Unscaled: How AI and a New Generation of Upstarts Are Creating the Economy of the Future
(eAudiobook)

Unscaled identifies the forces that are reshaping the global economy and turning one of the fundamental laws of business and society -- the economies of scale -- on its head. An innovative trend combining technology with economics is unraveling behemoth industries -- including corporations, banks, farms, media conglomerates, energy systems, governments, and schools-that have long dominated business and society. Size and scale have become a liability. A new generation of upstarts is using artificial intelligence to automate tasks that once required expensive investment, and "renting" technology platforms to build businesses for hyper-focused markets, enabling them to grow big without the bloat of giant organizations. In Unscaled, venture capitalist Hemant Taneja explains how the unscaled phenomenon allowed Warby Parker to cheaply and easily start a small company, build a better product, and become a global competitor in no time, upending entrenched eyewear giant Luxottica. It similarly enabled Stripe to take on established payment processors throughout the world, and Livongo to help diabetics control their disease while simultaneously cutting the cost of treatment. The unscaled economy is remaking massive, deeply rooted industries and opening up fantastic possibilities for entrepreneurs, imaginative companies, and resourceful individuals. It can be the model for solving some of the world's greatest problems, including climate change and soaring health-care costs, but will also unleash new challenges that today's leaders must address. Hemant Taneja is a managing director at General Catalyst, a venture capital firm with offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York City, and Boston. In his civic life, he has co-founded Advanced Energy Economy, an organization focused on transforming energy policy in America, is a board member of Khan Academy, a non-profit educational organization, and serves on the Stanford School of Medicine Board of Fellows. He also lectures at MIT and Stanford University and has published articles about the unscaling phenomenon in the Harvard Business Review and on TechCrunch. "Hemant Taneja, the author of Unscaled... says, he sees two trends-demand for hyperpersonalized products and entrepreneurs' ability to 'rent scale' in the cloud-that are putting incumbents at an increasing disadvantage."-Harvard BusinessReview "The book explores how unscaling will affect six industries-energy, healthcare, education, finance, media, and consumer products-and how to benefit from this revolution."-Talent DevelopmentMagazine "Hemant Taneja provides important insights on the possibilities for AI to transform fields ranging from education to healthcare. He equally shows the need for transparency and clear values in deploying these powerful new technologies."-David Kenny, senior vice president, IBM, Watson &Cloud Platform technologies "Unscaled demystifies that little acronym with big meaning-'AI'-and lays out where you can participate in the revolution."-Carter Cast, clinical professor ofinnovation and entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School, NorthwesternUniversity "A thought-provoking look at the technology that is changing the world of business and the benefits, pitfalls, and challenges for society as a whole."-Kenneth I. Chenault, former chief executive officer, AmericanExpress Company "An important and fascinating read for anyone looking to better understand the forces driving innovation and disruption which are affecting every sector of our economy."-Penny Pritzker, chairman of PSP Capital Partners andformer US Secretary of Commerce "Unscaled presents a paradigm shift in how we should think about the role of technology and policy in addressing the real threat of climate change.... Thoughtful innovation can help us take on some of the biggest challenges facing society."-Bill Ritter Jr., former Colorado governor and directorof the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University "The world i