Trampled by Unicorns: Big Tech's Empathy Problem and How to Fix It
Big Tech's Empathy Problem and How to Fix It
1st Edition
Published on 30. September 2020
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-1-119-73064-4 (ISBN)
Description
An insider's revealing and in-depth examination of Big Tech's failure to keep its foundational promises and the steps the industry can take to course-correct in order to make its full impact in this Digital Revolution.
Trampled by Unicorns: Big Tech's Empathy Problem and How to Fix It explores how technology has progressed humanity's most noble pursuits, while also grappling with the origins of the industry's destructive empathy deficit and the practical measures Big Tech can take to self-regulate and make it right again. Author Maelle Gavet examines the tendency for many of Big Tech's stars to stray from their user-first ideals and make products that actually profoundly damage their customers and ultimately society.
Offering an account of the world of tech startups in the United States and Europe--from Amazon, Google, and Facebook to Twitter, Airbnb, and Uber (to name a few)--Trampled by Unicorns argues that the causes and consequences of Big Tech's failures originate from four main sources: the Valley's cultural insularity, the hyper-growth business model, the sector's stunning lack of diversity, and a dangerous self-sustaining ecosystem. However, the book is not just an account of how an industry came off the rails, but also a passionate call to action on how to get it back on track.
Gavet, a leading technology executive and former CEO of Ozon, an executive vice president at Priceline Group, and chief operating officer of Compass, formulates a clear call to action for industry leaders, board members, employees, and consumers/users to drive the change necessary to create better, more sustainable businesses--and the steps Western governments are likely to take should tech leaders fail to do so. Steps that include reformed tax codes, reclassification of platforms as information companies, new labor laws, and algorithmic transparency and oversight.
Trampled by Unicorns' exploration of the promise and dangers of technology is perfect for anyone with an interest in entrepreneurship, tech, and global commerce, and a hope of technology's all-empowering prospect. An illuminating book full of insights, Trampled by Unicorns describes a realistic path forward, even as it uncovers and explains the errors of the past. As Gavet puts it, "we don't need less tech, we need more empathetic tech." And how that crucial distinction can be achieved by the tech companies themselves, driving change as governments actively pave the road ahead.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2020
1st Edition
Wiley
€16.99
Available for download
E-Book
08/2020
1st Edition
Wiley
€16.99
Available for download
Person
MAELLE GAVET has been named one of Fortune's 40 under 40, a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, one of the Most Creative People in Business by??Fast Company and was on Time magazine's list of the 25 Top 'Female Techpreneurs'. She has been a senior executive at numerous large tech companies around the world, including the Priceline Group (OpenTable, Kayak,??Booking.com) and Compass. She was also a Principal at the Boston Consulting Group for 6 years.
Content
INTRODUCTION
Part I Monsters of Scale
Chapter 1 Making the World a Better Place
Driver of Economic and Social Progress
Hidden Effects
Chapter 2 Culture Bubble
"What Do Engineers Know about the World!"
"Steve Jobs Didn't Build Apple by Being Humble and Caring about People"
Chapter 3 Emerald Cities
"Landlords Pounding on the Door"
"We Know Our Responsibility to Help Starts at Home"
"Shockingly Poor Value for Taxpayers"
Chapter 4 The New Feudalism
The Human Impact of Tech Disruption
"They Do a Lot More Revenue with a Lot Fewer People"
$1.42 per Hour
Chapter 5 Anti-Social Networks
"The Vaccination-Deniers Are Getting Traction"
Democracy Under Attack
Unrelenting Hate
"When She Showed Me the Messages, I Just Felt Sick"
"#NewZealandmosqueattack"
"The Ugly"
YouTube Recommended Alex Jones 15 Billion Times
Section 230
"You're Arguing About Whether the Baby's Dead"
"I'm Going to Show You More Car Crashes"
Chapter 6 Venture Capital and the Holy Grail of Scale
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
"It's All About Scale"
"You Don't Scale Fast if You Try to Get Everything Perfect"
FOMO
Harvard or Stanford?
A New Investor Class?
Chapter 7 'Psychos of the Valley'
1. "A Grandiose Sense of Self-Worth" and "Poor Behavioral Controls"
2. "Shallow Affect" (i.e. Superficial Emotional Responses)
3. "Pathological lying"
4. "A Lack of Remorse or Guilt" and "A Failure to Accept Responsibility for One's Own Actions"
5. "Callousness and Lack of Empathy"
6. "Juvenile Delinquency"
Chapter 8 Between Scylla & Charybdis -- What Happens If We Do Nothing 88
The Orwell scenario
The Huxley Scenario
As These Futures Converge...
PART II Fixing the Chaos Factory
Preface to Part II
Chapter 9 We Should All Be Chief Empathy Officer
What Does an Empathetic Company Look Like?
1 - People
"It all starts and ends with the CEO"
"The toilet paper isn't soft enough"--Employees have a responsibility too
"I desperately wanted to not have to interact with HR ever again"
2 - Processes and Key Decisions
Product decisions
People decisions
3 - Business Model and Economics
Chapter 10 A Multiplayer Game--Corporate Governance in Tech
1. Investors
2. Boards
3. Stock Exchanges
4. Investment Bankers and Proxy Advisors
5. Industry Bodies
Chapter 11 Breaking Up Big Tech?
Big Tech's Anticompetitive Behavior
The Anti-Antitrust Cocktail
Reinvigorating Antitrust
Aligning on antitrust goals
Revising merger approval process
Levying punishing fines
Breaking up companies
Zuckerberg's Push-Back (And Where He's Wrong)
Antitrust Is Not a Universal Tool
"Senator, We Run Ads"
Chapter 12 Tax, Privacy, and Other Running Sores
Implementing Fair and Equitable Taxation
Modernizing Employment and Labor Protections
Protecting Privacy and Rethinking Data Ownership
Fighting for the Preservation of Facts and Civil Discourse
Setting Standards for Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Facial Recognition
Chapter 13 Big Tech Broke the News Media--What's Next?
"Sign a Big Check. Then Get Out of the Way."
Facebook and Google ARE New Versions of Media Companies
News Organizations Need More Than Ever to Keep Big Tech Accountable
Chapter 14 People Power
Epilogue: A Manifesto for Change
Acknowledgments
About the Author Index