Adam L. Penenberg

Here's how it works: you read a book you enjoy and you tell a friend. That friend tells another friend, the next friend tells the next, and so on and so forth, until the book becomes that year's word-of-mouth bestseller. That first recommendation gives birth to many. Simple. The concept of pass-it-on is not so new and not so revolutionary think Tupperware parties that is, until forward-thinking Web companies got hold of it and created their own, mightily efficient, money-spinning model known as the Viral Loop: the ability to grow a company exponentially because the customers themselves spread it. Super simple.pOutfits such as Google, eBay, Flickr and Facebook all employ the model at the core of their business; all have seen their stock valuations skyrocket within years of forming. The genius lies in the model's reliance on replication: what's the point of using Facebook if none of your friends can see your profile, or using Flickr if you can't share your photos? Where's the joy in posting a video on YouTube if no one watches it? Thus, in creating a viral product that people want, need and desire, growth can, and will, take care of itself. Business has never been so straightforward, or so it would seem...pIn this ground-breaking work, the first to analyze this paradigm-busting phenomenon, we are introduced to the architects of the Viral Loop and the companies which profit from its mechanics. Insightful, timely and revelatory, it will reveal the secrets behind the most successful businesses in recent history, and will explain how the Loop will catch you up, sooner rather than later.

The Power of Pass-it-on

Viral Loop

This is a ground-breaking, agenda-setting book that reveals the business model that has propelled the likes of YouTube, Google, Facebook and MySpace to global success.

The Power of Pass-it-On

An engaging look at how games can help people to learn and create explores how educators and managers are introducing games into learning and workplace environments to facilitate innovation, revealing the impact of smart game designs on the brain and how they can enable greater productivity.

How Games Inspire Breakthrough Thinking

Play at Work

From Google to Facebook, the author delves into how a "viral loop," a situation where using a product means needing to share it with others, can make an online business a success.

from Facebook to Twitter, how today's smartest businesses grow themselves

Viral loop

"A literary thrill ride operated by complex and memorable characters . . . a plot worthy of Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, and Martin Cruz Smith." The murder of a friend. Conspiracy on a global scale. A near-future, dystopic world run by corporations, where nothing is as it seems and everything is part of something else. Technology and everyday life are inseparable, and information is a weapon that can save your life--or kill you. Exiled to a damp Southeast Asian republic, journalist True Ailey relentlessly searches the war-ravaged peninsula for the killers and the truth. Virtually True, by award-winning journalist Adam Penenberg, is a non-stop roller-coaster ride for the mind. Now boarding.

Virtually True

"A fascinating look at how games can help us learn, create, and innovate Once thought to be nothing more than diversions for children and nerds, games have become an integral part of everyday life. Educators are trying to make learning more fun by introducing games into the classroom while cutting-edge managers are doing the same in the workplace. Doctors, scientists, and entrepreneurs are deploying games to help solve some of the world's most pressing problems. But according to Adam Penenberg, it's not the games themselves that improve our lives, but rather smart game design and its impact on the brain that can lead us to become immersed in a task we find enjoyable. The individuals and institutions that have used games to achieve this effect are often rewarded with astounding results. Drawing on the latest brain science on attention and engagement plus his own firsthand reporting, Penenberg shows how organizations like Google, Microsoft, hospitals, and the military have used game design in bold new ways"--

How the Most Cleverly Designed Businesses Grow Themselves

Blood Highways is the heart-wrenching account of the biggest product liability case in history: the Ford-Firestone fiasco. At the center of the story are two people: Tab Turner, a charismatic trial attorney from Arkansas, who has made a career out of forcing Ford and other automakers to own up to knowingly trade human lives for profits; and Donna Bailey, a single mother and outdoor enthusiast who fought back from the brink of death to confront those ultimately responsible for her accident. Weaving together harrowing depictions of the accidents and their consequences with the stories of the men and women who labor to police the auto industry and its reckless cost-cutting, Blood Highways will transform the way you view corporations, the government, the courts, and the media. Above all, this book shows the price the public pays in wrecked and mangled lives when companies focus more on shaving costs than making quality products.

The True Story Behind      the Ford-Firestone Killing Machine

Blood Highways

Once thought to be nothing more than diversions for children and nerds, games have become an integral part of everyday life. Educators are trying to make learning more fun by introducing games into the classroom while cutting-edge managers are doing the same in the workplace. Doctors, scientists, and entrepreneurs are deploying games to help solve some of the world's most pressing problems. But according to Adam Penenberg, it's not the games themselves that improve our lives, but rather smart game design and its impact on the brain that can lead us to become immersed in a task we find enjoyable. The individuals and institutions that have used games to achieve this effect are often rewarded with astounding results. Examples include: * A software developer who changed Microsoft's mind-numbing code review process into a fun, team based game. * Google, which indexed its massive image database with unpaid volunteers by turning the process into a game. * A medical student who created a simple game that helped her overcome distractions and dramatically increased her productivity. Drawing on the latest brain science on attention and engagement plus his own firsthand reporting, Penenberg shows how organizations like Google, Microsoft, hospitals, and the military have used game design in bold new ways.

Adam L. Penenberg

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