Want to know what books Bill Gurley recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Bill Gurley's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Why did the stock market crash more than 500 points on a single Monday in 1987? Why do ancient species often remain stable in the fossil record for millions of years and then suddenly disappear? In a world where nice guys often finish last, why do humans value trust and cooperation? At first glance these questions don't appear to have anything in common, but in fact every one of these statements refers to a complex system. The science of complexity studies how single elements, such as a species or a stock, spontaneously organize into complicated structures like ecosystems and economies; stars... more Why did the stock market crash more than 500 points on a single Monday in 1987? Why do ancient species often remain stable in the fossil record for millions of years and then suddenly disappear? In a world where nice guys often finish last, why do humans value trust and cooperation? At first glance these questions don't appear to have anything in common, but in fact every one of these statements refers to a complex system. The science of complexity studies how single elements, such as a species or a stock, spontaneously organize into complicated structures like ecosystems and economies; stars become galaxies, and snowflakes avalanches almost as if these systems were obeying a hidden yearning for order.
Drawing from diverse fields, scientific luminaries such as Nobel Laureates Murray Gell-Mann and Kenneth Arrow are studying complexity at a think tank called The Santa Fe Institute. The revolutionary new discoveries researchers have made there could change the face of every science from biology to cosmology to economics. M. Mitchell Waldrop's groundbreaking bestseller takes readers into the hearts and minds of these scientists to tell the story behind this scientific revolution as it unfolds. less 
Bill GurleyThis is such a great point. This is the essence of Complexity Theory. With complex systems (multi-variable, nonlinear), you have no idea if the variable you are using for analysis will hold over the long term. Read this book, it changes everything - https://t.co/Z1ySFSb4pd https://t.co/rht8SzZ76l (Source)
Ryan Petersen@trengriffin @mjmauboussin @bgurley Which one is better? I love Waldrop, never found a better complexity book (besides Big History, great courses) (Source)
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2
"I'd come from a long ways off and had started a long ways down. But now destiny was about to manifest itself. I felt like it was looking right at me and nobody else." So writes Bob Dylan in Chronicles: Volume One, his remarkable book exploring critical junctures in his life and career.
Through Dylan's eyes and open mind, we see Greenwich Village, circa 1961, when he first arrives in Manhattan. Dylan's New York is a magical city of possibilities -- smoky, nightlong parties; literary awakenings; transient loves and unbreakable friendships. Elegiac observations are... more "I'd come from a long ways off and had started a long ways down. But now destiny was about to manifest itself. I felt like it was looking right at me and nobody else." So writes Bob Dylan in Chronicles: Volume One, his remarkable book exploring critical junctures in his life and career.
Through Dylan's eyes and open mind, we see Greenwich Village, circa 1961, when he first arrives in Manhattan. Dylan's New York is a magical city of possibilities -- smoky, nightlong parties; literary awakenings; transient loves and unbreakable friendships. Elegiac observations are punctuated by jabs of memories, penetrating and tough. With the book's side trips to New Orleans, Woodstock, Minnesota and points west, Chronicles: Volume One is an intimate and intensely personal recollection of extraordinary times.
By turns revealing, poetical, passionate and witty, Chronicles: Volume One is a mesmerizing window on Bob Dylan's thoughts and influences. Dylan's voice is distinctively American: generous of spirit, engaged, fanciful and rhythmic. Utilizing his unparalleled gifts of storytelling and the exquisite expressiveness that are the hallmarks of his music, Bob Dylan turns Chronicles: Volume One into a poignant reflection on life, and the people and places that helped shape the man and the art. less 
Greil MarcusDylan has had a career of extraordinary richness and variety. Yet here he is writing a memoir that completely ignores everything which made him a world figure. It ignores all of his most famous songs, it ignores all the periods in which he was a great star. It’s all about times when he was trying to learn, when he was confused and lost but absolutely alive with the thrill of discovering new... (Source)
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3
One of APA's most popular and influential titles is finally in paperback, with a new preface and afterword by the author. In this landmark treatise, Shoup argues that free parking contributes to auto dependence, rapid urban sprawl, extravagant energy use, and a host of other problems. Free-parking mandates intended to alleviate congestion end up distorting transportation choices, debasing urban design, damaging the economy, and degrading the environment. Ubiquitous free parking helps explain why our sprawling cities suit cars more than people, and why American motor vehicles now consume an... more One of APA's most popular and influential titles is finally in paperback, with a new preface and afterword by the author. In this landmark treatise, Shoup argues that free parking contributes to auto dependence, rapid urban sprawl, extravagant energy use, and a host of other problems. Free-parking mandates intended to alleviate congestion end up distorting transportation choices, debasing urban design, damaging the economy, and degrading the environment. Ubiquitous free parking helps explain why our sprawling cities suit cars more than people, and why American motor vehicles now consume an eighth of the world's oil production. But it doesn't have to be this way. The Yale-trained economist and UCLA planning professor proposes new avenues to regulate parking--measures he says will make parking easier and driving less necessary. You'll never look at a parking spot the same way again. less See more recommendations for this book...
