Ten years is a long time that passes quickly. Let alone one.With a blink of an eye, here we are — looking ahead at 2018.
As part of the self reflection exercise, I looked at 12 great books that helped enhance my experience through-out the past year. So, if you are looking for some nice additions to your bookshelf, here are some ideas with my 1-paragraph reviews (with star ratings too!).
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
(5/5 Stars): Homo Deus is the sequel of Homo Sapiens, which is another must read by Yuval Noah Harari. Both books provide a 50,000 feet overview of the past and future of human species and our society. Homo Deus focuses more on the future. The author makes some fairly bold predictions, along with insightful observations on the impacts of tech trends such as A.I. I find it very refreshing to have that perspective when evaluating new technology companies and their fit to the world that we live in.
Shoe Dog : A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
(5/5 Stars): What a fascinating story on founding Nike. It’s a memoir full of details and humor. It’s not only entertaining to re-live the early days of Nike but also somewhat relieving to know that even Mr. Knight had made some startup mistakes early on. It stood out to me that in the 1960s, venture capital industry was not yet formed — the book shined a light on the world of startup financing without VCs. It’s a must read for both investors and entrepreneurs.
Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future
(3/5 stars): It’s a highly rated book by most critics. The authors take us to the future via the MIT Media Lab time machine. The book discusses many technological trends, academic break-throughs and the authors’ observations. However, the book came off as a bit dry to me, as it appears to focus on theories and academics. But it could be an interesting read if you are more into the researches behind many of the tech trends that we are seeing.
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
(4/5 stars): Michael Lewis is no stranger to best-selling books. I first read his book of “Flash Boys” and instantly fell in love with his style of writing. With a similar style, “The Undoing Project” tells a story of two behavior economists and how their friendship was formed. More importantly, their work revolutionized how we view our decision-making process and later won the two the Nobel Prize. The story was interesting but it’s probably a book I would only read once.
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
(4.5/5 stars): It’s a very good book. The author documented the actual meetings and conversations between the two wise men. Coming from different backgrounds and religions, Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu exchanged their thoughts on happiness, compassion and daily meditation practices. I really enjoyed the back and forth conversations, which gave me thoughts on not just life in general but investment philosophies as well. I wish the exchange could go a bit deeper on the philosophy side, therefore the 4.5 stars.
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
(5/5 stars): Honestly, I did not have much expectation before I read the book, thinking that I sort of already know who Trevor Noah is, since he often casually jokes about his background on the Daily Show. But boy, was I wrong. The book tells a very vivid (yet with humor) story on Trevor’s early life as a “crime child” in South Africa and how his mother shaped the person who he is. It’s really a painful story but Trevor somehow shows the funny side of it. Often times, we forget just how fortunate we are. The book is a great reminder of that.
Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble
(4/5 stars): An executive at a startup recommended this book to me. Being a fan of the Silicon Valley TV show, I had high hope of the book’s entertaining value. Well, it did not disappoint. Lyons tells his real story in a real startup (HubSpot) — how a mid-age journalist fit (or not fit) into a young, hip startup. What I love about the book (and his TV show) is that it provides a very different (often funny) perspective for many of us who have not taken a breath outside of the tech land. Interestingly, a lot of things we see as common things are actually strange ones for the outside world. (La Croix, anyone?) Another similar book I read this year is Chaos Monkeys, which tells the author’s entertaining story in Facebook.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
(5/5 stars): This is an enlightening book that’s worth to be read over and over again. The author, not claiming to be a spiritual leader of any kind, unveils his realizations about life and how to be present. The book is in an intuitive Q&A style, with answers of clarity and power. Often times, we are so busy occupying ourselves in thinking about the past or imagining the future; we forget about taking a deep breath and focusing on the presence. “The Power of Now” is a great book that explains why you should stay in the now and it helps you do just that!
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
(5/5 stars): Like many, I first got to know Dalio’s writing through the famous online “Principles.pdf”, which served as an internal operating document for Dalio’s hedge fund Bridgewater. Similar to that PDF file, the book talks in-depth about Dalio’s realizations and how he views the world. Unlike the PDF file, the book also takes us to Dalio’s early life and how he founded the Bridgewater in his humble apartment, which I find equally fascinating. One thing Dailo said that left a strong impression on me is his comparison on the business world and nature — that the universe rewards the ones who go with nature’s flow, who seek the truth.
The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World
(4/5 stars): Instead of worshipping big tech companies like other authors who write similar books, Brad Stone takes a journalist approach in telling the early stories of Airbnb and Uber. The book takes you to a closer truth of the how a “unicorn” was born. To me, it was actually more comforting to know the chaos, the chance, and the raw grit in founding Airbnb and Uber, than the PR-ready myth stories that are being recited over and over.
Bill Walsh: The Score Takes Care of Itself — My Philosophy of Leadership
(4/5 stars): Although I’m not a sports fan, I still enjoy the book of Bill Walsh. It’s ultimately a leadership book. It talks about how Mr Walsh took San Francisco 49ers from the worst NFL franchise to a dynasty that won 5 Super Bowels. VCs like to use sports analogies and I’m not embarrassed to say this book helped me understand why.
Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
(4/5 stars): It’s long overdue. Everybody in the startup world knows that Brad Feld is a legendary VC, who is known for being authentic. I concur. When I first got into the venture business, I read another excellent book “The Business of Venture Capital”, which provides a comprehensive overview and deep-dive on venture capital but does not focus on structuring term sheets like Brad’s book. Although the book does a nice job providing the balanced view of both entrepreneurs and VCs, I was hoping the book could provide some more real-life cases/anecdotes to make the book a bit more interesting. (But who am I kidding —it’s a book about term sheet! @_@)
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