Viktor

At the age of 39, psychiatrist Viktor Frankl was stripped of his professional position and imprisoned along with his pregnant wife and parents by the Nazis. He lost them all to death camps. However, through the experience, Dr. Frankl developed a psychological theory that has helped millions cope with suffering and achieve success by finding their meaning in life.

Ev Williams is an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur who has founded several Internet companies. Williams was previously chairman and CEO of Twitter. He also founded Blogger and Medium, two of the largest and most notable blog distribution websites.

Naval Ravikant (born in 1974) is an Indian born American Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Founder, and CEO from New York. He is best known as AngelList's Founder. In addition, he is presently serving as the Chief Executive Officer, Chairman, and owner of AngelList Company.

Naval

Man's Search for Meaning

Taylor

New York Times Bestseller―Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed over the past forty years to help achieve success in both life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to improve their performance. In Principles, Dalio shares what he’s learned over the course of his remarkable career. He argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines. The book’s hundreds of practical lessons, which are built around his Cornerstones of “radical truth” and “radical transparency,” include Dalio laying out the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams.
Raymond Thomas Dalio (born August 8, 1949)[1] is an American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager, who has served as co-chief investment officer of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, since 1985. He founded Bridgewater in 1975 in New York. A $5 million investment from the World Bank's retirement fund was made within five years. His innovations are regarded as some of the best in the industry, having popularized many commonly used practices, such as risk parity, currency overlay, portable alpha and global inflation-indexed bond management.

Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and one of Fortune’s “40 under 40.” He is an early-stage technology investor/advisor and the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers. The Tim Ferriss Show podcast has now exceeded 400 million downloads.

Principles

Peter

In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel argues that we live in an age of technological stagnation, even if we're too distracted by shiny mobile devices to notice.  While information technology has improved rapidly, there is no reason why progress should be limited to computers or Silicon Valley.  Progress can be achieved in any industry or area of business.  To make that happen, however, every leader must learn one skill above all: how to think for yourself. 

Nat Eliason is the CEO and founder of Growth Machine, an SEO-focused growth agency, and co-founder of Cup & Leaf Tea. He is also the author of “Come Again?” and writes about psychology, sex, money, travel, entrepreneurship, drugs, and everything else you’d find interesting at nateliason.com.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a Lebanese-American essayist, scholar, statistician, and former option trader and risk analyst, whose work concerns problems of randomness, probability, and uncertainty.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Zero to One

The New York Times bestselling book Influence, by Robert B. Cialdini, looks at the psychology of why people say yes and how to apply these principles ethically in business and everyday situations. Through a series of examples, Cialdini explains what is known as the six universal principles of influence and how they can be used to become a skilled persuader and how we can defend ourselves against dishonest influence attempts.

Noah Kagan is a digital entrepreneur who is best known as being the founder of the deal of the day website, AppSumo.

Noah

Influence

Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, offers essential advice on building and running a successful startup in The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers .  Many people may talk about how great it is to start a business—but very few are honest about how difficult it is to run one.  Horowitz provides an inside view of the pitfalls every leader must face, sharing the insights he’s gained developing, managing, selling, buying, investing in, controlling, and supervising technology companies.  A lifelong rap fanatic—he even teaches brand strategy at Stanford's design school—Horowitz amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs and tells it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors.  He also shows how he cultivated and sustained a CEO mentality while leading Loudcloud during the Internet boom. 

Peter Attia is a Canadian-American physician of Egyptian descent known for his medical practice that focuses on the science of longevity.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Tim Ferriss is a Princeton University guest lecturer, and his unorthodox teachings have been known to elicit controversy.  When asked what he does, he has trouble answering.  "I race motorcycles in Europe.  I ski in the Andes.  I scuba dive in Panama.  I dance tango in Buenos Aires. " He's spent more than five years learning the secrets of the new rich-a fast-growing subculture that has abandoned the deferred-life plan and instead mastered the new currencies-time and mobility-to create luxury lifestyles in the here and now.  You don't need a trust fund or family inheritance to be one of these nouveau riche, as Ferriss calls them.  In fact, you might already be one without knowing it; if you've ever flown first class or stayed at a Four Seasons hotel, you're already part of this exclusive ranks.  Regardless of your income level, if you're trapped in your own career or business, this book is your compass for a new and revolutionary world. 

Eric Weinstein is an American mathematician and economist. He earned his PhD in mathematical physics from Harvard University in 1992, is a research fellow at the Mathematical Institute of Oxford University, and is a managing director of Thiel Capital in San Francisco.

Eric

The 4-Hour Workweek

Yuval Noah Harari

In Sapiens, Yuval Harari explores the history of human civilization since the Cognitive Revolution.  He argues that we have experienced three major revolutions: cognitive, agricultural, and scientific.  It was during the Cognitive Revolution that humans invented systems of writing and began to develop complex knowledge.  The Agricultural Revolution allowed humans to settle in one place, create social hierarchy, and develop complex political cycles.  We experience the Scientific Revolution today as a result of our ability to domesticate plants and animals and make them bear fruits or serve us in other ways. 

Sapiens

Phil

In this book, for the first time ever, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight shares the inside story of the sneaker company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.  A young man searching for his identity after college, Knight borrowed fifty dollars from his father and launched a company with one simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost running shoes from Japan.  Selling the shoes from the trunk of his car, Knight grossed eight thousand dollars that first year.  Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion—and that’s only part of Knight’s success.  His leadership has helped give birth to an industry and given rise to some of its greatest athletes.  Fluent in Japanese and a voracious reader on business topics, he is among America's most revered CEOs even though he never set out to work in corporate America.  In this book, Knight lays bare his successes, his failures, and his personal journey with such honesty, humor, and passion that you feel you are right alongside him for every step of the way. 

Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and chief executive of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. Coinbase raised $300 million in October 2018 in a financing round led by Tiger Global that valued the company at $8 billion.

Brian

Bill Gates is an American business magnate, software developer, investor, and philanthropist. He is best known as the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation.

Bill

Shoe Dog

Marcus

Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD.  Written as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement, the twelve books of the Meditations offer his ideas on Stoic philosophy.  Marcus Aurelius wrote the twelve books in Koine Greek as he planned military campaigns against several Germanic tribes across the Danube frontier and along the Danube River.  It is likely that large portions of the books were written while Marcus Aurelius was stationed at Aquincum on campaign in Pannonia.  Some of it was written while he was positioned at Carnuntum, with internal notes telling us that book 2 was written during his campaign against the Quadi on the river Granova. 

James Clear is a personal development keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling author of Atomic Habits. His entertaining talks teach audiences about small habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement.

James

Meditations

Andrew

 Grove shares his perspective on how to build and run an organization.  It's the essential skill of creating and maintaining new businesses--the art of the entrepreneur--that can be summed up in a single word: managing.  Born of Grove's experiences at one of America's leading technology companies, High Output Management is equally appropriate for anyone working as a sales manager, accountants, consultants, and teachers, as well as CEOs and startup founders.  Grove covers techniques for creating highly productive teams, demonstrating methods of motivation that lead to peak performance--throughout, High Output Management is a practical handbook for navigating real-life business scenarios and a powerful management manifesto, with the ability to revolutionize the way we work. 

High Output Management

Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s magnum opus: a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller.  Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read.  The plot is driven by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with tall questions about good and evil.  This interesting quote summarizes the book’s message: “Who is John Galt? When he says that he will stop the motor of the world, is he a destroyer or a liberator? Why does he have to fight his battles not against his enemies but against those who need him most? Why does he fight his hardest battle against the woman he loves? You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the amazing men and women in this book.  You will discover why a productive genius becomes a worthless playboy... why a great steel industrialist is working for his own destruction. ”

Atlas Shrugged

Nassim Nicholas Taleb has a lot to say about volatility and the unexpected.  In The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, he outlines a problem; in Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, he offers a solution to that problem.  His solution is simple: to be antifragile, things must benefit from disorder.  These are things that gain from uncertainty and disrepair--something many people would say is impossible.  How can one benefit from volatility? Taleb's answer will surprise you. 

Antifragile

Paulo

 Paulo Coelho's masterpiece, The Alchemist, is a tale of self-discovery and wonder.  The book has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.  Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring story, Coelho tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearned to travel and find worldly treasure.  His quest would lead him to riches far different and far more satisfying than he ever imagined.  Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunity, and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path.  Most importantly, it urges us to follow our dreams. 

The Alchemist

Dale

The power of positive thinking is illustrated in the book How to Win Friends and Influence People.  It teaches you to get ahead in your job, in your business and to succeed at personal relationships.  Mr Carnegie distills timeless wisdom into principles that have carried thousands of men and women up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.  Much of it is as relevant today as when he originally wrote it over 70 years ago. 

Sahil Lavingia is the founder and CEO of Gumroad, and an early-stage venture capitalist. Prior to founding Gumroad, Lavingia worked as a designer and engineer at virtual DJ website Turntable.fm and was an early employee at personal curation site Pinterest. He attended the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering.

Sahil

How To Win Friends and Influence People

Richard

Winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in physics, physicist Richard Feynman recounts his experiences and adventures as a scientist.  In his book, "Surely You're Joking, Mr.  Feynman!", he shares stories that include: trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein, cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets―and much more of an eyebrow-raising nature.  In his stories, Feynman's life shines through in all its eccentric glory―a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah. 

Larry Page is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur. He is best known for being one of the co-founders of Google along with Sergey Brin.

Larry

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"

amp-guitar

alicorn

Experimental

Hillary Clinton is an American politician, diplomat, lawyer, writer, and public speaker.

Hillary

Donald John Trump is the 45th president of the United States. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television personality.

Donald

Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. She is known for narrative songs about her personal life, which have received widespread media coverage. At age 14, Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house and, at age 15, she signed her first record deal.

LeBron James is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He is often regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time.

LeBron

Winston Churchill was a British statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955.

Winston

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician who is the 46th and current president of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under Barack Obama and represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009.

Barack Obama is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president of the United States.

Barack

J.K. Rowling is the author of the much-loved series of seven Harry Potter novels, originally published between 1997 and 2007.

J.K.

Bernard Sanders is an American politician who has served as the junior United States Senator from Vermont since 2007 and as U.S. Representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007.

Bernie

Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.

Nelson

Elon Musk is an engineer and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder, CEO, and chief engineer/designer of SpaceX; CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI.

Elon

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist, who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British Rule, and in turn inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

Mahatma

Ariana Grande-Butera is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her expansive four-octave vocal range and whistle register. Born in Boca Raton, Florida, Grande began her career in the 2008 Broadway musical 13.

Ariana

Alicia Augello-Cook Dean, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American musician, singer, composer, actress and pianist. A classically-trained pianist, Keys was composing songs by age 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Columbia Records.

Alicia

Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. He began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educational series The Voyage of the Mimi.

Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, producer, businessman, and former professional wrestler and football player. He was a professional wrestler for the World Wrestling Federation for eight years prior to pursuing an acting career.

Must-Read Best Books According to the World`s Most Influential Figures

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