December 19, 2019
Top books I’ve read this year:
Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble
by Dan Lyons
This one is super funny and you once you start it, you can’t stop it. A Newsweek journalist after being laid off (in his early 50s), gets a job in the marketing department of a start-up. Being the oldest (but also the most experienced and …sane) he’s trying to find himself in the world of buzzwords where experience and good ideas lose with incopetence and bumptiousness. This books exposes the worst anti-patterns in managing people and explains the phenomenon of start-ups bubble in Silicon Valley.
The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
by Scott Galloway
Although everyone knows these brands and knows what they do, the author captures unique factors that helped to build the largest (by revenue companies in the world. Scott predicts which of the four has the biggest chances to survive and what should they do to stay in business (which is not that obvious as you may think).
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
by Peter Thiel, Blake Masters
When everyone talks about limiting the power of monopolists, Peter Thiel explains the tough path behind achieving that level of leading your business where you stay the leader’s position on the market. Very original thoughts supported by facts.
Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future
by Martin Ford
Robots… I love robots :), so this book had land on my shelf. It’s describing what I believe has to finally hapen - Robots will replace humands in their jobs and if you think that’s gonna touch only simple, repetitive tasks… than you’re damn wrong :] This book presents facts without scaring readers and that’s what I value in this book most.
The Real Happy Pill: Power Up Your Brain by Moving Your Body
by Anders Hansen
Well, the pill is free and you can start taking it right away. Move your ass away from the desk and start running. Easier to say than done, but this books explains scientific proofs (without boring the readers) behind this. Very important position for people spending long hours at their desks. If you want to keep your mind sharp as you age and minimize (or even get rid off!) the risk of depression, you should really read this book to motivate yourself.
Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long
by David Rock
There’s so many things we do at daily basis without knowing the real reason that brought us there. The answer is just one word: Dopamine. If you want to know why you should not check your emails or read news before starting your work or why you’re bored at work, you should read that book. I regret that such useful knowledge about staying productive is not taught at school since early years - it would really help people to maintain their work life balance over years.
Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work
by David Rock
If you think that you help your coworkers by providing them a solution for their problem, you’re wrong. Despite of our good intentions, there’s so many hard to catch tiny elements of our behaviour that impacts negatively the way we’re seen by people we’re working with. If you’re wondering why sometimes you’re misunderstood as a team lead, PM or just as a friend giving someone an advice… you should read that book.
How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars: The Snapchat Story
by Billy Gallagher
I must admit I didn’t use (and still do not use) Snapchat before reading this book but the story about a few Standford students who built an app used by millions of users is very inspring. It shows how running a business by friends may ruin their friendsip. You’ll see that having a brilliant idea (with millions of users) is not enough to make money. Most likely you’ll devour 304 pages in one evening.