Best consolidation & merger books according to redditors

Yep, here's some info to spread for ignorant friends or family:

Net Neutrality is extremely important, but it's not yet established.  If you don't want to pay more for less service read on further, or jump down to WHAT YOU CAN DO!

Wiki definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality
Comic for picture learners: http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=8799039

Basically, ISPs (Comcast, TimeWarner, Cox, Verizon, etc.) will be able to control the type of content you have access to and charge services you love (Netflix, Pinterest, Steam, Facebook, your website) more in order to get "preferential" treatment - in other words, they will have to pay the ISPs to not be blocked or slowed down to a useless crawl when you use those sites when they don't want you to.  This will result in ALL OF US having to pay more (once simply to gain internet access, and again to then access sites we love quickly and clearly).  And as the quality and scope of technology continues to become more prevalent in our lives, we'll need more broadband usage in the future.

The FCC recently proposed a "fast lane" option - named after the lanes on the highway where, after you already payed to build and maintain the highways in taxes, if you have more money, you can avoid other traffic and go faster (http://gizmodo.com/to-be-honest-this-is-the-way-pricing-should-work-und-1523927357). DATA IS NOT A FINITE RESOURCE, unlike water or oil.  To compare the internet to a highway again, the telecom companies are trying to squeeze more(data) traffic onto (broadband cable) roads that they did not completely pay for to gain more profit.  And instead of building or improving current roads (broadband networks) that they got at a discount, they are just trying to squeeze the public for more money.  The internet is destined to become a nightmare metropolitan traffic jam where telecoms are the toll collectors with little to no restrictions on who they collect from and why.

How it started: http://www.wired.com/2013/11/so-the-internets-about-to-lose-its-net-neutrality/
Quotes from the article (emphasis mine):"The CEO of AT&T told an interviewer back in 2005 that he wanted to introduce a new business model to the internet: charging companies like Google and Yahoo! to reliably reach internet users on the AT&T network. Keep in mind that users already pay to access the internet and that Google and Yahoo! already pay other telecom companies — often called backbone providers — to connect to these internet users. [Disclosure: I have done legal work for several companies supporting network neutrality, including Google.]
But AT&T wanted to add an additional toll, beyond what it already made from the internet. Shortly after that, a Verizon executive voiced agreement, hoping to end what he called tech companies’ “free lunch”. It turns out that around the same time, Comcast had begun secretly trialing services to block some of the web’s most popular applications that could pose a competitive threat to Comcast, such as BitTorrent."

"...the FCC would be unable to stop cable and phone companies from taxing innovators or providing worse service to some sites and better service to others. Since we know internet users tend to quit using a website or application if it loads even just a few seconds slower than a competitor’s version, this no-blocking rule would essentially have enabled the phone and cable companies to discriminate by picking website/app/platform winners and losers."

The reality is that much of the infrastructure for internet was payed for and subsidized by taxpayers, but then exploited by telecommunications companies. It was intended to bring quality access and affordability to rich, poor, urban and rural communities.  Short Summary of how WE payed for the internet they are now charging us more for: http://www.newnetworks.com/ShortSCANDALSummary.htm. Many of you have already conceded to your wireless provider (Verizon, AT&T, etc.) that you're willing to pay more for less internet access (how often do you have to decide whether to use the $200+ phone and service you already paid for, or wait until you get home to use the $400+ computer and internet that you already paid for?  How much more are you willing to pay just to decide which one you'll have to use less?). 

Bandwidth caps aren't meant for what they say: http://socialmediacollective.org/2011/12/05/bandwidth-hogs-dont-exist/ & http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130118/17425221736/cable-industry-finally-admits-that-data-caps-have-nothing-to-do-with-congestion.shtml. What you need to know is that bandwidth caps (overage charges past a certain number of GB of data you use) are not in place because it costs the ISPs more money, it simply MAKES THEM MORE MONEY.  Just like text messages (which cost them almost NO money, but cost us A LOT of money: http://www.topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/13868-t-mobile-accused-destroying-evidence-text-pricing-collusion/)
A book on the matter: http://www.amazon.com/The-300-Billion-Broadband-Scandal-ebook/dp/B003EEN1VY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392356378&sr=8-1&keywords=Bruce+Kushnick & some snippets: http://www.newnetworks.com/broadbandscandals.htm
PBS interview: http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070810_002683.html
More here: http://gigaom.com/2012/10/01/data-caps-chart/
Tired of deciding whether google maps or your email is more important when you're running out of data? Go here: http://stopthecap.com/

