Scoping questions for business books

  • What type of organization is this book for? IBM or Facebook or OpenAI? Netflix or Warner Brothers? Mercedes or Tesla? Alaska or Belgium? Delta or SpaceX? HSBC or Square?
  • Does this apply to management, employees, VCs, Wall Street investors, or customers? Feel free to pick multiple, but explain.
  • Is this a playbook for how a PE firm can turn around a failing company, or a playbook for avoiding a PE firm turning around your company?
  • When is it OK, good even, to do the same thing over and over instead of exploring, being curious, and trying new things?
  • Is tech the main differentiator? Or, could any of this be done with a shitty tech stack?
  • Blockbuster, PARC, and Kodak are way more complicated than them being blind. (I suppose this one is not a question.)
  • If the six page memo and PRFAQs are so good, why doesn’t everyone do them?
  • How do you maintain a culture when the CEO is a billionaire? What is the sustainable and profitable ratio between CEO compensation and median employee pay.
  • Is it all about speed?
  • How many meetings should each role have a day?