From the editors of Courier magazine – the bimonthly print magazine for stories of working better and living smarter – comes a step-by-step guide to launching a successful new business in a challenging time.

It’s jampacked with all the practical tools, skills, advice and insight to get you prepared to set off and start something on your own. Each section covers a crucial subject area you need to know – from writing a solid business plan and raising money to developing a new product and managing a growing team.

The subject is broken down and explained in easy-to-understand language – and includes a useful case study from an entrepreneur or brand who have been there and done that.

From FSGO x Logic: a revealing examination of digital advertising and the internet's precarious foundation

In Subprime Attention Crisis, Tim Hwang investigates the way big tech financializes attention. In the process, he shows us how digital advertising—the beating heart of the internet—is at risk of collapsing, and that its potential demise bears an uncanny resemblance to the housing crisis of 2008.

From the unreliability of advertising numbers and the unregulated automation of advertising bidding wars, to the simple fact that online ads mostly fail to work, Hwang demonstrates that while consumers’ attention has never been more prized, the true value of that attention itself—much like subprime mortgages—is wildly misrepresented. And if online advertising goes belly-up, the internet—and its free services—will suddenly be accessible only to those who can afford it.

Deeply researched, convincing, and alarming, Subprime Attention Crisis will change the way you look at the internet, and its precarious future.

FSG Originals × Logic dissects the way technology functions in everyday lives. The titans of Silicon Valley, for all their utopian imaginings, never really had our best interests at heart: recent threats to democracy, truth, privacy, and safety, as a result of tech’s reckless pursuit of progress, have shown as much. We present an alternate story, one that delights in capturing technology in all its contradictions and innovation, across borders and socioeconomic divisions, from history through the future, beyond platitudes and PR hype, and past doom and gloom. Our collaboration features four brief but provocative forays into the tech industry’s many worlds, and aspires to incite fresh conversations about technology focused on nuanced and accessible explorations of the emerging tools that reorganize and redefine life today.

Backstage Talks 5 | Life can easily feel too fast or too slow. But how can we find the right pace? We went looking for answers with some of the world’s best creatives, researchers and strategists.

In this issue, you can look forward to 5 essays on work, time and pace. Further in the quick ‘To the point’ section, we asked 9 of the people whose work we admire 3 questions on how they manage their time. Read the answers from Shantell Martin, Khoi Vinh, Veronica Ditting, Scott Dadich, Milota Sidorova, Dean Poole, Henrieta Moravcikova, John Maeda, and Sara Hilden-Bengtsson. And in ‘The hidden gem’ section — A gallery of works by one of the most significant Slovak architects, Vladimír Dedecek.

Plus 12 long-read interviews:

• With illustrator Jean Jullien about building a life-long career in the industry obsessed with newness.
• With Pentagram New York partner Eddie Opara about why design is about creating systems, not solving problems.
• With designer Suzy Tuxen on the false economy of overtime culture.
• With Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, on why we shouldn’t assume people act rationally.
• With Marina Willer — designer, filmmaker, and partner at Pentagram London — on giving ourselves the chance to appreciate the little things and helping others reflect on life through our work.
• With Jenni Rommaniuk, who has spent decades researching what makes a successful brand: “If you don’t have metrics, how is anyone supposed to believe you?”
• With Francesco Franchi about the future of printed press, the feeling of reading a newspaper and how printed press became a status symbol.
• With Game UX researcher Graham McAllister about how big budget games crash on lack of feedback during development, misaligned teams and, simply, being boring.
• With Lance Wyman, who revolutionised the use of symbols with his legendary identity for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, we spoke about understanding different cultures and why he is not planning to retire anytime soon.
• With Lou Downe, on fixing badly designed government services — the biggest unnecessary cost to the UK taxpayer.
• With ReD Associates on asking the right questions and conducting rigorous ethnographic research to help companies navigate their strategy in changing and challenging times.
• With Gail Bichler on her fast-paced, social, ambitious, exhilarating, stressful, amazing, and experimental role as the Design Director of The New York Times Magazine.

The world of business is changing. The single pursuit of ‘profit at any cost’ has been replaced by a desire to build companies that create a better future — and enjoy commercial success.

