Marc Andreessen&#39;s Top Book Recommendations

Major New York Times bestseller
Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award in 2012
Selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011
A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title
One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year
One of The Wall Street Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year 2011
2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

In the internatio

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Ev Williams, and 45 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Captivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate. Will stand as a cautionary tale? [source]

Barack Obama

Former USA President

A few months ago, Mr. Obama read “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman, about how people make decisions — quick, instinctive thinking versus slower, contemplative deliberation. For Mr. Obama, a deliberator in an instinctive business, this may be as instructive as any political science text. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

3

The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

Clayton M. Christensen

4.3

The bestselling classic on disruptive innovation, renowned author Clayton M. Christensen.

His work is cited by the world’s best-known thought leaders, from Steve Jobs to Malcolm Gladwell. In this classic bestseller—now updated with a fresh new package—innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market leadership. Read th

Recommended by Jeff Bezos, Malcolm Gladwell, Steve Jobs, and 38 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

The Innovator’s Dilemma, The Lean Startup, and Zero To One are the defining trilogy of intellectual thought on the art and science of modern technology startups. Virtually every page of each is open to debate and yet as a whole they provide intellectual scaffolding for our endeavors that I wish had existed when I started in 1994! [source]

Jeff Bezos

Founder/Amazon

Brad Stone's new book, The Everything Store, describes how Bezos developed this strategy after reading another book called The Innovator's Dilemma by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. [source]

Steve Jobs

Founder/Apple

It's important that we make this transformation, because of what Clayton Christensen calls "the innovator's dilemma," where people who invent something are usually the last ones to see past it, and we certainly don't want to be left behind. [source]

4

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts

Annie Duke

4.1

In Super Bowl XLIX, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll made one of the most controversial calls in football history: With 26 seconds remaining, and trailing by four at the Patriots' one-yard line, he called for a pass instead of a hand off to his star running back. The pass was intercepted and the Seahawks lost. Critics called it the dumbest play in history. But was the call really that bad? Or did Carro

Recommended by Charles Duhigg, Marc Andreessen, Seth Godin, and 7 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Compact guide to probabilistic domains like poker, or venture capital. Best articulation of "resulting", drawing bad conclusions from confusing process and outcome. Recommend for people operating in the real world. [source]

Charles Duhigg

Author

Through wonderful storytelling and sly wit, Annie Duke has crafted the ultimate guide to thinking about risk. We can all learn how to make better decisions by learning from someone who made choices for a living, with millions on the line. [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

Brilliant. Buy ten copies and give one to everyone you work with. It's that good. [source]

5

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.3

From the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost philosophers of our time, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a book on how some systems actually benefit from disorder.

In The Black Swan Taleb outlined a problem; in Antifragile he offers a definitive solution: how to gain from disorder and chaos while being protected from fragilities and adverse events. For what he calls the "antifragile"

Recommended by Andrew Chen, Ev Williams, Marc Andreessen, and 20 others.

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

You ask about success. To be successful you have to avoid being “fragile” – the idea that if something hurts you, you let collapse completely. You also have to avoid simply being resilient. Bouncing back is not enough. Antifragile is when something tries to hurt you and you come back stronger. That is real life business. That is real life success. Nassim focuses on the economy. But when I read the book I kept asking myself, “how can I apply this to the areas of my life where I feel most fragile?” [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make sense of life and Science fiction to picture what the future could be like (not always utopian). [source]

Vlad Tenev

The general concept is applicable to many fields beyond biology, for instance finance, economics and monetary policy. [source]

6

Only the Paranoid Survive

Andrew S. Grove

4.2

Under Andy Grove's leadership, Intel has become the world's largestchipmaker, the fifth-most-admired company in America, and theseventh-most-profitable company among the Fortune 500. You don't achieverankings like these unless you have mastered a rare understanding of the art ofbusiness and an unusual way with its practice.Few CEOs can claim this level of consistent record-breaking success. Grovea

Recommended by Charles T. Munger, Steve Jobs, Ben Horowitz, and 8 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Other Books for Those Getting out of College: 4 Steps to the Epiphany High Output Management, Andrew Grove– Best book on management ever written Only the Paranoid Survive Peter Theil – Zero to One [source]

Charles T. Munger

Vice Chairman/Berkshire Hathaway

In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn't read all the time -- none, zero. You'd be amazed at how much Warren reads -- and at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out. [source]

Steve Jobs

Founder/Apple

This book is about one super-important concept. You must learn about Strategic Inflection Points, because sooner or later you are going to live through one. [source]

7

The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness

Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga

4.3

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up for the mind, The Courage to Be Disliked is the Japanese phenomenon that shows you how to free yourself from the shackles of past experiences and others’ expectations to achieve real happiness.

