{"product_id":"the-four-isbn-9780735213678","title":"The Four","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e USA TODAY \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are the four most influential companies on the planet. Just about everyone thinks they know how they got there. Just about everyone is wrong. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor all that’s been written about the Four over the last two decades, no one has captured their power and staggering success as insightfully as Scott Galloway. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Instead of buying the myths these compa­nies broadcast, Galloway asks fundamental questions. How did the Four infiltrate our lives so completely that they’re almost impossible to avoid (or boycott)? Why does the stock market forgive them for sins that would destroy other firms? And as they race to become the world’s first trillion-dollar company, can anyone chal­lenge them? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the same irreverent style that has made him one of the world’s most celebrated business professors, Galloway deconstructs the strategies of the Four that lurk beneath their shiny veneers. He shows how they manipulate the fundamental emotional needs that have driven us since our ancestors lived in caves, at a speed and scope others can’t match. And he reveals how you can apply the lessons of their ascent to your own business or career. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Whether you want to compete with them, do business with them, or simply live in the world they dominate, you need to understand the Four.“An existential alarm bell wrapped in a business lesson wrapped in an entertaining and often hilarious (and, yes, occasionally blue-languaged) series of stories built with great writing. It keeps you entertained to make sure you’re informed.” – 800-CEO-READ\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Galloway takes the reader through a refreshingly clear-eyed look at the nature of dominance at Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Google. He is interested in how these companies become more valuable with use instead of less, how they benefit from low cost of capital and the implications for things [that] could further strengthen their dominance.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eBrad Stone, \u003ci\u003eBloomberg Technology\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“As the power of technology’s biggest companies comes under more scrutiny, NYU business professor Galloway reveals how Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google built massive empires.” —Publishers Weekly, “The Top 10 Business Books of Fall 2017”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This is that rare book that not only informs but entertains. You'll never look at these four companies the same way again.\" - Jonah Berger, author of \u003ci\u003eContagious\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Scott Galloway is honest, outrageous, and provocative. This book will trigger your flight-or-fight nervous system like no other and in doing so challenge you to truly think differently.” —Calvin McDonald, CEO of Sephora \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “The Four is an essential, wide-ranging powerhouse of a book that, like Scott Gal­loway himself, marries equal parts incisive, entertaining, and biting. As in his leg­endary MBA lectures, Galloway tells it like it is, sparing no business titan and no juggernaut corporation from well-deserved criticism. A must read.” —Adam Alter, author of \u003ci\u003eDrunk Tank Pink\u003c\/i\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “If there is a blunter, more opinionated, faster-talking expert on the Internet than Scott Galloway, I haven’t come across him. Or her.” —Philip Elmer-DeWitt, \u003ci\u003eFortune\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e“Scott Galloway’s The Four is a bareback ride upon the four horses of the economic apocalypse – Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google. It is a timely exposition of the nature and concentration of power in the world today and, as a result, is much more than just a business book…The book contains more insights and provocative ideas than Amazon has Boeing 767s… My recommendation is to walk down to your local book store and buy this – or more likely, buy it on Amazon.”\u003cbr\u003e Tom Upchurch\u003ci\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eScott Galloway \u003c\/b\u003eis a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, where he teaches brand strategy and digital marketing to second-year MBA students. A serial entre­preneur, he has founded nine firms, including L2, Red Envelope, and Prophet. In 2012, he was named one of the “World’s 50 Best Busi­ness School Professors” by Poets \u0026amp; Quants. His weekly YouTube series, “Winners and Losers,” has generated tens of millions of views. This is his first book.Chapter 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Four\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Over the last twenty years, four technology giants have inspired      more joy, connections, prosperity, and discovery than any entity      in history. Along the way, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google      have created hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs. The Four      are responsible for an array of products and services that are      entwined into the daily lives of billions of people. They've put a      supercomputer in your pocket, are bringing the internet into      developing countries, and are mapping the Earth's land mass and      oceans. The Four have generated unprecedented wealth ($2.3      trillion) that, via stock ownership, has helped millions of      families across the planet build economic security. In sum, they      make the world a better place.