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?:

The internet in its current form is mostly free and open.  Just as everyone needs a phone line to participate in our modern society, everyone needs access to the internet to function as well.  If we don't work together to establish better rules for the internet then our middle class, low income, rural, small businesses, churches and more will have less access to the vital communications and services that the internet currently offers. Everyone will simply be charged MORE for LESS service.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Sign the Petition to tell the FCC that "fast lanes" won't work for net neutrality (you'll have to sign up with whitehouse.gov - a good thing for future issues!): https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/maintain-true-net-neutrality-protect-freedom-information-united-states/9sxxdBgy

Then email current FCC leadership and tell them about your issues (quote above if you need to): http://www.fcc.gov/leadership

Most importantly contact your elected officials and tell them we need common carrier status for ISPs (search by state and area): http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
More on common carrier status: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/01/drop-regulatory-hammer-on-internet-providers-says-former-fcc-commish

WHAT YOU CAN WRITE:

To your representatives:
My name is __ and I am from ___.

Protecting Net Neutrality is important to me because I believe that internet access is a necessity for modern life, but will be restricted if we don't establish common carrier status for ISPs.  Data and information are not finite resources, and we need to keep access to them open and affordable to all.
Recently, the FCC has proposed to allow a "fast lane" for Internet Service Providers to charge more for services that are currently included in most data packages.  This will cripple many people's ability to get the content and communication they need for everything from building small business to improving community involvement.  ISPs were subsidized by taxpayers for a broandband infrastructure meant to provide access and affordability to all citizens, however, they are now strangling taxpayers to pay again for services businesses and citizens have already paid for.  Companies already pay for the bandwidth they use, consumers already pay for internet access, and now ISPs are trying to get consumers and companies to pay double because they are unwilling to invest their large profits in their own networks.
Ending net neutrality will do irrevocable damage to economic and social growth in America.  I urge you to reject the FCC's "fast lane" proposal, and instead begin the process of establishing ISPs as common carriers just like phone service and public utilities.  Ignoring this problem will devastate the public's ability to communicate and contribute to your campaign, and any number of other public goods.
Thank you very much for your time, and again, I urge you to defend and protect net neutrality.

Here's a list of the key books in the field that I'm familiar with (by name and general contents, I've only actually read a few of them). I'm mainly focusing on what is relevant to the study of Twelver Shi'ism; there aren't many English language books on Zaidism, as far as I'm aware, and for Isma'ilism you can start with the works of Farhad Daftary.

I'll start with important works providing an overview of the area, and then give a rough breakdown by "era" (I may be a bit off regarding the era, and many of these books straddle two or more eras, so be warned). This list does not emphasize geographic studies of Shi'ism in various areas and countries, and rather traces the "core narrative" of the development of Shi'i intellectual history, which is typically thought of as happening in what is now modern day Iran, Iraq, and (especially in the post-Mongol/pre-Safavid era) Lebanon, and to a lesser extent in Bahrain. Once you've read the initial works, you should have a good idea about what's going on in each era, and you can pick and choose what to read based on your interests.

If you have no background in general Islamic history, you should first pick up a book on that subject. Tamim Ansary's Destiny Disrupted is an accessible non-academic book on general Islamic history (with an entertaining audiobook read by the author). If you want something heavier and more academic, Marshall G.S. Hodgson's The Venture of Islam is the classic three-volume reference in the field of Islamic studies, although it's a bit dated, especially in the third volume (covering the so-called "Gunpowder Empires"). Note that the standard introductory text on Shi'ism has long been Moojan Momen's book An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism, but this book is now a bit dated. Heinz Halm also has some surveys, but I'm less familiar with these; likewise for the surveys of Farhad Daftary (who is better known for his work on Isma'ilism than general Shi'ism).

