The Monk and the Riddle

The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living

Author: Randy Komisar
Genre: nonfiction; business, startups, venture capital, Silicon Valley, tech
Rating: 4/5

In one sentence: work and running a business can be an act of creativity and artistry; Randy Komisar explains how it’s done, while giving you an insight peek to the madness of Silicon Valley along the way.

Crazy startup ideas matched only by the insanity of their otherworldly valuations. Venture capitalists afraid to miss out on the next billion dollar hit, entrepreneurs in turn chasing them for a quick ride to riches. If this sounds familiar and you assume this book was written recently, you’d be mistaken.

Randy Komisar, now a partner at VC firm Kleiner Perkins, wrote this best-seller before the dot-com crash at the turn of the millennium. Nevertheless it all sounds eerily familiar, but therefore also as relevant as ever. Komisar’s teachings about founding, funding and running a company are packed in a compelling narrative. Most importantly, he explores what gives meaning to work and life. Hint: it’s not money.

Required reading for every entrepreneur, especially in tech, and still a great read for anyone who wants to get an insight on the madness and workings of Silicon Valley, and finding meaning in life and work.

It comes down to my realization over the years that business isn’t primarily a financial institution. It’s a creative institution. Like painting and sculpting, business can be a venue for personal expression and artistry, at its heart more like a canvas than a spreadsheet.

This quote sums up Komisar’s outlook on life and work, and how he approaches business and entrepreneurship.

> The Monk and the Riddle

Goes well with Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things.