Ideas for progress from @stripe. We publish books about economic and technological advancement.
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“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.” —Charlie Munger
Poor Charlie’s Almanack is out today. You can read and listen to the new edition online, for free, at stripe.press/poor-charlies-a…
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Evolution of the Scaling Era cover:
“It’s hard to find unique ways of visualizing AI without defaulting to the obvious,” says @pablodelcan.
“In our design process, we experimented with unexpected metaphors—flowers growing out of neural networks, abstract mathematical puzzles like the Knight’s Tour—before arriving at a graphic visualization of an LLM: input, transformers, attention, multilayer perceptrons, and output. The result is a cover that is both direct and sculptural.”
press.stripe.com/scaling
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The Art of Doing Science and Engineering is an unorthodox biography of mathematician Richard Hamming and a provocative challenge to anyone who wants to build something truly great. The new edition is now available for pre-order: amazon.com/dp/1732265178
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What is intelligence? What will it take to create AGI? What happens once we succeed?
The Scaling Era: An Oral History of AI, 2019–2025 by @dwarkesh_sp and @gleech explores the questions animating those at the frontier of AI research.
It’s out today: press.stripe.com/scaling
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How was penicillin able to eliminate 80% of WWII battlefield deaths? Why did nails once make up 0.4% of US GDP?
In The Origins of Efficiency, @_brianpotter unpacks how production efficiency happens, and why it is of civilizational importance.
Preorder: press.stripe.com/origins-of-…
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Richard Hamming's life was a study in the importance of having a vision of greatness––and being relentless in the pursuit of it.
The Art of Doing Science and Engineering, with a foreword by @worrydream, is now available. 📚🔬💻
amazon.com/dp/1732265178
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press.stripe.com/scaling
The past 6 years of AI growth can be summed up in a word: scaling.
Since 2022, @dwarkesh_sp has interviewed experts on everything from the technical details of LLMs to the possibility of an AI takeover or explosive economic growth.
The Scaling Era curates these conversations into a snapshot of the moment AI hit escape velocity.
Preorder in print or purchase the ebook.
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“Optimism can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
In Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation, @ByrneHobart and @TobiasAHuber show how bubbles contributed to some of the biggest breakthroughs of the past 100 years—from the Apollo program to Bitcoin.
Preorder: press.stripe.com/boom
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Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by @chughesjohnson is a practical guide to building a company’s operating systems and scaling the most important resource a company has: its people.
Available for preorder now: press.stripe.com/scaling-peo… 📈
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Today, Stripe Press is republishing The Dream Machine, the story of JCR Licklider. He not only instigated the work that led to the internet, but also shifted our understanding of what computers were and could be. amzn.to/2QW0C9B
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Out now: press.stripe.com/origins-of-…
200 years on from the Industrial Revolution, we still struggle to understand what makes a production process more efficient.
The Origins of Efficiency fills in that gap.
Examining industries from steel to semiconductors to auto manufacturing, @_brianpotter reveals how production processes work and how they become faster, cheaper, and more reliable over time.
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Cover evolution for The Origins of Efficiency:
“We explored a wide range of options inspired by examples that @_brianpotter highlights in the book: light bulbs, nails, printing presses, and more,” says @pablodelcan. “Each built on the theme of transformation, showing how processes that were once slow and labor-intensive evolved into modern feats of precision.
We wanted to celebrate the history of manufacturing while also showing how far we’ve come. The final cover contrasts the complexity of an Airbus jet engine with the raw mechanical rhythm of a 19th-century canning factory. The juxtaposition emphasizes the progression of human ingenuity.”
press.stripe.com/origins-of-…
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Accelerating low-risk, high-reward research will be key to confronting this century’s greatest challenges. In Scientific Freedom, Donald Braben offers a new path to discover and sponsor scientists with transformative ideas. 🔬
Now available for pre-order: amazon.com/dp/0578675919/
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"I've come to view engineering management as a series of puzzles. This book is a collection of those puzzles which I have had the good fortune to struggle with and learn from." -@lethain An Elegant Puzzle is now available for pre-order. amzn.to/2GEx23Y
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Open source has always reflected the broader social trends of our online world. In Working in Public, @nayafia combines years of research into open source developers with fresh thoughts about how they mirror the creator economy more broadly. Now available: amazon.com/Working-Public-Ma…
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Introducing Beneath the Surface—a seven-part podcast series about infrastructure. 🌆 🚆 📦
Join us on May 3rd for the first episode.
