Need, Speed and Greed

About the Book: Need, Speed, and Greed A well-informed and insightful look at the new rules of innovation and an introduction to the gurus and go-getters now reshaping the world economy. Over the past few decades, globalization and Googlization have kicked off the first phase of an innovation revolution more profound and powerful than any economic force since the arrival of Europeans on American shores half a millennium ago. This has brought us such advances as the World Wide Web, social networking, 24/7 connectivity and global markets. The snag is that the benefits of all this have not been shared fairly among all. The elites of Mumbai are today closer to the elites of Manhattan than they were two decades ago, it is true, but what about Kansas? The hard-working salarymen of the developed world are not getting richer, are definitely getting angrier and may well be getting shafted by the economic elites who have mastered the new rules of global innovation. Even as rural women in Africa have seen their lives transformed by mobile phones and the internet, the middle classes and blue-collar workers in rich countries everywhere have been squeezed by the new global realities. As the first phase of the innovation revolution gives way to a much more profound transformation-call it the Great Disruption-in the next decade, America and other rich societies must find a path to inclusive growth or else risk being left behind by history. That points to the central political and economic question of our age: How can the extraordinary benefits of the innovation revolution be shared more equitably among all of society? Each and every one of us has an innovator-in-waiting trapped inside, waiting to burst out. That notion captures the essence of Need, Greed and Speed, as this is not just a book about business or the world economy. This is the essential insiders guide to the new world of innovation, a passionate book about vision, courage and industriousness. It will inspire and emp