10 Books I've enjoyed recently
Spy planes, the Singularity, and Jeff Bezos
Some books I’ve enjoyed recently, with some commentary.
The Singularity is Near
by Ray Kurzweil
Our sole responsibility is to produce something smarter than we are; any problems beyond that are not ours to solve …
Recommend: 8/10
The Everything Store
by Brad Stone
Jeff Bezos is the understudied founder of this generation. This book is fast-paced, entertaining, and dives deep into Bezos’ ruthless management style and customer-centric philosophy.
“Your job is to kill your own business,” he told him. “I want you to proceed as if your goal is to put everyone selling physical books out of a job.”
Recommend: 9/10
Electronic Value Exchange
by David L. Stearns
Despite the academic cover, this book is a compelling read. It tracks the origin of VISA, from the days when it was a computer-less card system serving suburban California. It’s a story of power brokerage, mutinees, negotiation, and the overarching, opinionated vision that Dee Hock had.
Even if you don’t work in fintech, this book is worth a read.
Hock recounts that on the fourth night he began to realize that if the methods of biological evolution could produce such complex organizations as brains and immune systems, not to mention larger and more diverse systems such as rain forests, marine and weather systems, the same sort of principles employed by humans might be able to create the kind of complex, self-organizing system he wanted to achieve.
Recommend: 7/10
Bloomberg by Bloomberg
by Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg is missing from the Silicon Valley canon because he has stayed away from Silicon Valley. But this book is a powerful account of the rise of a hardware-software monopoly and how Bloomberg got there. It’s written in his own no-nonsense tone of voice.
Did I want to risk an embarrassing and costly failure? Absolutely. Happiness for me has always been the thrill of the unknown, trying something that everyone says can't be done, feeling that gnawing pit in my stomach that says ‘Danger ahead’.
Recommend: 7/10
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol
by Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol was excruciatingly honest in his writings. His worldview bordered on nihilistic, but his odd way of thinking about things might spark some new ideas for you as it did for me.
Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, So what. That's one of my favorite things to say. So what.
Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.
Recommend: 5/10
The Crack-Up
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald went from obscurity to fame to brokenness. These collected pieces trace his journey in his stunning writing style.
Before I go on with this short history, let me make a general observation– the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise. This philosophy fitted on to my early adult life, when I saw the improbable, the implausible, often the "impossible," come true.
Fitzgerald’s personal trajectory seemed to follow the optimism of the 1920’s and then the pessimism of the 1930’s. Read this book for a first-hand account of what the Roaring Twenties felt like.
And lastly from that period I remember riding in a taxi one afternoon between very tall buildings under a mauve and rosy sky; I began to bawl because I had everything I wanted and knew I would never be so happy again.
Recommend: 7/10
A Billion Years
by Mike Rinder
Mike Rinder was the international spokesperson for the Church of Scientology until he escaped in 2007. It’s a hypnotic read and an exploration into the mind prisons we are all susceptible to.
The fight for the very survival of scientology became even more real and urgent. And I believed it was my duty to mankind to take that fight to the mat and sacrifice whatever was needed to ensure we prevailed.
Recommend: 8/10
Industries of the Future
by Alec Ross
Alec Ross served as Obama’s Senior Advisor for Innovation to the Secretary of State. Unfortunately this book doesn’t dive deep enough to learn much of substance.
If international norms and treaties are not agreed to, setting definitions and boundaries for cyberconflict, a cyberwar is just as likely to be fought between a country and a company as it is between two countries.
Recommend: 3/10
Kelly: More Than My Share of it All
Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson
Kelly Johnson joined Lockheed in its earliest days and stayed to spearhead the design of the CIA’s U-2 and other impressive aircraft.
This is a story of inspiring discipline, work ethic, creativity, and leadership ability.
Fortunately, the worrisome nature that produced immediate ulcers during a crisis was overridden by my naturally strong Swedish constitution, and the ulcers would heal in about a week.
Recommend: 8/10
The Third Wave
by Steve Case
Steve Case founded AOL after a stint as Pizza Hut’s manager of new pizza marketing. This book outlines Steve’s thesis that the next wave of the internet and technology will happen in today’s real-world industries such as health, education, transportation, energy, and food.
The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stone. It ended because we invented something better.
Recommend: 5/10