**What is it about these businesses that are being acquired for billions of dollars, or the ones that are worth billions of dollars?**
Do they really have something that much greater than their competitors? Are they simply doing things better than everyone else? Can any one of us truly admit that we could have seen the massive growth of [Google](http://www.google.com “Google”) or [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/mitchjoel “Facebook”) coming? How does anyone believe that companies like [Snapchat](http://www.snapchat.com “Snapchat”) or [Uber](http://www.uber.com “Uber”) are worth what they are currently being valued at? Maybe it’s not really about what they do, but much more about how these brands affect us, as human beings? How they get under our skin and become a part of our daily lives. Maybe it’s not about what they do, but rather the habits that they create within each and every one of us?
**Great brands make consumers become habitual users.**
If there was one new business book that I thoroughly enjoyed this past year, it would have to be [Hooked](http://www.nirandfar.com/hooked “Hooked”) by [Nir Eyal](http://www.nirandfar.com “Nir Eyal”). Nir is a journalist, teacher and speaker (and, he will be appearing in an upcoming episode of my podcast). His book (and his work) focuses on how brands can create things that are habit-forming for consumers. Eyal recently gave a compelling presentation on the topic at [TNW](http://thenextweb.com/voice/2014/07/10/announcing-tnw-conference-usa-2014-will-back-new-york/) (aka The Next Web) event in New York, this past December. The twenty-five minute presentation was just posted online. It’s well-worth your time and attention.
**Watch this: [Nir Eyal – Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products at The Next Web](http://youtu.be/Z29RvrHPp1s)…**