Surveys, Background, and Introduction

• Najam Haider's Shi'i Islam: An Introduction. This is a unique take on introducing Shi'ism that starts with what makes Shi'ism theologically distinct; the book also devotes roughly equal attention to the Zaidi, Isma'ili, and Twelver branches of the faith.
  
• Hossein Modaressi's An Introduction to Shi'i Law: A Bibliographical Study. Chapter 4 provides a very concise, yet fairly thorough overview of the history of the development of Shi'i legal theory; Chapters 1-3 can be read as "optional" background, while the rest is a bibliographical overview that is unlikely to be of interest to a non-specialist.
  
• Andrew J. Newman's Twelver Shiism: Unity and Diversity in the Life of Islam, 632 to 1722. A solid history of Twelver Shi'ism from its beginnings to the end of the Safavid period.
  
• Roy Mottahedeh's The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran. While ostensibility an intellectual history of Iran spanning centuries, this is a great introductory look at various aspects of Shi'ism, particularly as it concerns learning in the seminaries.
  
  The Succession and the so-called "Rashidun" Era
  
  
• Wilfred Madelung's The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Calpihate
  
• S.M.H. Jafri's The Origins and Early Development of Shi'i Islam
  
  The Imams and Early Shi'is in the Ummayid and `Abbasid Eras
  
  
• Arzina Lalani's Early Shi'i Thought: The Contribution of Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir
  
• Najam Haider's The Origins of the Shi'a: Identity, Ritual, and Sacred Space in Eighth-Century Kufa
  
• Maria Massi Dakake's The Charismatic Community: Shi'ite Identity in Early Islam
  
• Hossein Modarressi's Crisis and Consolidation in the Formative Period of Shi'ite Islam: Abu Ja'far Ibn Qiba Al-Razi and His Contribution to Imamite Shi'ite Thought. Considered the standard book on the "rationalist/moderate/shortcoming" view of Imamate.
  
• Mohammad Ali Amir Moezzi's The Divine Guide in Early Shi'ism: The Sources of Esotericism in Islam. Considered the standard book on the esoteric / "High Imamology" view of Imamate.
  
• Jasim M. Hussain's The Occultation of the Twelfth Imam (A Historical Background)
  
• Andrew J. Newman's The Formative Period of Twelver Shi'ism: Hadith as Discourse Between Qum and Baghdad
  
• Meir M. Bar-Asher's Scripture and Exegesis in Early Imami Shiism
  
  The Buyid, Seljuq, and Mongol Eras
  
  
• Martin J. McDermott's The Theology of al-Shaikh al-Mufid (d. 413/1022)
  
• Devin J. Stewart's Islamic Legal Orthodoxy. Some people have reservations about this book, so you might want to look at some reviews. It covers the Shi'i school of Shaykh Tusi engaging in juristic legal borrowing from the Shafi'i Sunni school, if I'm not mistaken.
  
• Etan Kohlberg's A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work: Ibn Tawus and His Library. This is perhaps a little different from most other books on this list in scope, style, and focus.
  
  The Safavid Era and the Scholars of Jabal Amil
  
  
• Rula Abisaab's Converting Persia: Religion and Power in the Safavid Empire
  
• Robert Gleave's Scripturalist Islam: The History and Doctrines of the Akhbari Shi'i School
  
  The Iranian Interregnum Era
  
  
• Zachary M. Heern's The Emergence of Modern Shi'ism: Islamic Reform in Iraq and Iran
  
• Robert Gleave's Inevitable Doubt: Two Theories of Shi'i Jurisprudence. This is definitely worth a look if you're interested in details concerning Shi'i legal theory proper.
  
  The Qajar Era
  
  
• Hamid Algar's Religion and State in Iran 1785-1906: The Role of the Ulama in the Qajar Period. This book is about fifty years old now, but I think it's still the standard reference for this topic.
  
