My Favorite Books #144

Reflecting on a few interesting reads and listens over the past week

Operating During a Downturn #143

My Favorite Books #144

This week I thought I'd do a slightly different post and share some of the most influential books I've read. This is an update to a list that I shared in the past.

Some of these books get shared quite often, while others aren't talked about as much. Over time, I've learned to appreciate books written by people who have done the things that they're writing about (vs. simply reporting on them). They capture a level of detail that's impossible to replicate.

Here are 13 books that I continue to re-read and learn from each time.  Hope you find this useful!

Insanely Simple: The Obsession that Drives Apple’s Success by Ken Segall

Ken Segall is an agency creative director, who’s best known for working with Steve Jobs for 20+ years and coming up with the ‘Think Different’ campaign. His story of working with Steve Jobs and his drive to build simplicity into everyday solutions really gives a different look at how we should think about UX. I personally find that UX principles can be applied far beyond product/solution design. Even when it comes to M&A/deal-making, I find myself conscious of whether we are adding or removing friction into the process.

CEO, China: The Rise of Xi Jinping

Ken Segall is an agency creative director, who’s best known for working with Steve Jobs for 20+ years and coming up with the ‘Think Different’ campaign. His story of working with Steve Jobs and his drive to build simplicity into everyday solutions really gives a different look at how we should think about UX. I personally find that UX principles can be applied far beyond product/solution design. Even when it comes to M&A/deal-making, I find myself conscious of whether we are adding or removing friction into the process.

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

This is an often recommended memoir by the founder of Nike. Apart from being extremely well written and sharing the story of how Nike came to be, this book taught me the lengths that one should go to accomplish their goal. It also taught me the importance of staying the course as adversity comes up and being able to see through the bigger picture. Whether you're a founder, employee, or investor, it's usually quite easy to bail as challenges (with no apparent, immediate solution) emerge. 

The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

The popular choice isn't always the right one. A lot of times we look for external reasons to understand why things are the way they are - however, this book taught me the importance of self-reflection and the need to build your own conviction. In my mind, this comes in the form of sticking to your inner voice without letting the doubters around you prevail. The biggest challenge I find is being able to separate advice vs. those who might be projecting their well-reasoned fears/doubts (even if it comes with good intentions). 

Propaganda by Edward Bernays

Edward Bernays is quite often considered the father of PR. His ability to shift the way the public saw a number of issues to benefit certain parties was quite often ingenious. While we live in a very different world today, a lot of his thinking is still extremely relevant when it comes to growth and marketing. This book is practically a how-to manual on manufacturing influence from one of the greatest to ever to do it.

Mindset by Carol Dweck 

This book offers a bit more practical advice when it comes to maximizing your relationships and your overall potential. While I'm generally not a fan of most 'how-to' books, I found this one to be quite useful for people in all stages of life.

Working Backwards by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr 

Amazon's ability to build multi-billion dollar businesses in seemingly unrelated industries is a known fact. This book comes as close as any other to explaining how they were able to pull it off. It's quite rare to come across books that were written by the builders themselves - making this book to be extremely valuable to operators. 

From Third World to First by Lee Kuan Yew 

Building businesses is an incredibly tough task. However, building countries is a lot harder. This book is a rare glimpse into someone who actually built a country (Singapore) from nearly scratch. For those who are interested in Balaji's post on How to Start a New Country, I'd recommend reading this book. While I haven't fully wrapped my head around this, I do think there's an intersection between the work that Balaji is taking on and the lessons we can learn from Lee Kuan Yew. 

The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan 

This is a book that taught me quite a bit about European, Asian, and Middle Eastern empires from a non-Western perspective. Growing up in Canada, we have a very biased view of global history. This book challenges that perspective and was quite helpful in teaching me about the different empires and how they came rose and fell over time. It was also quite interesting to see China's Belt and Road Initiative follow a similar pattern to empires in the past. History often does repeat itself. 

The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

This is an incredibly well-written and easy-to-read book. As financial literacy becomes a core part of education in schools, I'd recommend this as mandatory reading for anyone (even those who consider themselves to be financially literate). The book shares simple habits that can ultimately enable anyone to become financially independent.  

100 Baggers: Stocks That Return 100-to-1 and How to Find Them 

This is also a fairly light read (at least compared to some of the names shared earlier) and breaks down the process and patience required to get unusually high returns. Picking the right businesses and more importantly, having the patience to not sell (or be too smart) is quite key. I'd share this book as a resource for those looking to get involved in the stock market. 

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card 

Unlike the books I shared above, this is a fiction book. While I won't give the plot away, I will say that this book has taught me as much about team management and how to deal with competition as much as any other book I've read. It's a book that still doesn't get the recognition it deserves.