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/1jPjl5…
iTunes: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
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Vannevar Bush’s 1970 memoir, Pieces of the Action, is an inside account of his 60-year career as one of the most prolific scientists of his generation—and a poignant treatise on institution-building.
Now available for preorder: amazon.com/dp/1953953204/
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This summer, we asked our authors about the books they can't put down. Their recommended titles ranged from post-apocalyptic sci-fi to unusual moments in tech history. Here's the list:
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📖 Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit & Wisdom of Charles T. Munger 📜
Read the legendary Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman’s lessons on investing, philanthropy, and decision-making—with a new foreword by @collision.
Available for preorder now: press.stripe.com/poor-charli…
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Two of our upcoming books are, at their hearts, about bringing people together and helping them thrive. An Elegant Puzzle (spring ‘19) focuses on engineering management & Get Together (summer ‘19) focuses on cultivating passionate communities. Learn more: press.stripe.com/
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Thirty years ago, @jmechner created Prince of Persia and changed how video games are experienced. 🖥️🕹️
Today, see how it was done. The Making of Prince of Persia is now available: amazon.com/gp/product/057862…
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Working in Public by @nayafia is a book about what it means to be online today, told through the lens of the past 20 years of open source development. Settling on a cover that adequately reflected both aspects was a tall order.
🧵on how @tyler_thompson got there:
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A 🧵 a century in the making. In honor of his upcoming 100th birthday—and our republication of Poor Charlie’s Almanack—we’re spending the next 100 days celebrating the life and mind of Charles T. Munger.
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Scientific progress—far from being inevitable—relies upon offering scientists the latitude, funding, and encouragement to pursue potentially transformative research. 
Scientific Freedom by Donald Braben is now available: amazon.com/Scientific-Freedo…
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🔬Out today: Pieces of the Action by Vannevar Bush 📚
Read about how the scientist and engineer behind radar, the proximity fuze, the Manhattan Project, and more built the most innovative R&D ecosystem of the 20th century.
Order now: amazon.com/dp/1953953204/
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The three rules for business and life, according to Charlie Munger.
("With Warren," he says, "I had all three.")
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Scaling People is a tactical playbook for building a company and setting its people up for success, from an executive who was deeply involved in driving growth at both @Google and @Stripe.
Available now: press.stripe.com/scaling-peo…
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The Apollo program was more than a race to the Moon. Its $280 billion budget drove teams to create integrated circuits, new materials, and more.
What looked like waste—parallel teams, abandoned prototypes, vast budgets—spawned dozens of essential technologies.
press.stripe.com/boom
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Check out the cover for our next book, Get Together, by @people_and_co, designed by @tyler_thompson. It's a book about bringing people together and we wanted a cover that reflected the warmth of communities and their leaders. Here is a behind-the-scenes look at how we got there.
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Our newest book by @nayafia offers an inside look at modern open source software development and its ramifications for online social behavior—and for an internet reorienting itself around individual creators.
Working in Public is available for pre-order. amazon.com/dp/0578675862/
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"Believe very strongly in yourself, think what you can do to help others, work harder, in some cases take more risks. Common sense morality is mostly true."—@tylercowen on what readers will take away from Stubborn Attachments, available today. amzn.to/2Erjo6y
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Pop-up bookstore, anyone? 📚
Join us in San Francisco this Sunday, Oct. 16, from 1-4PM @Groundfloorclub for books, coffee, limited-run merch, and a few special guests. 👀
Let us know you're coming: stripe.events/stripe-press-p…
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Reimagining the cover of our next book, a new edition of Richard Hamming’s The Art of Doing Science and Engineering––equal parts memoir and roadmap for how to approach technical work as a craft––was a rewarding challenge.
🧵on how @tyler_thompson got there:
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Designing a book cover––like creating a video game––is an iterative process. Take a peek at how designer @tyler_thompson, working with author @jmechner, went from vintage photos to a striking pixelated sprite for the cover of The Making of Prince of Persia.