4
A visionary and completely original investigation that will change the way we think about health care: how and why it is failing, why expanding insurance coverage will only make things worse, and how it can be transformed into a transparent, affordable, successful system.
In 2007, David Goldhill's father died from a series of infections acquired in a well-regarded New York hospital. The bill was for several hundred thousand dollars--and Medicare paid it. These circumstances left Goldhill angry and determined to understand how it was possible that world-class technology and... more A visionary and completely original investigation that will change the way we think about health care: how and why it is failing, why expanding insurance coverage will only make things worse, and how it can be transformed into a transparent, affordable, successful system.
In 2007, David Goldhill's father died from a series of infections acquired in a well-regarded New York hospital. The bill was for several hundred thousand dollars--and Medicare paid it. These circumstances left Goldhill angry and determined to understand how it was possible that world-class technology and well-trained personnel could result in such simple, inexcusable carelessness--and how a business that failed so miserably could be rewarded with full payment. Catastrophic Care is the eye-opening result. Goldhill explicates a health-care system that now costs nearly $2.5 trillion annually, bars many from treatment, provides inconsistent quality of care, offers negligible customer service, and in which an estimated 200,000 Americans die each year from errors. Above all, he exposes the fundamental fallacy of our entire system--that Medicare and insurance coverage make care cheaper and improve our health--and suggests a comprehensive new approach that could produce better results at more acceptable costs immediately by giving us, the patients, a real role in the process. less See more recommendations for this book...
5
Negotiating the Impossible
How to Break Deadlocks and Resolve Ugly Conflicts (without Money or Muscle)
Some negotiations are easy. Others are more difficult. And then there are situations that seem hopeless. Conflict is escalating, people are getting aggressive, and no one is willing to back down. And to top it off, you have little power, money, or other resources to work with. Harvard professor (and negotiation consultant advisor to organizations around the world) Deepak Malhotra shows how to defuse even the most potentially explosive situations and to find success... more Negotiating the Impossible
How to Break Deadlocks and Resolve Ugly Conflicts (without Money or Muscle)
Some negotiations are easy. Others are more difficult. And then there are situations that seem hopeless. Conflict is escalating, people are getting aggressive, and no one is willing to back down. And to top it off, you have little power, money, or other resources to work with. Harvard professor (and negotiation consultant advisor to organizations around the world) Deepak Malhotra shows how to defuse even the most potentially explosive situations and to find success when things seem impossible.
Malhotra illustrates key lessons using behind-the-scenes stories of fascinating real-life negotiations, including drafting the US Constitution, resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis, bringing peace to Northern Ireland, ending bitter disputes in the NFL and NHL, and beating the odds in complex business situations. But he also shows how these same principles and tactics can be applied in everyday life as well, from making corporate deals, negotiating job offers, and resolving business disputes to tackling obstacles in personal relationships and even negotiating with children. less See more recommendations for this book...
6
The book explains how most companies get sidetracked by Product-Driven Thinking and how to innovate by starting with the price customers will pay, and creating the product for that price. It will present a process that Simon-Kucher & Partners has used to help dozens of others avoid innovation failure by making pricing and marketing their guiding light throughout the product development process.
This book will also explain the following 4 common red flags: Feature Shocks - Product concepts overloaded with features and functions, the result of trying to serve too many customers... more The book explains how most companies get sidetracked by Product-Driven Thinking and how to innovate by starting with the price customers will pay, and creating the product for that price. It will present a process that Simon-Kucher & Partners has used to help dozens of others avoid innovation failure by making pricing and marketing their guiding light throughout the product development process.