The Courage to Be Disliked, already an enormous bestseller in Asia with more than 3.5 million copies sold, demonstrates how to unlock the power within yourself to be the

Recommended by Charlamagne Tha God, Marc Andreessen, Ryan Hoover, and 4 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Smash hit in Japan, and easy to see why. Adlerian psychology meets Stoic philosophy in Socratic dialogue. Compelling from front to back. Highly recommend. [source]

Charlamagne Tha God

Radio Presenter/The Breakfast Club

Had to take my time reading this one. AMAZING READ. Not that I didn't have the courage to be disliked it's actually one of my specialities but the reasoning why it's ok to be disliked and the understanding behind people disliking you and why you shouldn't give a sh*t is incredible. I highly recommend this one!!!! [source]

Ryan Hoover

It's like this book was written just for me. I came away with so many 'aha!' moments that have helped me better understand myself. [source]

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8

Startup Rising: The Entrepreneurial Revolution Remaking the Middle East

Christopher M. Schroeder, Marc Andreessen

4.2

Despite the world's elation at the Arab Spring, shockingly little has changed politically in the Middle East; even frontliners Egypt and Tunisia continue to suffer repression, fixed elections, and bombings, while Syria descends into civil war. But in the midst of it all, a quieter revolution has begun to emerge, one that might ultimately do more to change the face of the region: entrepreneurship.

Recommended by Andrew Chen, Brad Feld, and Marc Andreessen.

9

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

Eric Ries

4.3

Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.

Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned profes

Recommended by Sheryl Sandberg, Andrew Chen, Ben Horowitz, and 75 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

The Innovator’s Dilemma, The Lean Startup, and Zero To One are the defining trilogy of intellectual thought on the art and science of modern technology startups. Virtually every page of each is open to debate and yet as a whole they provide intellectual scaffolding for our endeavors that I wish had existed when I started in 1994! [source]

Sheryl Sandberg

COO/Facebook

Provides a great inside look at how the tech industry approaches building products and businesses. [source]

Ben Horowitz

Co-founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Great. [source]

10

High Output Management

Andrew S. Grove

4.5

The essential skill of creating and maintaining new businesses—the art of the entrepreneur—can be summed up in a single word: managing. In High Output Management, Andrew S. Grove, former chairman and CEO (and employee number three) of Intel, shares his perspective on how to build and run a company. Born of Grove’s experiences at one of America’s leading technology companies, this legendary managem

Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Chen, Ben Horowitz, and 18 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

If you pick one person who built Silicon Valley, it was Andy. Andy exemplifies the best of Silicon Valley. [source]

Founder/Facebook

Andy’s book played a big role in shaping my management style. [source]

Ben Horowitz

Co-founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Andy Grove, who built himself from nothing to run Intel, stopped what he was doing to teach us his magic. And not through some ghostwriter either — Andy wrote this book himself. What an incredible gift. [source]

11

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

Jordan B. Peterson

4.3

What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson's answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research.

Humorous, surprising, and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awa

Recommended by Jocko Willink, Marc Andreessen, James Altucher, and 3 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

A bracing disassembly and reconstruction of a theory of individual progress in the modern world. Fascinating compare and contrast with The Courage To Be Disliked. [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

Just look at the table of contents: Rule 1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back Rule 2: Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping Rule 3: Make friends with people who want the best for you Rule 4: Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today Rule 5: Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them Rule 6: Set your house in perfect order before you criticise the world Rule 7: Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient) Rule 8: Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie Rule 9: Assume the person you are listening to might know something you don’t Rule 10: Be precise in your speech Rule 11: Do not bother children when they are skateboarding Rule 12: Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street Read this book. [source]

Andrew Price

@stewheckenberg @jordanbpeterson Thanks mate. I almost wish the book was published under a different author so more people would give it a chance. It’s really one of the best “how to fix your life” books around. [source]

12

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Peter Thiel

4.3

If you want to build a better future, you must believe in secrets.

The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shows how we can find singular ways to create those new things.

