about Roswell.
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Most of it is essentially corroborated by Ben Rich (Skunkworks).. those are the guys who literally built Area 51 (U2, SR71, F117)
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Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base is a book by American journalist Annie Jacobsen about the secret United States military base Area 51.
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Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed
https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003
If you or anyone else is interested in reading about how to pivot during a disruption, or how not to do it, then I really recommend the book The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Technologies-Management-Innovation-dp-1633691780/dp/1633691780/
It's not luck, bro; it's dark magic! Call it what it is.
I thought only Pep was bitter because he hasn't won it since Barcelona, but turns out it's trickle down saltnomics in the City camp.
Directed by Robert B. Weide
It's basically just any plan that forces you to look at the fundamentals of opening the business and understand where the risks are. The fundamentals being:
I would also recommend having a look at the Business Model Generator book, which can help you explore different business models and see what might work best.
It's basically just any plan that forces you to look at the fundamentals of opening the business and understand where the risks are. The fundamentals being: * Purpose of the business * USP(s) * Market size * Competition * Overheads * Forecasted profit/loss * Cashflow forecast * Organisational structure * Route to market
I would also recommend having a look at the (Business Model Generator book)[https://www.amazon.com/Business-Model-Generation-Visionaries-Challengers/dp/0470876417], which can help you explore different business models and see what might work best.
if you're a tech guy and you notice a niche where you can build out a SAAS and solve a real world problem and you more or less already have you end users/customers and you're happy to generate sales via word of mouth then you can build out the whole thing. that's a case where being a lone cofounder works particularly if you have some money in the bank. getting an experienced technical cofounder who's made all the mistakes before and has a success profile to strengthen where you are lacking is fantastic because you immediately fast-forward 3/4 years of experience. you'll never experience the alternate reality where you fail because of some error and you learn the lesson.
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btw i'm available - what's the business?
You may like this book:
The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1633691780/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_CXSDZYX1HHSFSFGC2WHW
You saying not true things don't make them true.
There were no Robber Barrons, only government manipulations of the market.
The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America https://www.amazon.com/dp/0963020315/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_WEE3M59V5T6FF81AH9AQ
You don't know what words mean. I'm not manipulating, just telling truth in light of your disinformation.
Validations can come in phases, and initially bouncing an idea to friends/families or the people who you got the idea for the product is perfectly fine. This can later form to creating a landing page showcasing the execution and product focus to get further validation from a wider audience that can shape the requirements for what the MVP should entail.
It's important to keep in mind custom validation is an iterative cycle that goes in parallel with product development. Recommended reading in general Four Steps Epiphany by Steve Blank.
This is wrong.
As Burton Folsom explained there were / are market entpreneurs and political entpreneurs.
I agree political (statist and anti-liberty) entpreneurs should not exist but market entpreneurs (James J. Hill, Vanderbilt, Carnegie) have greatly benefited society who should / would exist in an actual free market.
The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America https://www.amazon.com/dp/0963020315/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_KTDE3VE3JYVMT5KY0PE0
the SR71 is an absolutely incredible piece of engineering for its time. If you read any book on Skunk works (this one being a typical example) you get to appreciate how mind boggingly advanced it was and the crazy stuff that was required to make it happen.
If you want to read a fun book about this and other special planes I can recommend this:
https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003
Among other planes it covers the "Have Blue" project which led to the first stealth fighter. It has a treatment of RCS and what it means.
It was just Lockheed then. Ben Rich's book about working at Skunk Works during the SR71 program and running it during the F117 program was amazing to me as a kid.
https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003/
Essential local lore. They kind of made a mess of Burbank, though.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-24-fi-23784-story.html
I think you might be describing the need for a goal management framework.
Popular these days is the OKR process (Objectives and Key Results) which sets company wide objectives / goals that cascade down the hierarchy into department specific goals and key results / outputs. The key results across the org will collectively drive toward the goal without requiring a mechanism to orchestrate every single goal directly, reducing the impact of management bottlenecks and encouraging department autonomy — in theory. The framework works but it’s often poorly implemented.
In your example, making $1 million could be a sales objective with individual key results like the channel selling cascading from it.
The book that popularized OKRs: - Measure What Matters https://www.amazon.com/Measure-What-Matters-Google-Foundation/dp/0525536221/ref=nodl_