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The above is true, and this narrative is espoused, repeatedly,      across thousands of media outlets and gatherings of the innovation      class (universities, conferences, congressional hearings,      boardrooms). However, consider another view.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Four Horsemen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Imagine: a retailer that refuses to pay sales tax, treats its      employees poorly, destroys hundreds of thousands of jobs, and yet      is celebrated as a paragon of business innovation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A computer company that withholds information about a domestic act      of terrorism from federal investigators, with the support of a fan      following that views the firm similar to a religion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A social media firm that analyzes thousands of images of your      children, activates your phone as a listening device, and sells      this information to Fortune 500 companies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e An ad platform that commands, in some markets, a 90 percent share      of the most lucrative sector in media, yet avoids anti-competitive      regulation through aggressive litigation and lobbyists.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This narrative is also heard around the world, but in hushed      tones. We know these companies aren't benevolent beings, yet we      invite them into the most intimate areas of our lives. We      willingly divulge personal updates, knowing they'll be used for      profit. Our media elevate the executives running these companies      to hero status-geniuses to be trusted and emulated. Our      governments grant them special treatment regarding anti-trust      regulation, taxes, even labor laws. And investors bid their stocks      up, providing near-infinite capital and firepower to attract the      most talented people on the planet or crush adversaries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e So, are these entities the Four Horsemen of god, love, sex, and      consumption? Or are they the Four Horsemen of the apocalypse? The      answer is yes to both questions. I'll just call them the Four      Horsemen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e How did these companies aggregate so much power? How can an      inanimate, for-profit enterprise become so deeply ingrained in our      psyche that it reshapes the rules of what a company can do and be?      What does unprecedented scale and influence mean for the future of      business and the global economy? Are they destined, like other      business titans before them, to be eclipsed by younger, sexier      rivals? Or have they become so entrenched that nobody-individual,      enterprise, government, or otherwise-stands a chance?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e State of Affairs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This is where the Four stand at the time of this writing:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Amazon: Shopping for a Porsche Panamera Turbo S or a pair of      Louboutin lace pumps is fun. Shopping for toothpaste and      eco-friendly diapers is not. As the online retailer of choice for      most Americans, and increasingly, the world, Amazon eases the pain      of drudgery-getting the stuff you need to survive. No great      effort: no hunting, little gathering, just (one) clicking. Their      formula: an unparalleled investment in last-mile infrastructure,      made possible by an irrationally generous lender-retail investors      who see the most compelling, yet simple, story ever told in      business: Earth's Biggest Store. The story is coupled with      execution that rivals D-Day (minus the whole courage and sacrifice      to save the world part). The result is a retailer worth more than      Walmart, Target, Macy's, Kroger, Nordstrom, Tiffany \u0026amp; Co.,      Coach, Williams-Sonoma, Tesco, Ikea, Carrefour, and The Gap      combined.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As I write this, Jeff Bezos is the third wealthiest person in the      world. He will soon be number one. The current gold and silver      medalists, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, are in great businesses      (software and insurance), but neither sits on top of a company      growing 20 percent plus each year, attacking multibillion dollar      sectors like befuddled prey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Apple: The Apple logo, which graces the most coveted laptops and      mobile devices, is the global badge of wealth, education, and      Western values. At its core, Apple fills two instinctual needs: to      feel closer to God and be more attractive to the opposite sex. It      mimics religion with its own belief system, objects of veneration,      cult following, and Christ figure. It counts among its      congregation the most important people in the world: the      Innovation Class. By achieving a paradoxical goal in business-a      low-cost product that sells for a premium price-Apple has become      the most profitable company in history. The equivalent is an auto      firm with the margins of Ferrari and the production volumes of      Toyota. In Q4 of 2016, Apple registered twice the net profits      Amazon has produced, in total, since its founding twenty-three      years ago. Apple's cash on hand is nearly the GDP of Denmark.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Facebook: As measured by adoption and usage, Facebook is the most      successful thing in the history of mankind. There are 7.5 billion      people in the world, and 1.2 billion people have a daily      relationship with Facebook. Facebook (#1), Facebook Messenger      (#2), and Instagram (#8) are the most popular mobile apps in the      United States. The social network and its properties register      fifty minutes of a user's typical day. One of every six minutes      online is spent on Facebook, and one in five minutes spent on      mobile is on Facebook.