Thiel begins with the contrarian premise that we live in an age of technological stagnation,

Recommended by Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Reid Hoffman, and 77 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

The Innovator’s Dilemma, The Lean Startup, and Zero To One are the defining trilogy of intellectual thought on the art and science of modern technology startups. Virtually every page of each is open to debate and yet as a whole they provide intellectual scaffolding for our endeavors that I wish had existed when I started in 1994! [source]

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

Peter Thiel has built multiple breakthrough companies, and Zero to One shows how.” - Elon Mus [source]

Founder/Facebook

This book delivers completely new and refreshing ideas on how to create value in the world. [source]

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13

Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society

Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD

4.2

For too long, scientists have focused on the dark side of our biological heritage: our capacity for aggression, cruelty, prejudice, and self-interest. But natural selection has given us a suite of beneficial social features, including our capacity for love, friendship, cooperation, and learning. Beneath all of our inventions -- our tools, farms, machines, cities, nations -- we carry with us innate

Recommended by Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, Angela Duckworth, and 3 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Christakis takes us on a spellbinding tour of how evolution brings people together, setting the stage for our modern world where online networks connect people in new and unprecedented ways. Our genes don't work in isolation; rather they equip our species with the capacity to join together and make great things. This powerful and fascinating book shows the fundamental good that lies within us, that connects us, and that helps us cooperate beyond the survival of the fittest. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Are our similarities powerful enough to overcome our differences? “Blueprint” is an optimistic (and terrific) book that explores why humans have evolved to work together and cooperate. https://t.co/mQz07WvFgm [source]

Eric Schmidt

CEO/Google

Tribalism is all around us, but it does not have to be. After all, we are all human. In lively and engaging prose, Christakis shows what is possible, and what we must do. [source]

14

The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves

Matt Ridley

4.2

Life is getting better—and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down — all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enrichi

Recommended by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, and 7 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Sparkling explanation of how the economy evolves, producing the glorious cornucopia of goods and services available all around us. How to feel good about the future even in dark times. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Its subject is the history of humanity, focusing on why our species has succeeded and how we should think about the future. [source]

Founder/Facebook

My next book for A Year of Books is The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley. Two of the books I've read this year -- The Better Angels of Our Nature: and Why Nations Fail -- have explored how social and economic progress work together to make the world better. The Better Angels argues for that the two feed off each other, whereas Why Nations Fail argues that social and political progress ultimately controls the economic progress a society makes. This next book argues the opposite -- that economic progress is the greater force is pushing society forward. I'm interested to see which idea resonates more after exploring both frameworks. This is also the second one of Ridley's books I've read this year. Here's a photo from a few weeks back of me reading his book Genome with my dog Beast. [source]

15

Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.1

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Black Swan, a bold new work that challenges many of our long-held beliefs about risk and reward, politics and religion, finance and personal responsibility

In his most provocative and practical book yet, one of the foremost thinkers of our time redefines what it means to understand the world, succeed in a profession, contribute to a fair and just so

Recommended by Ben Horowitz, Daniel Kahneman, Marc Andreessen, and 5 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Skin in the game as conflict of interest, or as attaching one's livelihood to one's speech? Who to listen to, and why. Ideal counterpart to Philip Tetlock's Expert Political Judgment. [source]

Ben Horowitz

Co-founder/Andreessen Horowitz

A book about the dynamics of how large-scale, highly random systems behave. [source]

Daniel Kahneman

Nobel Prize Winner, Author

Changed my view of how the world works. [source]

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16

The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital Money Are Challenging the Global Economic Order

Paul Vigna

4.1

Bitcoin became a buzzword overnight. A cyber-enigma with an enthusiastic following, it pops up in headlines and fuels endless media debate. You can apparently use it to buy anything from coffee to cars, yet few people seem to truly understand what it is. This raises the question: Why should anyone care about bitcoin?

In The Age of Cryptocurrency, Wall Street journalists Paul Vigna and Michael J. Ca

Recommended by Marc Andreessen and Dominic Steil.

Dominic Steil

One of the five books recommends to young people interested in his career path. [source]

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17

Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?

Karen Dawisha

4.2

The raging question in the world today is who is the real Vladimir Putin and what are his intentions. Karen Dawisha's brilliant Putin's Kleptocracy provides an answer, describing how Putin got to power, the cabal he brought with him, the billions they have looted, and his plan to restore the Greater Russia.

Russian scholar Dawisha describes and exposes the origins of Putin's kleptocratic regime. Sh

Recommended by Marc Andreessen and Edward Lucas.

18

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

Daniel Okrent

4.1

A brilliant, authoritative, and fascinating history of America’s most puzzling era, the years 1920 to 1933, when the U.S. Constitution was amended to restrict one of America’s favorite pastimes: drinking alcoholic beverages.