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Our cover iterations for Pieces of the Action—around 12 in all—aimed to reflect the many strands of Vannevar Bush’s life and career, and his enduring influence on generations of scientists, engineers, and public policymakers: 👇
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Michael S. Malone’s The Big Score chronicles the evolution of the technology industry from the birth of the semiconductor to the rise of the personal computer—and the individuals that built them.
🧵on how @tyler_thompson designed a cover that captured the spirit of early tech.
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The Making of Prince of Persia is the behind-the-scenes story of the creation of one of the most beloved video games of all time. This collector's edition of creator @jmechner's personal journals is now available for pre-order: jordanmechner.com/store/the-…
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Tulipmania was a bubble—but so was the Manhattan Project.
Under the right conditions, @ByrneHobart and @TobiasAHuber argue, bubbles mobilize the ideas, capital, and energy needed to bring about technological and scientific revolutions.
Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation is out now. press.stripe.com/boom
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One of @chughesjohnson’s best-known management insights:
Write a “Working with Me” document that outlines how you operate, your management style, and your communication preferences.
Here’s a look at Claire’s, plus a template for creating your own: assets.ctfassets.net/fzn2n1n…
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Stripe Press is coming to Toronto! 📚 ☕
Stop by our pop-up coffee shop and bookstore at Carbonic Coffee on Baldwin St. for coffee and conversation. The full Stripe Press catalog will also be available for purchase.
RSVP here: lu.ma/ydiu1c0i
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As 2020 winds down, we asked our authors what books they recommend picking up in 2021. Their answers include a new Proust translation, an immersive historical guide, candid climate science, and more. Here’s the list:
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You can also find Poor Charlie’s Almanack in print, audiobook, and ebook at press.stripe.com/poor-charli…
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Scientific Freedom by Donald Braben is an exhortation to reform the way we identify, fund, and support scientists working on transformative research.
🧵 on how @tyler_thompson designed a cover to embody this “elixir of civilization”:
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Congratulations to Stripe Press authors @eladgil and @tylercowen for making Bloomberg’s best books list! bloomberg.com/features/2018-…
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Next month, the @stewartbrand documentary returns to the Bay. Tickets are now on sale to stream We Are As Gods @SFFILM from April 9-18. sffilm.org/event/2021-we-are…
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🧵 on how discoveries like penicillin only change the world when paired with the less glamorous—but equally vital—work of figuring out how to produce them at scale, from @_brianpotter’s The Origins of Efficiency.
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“Malone’s stories capture the essence of Valley culture and the outsized personalities who helped create a tech mecca.” —@jeffskoll
The Big Score, Michael S. Malone’s history of Silicon Valley's founding days, is available now: amazon.com/Big-Score-Billion…
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What book(s) should we reprint next?
forms.gle/BZH3r2CzmFC2iDeg8
Some of @stripepress’s best-loved books have been re-publications, often recommended by readers.
Which is why we’re putting out a ⋆.ೃ࿔⋆ call for reprint recommendations ⋆⭒˚｡⋆
What book(s) would you love to see Stripe Press republish? Let us know: forms.gle/BZH3r2CzmFC2iDeg8
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“An unruly public has taken control of the digital conversation and the consequences have been profound.” @mgurri’s The Revolt of the Public is available today. amzn.to/2Pj6OXb
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“They are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up.” – Charlie Munger
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Q: If you had to summarize what you took away from the book, what would it be?
A: Work hard on problems of interest to the smartest people you know.
@devonzuegel @starsandrobots @andy_matuschak @michael_nielsen discuss Hamming's legacy over at @NotionHQ. notion.so/blog/a-roundtable-…
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Carl Shulman, independent adviser to Open Philanthropy, on the parallels between the scaling hypothesis and human evolution, from The Scaling Era by @dwarkesh_sp and @gleech:
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Join us in SF for a Stripe Press pop-up! ☕📚
We'll have coffee, snacks, the full Stripe Press catalog (of course), limited-edition merch, and staffers to answer your burning writing-related or Stripe product questions.
RSVP: lu.ma/stripe-press-sf
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Charlie is a virtuoso at compressing an insight or opinion into a memorable maxim. We’re going to be sharing some of the classics (and some deep cuts, too).
