The 5 Books that Made me Start Companies
Growing up, I rarely enjoyed reading. Something about being told to read always created this deep internal aversion. However, once I was immersed in college at the University of Pennsylvania, I sensed a newfound sense of eagerness by the gothic architecture and musty smells of libraries.
I began to read everything that I could really find. I read a broad spectrum of topics, from classics like How to Win Friends and Influence People to the mindless adventure Clive Cussler books. I always felt a sense of internal pride and accomplishment following the deep dive into any of these pieces.
Over time, these different works drove me to think about the world differently, and really start analyzing what I wanted in life, and how I was going to attain it. This deep internal reflection eventually led me to taking the leap to pursue my own venture, instead of going to the traditional investment banking or consulting route from Wharton.
While I’ve had many influences in my life that drove me to this point, I think 5 major books really created my mental framework and concept around the world that lead me to this point.
- The Inevitable: Understanding 12 Technological Forces that Will Shape Our Future — Kevin Kelly
Without a doubt, the most impactful book I’ve read in 2016 and probably so far in my life, The Inevitable, penned by a long-time tech guru and frequently-cited as the most interesting man in the world, Kevin Kelly. Kelly is most well known as the founding executive editor of Wired Magazine, the first major tech focused publication during the pre-2000’s boom.
In The Inevitable, Kevin highlights the 12 major forces that he sees drastically changing the landscape of the entire future. Utilizing incredible examples throughout the book to highlight the amazing changes of AI, smart objects, cryptocurrencies, and so much more, Kelly paints a vivid picture of what the world will look like in the next 100 to 1,000 years.
One particularly interesting tidbit that made me reconsider all of the excuses I had for starting a company boiled down to his argument that “right now, today is the best opportunity in history to start a technology company”. Citing costs of registering domains, creating followings on networks, and reaching audiences, Kelly clearly demonstrates how attainable creating a sustainable and impactful business truly is. He helped me take the leap. You should definitely check it out.
2. Sapiens — Yuval Noah Harrari
Rather than analyzing what the world is going to look like in the future, Sapiens gives an incredible backward looking history of the development of mankind. Yuval does an incredible job creating a fascinating narrative that clearly delineates the major factors that drove the way humans act today.
Sapiens helped give me a much deeper understanding of human nature. This included why people follow oral traditions, a better understanding of the sociological reasons behind family units, countries, religions, and so much more.
Yuval’s writing helped to put into perspective the development of humanity, and how our lives are just a blip in time compared to what is still yet to come. This individual humility propagated my leap. If our lives are technically irrelevant in the grand scope of humanity and the universe, than why not take a risk and do something interesting.
3. Tribe of Mentors — Tim Ferris
I’ve been a huge Tim Ferris fan ever since high school. His first major book The Four Hour Work Week created an absolute personal obsession with lifehacking and growth hacking. The thought of being able to run an automated-income company while traveling around Asia or South America sounded like the ultimate life, and actually led me to founding my first legitimate company with my co-founder Connor, which was an Amazon dropshipping business. While I’ve since become a bit skeptical surrounding some of the principles of that book, I’ve remained a die-hard fan, listening to almost every podcast that Tim’s created to date on The Tim Ferris Show.
Tribe of Mentors is a book that chronicles the different interesting tidbits, habits, routines, and work structures of the absolute top performers. I would highly recommend reading my two favorite sections on Tony Robbins and Navy Seal, Jocko Willink to get a sense of the flow of the book. Because of the insights and recommendations in this book, I’ve taken up many amazing daily routines such as ice-cold showers, meditation, and journaling, but additionally learned about highly-useful tools I leveraged when starting Mineful such as Headspace, 99designs, and more.
4. Invisible Cities — Italo Calvino
I first read this book on the CalTrain traveling from SF to Palo Alto for a VC job that I was working at the time. Something about living out in the valley makes you want to expand your intellectual horizons — it truly is contagious. Invisible cities is all about using your imagination to create a world without limits.
In the novel, Marco Polo recounts to Kublai Khan his explorations throughout Asia. Khan prompts Polo to describe the vast cities within his Mongol Empire. Polo makes up some incredibly vivid locations such as cities hanging by spider webs, cities covered in gold, and cities of the dead.
The main two takeaways that I received from this book are 1) that the world can be anything that you imagine, all you have to do is create it and 2) that people like to hear things that make them feel important and powerful. It’s an incredible piece of prose that would delight any reader.
5. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead and Win — Jocko Willink
In Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink recounts his first-hand experience of leading the U.S. forces to secure the Iraqi city of Ramadi. In the book, Jocko interweaves incredibly gripping and visual narratives of the War in Iraq with larger leadership principles that can be applied in any element of your life. Throughout the book, he hammers the concept of ‘freedom through discipline’.
Speaking on things like his daily habits, such as waking up at 4 am to workout, to his own personal battles, Jocko captivated me from the opening paragraph. If you’re looking for something to make you stop making excuses and focus on owning every element of your life, you should absolutely read Extreme Ownership.
Jocko taught me that there is no one else to blame but myself for things that I’m unhappy with. My job, my personal life, my fitness. It was mine and mine alone. Jocko further cited his love of the Navy SEALS as the motivating reason he could sleep 4 hours a night for 20+ years without fail. This sense of self-drive and passion drove me to start my own company and develop my own principles of self-ownership.