From its start, America has been awash in drink. The sailing vessel that brought John Winthrop to the shores of the New World in 1630 carried more beer than water. By the 1820

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

19

The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap

Stephanie Coontz

4.0

Leave It to Beaver was not a documentary, a man’s home has never been his castle, and ‘50s marriages weren’t without strife—no matter what those who long for a bygone era of “family values” might say. In The Way We Never Were, acclaimed historian Stephanie Coontz provides a myth-shattering examination of two centuries of the American family, banishing the misconceptions about the past that cloud c

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

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20

And the Money Kept Rolling In (and Out): Wall Street, the IMF, and the Bankrupting of Argentina

Paul Blustein

4.2

This dramatic, definitive account of the most spectacular economic meltdown of modern times exposes the dangerous flaws of the global financial system In the 1990s, few countries were more lionized than Argentina for its efforts to join the club of wealthy nations. Argentina's policies drew enthusiastic applause from the IMF, the World Bank and Wall Street. But the club has a disturbing propensity

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

21

The Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM

Kevin Maney

4.4

The first complete look at one of America's legendary business leaders

This groundbreaking biography by Kevin Maney, acclaimed technology columnist for USA Today, offers fresh insight and new information on one of the twentieth century's greatest business figures. Over the course of forty-two years, Thomas J. Watson took a failing business called The Computer-Tabulating-Recording Company and transf

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

22

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

John Perkins

4.2

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man reveals a game that, according to John Perkins, is "as old as Empire" but has taken on new and terrifying dimensions in an era of globalization. Perkins should know. For many years he worked for an international consulting firm where his main job was to convince LDCs (less developed countries) around the world to accept multibillion-dollar loans for infrastructur

Recommended by Marc Andreessen and Anurag Ramdasan.

Anurag Ramdasan

Amazing insights into the economic warfare cast over the last few decades and its implications on the world in different ways

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23

The Myth of America's Decline: Politics, Economics, and a Half Century of False Prophecies

Josef Joffe

4.0

A provocative and contrarian work—filled with great lessons from history—that challenges the pervasive notion that America is on the decline.

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

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24

American Hippopotamus

Jon Mooallem and The Atavis

4.0

In 1910, the United States—its population exploding, its frontier all but exhausted—was in the throes of a serious meat shortage. But a small and industrious group of thinkers stepped forward with an answer, a bold idea being endorsed by the likes of Theodore Roosevelt and The New York Times. Their plan: to import hippopotamuses to the swamps of Louisiana and convince Americans to eat them.

The on

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

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25

Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism

Eric Burns

4.0

Infamous Scribblers is a perceptive and witty exploration of the most volatile period in the history of the American press. News correspondent and renonwned media historian Eric Burns tells of Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and Sam Adams--the leading journalists among the Founding Fathers; of George Washington and John Adams, the leading disdainers of journalists; and Thomas Jefferson, the leadi

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

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26

Me and Ted Against the World the Unathorized Story of the Founding of CNN

Reese Schonfeld

3.6

"They were the odd couple of broadcast news, destined to alter global communications forever -- to free-for-all of a saga that's larger than life and more engaging than a major business book has any right to be.

1979. Down in Atlanta, Ted Turner was fighting his battles with the networks. Up in New York, Reese Schonfeld was warring with the network journalists. Then they joined forces in a magnific

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

27

Life, the Movie

Neal Gabler

4.1

In an important book that sharply illuminates our obsessions with celebrity, gossip, scandal, and real-life melodrama, Neal Gabler shows us today's astonishing conversion of life itself into Entertainment-- "Life the Movie." Revealing what now unites phenomena as diverse as modern art, President Clinton versus Kenneth Starr, the O. J. Simpson trial, the Unabomber murders, and Elizabeth Taylor's ma

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

28

The Sovereign Individual: How to Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State

James Dale Davidson

4.4

In Blood in the Streets and The Great Reckoning, Davidson and Rees-Mogg foresaw many of the cataclysmic effects of the shift from an industrial to an information-based society. In their new book, they prepare readers for the chaotic upheaval that lies ahead and outline the far-reaching, practical consequences of adapting for the new global economy and the information age.

Recommended by Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel, Marvin Liao, and 2 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

The Sovereign Individual—written 20 years ago, this is the most thought provoking book on the unfolding nature of the 21st Century that I’ve yet read. It’s packed with ideas on every page, many that are now fast becoming conventional wisdom, and many that are still heretical. Two related books to read are The Twilight of Sovereignty and Cryptonomicon. [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

The Joy of Not Working (Zelinkski), Flash Foresight (Burrus), The Art of Worldly Wisdom (Gracian), Sapiens (Yuval), The End of Jobs (Pearson), Deep Work (Newport), Sovereign Individual (Davidson), The Fourth Economy (Davison) & The Monk & the Riddle (Komisar). Every single one of these books completely changed how I looked at everything in the world & literally pushed my life in a new direction. They were Paradigm Shifting as they say. (hate that word but it really was a Paradigm Shift for me). [source]

