20+ Book Recommendations by Ryan Caldbeck
The First 90 Days
Michael D. Watkins
In this updated 10th anniversary edition, an internationally known leadership transition expert, drawing on real-world examples and groundbreaking research on leadership, emphasizes the importance of successful performance during the first 90 days in a new position. 100,000 first printing.18/ The First 90 Days- My guess is 80% of the first execs hired by first-time founders are gone in 12 months. Give this book to your execs. @MichaelDWatkins https://t.co/Gs17cmHeYL
The Outsiders
William N. Thorndike
17/ The Outsiders- as CEO you're an allocator of resources ($, people, time). Being super effective at capital allocation and understanding ROIC isn't obvious to most first-time CEOs, but it is key to being great at your role. https://t.co/2SrV6C8xpk
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
15/ Man’s Search for Meaning- the "why" (your mission) will help you get through difficult times. As Nietzsche observed, “he who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” This book shows you the importance of identifying your "why". @ViktorFranklll https://t.co/mbyFrr0Zgc
How Will You Measure Your Life?
Clayton M. Christensen
Akin to The Last Lecture in its revelatory perspective following life-altering events, "How Will You Measure Your Life?" presents a set of personal guidelines that have helped the author find meaning and happiness in his life.16/ How to Measure Your Life- there will be lots of reasons to get swept up as a founder and forget what you really care about in life. This book helps you stay focused on what you believe matters the most. https://t.co/NZCk2Jl4Ba
Thinking in Bets
Annie Duke
Even the best decision doesn't yield the best outcome every time: there's always an element of luck that you can't control, and there is always information that is hidden from view. Duke shows readers how to think in bets: How sure am I? What are the possible ways things could turn out? As a former World Series of Poker champion turned business consultant, she draws on examples from business, sports, politics, and (of course) poker to share tools anyone can use to embrace uncertainty and make better decisions.13/ Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts - The title sums up the life of a founder. You need to weigh the info you have and make decisions swiftly. This book makes you better at that core task. @AnnieDuke https://t.co/vFJHsPJCjn
Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand
14/ Atlas Shrugged - I think @HamiltonMusical is the best musical that will make you feel inspired as a founder. I think this is the best novel to do the same. https://t.co/u2DyazdeO5
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
Outlines a revisionist approach to management while arguing against common perceptions about the inevitability of startup failures, explaining the importance of providing genuinely needed products and services as well as organizing a business that can adapt to continuous customer feedback.10/ The Lean Startup - it's so widely read in technology that its teachings are common. You need to still read it. @ericries https://t.co/vd1pdP7aOU
Zero to One
Peter Thiel
The billionaire Silicon Valley entrepreneur behind such companies as PayPal and Facebook outlines an innovative theory and formula for building the companies of the future by creating and monopolizing new markets instead of competing in old ones. 200,000 first printing.11/ Zero to One -Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future. Helpful tactical and strategic thoughts on building in the early days from one of the smartest thinkers in technology. @peterthiel https://t.co/4zhCKxh3cc
Survival to Thrival
Bob Tinker
12/ Survival to Thrival (specifically for enterprise founders)-first-time founders focus on product. Second-time founders focus on distribution. This book helps a ton with GTM for enterprise startups. @BobTinker @taeheanahm. . https://t.co/lXxUZugKbU https://t.co/lxtkY5rMH4
The Four Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz
Identifies four self-limiting beliefs that impede one's experience of freedom, true happiness, and love.10/ The Four Agreements- a great founder recommended this to me early in my journey and I often think back to it. It talks about some of the self-limiting beliefs that most founders (people!) have and how to handle them. @donMiguelRuiz https://t.co/gqNKhMNDVN
High Output Management
Andrew S. Grove
11/ High Output Management - Just trust me, there is no better book on management. https://t.co/FLKGdxhg8X
The Captain Class
Sam Walker
7/ Captain Class- An amazing book on team dynamics and team building. Helps you see how leaders and critical players will come from all levels of your org. Find them, nurture them, and reward them. @SamWalkers https://t.co/mjbYckFjgo
Reboot
Colonna Jerry
8/ Reboot- Leadership and the Art of Growing Up. Get an executive coach. Also- read this book. Many of the difficult emotions and situations you’ll wrestle with are addressed here. @jerrycolonna https://t.co/fHQoo0QNyn
The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership
Jim Dethmer
9/ The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership- You're a leader. You'll lead your organization and others in the industry will look to you to be a leader. What kind of leader do you want to be? @DianaChapman @jimdethmer @KaleyKlemp https://t.co/8bDS9KcoEZ
The Innovator's Dilemma
Clayton M. Christensen
5/ The Innovator’s Dilemma - there are 100k books on strategy. This is the best and the most relevant for startups. https://t.co/BS2pvqb2qQ
The Advantage
Patrick M. Lencioni
6/ The Advantage - People are your most important asset as a founder. This is the best book on organizational health. It's a topic that founders frequently overlook and shouldn't. @patricklencioni https://t.co/2ci9PoKmTO
The Great CEO Within
Matt Mochary
3/ The Great CEO Within- VCs love pontificating about strategy. Sometimes founders need practical advice on tactics. This book is the best I've seen at that. Pro-tip: get the book but also use the online resource. @mattmochary https://t.co/A9LANq1BBh https://t.co/onIx9GiiCX
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Ben Horowitz