This book will also explain the following 4 common red flags: Feature Shocks - Product concepts overloaded with features and functions, the result of trying to serve too many customers and customer needs because the core customer and need has not been nailed down. That makes the product costly to produce, forcing it to be overpriced. Dead on Arrivals - Products that hit the market dead on arrival because they are the wrong answer to the right market need, or the right answer to the wrong market need (i.e., one that very few have), at a price the market will not bear. Minivations - Products that fall short of their potential and the company's expectations Hidden Gems - An internal failure to recognize and commercialize a truly breakthrough product under development because the market or consumer need has not been thoroughly explored. less See more recommendations for this book...
7
In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his lime green Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed $8,000 his first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30... more In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his lime green Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed $8,000 his first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion. In an age of startups, Nike is the ne plus ultra of all startups, and the swoosh has become a revolutionary, globe-spanning icon, one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable symbols in the world today.
But Knight, the man behind the swoosh, has always remained a mystery. Now, for the first time, in a memoir that is candid, humble, gutsy, and wry, he tells his story, beginning with his crossroads moment. At 24, after backpacking around the world, he decided to take the unconventional path, to start his own business—a business that would be dynamic, different.
Knight details the many risks and daunting setbacks that stood between him and his dream—along with his early triumphs. Above all, he recalls the formative relationships with his first partners and employees, a ragtag group of misfits and seekers who became a tight-knit band of brothers. Together, harnessing the transcendent power of a shared mission, and a deep belief in the spirit of sport, they built a brand that changed everything. less 
Bill GatesThis memoir, by the co-founder of Nike, is a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like: messy, precarious, and riddled with mistakes. I’ve met Knight a few times over the years. He’s super nice, but he’s also quiet and difficult to get to know. Here Knight opens up in a way few CEOs are willing to do. I don’t think Knight sets out to teach the reader... (Source)
Andre AgassiI've known Phil Knight since I was a kid, but I didn't really know him until I opened this beautiful, startling, intimate book. And the same goes for Nike. I've worn the gear with pride, but I didn't realize the remarkable saga of innovation and survival and triumph that stood behind every swoosh. Candid, funny, suspenseful, literary - this is a memoir for people who love sport, but above all... (Source)
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8
The standout memoir from NBA powerhouse Andre Iguodala, the indomitable sixth man of the champion Golden State Warriors.
Andre Iguodala is one of the most admired players in the NBA. And fresh off the Warriors' third NBA championship in the last four years, his game has never been stronger.
Off the court, Iguodala has earned respect, too--for his successful tech investments, his philanthropy, and increasingly for his contributions to the conversation about race in America. It is no surprise, then, that in his first book, Andre--with his cowriter... more
The standout memoir from NBA powerhouse Andre Iguodala, the indomitable sixth man of the champion Golden State Warriors.
Andre Iguodala is one of the most admired players in the NBA. And fresh off the Warriors' third NBA championship in the last four years, his game has never been stronger.
Off the court, Iguodala has earned respect, too--for his successful tech investments, his philanthropy, and increasingly for his contributions to the conversation about race in America. It is no surprise, then, that in his first book, Andre--with his cowriter Carvell Wallace--has pushed himself to go further than he ever has before about his life, not only as an athlete but about what makes him who he is at his core.
The Sixth Man traces Andre's journey from childhood in his Illinois hometown to his Bay Area home court today. Basketball has always been there. But this is the story, too, of his experience of the conflict and racial tension always at hand in a professional league made up largely of African American men; of whether and why the athlete owes the total sacrifice of his body; of the relationship between competition and brotherhood among the players of one of history's most glorious championship teams. And of what motivates an athlete to keep striving for more once they've already achieved the highest level of play they could have dreamed.
On drive, on leadership, on pain, on accomplishment, on the shame of being given a role, and the glory of taking a role on: This is a powerful memoir of life and basketball that reveals new depths to the superstar athlete, and offers tremendous insight into most urgent stories being told in American society today. less 
Arianna HuffingtonLove this excerpt from @Andre Iguodala's new book "The Sixth Man" about how he learned to believe the age-old-adage that "less is more." https://t.co/QP8AeJcaJ3 (Source)
Bill GurleyIf you love basketball, the @warriors, intense tenacity, or understanding how a great team executes as one, you will love @andre ‘s very candid new book, The Sixth Man, out today https://t.co/GrcNddGJwq (Source)
Eric S. YuanFind your organization’s “Sixth Man (or Woman)” and you’ll be in great shape for growth! Great read, highly recommend @andre’s book! @zoom_us https://t.co/pWZVhUQozA (Source)
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