Hooked: How to Form Habit Building Products is a book that combines insights from psychology to inform us about how we become habituated to technologies – and how we can, in turn, design products that can get users habituated. Eyal makes an important distinction between habits and addictions – as they are often used interchangeably. … Read more
The Icarus Deception is a call to make great art. Seth Godin makes the case that in our new information economy, your best hope is to find a niche audience and form a connection. The End of the Industrial Age There was a point in time – almost a century ago – where the smartest … Read more
The New New thing is a brilliantly written story by Michael Lewis that describes the life of James Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape, my CFO, and Healtheon. Clark was the antithesis to the corporation man. He despised suits, formalities, and investment bankers. He was a master salesman, and a Silicon Valley cowboy. He sued … Read more
Survey Results Noam T. Wasserman asks the questions that many entrepreneurs avoid when starting a business. The Founder’s Dilemmas is an academic style business book that starts off by providing you illuminating survey results that touch on several important topics about entrepreneurship. One survey investigates the differences in motivation between entrepreneurs and employees. Entrepreneurs are … Read more
Be a Producer, Not a Consumer The Millionaire Fastlane is about thinking about business from a pragmatic, not academic perspective. De Marco advises you to find things that can make you money while you sleep, to be need driven, not money driven (selfish consumer-like producer jumping from one thing to another). The market doesn’t care … Read more
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is an essential business book that outlines the constants when it comes to establishing your company’s position. Law 1 – The Law of Leadership To get someone to unlearn something is harder than to get them to learn something new. Find a niche, get there first, otherwise, you will … Read more
Don’t Rush Will it Fly argues that trying to rush things can end up slowing you down. It’s better to think deeply about your plans. Start by finding out what you’re passionate about. It’s hard to stick to an idea you’re not passionate about in the long run. Make sure your business idea matches your … Read more
The Era of Entrepreneurship There seems to be a change of values developing in society. In Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Drucker asks, “where are the hedonists, the status seekers, the “me-too-ers”, the conformists?” Instead, we live in a society where more people want to work like demons and sacrifice comfort and pleasure for the remote risk … Read more
“There is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9 Copy Who You Love Find your role model (writer, artist, thinker) and meticulously study them. Then find out who their role models were, and then do the same for those people. Keep climbing that tree and – after you’ve climbed enough of it – you can … Read more
It’s one of those rare books where the content is not indicative of the hack title. I’m not really sure why Ramit chose to name his book I Will Teach You To Be Rich. It’s not exactly the kind of title that inspires confidence in the legitimacy of the content, but somehow it works. And … Read more