• Meir Litvak's Shi'i Scholars of Nineteenth-Century Iraq: The 'Ulama' of Najaf and Karbala'
  
  The Contemporary Era / Miscellaneous
  
  
• Liyakat Nathani Takim's Shi'ism in America. I said I'd stay away from the more geographically focused books, but I think this one in particular might appeal to a lot of people; mainly those living in the West in general, and North America in particular.
  
  
• Linda S. Walbridge's The Thread of Mu'awiya: The Making of a Marja' Taqlid. A book with a strange title about the foremost Shi'i scholars in the contemporary age; while published posthumously in the 2010s, the book is based on research conducted in the 1990s. I think it contains a lot of valuable information and an interesting perspective, but I also find some of it to be informed by lazy misconceptions or generalizations, although I'm quite sure the author would have substantially reworked this project had she lived longer.
  
• Ata Anzali's Mysticism in Iran: The Safavid Roots of a Modern Concept. This should provide information on irfan.
  
• Kamran Scot Aghaie's The Martyrs of Karbala: Shi'i Symbols and Rituals in Modern Iran. This covers the evolution of the Karbala narrative in Modern Iran (in the Qajar, Pahlavi, and post-Revolutionary eras, respectively).
  
• Matthew Pierce's Twelve Infallible Men: The Imams and the Making of Shi'ism. This book examines how the genre of the biographies of the Imams was formed (this may be a better fit in one of the above categories, but I'm less familiar with this book, so I'm not sure which era(s) is/are the focus).

Not in way of argument, but it's very important that the ideators of the world understand the difference between ideation and investment.

Bill Gates is well known for giving start-ups the cash

There are investors out there that throw money at ideas purely based on the idea, and nothing else. But these are the exact type of people that are being mocked in this thread - I haven't met one, myself, after many years in the field. In truth, the amount of diligence that goes behind anything beyond simple market investment is tremendous. I would argue doing research on angel investment is a sticky path. If anyone with an idea who has dreams of starting a company really wants to find that dream investor, I recommend starting with one of these books on how acquisitions work. Then work your way to understanding early-class investment. At the end of the day, they're tremendously easier to understand, and give you a better learning curve into the grit that goes into determining which - of thousands of ideas - to invest in, and which not to. There are literally thousands, if not orders of magnitude more, ideas currently being tossed around to earn money. Investors, like Bill Gates, who want to turn their money into more money, do (or pay people to do) the grit work to ensure they pick the right ones.

In this way - developers are an investor. They invest time, not money, but in essence it's exactly the same, because they could easily spend that time working on a better investment.

Books:

• Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies
  
• Mergers and Aquisitions: A Condensed Practitioner's Guide
  
  And maybe my favorite:
  
  
• How to Be an Angel Investor by Paul Graham
  
  Edit/Source: I manage and perform technical due diligence for startup acquisitions for a Fortune-500 company

I have sold several business and used a broker. Your issue might be the size, still kind of small. I have been mentoring and counseling business owners for years and codified much of the information in a book you can buy on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Buying-Selling-Small-Business-Before/dp/1534699546/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483899617&sr=8-3&keywords=Steven+imke. Also if you want most of the information for free you can ferret out most of the information by searching my blog at stevebizblog.com. Generally I do not promote my stuff but there is quite a bit of knowledge you will need to have a successful and profitable exit.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

Tombstones. Book about an attorney recounting mergers he worked on in his life.

Try this. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079SFMY7K

A good read with many sources I can't get to directly 1.99 ebook by Bruce Kushnick

It was my understanding that past injections of federal money to expand infrastructure were misappropriated, AKA "the $200 billion ripoff", which now that I google around has been updated to 300 billion, accounting for ongoing overcharging by ISPs.

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070810_002683.html

http://www.amazon.com/The-300-Billion-Broadband-Scandal-ebook/dp/B003EEN1VY

You're right that infrastructure costs money, but the ISPs themselves should not be trusted to do it and just be handed cash. The infrastructure should be owned by the local municipalities if it's built with tax money. Here's an article I found that supports your point about a large investment:

http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2008/01/fixing-us-broadband-100-billion-for-fiber-to-every-home/

Honestly I am far too disgusted with the local monopolies and collusion between ISPs to even consider just handing them money. They've already shown their colors.