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Google: Google is a modern man's god. It's our source of      knowledge-ever-present, aware of our deepest secrets, reassuring      us where we are and where we need to go, answering questions from      trivial to profound. No institution has the trust and credibility      of Google: About one out of six queries posed to the search engine      have never been asked before. What rabbi, priest, scholar, or      coach has so much gravitas that he or she is presented with that      many questions never before asked of anybody? Who else inspires so      many queries of the unknown from all corners of the world?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., in 2016, Google earned $20 billion      in profits, increased revenues 23 percent, and lowered cost to      advertisers 11 percent-a massive blow to competitors. Google,      unlike most products, ages in reverse, becoming more valuable with      use. It harnesses the power of 2 billion people, twenty-four hours      a day, connected by their intentions (what you want) and decisions      (what you chose), yielding a whole infinitely greater than the sum      of its parts. The insights into consumer behavior Google gleans      from 3.5 billion queries each day make this horseman the      executioner of traditional brands and media. Your new favorite      brand is what Google returns to you in .0000005 second.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Show Me the Trillions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e While billions of people derive significant value from these firms      and their products, disturbingly few reap the economic benefits.      General Motors created economic value of approximately $231,000      per employee (market cap\/workforce). This sounds impressive until      you realize that Facebook has created an enterprise worth $20.5      million per employee . . . or almost a hundred times the value per      employee of the organizational icon of the last century. Imagine      the economic output of a G-10 economy, generated by the population      of Manhattan's Lower East Side.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The economic value accretion seems to be defying the law of big      numbers and accelerating. In the last four years, April 1,      2013-April 1, 2017, the Four increased in value by approximately      $1.3 trillion (GDP of Russia).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Other tech companies, old and new, big and bigger, are losing      relevance. Aging behemoths, including HP and IBM, barely warrant      the attention of the Four. Thousands of start-ups fly by like      gnats hardly worth swatting at. Any firm that begins to show the      potential to bother the Four is acquired-at prices lesser      companies can't imagine. (Facebook paid nearly $20 billion for      five-year-old, fifty-employee instant messaging company WhatsApp.)      Ultimately, the only competitors the Four face are . . . each      other.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Safety in Hatred\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Governments, laws, and smaller firms appear helpless to stop the      march, regardless of the Four's impact on business, society, or      the planet. However, there's safety in hatred. Specifically, the      Four hate each other. They are now competing directly, as their      respective sectors are running out of easy prey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Google signaled the end of the brand era as consumers, armed with      search, no longer need to defer to the brand, hurting Apple, who      also finds itself competing with Amazon in music and film. Amazon      is Google's largest customer, but it's also threatening Google in      search-55 percent of people searching for a product start on      Amazon (vs. 28 percent on search engines such as Google). Apple      and Amazon are running, full speed, into each other in front of      us, on our TV screens and phones, as Google fights Apple to be the      operating system of the product that defines our age, the      smartphone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Meanwhile, both Siri (Apple) and Alexa (Amazon) have entered the      thunderdome, where two voices enter, and only one will leave.      Among online advertisers, Facebook is now taking share from Google      as it completes the great pivot from desktop to mobile. And the      technology likely creating more wealth over the next decade, the      cloud-a delivery of hosted services over the internet that can be      spun up\/down based on users' needs-features the Ali vs. Frazier      battle of the tech age as Amazon and Google go head-to-head with      their respective cloud offerings.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Four are engaged in an epic race to become the operating      system for our lives. The prize? A trillion-dollar-plus valuation,      and power and influence greater than any entity in history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e So What?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To grasp the choices that ushered in the Four is to understand      business and value creation in the digital age. In the first half      of this book we'll examine each horseman and deconstruct their      strategies and the lessons business leaders can draw from them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the second part of the book, we'll identify and set aside the      mythology the Four allowed to flourish around the origins of their      competitive advantage. Then we'll explore a new model for      understanding how these companies exploit our basest instincts for      growth and profitability, and show how the Four defend their      markets with analog moats: real-world infrastructure designed to      blunt attacks from potential competitors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What are the horsemen's sins? How do they manipulate governments      and competitors to steal IP? That's in chapter 8. Could there ever      be a Fifth Horseman? In chapter 9, we'll evaluate the possible      candidates, from Netflix to China's retail giant Alibaba, which      dwarfs Amazon on many metrics. Do any of them have what it takes      to develop a more dominant platform?