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!"

Walter

Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years, Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.  At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination.  He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology.  He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering. 

Scott Pape is an author and radio commentator who lives in Melbourne, Australia. He is best known through his online persona, the Barefoot Investor, which is also the name of his hugely popular personal finance book and a business show he hosts.

Scott 

Steve Jobs

A team of 21 researchers read 6,000 articles, generated more than 2,000 pages of interview transcripts, and created 384 megabytes of computer data during a five-year project to explore the keys to greatness.  The findings will surprise many readers and upset others. 

Good to Great

Carol

After years of research, Carol S.  Dweck, Ph. D. , a Stanford University psychologist and expert in fixed and growth mindsets, discovered some important ideas that could substantially affect the way people think about themselves and their abilities.  Mindset shows how success in school and work, as well as at a variety of other human endeavors, is dependent on our mindset: whether we believe that our abilities can grow with hard work or that our natural talents are the only factors that determine how well we will do.  As an educator, parent, manager, or athlete, you can use these findings to create a more positive mindset among your students or children, team members or employees. 

Mindset

J.K.

Now for the first time ever, Author J. K.  Rowling's seven bestselling Harry Potter books—including Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—are available in a stunning boxed set! The books are a series that has been hailed as "one for the ages" by Stephen Kingand "a spellbinding saga" by USA Today.  Most recently, The New York Times called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallowsthe "fastest-selling book in history. "

Paul Graham is an English-born American computer scientist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, and essayist. He is best known for his work on Lisp, his former startup Viaweb, co-founding the influential startup accelerator and seed capital firm Y Combinator, his blog, and Hacker News.

Paul

Harry Potter

The new book Lean Startup by Eric Ries describes a way to avoid the failure of a startup business.  The author defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty.  This is true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom.  What they have in common is a mission to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business.  The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively.  Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers want. 

Kathryn Minshew is the CEO and co-founder of The Muse, a career-development platform.

Kathryn

Marc Andreessen is an American entrepreneur, investor, and software engineer. He is the co-author of Mosaic, the first widely used web browser; co-founder of Netscape; and co-founder and general partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Marc

The Lean Startup

Charlie

In Poor Charlies Almanack, Charlie Munger shares insights for achieving excellence in business and life using lessons learned from the world of business, physics, and biology.  Munger is admired for his long-term approach to investing, and his success has made him a billionaire several times over.  The book's title is a tribute to Franklins Poor Richard's Almanack.  Net proceeds from sales of the book go to the Munger Research Center at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. 

Poor Charlie's Almanack

George

Written more than 70 years ago, George Orwell’s chilling prophecy about the future of government is timelier than ever... In Orwell’s chilling vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative, it’s not just Big Brother watching.  It’s Big Brother who writes history.  In 1984, Winston Smith toes the Party line.  With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thought crimes.  But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching. 

Cleo Abram is a video journalist currently making Huge If True. She was previously a producer on Vox’s Netflix show Explained, and a host and producer on Vox’s YouTube Originals show Glad You Asked.

Cleo

1984

Frank

 Frank Herbert's classic masterpiece—a triumph of the imagination and one of the bestselling science fiction novels of all time.  Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending the life and enhancing consciousness.  Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for... When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined.  And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream. 

Dune

A black swan is an extremely unlikely, difficult-to-predict, and yet inevitable event that carries huge consequence.  Google's success was a black swan; so was 9/11.  According to Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans are at the root of almost every aspect of life.  We don't acknowledge their existence until it's too late.  Humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. 

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