- 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
- 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"
- i mean idk the storyline is literally playing out in America between the producers and people who complain/gripe about "fairness"
- 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
- Ernest Shackleton is GOAT'd
- shows how to remain sharp and never lose faith- there is literally no point in not losing hope
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 best sci-fi series i have ever read. it is incomprehensible how much this affected my vision of the future
- 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
- everything is an approximation
- the quality of your life is purely determined by your decision making ability
- can be a cool guy who just does what needs to be done
- obsess over the customer experience
- beautifully written
- if even the smartest of all guys doesnt take him seriously, why should you?
- 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
- 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
- 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
- we all crave meaning, usually comes from the feeling of importance of one's work
- 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
- "work is love made realized"
- take pride in your work, no matter what you do
- 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
- good old English adventure, 19th century
- imagine getting attacked by a male lion and still chillin
- 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
- made me fall in love with alien worlds and foreign biology
- bio will always have a special place in my life
- 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
- 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
- taught me to just focus on the improvement every day. just have discipline and figure out your own personal incentives