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Finally, in chapter 10, we'll look at what professional attributes      will help you thrive in the age of the Four. And in chapter 11,      I'll talk about where the Four are taking us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Alexa, Who Is Scott Galloway?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e According to Alexa, \"Scott Robert Galloway is an Australian      professional football player who plays as a fullback for Central      Coast Mariners in the A-League.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e That bitch . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Anyway, while not a fullback, I've had a front-row seat to the      Hunger Games of our age. I grew up in an upper-lower middle-class      household, raised by a superhero (single mother) who worked as a      secretary. After college I spent two years at Morgan Stanley in a      misguided attempt to be successful and impress women. Investment      banking is an awful job, full stop. In addition, I don't have      possess the skills-maturity, discipline, humility, respect for      institutions-to work in a big firm (that is, someone else), so I      became an entrepreneur.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e After business school, I founded Prophet, a brand strategy firm      that has grown to 400 people helping consumer brands mimic Apple.      In 1997, I founded Red Envelope, a multichannel retailer that went      public in 2002 and was slowly bled to death by Amazon. In 2010, I      founded L2, a firm that benchmarks the social, search, mobile, and      site performance of the world's largest consumer and retail      brands. We use data to help Nike, Chanel, L'Oreal, P\u0026amp;G, and      one in four of the world's one hundred largest consumer firms      scale these four summits. In March 2017, L2 was acquired by      Gartner (NYSE: IT).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Along the way, I've served on the boards of media companies (The      New York Times Company, Dex Media, Advanstar)-all getting crushed      by Google and Facebook. I also served on the board of Gateway,      which sold three times more computers annually than Apple, at a      fifth the margin-it didn't end well. Finally, I've also served on      the boards of Urban Outfitters and Eddie Bauer, each trying to      protect their turf from the great white shark of retail, Amazon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e However, my business card, which I don't have, reads \"Professor of      Marketing.\" In 2002, I joined the faculty of NYU's Stern School of      Business, where I teach brand strategy and digital marketing and      have taught over six thousand students. It's a privileged role for      me, as I'm the first person, on either side of my family, to      graduate from high school. I'm the product of big government,      specifically the University of California, which decided, despite      my being a remarkably unremarkable kid, to give me something      remarkable: upward mobility through a world-class education.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The pillars of a business school education-which (remarkably) does      accelerate students' average salaries from $70,000 (applicants) to      $100,000 plus (graduates) in just twenty-four months-are Finance,      Marketing, Operations, and Management. This curriculum takes up      students' entire first year, and the skills learned serve them      well the rest of their professional lives. The second year of      business school is mostly a waste: elective (that is, irrelevant)      courses that fulfill the teaching requirements of tenured faculty      and enable the kids to drink beer and travel to gain fascinating      (worthless) insight into \"Doing Business in Chile,\" a real course      at Stern that gives students credits toward graduation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We require a second year so we can charge tuition of $110,000 vs.      $50,000 to support a welfare program for the overeducated: tenure.      If we (universities) are to continue raising tuition faster than      inflation, and we will, we'll need to build a better foundation      for the second year. I believe the business fundamentals of the      first year need to be supplemented with similar insights into how      these skills are applied in a modern economy. The pillars of the      second year should be a study of the Four and the sectors they      operate in (search, social, brand, and retail). To better      understand these firms, the instincts they tap into, and their      intersection between technology and stakeholder value is to gain      insight into modern-day business, our world, and ourselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At the beginning and end of every course at NYU Stern, I tell my      students the goal of the course is to provide them with an edge so      they too can build economic security for themselves and their      families. I wrote this book for the same reason. I hope the reader      gains insight and a competitive edge in an economy where it's      never been easier to be a billionaire, but it's never been harder      to be a millionaire.","brand":"Portfolio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303416582373,"sku":"NP9780735213678","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780735213678.jpg?v=1767739411","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-four-isbn-9780735213678","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}