I will not name the agency or geographic region I work in, but I am in a metropolitan area. I was hired in an apprenticeship / internship / recent grad program. The program was for GS7/GS9/GS11/GS12. Essentially what these programs are designed to do is to make you take several in person contracting classes that are required for you to take in order to obtain a Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) or Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) certification. These certifications are required for people working as contract specialist. In order to obtain a level one certification you need take roughly 10-16 weeks of training, hence why they call these programs internships.


My view on these program is that they are worth there weight in gold. Most are designed so that by the time you finish the program you are level II qualified, exceed the education qualifications for most GS12 positions and are on par for most GS13 positions. So my advice is if you get accepted into one, do it and then leave the agency if they do not offer you a GS12 position within a reasonable period of time. These programs set you up on the path to GS13 non-supervisory if you are willing to finish out your required classes for your level III on your own and willing to agency hop if required.


Now what does a contract specialist do.....the simplest way to describe it is that you develop acquisition packets so they can be solicited to the public and eventually awarded to a company. This can mean very different things depending on where you work. Some offices are more challenging than others. This is my typical routine: (1) a program office in the government wants to obtain a good or service; (2) program office sends me paperwork to use for the procurement; (3) I review paperwork; (4) I call program office to get a better understanding of what they want and how to structure it so that private sector industry knows what they are asking for and can write a proposal; (5) I publish a final solicitation for industry to review / bid on / provide proposals; (6) I help the program office reviews the proposals in a legal manner according to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); (7) sometime enter negotiations with industry about price, requirements, deliverables, ect; (8) write the contract and get it signed by the appropriate parties.


It is a pretty involved position in my office. In my office most contract specialist have a Masters degree (any masters degree that is remotely related to business will do....no need to rack up debt with a second degree). While it is not mandatory for a GS13 positions, it is pretty much an unspoken rule that you will not get a GS13 position as a contract specialist without one in the federal government. Most specialist are GS12/GS13 in my office. On Average you hit GS12 within 3-5 years and GS 13 within 5-8 years. Contracting Officers in my area are GS14 with 8-12 years experience as a specialist.

​

The classes are similar to 101 college courses. They are not designed to fail you as long as you put the minimum amount of effort into them. If you apply yourself at all, you will be fine. My undergrad was in history so if I did it, you will be fine. A good reference for beginners is "Federal Acquisition: Key Issues and Guidance". https://www.amazon.com/Federal-Acquisition-Key-Issues-Guidance/dp/1567262481/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1549503995&sr=8-2&keywords=federal+acquisition This is a great book to read for beginners that gives an amazing overview of what government contracting is. No need to buy it new, used is just fine because after a year or so you will know all information in the book. I read it before starting my program and it was a big help.

1102 is a great field to be in and good luck in the program.

​

This book: http://www.amazon.com/Contentious-Politics-Charles-Tilly/dp/0199946094 is kind of the gold standard in terms of polisci research. This is another one: http://www.amazon.com/Social-Movements-1768-2012-Charles-Tilly/dp/161205238X/ref=la_B000APQCP2_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410999473&sr=1-2

If you have access to any university login, you can read a lot of articles by these guys who have lots of stuff on this. Tarrow created a lot of theoretical foundation for studying revolution -- why people decide to revolt, why governments choose to repress or allow revolution, etc.

This book: http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/comparative-politics/competitive-authoritarianism-hybrid-regimes-after-cold-war will have the most modern case studies in revolution and revolt. It covers areas like Latin America post-dictatorship, former Soviet states after the cold war ended (Ukraine and Russia included), and lots of places in Southeast Asia. It's good stuff and slightly less academic than the above.

These are two more classics: http://www.amazon.com/Problems-Democratic-Transition-Consolidation-Post-Communist/dp/0801851580 and http://www.amazon.com/The-Third-Wave-Democratization-Distinguished/dp/0806125160/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0AXQX8XHDWS427E6JY1A

If there's a geographic area you're interested in particular I probably know quite a bit more!

edit: I think the most accessible and probably useful book here is the Levitsky & Way book. They have an easy theoretical model, and most of the book is case studies.