In Do Build, Alan Moore draws on his years of research into some of the most pioneering and progressive businesses on the planet. By speaking to their purpose-driven founders,
 he discovers that it is possible to lead with generosity, have a transparent supply chain, design products and services that are considered and joyful, and create a company culture where individuals flourish.

By sharing examples of best practice, Moore invites us to create a different type of business: one that will regenerate and restore our economy, our environment, and our civilisation.

Are you ready to build a new reality?

• A timely look into building a more regenerative business in our post-covid world
• Features case studies including Veja Trainers and Climeworks
• Includes a list of 50 of the world's most beautiful businesses

Dimensions: 120x178mm
ISBN: 978-1-907974-91-5
Pub date: March 2021

160 p, ills colour & bw, 12 x 17 cm, pb, Russian/English

Courier Issue 39

Our Feb/Mar 2021 issue is chock-full of opportunities, how-to tips and inspiration for rolling up your sleeves and creating a physical product this year.

In this issue:

• Opportunities in the making space

• The nuts and bolts of building a product

• Why not start your own toy company?

• The vending machine economy

• A deep-dive on the cereal sector

• The rise of factory-first brands

...and more.

We are all makers. From brewing our morning coffee to folding a paper aeroplane, we find it satisfying to create something that didn’t exist before. And it isn’t just about the outcome. Making requires us to slow down and become absorbed in the process: an antidote to our fast-paced world.

James Otter is an award-winning wooden surfboard maker with a passion for craftsmanship — and the ocean. In Do Make, he invites us to rediscover the joy of making. By using our hands to transform natural materials into objects of beauty and utility, we reconnect with our creativity, our environment, and back to ourselves. Learn about:

• Preparation: what to make, where and how to get started
• Process: learn to trust it and let go of perfection
• Power: develop confidence in your natural skills and ability

With incredible photography, plenty of encouragement and even a ‘how to’ guide to make your own handplane to take bodysurfing, Do Make reminds us that nothing quite beats the feeling of having made something with our own hands.

Isn’t it time to make your mark on the world?

Dimensions: 120x178cm
ISBN: 978-1-907974-86-1
Pub date: Sept 2020

Getting our voices heard can be a nerve-wracking and overwhelming task – particularly in a world where everyone seems to have something to say. The ability to present our ideas with confidence is now a coveted skill. Yet on stage, we become this other person: less funny, less engaging, less human.

Mark Shayler draws on his own experience – from nervous speaker to charismatic compere – to guide you through the task of public speaking. He takes a deeper look at what’s holding you back, and will help you to: 

• Find your voice and the confidence to share it
• Learn how to tell stories, not just share data
• Stand and move around the stage comfortably
• Leave the audience informed, entertained and uplifted

Giving a brilliant talk is not about following a method. It's not about rules. It's about understanding what you want the audience to think, feel and do afterwards. Ultimately, it's about being more you. 

Dimensions: 120x178mm
ISBN: 978-1-907974-76-2

Traumjob- Von der Berufung zum Beruf.

The School of Life

De Botton Alain

Wie finde ich de n richtige n Beruf für mich?
Zu den wichtigsten Voraussetzungen für ein erfülltes Leben gehört, außer einer befriedigenden Partnerschaft, auch eine berufliche Laufbahn, mit der wir uns wohlfühlen, ein Job, den wir gerne tun. Sich selbst gut genug zu kennen, um ganz sicher zu wissen, wofür man seine Energien am besten einsetzen sollte, ist allerdings verdammt schwer. Das Handbuch "Traumjob" zeigt uns einfühlsam und praxisnah, wie wir uns selbst besser verstehen lernen, um so den richtigen Job für uns zu finden. Entdecken Sie Ihre wahren Talente, bevor es zu spät ist.

