Book Swap

Product people sit at the intersection of what gets built and what drives the business — but commercial conversations can feel like a different language. This session is designed to change that. Shing will walk through how SaaS Product businesses are measured and valued, giving you the grounding to engage confidently in discussions about growth, efficiency, and business performance. You'll learn to read the metrics that your CEO, CFO, and investors are watching, understand what drives them, and spot when something is off. The session moves from the fundamentals through to the sharper edge of efficiency — how to tell the difference between growth that compounds and growth that costs too much, and how the decisions made in product directly shape the numbers that matter commercially. By the end, you'll have a clearer picture of how your work connects to the business outcomes your company is chasing — and the language to talk about it with confidence. **Meet Shing** Paul Shingles (Shing) is a seasoned tech operator whose senior leadership experience spans operations, product strategy, sales, commercial proposition development and governance. As COO at Auror he is responsible for driving both Product and Commercial success leading to safer communities for everyone. Previously, as COO of Pushpay, he guided the business from scrappy startup through IPO to becoming one of New Zealand's handful of tech unicorns. He then joined Timely as Chief Customer Officer and later COO, driving international expansion and playing a key role in the company's sale to EverCommerce in 2021. Since then, he has focused on advising a number of New Zealand's leading CEOs, including working with the Movac portfolio. Huge thanks to Auror for hosting and sponsoring this event! You can join the livestream here: [https://meet.google.com/trs-aggn-xxk](https://meet.google.com/trs-aggn-xxk). As always the livestream will kick off from just before 6pm. Note that our host venue has asked that we send you the exact location of the event on the day a couple of hours before the start time - the venue is in the Britomart area. Those of you who have attended events at Auror before will know where it is!

**Our July novel is: *Listen for the Lie* by Amy Tintera** **This month’s novel was named one of the best books of 2024. It’s a domestic thriller with crime, mystery, and murder, told from women’s perspectives. The story includes a detective, an unreliable narrator, and plenty of suspense. The book is 352 pages in print and 9 hours and 18 minutes on audiobook.** What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter? After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it. The truth is out there, if we just listen.

Come join us to discuss our July pick "Tusk Love" by Thea Guanzon! Book description: A merchant’s daughter who yearns for adventure gets more than she bargained for when she falls for a broodingly handsome stranger in this saucy romantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hurricane Wars. “A true delight of a book! Spicy and heartfelt—this one is a winner all around.”—Katee Robert, author of Neon Gods As the daughter of an ambitious merchant, Guinevere’s path has been predetermined: marry into a noble house of the Dwendalian Empire, raise her family’s station, and live quietly as a lordling’s obedient wife. But Guinevere longs for a life unbounded by expectations, for freedom and passion and adventure. Those distant dreams become a sudden reality when her caravan is beset by bandits, leaving her guards slain and Guinevere stranded alone on the dangerous Amber Road. Her only chance of survival is to travel alongside Oskar, the aloof half-orc who saved her during the attack. Unlike Guinevere, Oskar’s path is not so set in stone. With his mother dead and his apprenticeship abandoned, all that’s left is a long, lonely walk to a land he’s never seen to find family he’s never met. The last thing he needs is a spoiled waif like Guinevere slowing him down—even if the spark between them sizzles with promise. Despite his cold exterior, Oskar is brave and thoughtful and unlike anyone Guinevere has ever met. And while Guinevere may be sheltered, she brings out a softness in him that he has never dared to feel before. As the flames of their passion grow, they realize that soon they’ll need to choose between their expected destinations or their blossoming romance. Written by New York Times bestselling author Thea Guanzon at the behest of Critical Role’s Jester Lavorre, Tusk Love brings the most romantic story on Exandrian bookshelves to life.

July is Summer/Lake Vibes theme! * The book we will be discussing is The House Across the Lake by Riley Seger * Feel free to attend whether or not you’ve read or finished the book * Trying something new for July, book club will be at the Starbucks inside the Dublin Barnes & Noble. So due to the location, snacks and drinks will not be provided this time. * Please update your attendance status here on the event page if you are attending or unable to. This time is extra important for this, due to limited spots for this event.

Let’s meet and discuss John Updike's Rabbit, Run, the first in his series of four novels following the life, hopes, and disappointments of former local basketball star, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, as he fitfully confronts and evades adulthood.