Books Recommended to New Graduates by Venture Capitalists

As I’m graduating soon, I was curious about what others who do for a living would what I will be be doing post-college, working as a venture capitalist, recommended a new graduate read. I wasn’t looking for anything specific; all suggestions were welcome. So I took to twitter to ask for recommendations and here are their answers. Thank you everyone who replied. Incase you just want access to the list, it can be found here.

Chamath Palihapitiya (S23P)

1. Liar’s Poker
2. The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King
3. Fermat’s Enigma

megan quinn (KPCB)

1. Snow Crash
2. Ready Player One
3. How to Win Friends & Influence People

Bonus: “The top three works of fiction you never got around to reading in HS or college. You’ll have plenty of time for biz books.”

Steve Jurvetson (DFJ)

1. Out of Control

Bonus: Steve’s picks from 10 years ago https://t.co/UIV9rXG2K6

Chris Sacca (Lowercase Capital)

1. Not Fade Away

Josh Elman (Greylock Partners)

1. Built To Last
2. Jab Jab Jab Right Hook
3. How To Win Friends and Influence People

Adam Besvinick (Deep Fork Capital)

1. Fifth Business
2. How to Win Friends & Influence People
3. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Mike McCormick (Rubicon Venture Capital)

1. How to Win Friends & Influence People
2. The Alchemist
3. The Big Short

Bonus: Innovators Dilemma

David Waxman (TenOneTen Partners)

1. Endurance
2. The Coldest Winter
3. Team of Rivals

Dave Ambrose (Steadfast Venture Capital)

1. Getting Real
2. Zero to One
3. Outliers

Bonus: Running Money

Charles Hudson (SoftTech VC)

1. Founders at Work
2. When Genius Failed
3. Give and Take

Leo Polovets (Susa Ventures)

1. Improv Wisdom
2. A Guide to the Good Life
3. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

Bonus: Traction, Art of Profitability, Startups Open Sourced

Peter Boyce (General Catalyst & RDV)

1. Peopleware
2. Thinking Fast & Slow
3. The World is Flat

Jonathan Libov (Union Square Ventures)

1. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
2. The Selfish Gene
3. Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge

Bonus: On Writing Well

Vishal Lugani (Greycroft Partners)

1. The Tao of Pooh
2. The Sun Also Rises
3. Shantaram

@StartupLJackson (because I think SLJ is a VC)

1. Predictably Irrational
2. The Mating Mind
3. The Mystery of Capital

Book Recommended By Venture Capitalists To New Grads.xlsx

Thank you to Mike McCormick, Daniel Singer and Sydney Liu for helping grab the attention of some of these individuals.