A different kind of matchmaker. Many of the most dynamic public companies, from Alibaba to Facebook to Visa, and the most valuable start-ups, such as Airbnb and Uber, are matchmakers that connect one group of customers with another group of customers. Economists call matchmakers multisided platforms because they provide physical or virtual platforms for multiple groups to get together. Dating sites connect people with potential matches, for example, and ride-sharing apps do the same for drivers and riders. Although matchmakers have been around for millennia, they’re becoming more and more popular—and profitable—due to dramatic advances in technology, and a lot of companies that have managed to crack the code of this business model have become today’s power brokers. Don’t let the flashy successes fool you, though. Starting a matchmaker is one of the toughest business challenges, and almost everyone who tries to build one, fails. In Matchmakers, David Evans and Richard Schmalensee, two economists who were among the first to analyze multisided platforms and discover their principles, and who’ve consulted for some of the most successful platform businesses in the world, explain how matchmakers work best in practice, why they do what they do, and how entrepreneurs can improve their chances for success. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, an investor, a consumer, or an executive, your future will involve more and more multisided platforms, and Matchmakers—rich with stories from platform winners and losers—is the one book you’ll need in order to navigate this appealing but confusing world.

One of the great spectacles of modern naval history is the Imperial Japanese Navy's instrumental role in Japan's rise from an isolationist feudal kingdom to a potent military empire stridently confronting, in 1941, the world's most powerful nation. Years of painstaking research and analysis of previously untapped Japanese-language resources have produced this remarkable study of the Navy's dizzying development, tactical triumphs, and humiliating defeat. Unrivaled in its breadth of coverage and attention to detail, this important new history explores the foreign and indigenous influences on the Navy's thinking about naval warfare and how to plan for it. Focusing primarily on the much-neglected period between the world wars, two widely esteemed historians persuasively explain how the Japanese failed to prepare properly for the war in the Pacific despite an arguable advantage in capability. Maintaining the highest literary standards and supplemented by a dazzling array of charts, diagrams, drawings, and photographs, this landmark work provides much important information not available in any other English-language source. Consciously avoiding the Eurocentric bias of conventional military scholarship, David Evans and Mark Peattie make a unique contribution to naval historiography that will be prized by serious historians and casual readers alike and that promises to spark debate within the academic community.

At the age of six, doctors diagnosed author David Evans with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Evans was missing exon number fifty and his body could not produce dystrophin, which is what holds a persons muscle fibers together and protects against muscle deterioration. It causes progressive weakness in all body parts and limbs. Evans faced a lifetime of challenges and struggles. In The Angelic Writer, he shares a collection of stories from his life discussing how he tries to maintain a positive outlook, how he enjoys spending time with friends, and how he wont let his medical condition stop him from reaching his dreams. It narrates how Evans father investigated ways to heal his son to help him lead a fulfilling and meaningful life. The Angelic Writer tells the story of a young man, his special spiritual gift, and how this has taken him further in lifeopening a world of other dimensions and introducing important angelic guidance.

Inspired by the international bestseller of the same name, Children's Letters To God is a musical that follows the lives of five young friends as they voice beliefs, desires, questions and doubts common to all people but most disarmingly expressed by children. Sixteen tuneful songs and assorted scenes (some based on actual letters) explore timeless issues such as sibling rivalry, divorce, holidays, loss of a beloved pet, the trials of being unathletic and first love. This entertaining show carries a universal message which crosses the boundaries of age, geography, and religion. As in the best-selling book, the musical is not specifically religious in nature. It's about kids and various events in their lives that lead them to ask a lot of questions -- some funny, some serious, some surprising.

The inspiring pastor, media personality, and author offers spiritual empowerment to men and the women who love them. Bishop David Evans, pastor of the more than 27,000-member Bethany Baptist Church, poses the question: What does it mean to be a real man? A true man is one who dares to live up to God's design-a man of confidence, purpose, strength, destiny, consistency, sensitivity, accountability, and loyalty, who is spiritual and loving and embraces responsibility. Only when a man becomes this true self can he make himself ready for the woman who loves him and the family who needs him. Women need to learn to identify a man who lives up to God's design and to foster the spiritual growth of their men. With its inspiring and empowering message, Dare to Be a Man is essential reading for all men and the women who love them.

Examining the changing face of the genre from its beginnings at the end of the 19th century to its international popularity today, this book traces the social climate that inspired the blues and takes a look at the unmistakable influences that blues had on 20th-century music. Includes information on performances from Muddy Waters to Eric Clapton.

The Teach Yourself History series offers an alternative to academic historical books, its content being extensive yet extremely accessible and the approach refreshingly different. The books are informative and compelling, and engage the reader from beginning to end. They assume no prior historical knowledge, and are full of anecdotes and details that provide a very personal appeal. Teach Yourself The First World War covers all aspects of the war from an international perspective. It follows its key developments, including the build up to the war, how it developed and the role of the different countries involved. It considers many intriguing aspects of the war, including life in the trenches, spies and espionage, the role of women, propaganda, weapons of war and the loss of life. It looks at the impact of the war on those involved and questions why Germany lost the war. The aim throughout is to give you a better understanding of the events that ultimately led to the slaughter of some nine million men and left a further twenty-nine million either wounded or missing.

Teach Yourself The First World War provides an international perspective on the event that ended in nearly 40 million casualties. Mixing facts with personal war stories, it takes you through the buildup to war and examines the roles of each nation involved. Such topics as trench warfare tactics, spies and espionage, weapons, and casualties are covered in detail. The Teach Yourself History series present all the facts and dates in a dynamic format that enables you to experience and understand the great historic events that shaped, and continue to influence, our world.

The Past Has No Power Over Your Future! Have you been hurt by past disappointment, fear, rejection, abandonment, or failure? If so, you’ve probably learned that time doesn’t necessarily heal all wounds. When pain from the past lingers in your life and causes emotional scars, you need to understand that God is always ready to help you be healed without scars! Filled with contemporary and biblical accounts of those who have emerged victorious from life’s tests and trials, Healed Without Scars will show you how to: Overcome depression, anger, fear, and hopelessness Discover the path to personal wholeness Find peace in the midst of life’s storms Renew your hopes and dreams Experience a life of freedom and joy For years, author David Evans has helped people from all walks of life learn how to live in victory. Let him guide you to a joyful life of wholeness in Christ.