Books
These books changed how I think about building.
* * *
THE FUNDAMENTALS
Core startup and venture canon
Zero to One / Peter Thiel
The Lean Startup / Eric Ries
Crossing the Chasm / Geoffrey Moore
The Hard Thing About Hard Things / Ben Horowitz
Secrets of Sand Hill Road / Scott Kupor
* * *
GROWTH & EXECUTION
Scaling and operational excellence
Blitzscaling / Reid Hoffman
High Growth Handbook / Elad Gil
The Mom Test / Rob Fitzpatrick
Hooked / Nir Eyal
Good to Great / Jim Collins
Measure What Matters / John Doerr
* * *
STRATEGY & COMPETITION
Understanding conflict and markets
On War / Carl von Clausewitz
The Utility of Force / Rupert Smith
Geopolitical Alpha / Marko Papic
U.S. Army Counterinsurgency Field Manual / Petraeus, Amos
* * *
MONEY & SYSTEMS
Financial history and market structure
The Ascent of Money / Niall Ferguson
Flash Boys / Michael Lewis
Capitalism in America / Greenspan, Wooldridge
Order without Design / Alain Bertaud
Triumph of the City / Edward Glaeser
* * *
EMPIRE & POWER
Historical patterns of dominance
1453 / Roger Crowley
Empires of the Sea / Roger Crowley
City of Fortune / Roger Crowley
Power Within / R. Balasubramaniam
* * *
PHILOSOPHY & PERSPECTIVE
Timeless wisdom and broader context
Meditations / Marcus Aurelius (Gregory Hays translation)
Sapiens / Yuval Noah Harari
The Everything Store / Brad Stone
* * *
CRAFT & DESIGN
Visual thinking and creation
The Japanese Garden / Sophie Walker
slide:ology / Nancy Duarte
Walt Disney Animation Studios / Archive Series