Here’s one of our favorites:
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Management is an ethical profession and @lethain provides the human-centric frameworks for upholding that honor and responsibility. "An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management" is available today! amzn.to/2Ef9imH
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Managing teams is a complex, yet rewarding, puzzle—a challenge magnified by our newly remote world.
For a limited time, the Kindle edition of @Lethain’s An Elegant Puzzle is only $1.99 in the US & UK 💻 amazon.com/dp/B07QYCHJ7V/ref…
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Take a look inside the final chapter of the book. Hamming’s “You and Your Research” is a timeless imploration to seek out important problems, establish comfort with ambiguity, and be unapologetic in the pursuit of excellence: d37ugbyn3rpeym.cloudfront.ne…
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[Digital Colophon] The Stripe Press logo was inspired by the way paper flows through a traditional press. To tie it back to our imprint name, we used the curves and lines of the “S” and “P” to mimic the way paper loops around cylindrical rolls and then emerges in a flat sheet.
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We’ve teamed up with @IncrementMag to release three bundles featuring issues of the magazine plus Stripe Press titles, including The Art of Doing Science and Engineering, @nayafia’s Working in Public, @Lethain’s An Elegant Puzzle, and others: store.increment.com
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Speculative bubbles have driven technological adoption for 250 years.
In Boom, @ByrneHobart and @TobiasAHuber argue that Bitcoin is unique: Its protocol doesn't just attract bubbles, it’s designed around them.
press.stripe.com/boom
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“The Big Score covers the people and companies that shaped many aspects of early Silicon Valley. It captures the can-do maker spirit of the early tech industry and gives us a unique view into a key moment in time." —@eladgil
Now available for preorder: amazon.com/dp/1953953166
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Stripe Press 🤝 @stripe Terminal 🤝 @Groundfloorclub.
First pop-up bookstore: ✅ Where should we head next?
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Excited to work with @ByrneHobart and @TobiasAHuber on their book.
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Stubborn Attachments by @tylercowen makes an urgent moral case for economic growth. For a limited time, the Kindle edition is available at a special price in the U.S. and UK:
amazon.co.uk/dp/B07G9DFC8W
amazon.com/dp/B07G9DFC8W
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Get Together shares the decisions, principles, and prompts that have cultivated some of the most successful communities. Now on audiobook! 🔊📚
iTunes: books.apple.com/us/audiobook…
Amazon: amazon.com/Get-Together-Buil…
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Video game designer @jmechner recommends @sarahkendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight:
bookshop.org/books/hiding-in…
amazon.com/Hiding-Plain-Sigh…
“One of our most insightful, prescient writers about American politics, media, and civic life over the past 20 years. This book cuts to the bone.”
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DUBLIN: You’re invited to our next pop up! ☕📚
Join us at The Grayson on 12 August for coffee, pastries, limited-edition merch, and the chance to buy a book (or 14) from the Stripe Press catalogue.
RSVP: lu.ma/stripe-press-dublin
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We Are As Gods, a documentary about @stewartbrand, debuts in US theaters August 12. Catch it on Amazon and Apple TV starting September 6.
Watch the trailer 🎥 piped.video/XYXyfOyKn0U
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Bubbles seem irrational. But what if they're a feature of progress, not a bug?
press.stripe.com/boom
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“The thing about economic growth, Cowen tells us, is that it has the potential to advance just about everything that people value.”
@paulbloomatyale on @tylercowen’s Stubborn Attachments in @NewYorker: newyorker.com/culture/annals…
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[Digital Colophon] To create any hardcover book, paper or fabric is wrapped around a rigid cover board. Stripe Press books use 80lb text paper stock with a pattered tactile impression. The paper is also dye-impregnated so that it doesn’t wear to white with use.
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“Change does not mean progress, but progress requires change.”
Richard Hamming’s “You and Your Research,” excerpted from The Art of Doing Science and Engineering, is a visionary essay on cultivating a style of thinking that produces great ideas: d37ugbyn3rpeym.cloudfront.ne…
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It was bound to happen...📚
You can now buy our books on @Bookshop_Org. 🎁
press.stripe.com
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“When you get to certain levels of responsibility, you could be technically the smartest person in the room, but if you have no emotional intelligence… you are going to struggle to lead.”
