The First 90 Days
Michael D. Watkins
In this updated 10th anniversary edition, an internationally known leadership transition expert, drawing on real-world examples and groundbreaking research on leadership, emphasizes the importance of successful performance during the first 90 days in a new position. 100,000 first printing.18/ The First 90 Days- My guess is 80% of the first execs hired by first-time founders are gone in 12 months. Give this book to your execs. @MichaelDWatkins https://t.co/Gs17cmHeYL
The Outsiders
William N. Thorndike
17/ The Outsiders- as CEO you're an allocator of resources ($, people, time). Being super effective at capital allocation and understanding ROIC isn't obvious to most first-time CEOs, but it is key to being great at your role. https://t.co/2SrV6C8xpk
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
🙏🏻 More books like Heart of Darkness, less books like “I’m sad at desk”
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
15/ Man’s Search for Meaning- the "why" (your mission) will help you get through difficult times. As Nietzsche observed, “he who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” This book shows you the importance of identifying your "why". @ViktorFranklll https://t.co/mbyFrr0Zgc
How Will You Measure Your Life?
Clayton M. Christensen
Akin to The Last Lecture in its revelatory perspective following life-altering events, "How Will You Measure Your Life?" presents a set of personal guidelines that have helped the author find meaning and happiness in his life.16/ How to Measure Your Life- there will be lots of reasons to get swept up as a founder and forget what you really care about in life. This book helps you stay focused on what you believe matters the most. https://t.co/NZCk2Jl4Ba
Thinking in Bets
Annie Duke
Even the best decision doesn't yield the best outcome every time: there's always an element of luck that you can't control, and there is always information that is hidden from view. Duke shows readers how to think in bets: How sure am I? What are the possible ways things could turn out? As a former World Series of Poker champion turned business consultant, she draws on examples from business, sports, politics, and (of course) poker to share tools anyone can use to embrace uncertainty and make better decisions.13/ Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts - The title sums up the life of a founder. You need to weigh the info you have and make decisions swiftly. This book makes you better at that core task. @AnnieDuke https://t.co/vFJHsPJCjn
Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand
14/ Atlas Shrugged - I think @HamiltonMusical is the best musical that will make you feel inspired as a founder. I think this is the best novel to do the same. https://t.co/u2DyazdeO5
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
Outlines a revisionist approach to management while arguing against common perceptions about the inevitability of startup failures, explaining the importance of providing genuinely needed products and services as well as organizing a business that can adapt to continuous customer feedback.10/ The Lean Startup - it's so widely read in technology that its teachings are common. You need to still read it. @ericries https://t.co/vd1pdP7aOU
Zero to One
Peter Thiel
The billionaire Silicon Valley entrepreneur behind such companies as PayPal and Facebook outlines an innovative theory and formula for building the companies of the future by creating and monopolizing new markets instead of competing in old ones. 200,000 first printing.11/ Zero to One -Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future. Helpful tactical and strategic thoughts on building in the early days from one of the smartest thinkers in technology. @peterthiel https://t.co/4zhCKxh3cc
Survival to Thrival
Bob Tinker
12/ Survival to Thrival (specifically for enterprise founders)-first-time founders focus on product. Second-time founders focus on distribution. This book helps a ton with GTM for enterprise startups. @BobTinker @taeheanahm. . https://t.co/lXxUZugKbU https://t.co/lxtkY5rMH4
The Four Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz
Identifies four self-limiting beliefs that impede one's experience of freedom, true happiness, and love.10/ The Four Agreements- a great founder recommended this to me early in my journey and I often think back to it. It talks about some of the self-limiting beliefs that most founders (people!) have and how to handle them. @donMiguelRuiz https://t.co/gqNKhMNDVN
High Output Management
Andrew S. Grove
11/ High Output Management - Just trust me, there is no better book on management. https://t.co/FLKGdxhg8X
The Captain Class
Sam Walker
7/ Captain Class- An amazing book on team dynamics and team building. Helps you see how leaders and critical players will come from all levels of your org. Find them, nurture them, and reward them. @SamWalkers https://t.co/mjbYckFjgo
Reboot
Colonna Jerry
8/ Reboot- Leadership and the Art of Growing Up. Get an executive coach. Also- read this book. Many of the difficult emotions and situations you’ll wrestle with are addressed here. @jerrycolonna https://t.co/fHQoo0QNyn
The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership
Jim Dethmer
9/ The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership- You're a leader. You'll lead your organization and others in the industry will look to you to be a leader. What kind of leader do you want to be? @DianaChapman @jimdethmer @KaleyKlemp https://t.co/8bDS9KcoEZ
The Innovator's Dilemma
Clayton M. Christensen
5/ The Innovator’s Dilemma - there are 100k books on strategy. This is the best and the most relevant for startups. https://t.co/BS2pvqb2qQ
The Advantage
Patrick M. Lencioni
6/ The Advantage - People are your most important asset as a founder. This is the best book on organizational health. It's a topic that founders frequently overlook and shouldn't. @patricklencioni https://t.co/2ci9PoKmTO
The Great CEO Within
Matt Mochary
3/ The Great CEO Within- VCs love pontificating about strategy. Sometimes founders need practical advice on tactics. This book is the best I've seen at that. Pro-tip: get the book but also use the online resource. @mattmochary https://t.co/A9LANq1BBh https://t.co/onIx9GiiCX
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Ben Horowitz