A lot of people talk about how great it is to start a business, but only Ben Horowitz is brutally honest about how hard it is to run one. In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology companies to offer essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems business schools don't cover. His blog has garnered a devoted following of millions of readers who have come to rely on him to help them run their businesses. A lifelong rap fan, Horowitz amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs and tells it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, from cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in. His advice is grounded in anecdotes from his own hard-earned rise—from cofounding the early cloud service provider Loudcloud to building the phenomenally successful Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm, both with fellow tech superstar Marc Andreessen (inventor of Mosaic, the Internet's first popular Web browser). This is no polished victory lap; he analyzes issues with no easy answers through his trials, including demoting (or firing) a loyal friend; whether you should incorporate titles and promotions, and how to handle them; if it's OK to hire people from your friend's company; how to manage your own psychology, while the whole company is relying on you; what to do when smart people are bad employees; why Andreessen Horowitz prefers founder CEOs, and how to become one; whether you should sell your company, and how to do it. Filled with Horowitz's trademark humor and straight talk, and drawing from his personal and often humbling experiences, The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures.4/ Hard Thing About Hard Things- the best book I’ve read that talks about the grueling aspect of life as a founder. There is no book that made me feel less lonely as CEO than this one. @bhorowitz https://t.co/MiQ9LUu8qn
High Growth Handbook
Elad Gil
Well known technology executive and angel investor Elad Gil has worked with high growth tech companies like Airbnb, Twitter, Google, Instacart, Coinbase, Stripe, and Square as they've grown from small companies into global brands. Across all of these break-out companies, a set of common patterns has evolved into a repeatable playbook that Gil has codified in High Growth Handbook. Covering key topics including the role of the CEO, managing your board, recruiting and managing an executive team, M&A, IPOs and late stage funding rounds, and interspersed with over a dozen interviews with some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley including Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Marc Andreessen (Andreessen Horowitz), and Aaron Levie (Box), High Growth Handbook presents crystal clear guidance for navigating the most complex challenges that confront leaders and operators in high-growth startups. In what Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 NYT bestsellers The Alliance and The Startup of You calls "a trenchant guide," High Growth Handbook is the playbook for turning a startup into a unicorn.2/ High Growth Handbook- An absolute wealth of helpful information from leaders on the most important topics you'll face as a founder. I refer to it often. @eladgil https://t.co/QQrhG2fgqx https://t.co/9Kh9th0NFA
The Great CEO Within
Matt Mochary
One of the best and IMO definitely the most underrated books on being a CEO. https://t.co/onIx9GzlEX
Flow
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
11/ Use a mission to inspire employees and other stakeholders. In the book Flow the author describes that a unified purpose leads to flow (TLDR- you want flow). https://t.co/aLzFOUZB8Z
The Tender Bar
J. R. Moehringer
The bestselling memoir that captured the hearts of readers and critics nationwide is now available in paperback In the tradition of This Boy's Life and The Liar's Club, J.R. Moehringer's The Tender Bar is a raucous, poignant, luminously written memoir about a boy striving to become a man, and his romance with a bar. A national bestseller that was named one of the 100 Most Notable Books of 2005 by the New York Times, The Tender Bar will reach an even larger audience in paperback.@sriramk When Breath Becomes Air In Order To Live Educated The Tender Bar (and I also agree with you for almost all business books)
Transitions
William Bridges
3/ I also did a fair amount of reading. I won't summarize it all- but this book was by far the best. Would recommend it to anyone going through a transition of any kind (moving, changing jobs, divorce, death), or supporting someone who is: https://t.co/lhMapgdjiL
Thinking in Bets
Annie Duke
Even the best decision doesn't yield the best outcome every time: there's always an element of luck that you can't control, and there is always information that is hidden from view. Duke shows readers how to think in bets: How sure am I? What are the possible ways things could turn out? As a former World Series of Poker champion turned business consultant, she draws on examples from business, sports, politics, and (of course) poker to share tools anyone can use to embrace uncertainty and make better decisions.7/ Why? Because the manager doesn’t know if the salesperson is on the right track. The salesperson could have done everything right, but still lost. Or everything wrong and still won. Here I like @AnnieDuke's decision quality vs. outcome Great book btw https://t.co/vFJHsQ0Fln
- One of the start-up world’s most in-demand executive coaches—hailed as the “CEO Whisperer” (Gimlet Media)—reveals why radical self-inquiry is critical to professional success and healthy relationships in all realms of life. Jerry Colonna helps start-up CEOs make peace with their demons, the psychological habits and behavioral patterns that have helped them to succeed—molding them into highly accomplished individuals—yet have been detrimental to their relationships and ultimate well-being. Now, this venture capitalist turned executive coach shares his unusual yet highly effective blend of Buddhism, Jungian therapy, and entrepreneurial straight talk to help leaders overcome their own psychological traumas. Reboot is a journey of radical self-inquiry, helping you to reset your life by sorting through the emotional baggage that is holding you back professionally, and even more important, in your relationships. Jerry has taught CEOs and their top teams to realize their potential by using the raw material of their lives to find meaning, to build healthy interpersonal bonds, and to become more compassionate and bold leaders. In Reboot, he inspires everyone to hold themselves responsible for their choices and for the possibility of truly achieving their dreams. Work does not have to destroy us. Work can be the way in which we achieve our fullest self, Jerry firmly believes. What we need, sometimes, is a chance to reset our goals and to reconnect with our deepest selves and with each other. Reboot moves and empowers us to begin this journey.
@avc @jerrycolonna Just ordered -thank you for the tip https://t.co/2stM6iTkXX