Useful Assets By: Robert C. Williams “The Life of Lies. The silent circle of assent. The boss in complete control. Loyalty oaths. An us-versus-them worldview. Lying about things, large and small, in service to some warped code of loyalty. These rules and standards were hallmarks of the Mafia, but throughout my career I’d be surprised how often I’d find them applied outside of it.” -James Comey, A Higher Loyalty. Truth, Lies and Leadership (N.Y.: Flatiron Books, 2018), page 7. Useful Assets explores the deep-rooted ties between the Trump family, the Russians and Eurasian organized crime dating as far back as 1977. But just how deep do those ties go? How involved were the Russians in the outcome of the 2016 presidential election and how does this link to our current constitutional crisis? In this thoroughly researched political exposé, Russian historian Robert C. Williams strives to answer those questions, and more.

A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.

This book provides a digestible step-by-step guide to reading corporate financial reports, drawing upon real-life case studies and examples of corporate collapses and accounting scandals, and applying practical tools to financial statement analysis. Appealing to a range of practitioners within corporate finance including investors, managers, and business analysts, this book is the first to specifically address the challenges facing those who are not professional accountants and auditors when examining corporate financial reports. Corporate financial reports are used widely by managers, investors, creditors, and government agencies to examine company performance and evaluate potential risks. However, although seemingly an invaluable source of information for managerial decision-making, financial reports are often based on rough simplifications of a very complex reality. With no way of avoiding deliberate manipulations and fraudulent activity, these statements cannot be relied on completely when selecting stocks or evaluating credit risk, and therefore poor analysis can lead to potentially disastrous investment decisions. The author suggests that in order to effectively interpret corporate financial reports, we must 'read between the lines' to accurately assess a company's economic performance and predict its long-term viability.

What's a customer worth? The company that can answer this question precisely is the company with an edge in the customer-based, technology - and information - intensive economy of today. But how can an asset as intangible as customer value be measured? This book provides a solution: a fully developed, highly practical new marketing system for measuring and managing customer value as a financial asset - a system uniquely suited to today's rapidly changing, increasingly digital marketplace. Along with strategic and tactical guidance, Customer Equity provides precise metrics for evaluating a business more effectively and improving performance - the "activity-based management" of a company's marketplace. The authors present a new framework for structuring go-to-market activities that links those activities to useful metrics and allows better-informed marketing decisions.

In every industry, there are companies that take off. They effortlessly hire talented people, attract loyal customers, create cool products and make lots of money. These companies seem to stand out and scale up quickly with support from investors, partners and the media. Sadly, most companies don't perform this way. Most entrepreneurs aren't building anything of value. They work hard, make sacrifices, struggle, dream, plan and strive, but in the end, it doesn't pay off. This book sets out a method for building a business that becomes a valuable asset. It focuses you on transforming your organisation into something scalable, digital, fun and capable of making an impact. It's time to, stand out, scale up and build a business that has a life of its own. Start now by reading this book.

Praise for Intangible Assets "In Intangible Assets, Jeffrey Cohen presents an informative, thought-provoking and practical look at an increasingly important component of every business's worth. He describes the art and science of identifying assets that have clear economic benefit, but are typically not found on the balance sheet, and he provides an invaluable framework within which the reader can value these assets, despite their elusive nature." --Rick Westervelt, President, Skylist, Inc. "Jeffrey Cohen's integrative approach to conceptual issues of intangible assets is creative and a refreshing contribution. He brings law, economics, finance, and accounting to the same table, which results in a comprehensive framework for understanding how value is created and sustained. His construct of 'proto-assets' and 'portfolio of intangible economic benefits' is key. Written in an easy-to-read style with many practical examples, this book will be useful for both novice and experienced professionals." --W. Dana Northcut, PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor of Accounting Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago Principal, Chicago Partners, LLC "This volume is the perfect resource for newcomers to IP valuation. Through lucid explanations and well-chosen illustrations, it does for the reader exactly what a valuation expert should do for a client--it makes the abstract concrete. But this volume is not just for the novice; it holds insights that will be useful to IP experts in law, accounting, and economics." --Edward F. Malone, Partner, Jenner & Block LLP

Many senior executives talk about information as one of their most important assets, but few behave as if it is. They report to the board on the health of their workforce, their financials, their customers, and their partnerships, but rarely the health of their information assets. Corporations typically exhibit greater discipline in tracking and accounting for their office furniture than their data. Infonomics is the theory, study, and discipline of asserting economic significance to information. It strives to apply both economic and asset management principles and practices to the valuation, handling, and deployment of information assets. This book specifically shows: CEOs and business leaders how to more fully wield information as a corporate asset CIOs how to improve the flow and accessibility of information CFOs how to help their organizations measure the actual and latent value in their information assets. More directly, this book is for the burgeoning force of chief data officers (CDOs) and other information and analytics leaders in their valiant struggle to help their organizations become more infosavvy. Author Douglas Laney has spent years researching and developing Infonomics and advising organizations on the infinite opportunities to monetize, manage, and measure information. This book delivers a set of new ideas, frameworks, evidence, and even approaches adapted from other disciplines on how to administer, wield, and understand the value of information. Infonomics can help organizations not only to better develop, sell, and market their offerings, but to transform their organizations altogether. "Doug Laney masterfully weaves together a collection of great examples with a solid framework to guide readers on how to gain competitive advantage through what he labels "the unruly asset" – data. The framework is comprehensive, the advice practical and the success stories global and across industries and applications." Liz Rowe, Chief Data Officer, State of New Jersey "A must read for anybody who wants to survive in a data centric world." Shaun Adams, Head of Data Science, Betterbathrooms.com "Phenomenal! An absolute must read for data practitioners, business leaders and technology strategists. Doug's lucid style has a set a new standard in providing intelligible material in the field of information economics. His passion and knowledge on the subject exudes thru his literature and inspires individuals like me." Ruchi Rajasekhar, Principal Data Architect, MISO Energy "I highly recommend Infonomics to all aspiring analytics leaders. Doug Laney’s work gives readers a deeper understanding of how and why information should be monetized and managed as an enterprise asset. Laney’s assertion that accounting should recognize information as a capital asset is quite convincing and one I agree with. Infonomics enjoyably echoes that sentiment!" Matt Green, independent business analytics consultant, Atlanta area "If you care about the digital economy, and you should, read this book." Tanya Shuckhart, Analyst Relations Lead, IRI Worldwide

With the rising importance of knowledge as a primary factor in global industries, it is increasingly necessary for knowledge management professionals to understand, engage with, and speak the language of investments and auditing. This exciting guide helps knowledge management professionals educate themselves on these topics.