—@chughesjohnson in conversation with @tferriss
tim.blog/2024/02/27/claire-h…
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Michael S. Malone’s The Big Score chronicles the evolution of the technology industry from the birth of the semiconductor to the rise of the personal computer—and the individuals and companies that built them.
Now available for preorder: amazon.com/dp/1953953166
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See you tomorrow, Toronto! 🇨🇦
Stripe Press is coming to Toronto! 📚 ☕
Stop by our pop-up coffee shop and bookstore at Carbonic Coffee on Baldwin St. for coffee and conversation. The full Stripe Press catalog will also be available for purchase.
RSVP here: lu.ma/ydiu1c0i
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We’re having a virtual book club about An Elegant Puzzle! 🧩🎥
Join us on Instagram Live next Weds, 7/24, at 11:45 AM PT with @the_prion of @software_daily, @umanagineer, and @lethain. Follow Stripe Press to get notified: instagram.com/stripepress
What should we talk about?
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Thank you @printmag for naming @jmechner’s The Making of Prince of Persia among the best art and design books of 2020. We’re honored to be in such beautiful company. printmag.com/post/30-of-the-…
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How a community of video gamers in Cuba created a DIY internet—and connected tens of thousands of people across the island.
The Street Network, a short documentary from Stripe Press, is out now via @WorksInProgMag 👉
worksinprogress.co/issue/fil…
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"Keeping a journal has special value for anyone engaged in a creative project," writes @jmechner. "Reading pages written a year ago, or five, or [20], can help reveal the big arc of our lives, and illuminate the present." medium.com/@jordanmechner/wh…
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Get Together shows how companies and customers, artists and fans, or organizers and advocates can join forces to accomplish more together than they could have alone. @people_and_co’s book of principles, prompts, and stories is now available for pre-order. amzn.to/2LgDN0R
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Start preparing your 2020 reading list! And save a few extra slots because we've got more on the way.
For Prince of Persia’s 30th birthday, @stripepress will publish a hardcover illustrated collector’s edition of my original 1980s "Making of PoP" game dev journal, with assets from @museumofplay. jordanmechner.com/pop30 #retrogaming #pop30
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Vannevar Bush’s reflections on his work as the U.S.’s first science advisor and as an inventor, engineer, and educator, Pieces of the Action—updated with a new foreword from @Ben_Reinhardt.
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In Where Is My Flying Car?, J. Storrs Hall sets out to answer the book’s deceptively simple question. He begins with the history of flying cars and ends with a call for us to dream of a richer, bolder future. Available now 👇
amazon.com/Where-Flying-Car-…
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We returned to a foundational metaphor: Hamming argued that working without a vision leaves us liable to stumbling, as if “drunken sailor[s],” towards… nothing in particular. The Art of Doing Science and Engineering is a provocation to do the opposite.
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[Digital Colophon] All Stripe Press books are printed using offset lithography in which liquid ink is transferred from a plate to a rubber “blanket” and then onto the paper. This technique ensures the ink forms crisp lines and images. Can you name the book from this plate?
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In 1962, as The Beatles signed their first record deal, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth, and Spider-Man made his debut, JCR Licklider was laying the groundwork for what would be known 30 years later as The World Wide Web.
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Join us on July 22 at 9AM PDT to hear @nayafia, @sophiebits, and @captainsafia discuss the ubiquity, opportunities, challenges, and influence of open source—and their unique experiences to boot. RSVP: stripe.events/opensource
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“Open source forms the bones of our digital infrastructure that undergirds all of our daily activities, not unlike the roads and bridges that keep us together in our physical world.”
@nayafia’s @longnow talk on open source is available to watch online: piped.video/watch?v=YnI1nz2C…
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The Dream Machine by @MitchWaldrop tells the story of computing visionary J.C.R. Licklider. For a limited time, the Kindle edition is available at a special price in the U.S. and UK.
U.S.: amazon.com/dp/B07GBCX7YC/
UK: amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GBCX7YC/
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How do you decide whether to hire a new leader from outside the company or develop internal talent?
Try out this handy decision tree to clarify your thinking. 👇
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