How to Speak Tech: The Non-Techie's Guide to Technology Basics in Business - Softcover

Trivedi, Vinay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1430266104 ISBN 13: 9781430266105

Publisher: Apress, 2013

Synopsis

"A great book everyone can use to understand how tech startups work." --Rene Reinsberg, GM/VP at GoDaddy, CEO and Co-founder at Locu

"Finally a book non-techies can use to understand the web technologies that are changing our lives." --Paul Bottino, Executive Director, Technology and Entrepreneurship Center, Harvard University

"Through the simplicity of his presentation, Vinay shows that the basics of technology can be straightforwardly understood by anyone who puts in the time and effort to learn." --Joseph Lassiter, Professor of Management Science, Harvard Business School and Faculty Chair of the Harvard Innovation Lab


In a way that anyone can understand, How to Speak Tech: The Non-Techie's Guide to Tech Basics in Business spells out the essential technical terms and technologies involved in setting up a company's website or web application. Nontechnical business readers will find their digital literacy painlessly improved with each ten-minute chapter of this illustrative story of one successful technology startup building its Web-based business from scratch.

Vinay Trivedi--an entrepreneur and investor who works at the intersection of business and tech--employs the startup story line as his frame for explaining in plain language the technology behind our daily user experiences, the successful strategies of social media giants, the bold aspirations of tiny startups, and the competitive adaptations of ordinary businesses of all sizes and sectors. Along the way, he demystifies all those tech buzzwords in our business culture whose precise meanings are so often elusive even to the people using them.

Internet hardware, application software, and business process: the working premise of this book is that none of it is beyond the basic understanding of nontechnical business readers. Trivedi peels back the mystery, explains it all in simplest terms, and gives his readers the wherewithal to listen intelligently and speak intelligibly when the subject turns to technology in business.

What you'll learn

• Website hosts and programming languages for web apps on the backend
• Performance and scalability
• APIs, open-source programs, feeds, and database management
• Design and display on the front end

Who this book is for

• Primary readership: nontechnical business people who want to firm up their understanding of the technology of the Internet and their fluency with technical terms in widespread use in the business world. 
• Secondary readership: People in the general-interest mainstream who are looking for a short, accessible, and comprehensive treatment of Internet technology and business to inform their personal experience as consumers and generators of Internet content and value.

About this title

From the Author

It is apparent that new credentials are required for informed citizenship and economic participation in a society transformed by the Internet and technology. These ubiquitous forces have revolutionized how we conduct business, communicate with each other, organize our lives, order our food, plan our weddings, file our taxes, purchase our wardrobes, and much more. Technology is no longer important only to tech companies; it is shaping and disrupting every industry. No longer do just technologists require tech knowledge. It is becoming more and more evident that computers, the Internet, and coding need be incorporated into mandatory instruction at schools alongside reading and math.

Most businesses, organizations, policy makers, and economists understand that innovation is closely linked to technology. Innovation is highly dependent on investment, well-funded research, and an educated population. The US government has launched several initiatives in partnership with US companies to jumpstart science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs in recognition of the fact that no country can maintain prominence in the world unless it leads in STEM.

How to Speak Tech is one effort in a larger movement to promote tech education and innovation, so I hope you find the book informative!

About the Author

Vinay Trivedi is an entrepreneur, investor, and tech enthusiast. He has a background in venture capital and private equity and has worked in product marketing, growth, and analytics at Locu, a venture-backed technology startup acquired by GoDaddy. Prior to Locu, he served as a team member on a TED fellow-led education technology challenge called 'Future of the Book' and founded a national non-profit organization called SeniorLink, a youth volunteer agency for teaching seniors about computers and the Internet.

Passionate about supporting innovation, Vinay is actively involved in The Blackstone Charitable Foundation's Entrepreneurship Initiative to help strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems around the US, consults and volunteers at youth mentor programs, and helps promote STEM education initiatives and public policy in New York.

Vinay earned the Congressional Award Gold Medal in Washington, DC for his work in technology education and community service. He received his A.B. (Honors) in Computer Science from Harvard University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and as a John Harvard Scholar, Weissman Scholar, and Detur Book Prize Winner.

Edition details

• Publisher: Apress
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1430266104
• ISBN 13: 9781430266105
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160