Wie finde ich einen Beruf, der zu mir passt?
So wichtig wie eine gute Partnerschaft ist es, den Traumberuf zu finden
Entdecken Sie Ihre wahren Talente, bevor es zu spät ist

Einband: gebundene Ausgabe
Seiten: 192
Erscheinungsdatum: 14.04.2018
Sprache: Deutsch
Verlag: Süddeutsche Zeitung
Gewicht: 431g

Company of One

Why Staying Small is the Next Big Thing for Business

Paul Jarvis

The only person you need to start and run a highly profitable and sustainable company is you

What if the real key to a richer and more fulfilling career was not to create and scale up a new business, but rather, to be able to work for yourself, determine your own hours and become a (highly profitable) and sustainable company of one? Suppose the better-and smarter-solution is simply to remain small? Company of One is a refreshing new approach centered on staying small and avoiding growth, for any size of business. Not as a freelancer who only gets paid on a per piece basis, and not as an entrepreneurial start-up that wants to scale up as soon as possible, but as a small business that is deliberately committed to staying that way. By staying small, you can have freedom to pursue more meaningful pleasures in life, and avoid the headaches that result from dealing with employees, long meetings, or worrying about expansion. Company of Oneintroduces this unique business strategy and explains how to make it work for you, including how to generate cash flow on an ongoing basis.

Paul Jarvis left the corporate world when he realized that working in a high-pressure, high-profile world was not his idea of success. Instead, he now works for himself out of his home, and lives a much more rewarding and productive life. He no longer has to contend with an environment that constantly demands more productivity, more output and more growth.

In Company of One, Jarvis explains how you can do the same, including planning to set up, determining desired revenues and keeping clients happy, and of course, doing all this on your own.

• Published: 2 June 2020
• ISBN: 9780241470466
• Imprint: Penguin General UK
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 272

The Cost of Free Shipping

Amazon in the Global Economy

Edited by Jake Alimahomed-Wilson, Ellen Reese

Amazon is the most powerful corporation on the planet and its CEO, Jeff Bezos, has become the richest person in history, and one of the few people to profit from a global pandemic. Its dominance has reshaped the global economy itself: we live in the age of 'Amazon Capitalism'.

'One-click' instant consumerism and its immense variety of products has made Amazon a worldwide household name, with over 60% of US households subscribing to Amazon Prime. In turn, these subscribers are surveilled by the corporation. Amazon is also one of the world's largest logistics companies, resulting in weakened unions and lowered labor standards. The company has also become the largest provider of cloud-computing services and home surveillance systems, not to mention the ubiquitous Alexa.

With cutting-edge analyses, this book looks at the many dark facets of the corporation, including automation, surveillance, tech work, workers' struggles, algorithmic challenges, the disruption of local democracy and much more. The Cost of Free Shippingshows how Amazon represents a fundamental shift in global capitalism that we should name, interrogate and be primed to resist.

Issue 2: The Mind

Courier Issue 37

Courier’s annual ‘Get up and go!’ issue is here. Our Oct/Nov 2020 edition features a guide to packing your bags, moving cities and starting something new – including the 14 cities to set up shop, from Honolulu and Mexico City, to Ho Chi Minh, Tbilisi and beyond.

Also in this issue:

-How to adopt a four-day work week

-The rise of natural toothpaste

-Calculating your carbon footprint

-The new business of growing old

-A portrait of Aurora James

-How to catch your biases in action

-Tofu brands, shops and recipes

-The new Covid-friendly office

-Go off grid in a remote cabin

-A modern women’s boxing brand

-Learn about convertible loan notes

-Start a paid email newsletter

-How an e-bike gets made

-100 + small business products to buy

How to Get on With Your Colleagues

A guide to better collaboration

The most difficult aspect of work has nothing to do with profitability or deadlines or competition. It has to do with the immense and beautiful challenges of dealing, on an ongoing basis, with that often amazing but always complicated entity known as the colleague. Our colleagues can be the sources of our greatest joys and triumphs: they compensate for our weaknesses, enlarge our strengths and aggregate our energies. However, working successfully around others is neither intuitive nor simple: it requires us to communicate effectively, to understand our own minds and blind spots, to master our emotions and to see the world from other people’s perspectives. The School of Life has been working with organisations since its foundation, releasing the latent talents of employees and equipping them with the emotional intelligence required to succeed. This book compresses our learning into a series of lessons on workplace psychology. The result is an essential guide to more profitable, harmonious and happier organisations.

Skills Include:

• Part I: The Need to Get On With Others
• Part II: The Challenges
• Part III: Towards Harmony

Offscreen – Issue 23