A lot of people talk about how great it is to start a business, but only Ben Horowitz is brutally honest about how hard it is to run one. In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology companies to offer essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems business schools don't cover. His blog has garnered a devoted following of millions of readers who have come to rely on him to help them run their businesses. A lifelong rap fan, Horowitz amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs and tells it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, from cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in. His advice is grounded in anecdotes from his own hard-earned rise—from cofounding the early cloud service provider Loudcloud to building the phenomenally successful Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm, both with fellow tech superstar Marc Andreessen (inventor of Mosaic, the Internet's first popular Web browser). This is no polished victory lap; he analyzes issues with no easy answers through his trials, including demoting (or firing) a loyal friend; whether you should incorporate titles and promotions, and how to handle them; if it's OK to hire people from your friend's company; how to manage your own psychology, while the whole company is relying on you; what to do when smart people are bad employees; why Andreessen Horowitz prefers founder CEOs, and how to become one; whether you should sell your company, and how to do it. Filled with Horowitz's trademark humor and straight talk, and drawing from his personal and often humbling experiences, The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures.4/ Hard Thing About Hard Things- the best book I’ve read that talks about the grueling aspect of life as a founder. There is no book that made me feel less lonely as CEO than this one. @bhorowitz https://t.co/MiQ9LUu8qn
High Growth Handbook
Elad Gil
Well known technology executive and angel investor Elad Gil has worked with high growth tech companies like Airbnb, Twitter, Google, Instacart, Coinbase, Stripe, and Square as they've grown from small companies into global brands. Across all of these break-out companies, a set of common patterns has evolved into a repeatable playbook that Gil has codified in High Growth Handbook. Covering key topics including the role of the CEO, managing your board, recruiting and managing an executive team, M&A, IPOs and late stage funding rounds, and interspersed with over a dozen interviews with some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley including Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Marc Andreessen (Andreessen Horowitz), and Aaron Levie (Box), High Growth Handbook presents crystal clear guidance for navigating the most complex challenges that confront leaders and operators in high-growth startups. In what Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 NYT bestsellers The Alliance and The Startup of You calls "a trenchant guide," High Growth Handbook is the playbook for turning a startup into a unicorn.2/ High Growth Handbook- An absolute wealth of helpful information from leaders on the most important topics you'll face as a founder. I refer to it often. @eladgil https://t.co/QQrhG2fgqx https://t.co/9Kh9th0NFA
Apprentice to Genius
Robert Kanigel
Robert Kanigel takes us into the heady world of a remarkable group of scientists working at the National Institutes of Health and the Johns Hopkins University: a dynasty of American researchers who for over forty years have made Nobel Prize- and Lasker Award-winning breakthroughs in biomedical science.@krisgulati https://t.co/PKfd1IVAaX
This Is What It Sounds Like
Susan Rogers
Congratulations to the other selection, THIS IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE, by Susan Rogers and my good friend Ogi Ogas. So happy to be selected together! Excited to engage with this amazing community 😊 @NextBigIdeaClub https://t.co/Ai84VLCxeh
The ONE Thing
Gary Keller
"Rather, I believe in the concept illustrated by Gary Keller in his book The ONE Thing. That book teaches you to fix the one thing that makes all other problems irrelevant or easy."
$100M Careers
Emmy Sobieski
This book by @EmmySobieski is great for learning about high-leverage in career paths. (Her focus is on finance, though there are plenty of others!) A few highlights below... https://t.co/9zNv8kSJ12
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day
Arnold Bennett
You have to live on twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul. Its right use, its most effective use, is a matter of the highest urgency and of the most thrilling actuality. All depends on that. Your happiness – the elusive prize that you are all clutching for, my friends! – depends on that. Which of us lives on twenty-four hours a day? And when I say "lives," I do not mean exists, nor "muddles through." Which of us is not saying to himself – which of us has not been saying to himself all his life: "I shall alter that when I have a little more time"? We never shall have more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is. It is the realization of this profound and neglected truth (which, by the way, I have not discovered) that has led me to the minute practical examination of daily time-expenditure.If you're starting 2023 with new resolutions, goals, and habits, heed this warning from Arnold Bennett in his book "How to Live on 24 Hours a Day": https://t.co/A6bcWHRc9a
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess
Leonard Shlain
Chapter 7 of "Alphabet and the Goddess" is an illuminating read. It covers the transformation of Egyptian hieroglyphics as well as the evolution of religion. https://t.co/BWSvQNThNT
Future Shock
Alvin Toffler
Predicts the pace of environmental change during the next thirty years and the ways in which the individual must face and learn to cope with personal and social changehttps://t.co/IGV1h6Ofhp https://t.co/2W506Kvdea https://t.co/wVoXG5oOXf https://t.co/iQoLtMvEbr
How the World Really Works
Vaclav Smil
"Vaclav Smil is my favorite author."--Bill Gates An essential analysis of the modern science and technology that makes our twenty-first century lives possible--a scientist's investigation into what science really does, and does not, accomplish. We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don’t know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check--because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts. In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn’t inevitable--the foolishness of allowing 70 per cent of the world’s rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020--and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, such that any promises of decarbonization by 2050 are a fairy tale. For example, each greenhouse-grown supermarket-bought tomato has the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel embedded in its production, and we have no way of producing steel, cement or plastics at required scales without huge carbon emissions. Ultimately, Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead? Compelling, data-rich and revisionist, this wonderfully broad, interdisciplinary guide finds faults with both extremes. Looking at the world through this quantitative lens reveals hidden truths that change the way we see our past, present and uncertain future.The battle against nonsense is never-ending, and Vaclav Smil has waged it longer than most. https://t.co/E2hveaLh22
Meeting Design
Kevin M. Hoffman
@alexstran What kind of resource? (There are a lot of books and tools on this topic or adjacent to it out there, already, like @kevinmhoffman's book on Meeting Design, for example)
The Art of Reading
Jamie Camplin
😍📚📚📚📚📚 @interintellect_ “Art of Reading” salon, book mentions! https://t.co/fsGQ2ELGmm