Books that shaped my character

A New History of Modern Computing- Thomas Haigh and Paul E. Ceruzzi

• talks about what technologies needed to come for different markets to emerge
• shows what worked and what failed, and why
• discusses who helped, so you are aware of what skillsets are most important

The Fountainhead- Ayn Rand

• read this when i started my first business. i recommend this for anyone first starting. focuses on the "i", and Atlas Shrugged focuses on the "we"

Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand

• i mean idk the storyline is literally playing out in America between the producers and people who complain/gripe about "fairness"

The Last Samurai- Helen DeWitt

• not the movie one
• no matter how smart you are, how high your IQ, if you can't connect with people and provide something of value to them, you will always be an outcast

Endurance- Alfred Lansing

• Ernest Shackleton is GOAT'd
• shows how to remain sharp and never lose faith- there is literally no point in not losing hope

Shantaram- Gregory David Roberts

• one has that dog in them, or does not. influenced me to go mountaineering/climbing in NZ for 4 months to experience what almost-dying actually feels like
• most stresses in social contexts are not actual stresses. go climb a 200m rock face and see if you're thinking about what someone said about you on social media

Basic Economics- Thomas Sowell

• from first principles, why capitalism is the best form of economics
• did i mention it's from first principles? like why money and specialized services exist?

Molecular Biology of the Cell- most incredible text book i have ever read, every text book should be like this

• fell into the field right after college because of this book

How to Win Friends and Influence People- Dale Carnegie

• thought this was the dumbest book in the world when i first read it in early college
• after starting my first 2 businesses and doing everything wrong, i now realize how important and obvious this book is

On the Shortness of Life- Seneca

• read my sophomore year of college, part of the reason i got into computers
• "men are more tight-fisted with their money than their time"

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (Illustrated 1875 Edition): F. P. Walter Translation- Jules Verne

• just a classic epic, i love the ocean and this is a reason why

Your Next Five Moves- Patrick Bet-David

• read this after burning out from my second business
• helped me refocus and reflect on how i was only concerned with myself. i started my first business out of desperation, and, unfortunately, carried that over into my second

The Hyperion Series (all 4 books)

• the best sci-fi series i have ever read. it is incomprehensible how much this affected my vision of the future

Titan- Jon Chernow

• biography of John D Rockefeller
• he believed God put him on this earth to build the oil industry. i learned what real conviction looks like

Algorithms to Live By- Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths

• everything is an approximation
• the quality of your life is purely determined by your decision making ability

Benjamin Franklin- Walter Isaacson

• can be a cool guy who just does what needs to be done

Steve Jobs- Walter Isaacson

• obsess over the customer experience

The Gene- Siddhartha Mukherjee

• beautifully written

Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman- Feynman

• if even the smartest of all guys doesnt take him seriously, why should you?

The Picture of Dorian Grey

• never be so narcissistic that you let your whole life fly by
• also Lord Henry says some funny stuff but would be unbearable in real life

Crime and Punishment- Dostoevsky

• hated the book up until the last 40 pages. taught me to not be a little bitch and communicate my feelings. stop getting inside of one's own head

The Player of Games- Iain M Banks

• every culture, society, group, etc is purely just an operating system acting on that specific group's beliefs
• your values shape your beliefs, and your beliefs shape your decision making. you have to constantly be questioning these things we subconsciously take for granted

Man's Search for Meaning- Viktor Frankl

• we all crave meaning, usually comes from the feeling of importance of one's work

The Maverick and His Machine

• Thomas Whatson Sr and IBM, shows how clear of a vision one should have when starting something
• also did 10% of top line reinvestment in R&D, which helped prop them up for a lot of government contracts during the world wars. they crushed after the second because of this

The Prophet- Kahlil Gibran

• "work is love made realized"
• take pride in your work, no matter what you do

When Breath Becomes Air- Paul Kalanithi

• a cancer doctor gets cancer
• reminder on what is important in life, to smile every day and realize we are so god damn lucky to be here

Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone- Martin Dugard

• good old English adventure, 19th century
• imagine getting attacked by a male lion and still chillin

The Robot Series- Isaac Asimov

• wasn't a big fan of the Foundation Series (space opera, played out thousands of times- but i also acknowledge/appreciate he created the genre)
• but this series slapped- his endings were always wild and unexpected

Bios- Robert Charles Wilson

• made me fall in love with alien worlds and foreign biology
• bio will always have a special place in my life

The Everything Store- Brad Stone

• Bezos is a chad, absolute legend
• parlayed a good insight into a billion dollar company, then an internal api into a trillion dollar company
• taught me to chill out, have fun, treat it all like a once in a lifetime opportunity, and to be grateful every day

Built to Sell- John Warrilow

• taught me how to have direction, and to realize selling a business is just like selling a product. has to make the acquirers life better

Atomic Habits- James Clear

• taught me to just focus on the improvement every day. just have discipline and figure out your own personal incentives