[Howard Shultz] Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
Howard Shultz, now CEO and soon to be ex-CEO of Starbucks, chronicled the creation of one of the most iconic brands today. The book contains lots of very interesting stories about how Starbucks first started up, including Howard’s own struggle with raising capital, general management preferences and strategies, and the various challenges he faced transitioning from a startup to a real enterprise. Will re-read
[Phil Knight] Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
Honestly, the story contains less real content than I had hoped. I did read quite a bit about Phil Knight prior to reading his book. It sort of confirmed my assumption of him as a person: analytical, driven, determined, but shy and quiet, unlike most of the business people. I wouldn’t say it’s a must read for entrepreneurs, as it wouldn’t help you too much other than echoing how hard it is to start something. However, it’s great if you are looking for some light reading.
[Howard French] China’s Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa
Highly recommended. Reading this book makes me want to pack up my shit and move to Africa to start a new venture. The book is organized by geographical regions. Knowing very little about the continent going into the book, it truely opened up my world and is extremely informative. When I read, I rarely have to stop and digest; but this is the book that made me really pause and think. It portrays the incredible stories of some one million-plus Chinese migrants that are now building careers in Africa, and various cultural/economic changes that are silently forming in the background.
[Peter Bevelin] A Few Lessons for Investors and Managers from Warren E. Buffett
Reread this old book from 2012. Warren Buffett’s wisdom on investing and life truly withstands the test of time. For a Buffett fan, this is a nice and light read.
[Jamie McIntyre] Investment Lessons Learnt from Warren Buffett
The second book on Buffett I read within the span of a month. Also a light read, but packed with information.
[Sam Walton] Sam Walton: Made In America
I contracted at Walmart Labs a couple of years ago and got a paper copy of this book. I finally got the chance to read this, and it’s actually more interesting than I thought. Sam Walton wrote about the importance of listening as a leader, and how evolution is inevitable in a capitalist society. Walmart is simply a story of a business that’s keeping up with the time.
[Daniel Yergin] The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power
This is a very long read. Honestly, I was confused most of the time since it’s got so much information about the energy/oil industry. Will have to reread in the future, but definitely learned a ton about the history and players involved in big oil.
[Andrew Ross Sorkin] To Big to Fail
Highly recommended. It’s one of the more detailed account of what happened in 2008 during the subprime mortgage crisis. As an outsider looking into the finance industry, it gives me a lot of perspective and history. It’s a fascinating industry and I would use this book as a starting point to investigate all the players in the book, who more or less shape all our lives today.
[Jon Gertner] The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
Recommend! This book is on this year’s YC winter reading list. Being in the tech industry, we grew up hearing about the legends of the Bell Labs. It’s a very informative read about the origin of the Information Age, and the innovation hub that started it all. I think for tech entrepreneurs today, it’s important to learn about our past. After contracting for a few of these modern-day “innovation hubs,” I can definitely say that the lessons learned here can be applied to almost every industry that is looking to digitize.
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[Jerry Kaplan] Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Recommend! I believe I found this book on a MIT reading list. AI has been a rising field in computer science for the past decade, and recently, it’s becoming more and more prominent as more VC money is being poured into machine learning startups and self-driving cars. The book talks about some of the current trends of AI, and it warns about how applications of AI will impact our society in the most fundamental and profound way.
[Melinda Tankard Reist] Big Porn Inc.
Like the title suggested, it’s about porn and the porn industry. It’s definitely an eye opening read, an educational read, and a chilling read. Not recommended for the faint of heart.
[Neal Stephenson] Seveneves: A Novel
The only fiction I read this year, came highly recommended. Was good for the first 2/3. I’m not really a fiction guy.