James Stanley

Favourite non-business book is "The Sovereign Individual" by James Dale Davision and William Rees-Mogg. Written in 1996, there's a page in it that predicts the rise of what they call "cybermoney" (but what we now know as "cryptocurrency") in affording individuals freedom over their money without being subject to coercion or surveillance by banks, governments, etc. Apart from that, there are lots of very astute observations and predictions throughout the book. Its either utopian or dystopian depending on your politics :) [source]

29

How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer

Sarah Bakewell

4.4

Winner of the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography

How to get along with people, how to deal with violence, how to adjust to losing someone you love—such questions arise in most people’s lives. They are all versions of a bigger question: how do you live? How do you do the good or honorable thing, while flourishing and feeling happy?

This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none m

Recommended by Marc Andreessen, Ryan Holiday, Austin Kleon, and 3 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

How to get along with people, how to deal with violence, how to adjust to losing someone you love—All versions of a bigger question: How do you live? [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

Montaigne is one of humanities greatest treasures. If you've not read any of his essays or Sarah Bakewell's magnificent book How To Live … you are missing out. [source]

Austin Kleon

Book that introduced me to one of my new favorite thinkers: Sarah Bakewell’s How To Live: Or A Life Of Montaigne. [source]

30

A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership

James Comey

4.4

Former FBI Director James Comey shares his never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ethical leadership looks like, and how it drives sound decisions. His journey provides an unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in what makes an effective leader.

Mr.

Recommended by Marc Andreessen, Joanna Peñabickley, and Seb Eckersleymaslin.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Certainly the story is well known, but given author's propensity to post photos of himself wearing running shoes in Iowa, potentially relevant again starting next year? [source]

Joanna Peñabickley

Silence is complicity — @Comey ; For the last 4 days I have been glued to #AHigherLoyalty. I sincerely hope all of you read this book about truth, integrity and ethical leadership. Best 📖 on leadership I’ve read in a while #ThankYou for your leadership and service. [source]

Seb Eckersleymaslin

@shandsaker @ScottKilmartin @Hsuen Agreed. It’s tabloid. Read James Comey’s new book, it is much better. Some great lessons on true leadership in there. [source]

31

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

William Braxton Irvine

4.4

One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort and striving, we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life. In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives.
In A Guide

Recommended by Marc Andreessen, Timothy Ferriss, Jason Fried, and 8 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Best (?) walk through the ancient/current philosophy of Stoicism. You can't control other people but you can control yourself, so do that. [source]

Jason Fried

Co-Founder/Basecamp

The book that had the biggest impact on me this year was “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy”. [source]

Phil Libin

CEO/Evernote

A very interesting read. [source]

32

Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue

Ryan Holiday

4.2

In the tradition of Janet Malcolm's THE JOURNALIST AND THE MURDERER and Robert Greene's THE 48 LAWS OF POWER, author Ryan Holiday examines the case that rocked the media world--and the billionaire mastermind behind it

In 2007, a short blogpost on Valleywag, the Silicon Valley-vertical of Gawker Media, outed PayPal founder and billionaire investor Peter Thiel as gay. Thiel's sexuality had been known

Recommended by Marc Andreessen, Robert Greene, Brian Koppelman, and 1 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Startlingly deep cultural history of conspiracies, examined through the lens of the brutally effective Gawker takedown, with full access to the main players. [source]

Robert Greene

Author

This book is the Art of War for any twenty-first century conspirator....A brilliant meditation on strategy, with numerous lessons. [source]

Brian Koppelman

Every one of Ryan Holiday’s books is appointment reading for me. If he writes it, I make the time to read it. [source]

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33

Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?

Philip E. Tetlock

4.1

The intelligence failures surrounding the invasion of Iraq dramatically illustrate the necessity of developing standards for evaluating expert opinion. This book fills that need. Here, Philip E. Tetlock explores what constitutes good judgment in predicting future events, and looks at why experts are often wrong in their forecasts.

Tetlock first discusses arguments about whether the world is too co

Recommended by Marc Andreessen, Vinod Khosla, and Vinod Khosla.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Is the future knowable, and by whom? All pundits and commentators should publish their prediction track records, yet don't. What to pay attention to and what to ignore. [source]

34

The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career

Reid Hoffman

4.1

From the co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn and author Ben Casnocha comes a revolutionary new book on how to apply the strategies of successful entrepreneurship to your career: in other words, how to run the 'start-up of you'.

In a world where wages are virtually stagnant, creative disruption is rocking every industry, global competition for jobs is fierce, and job security is a thing of the past,

Recommended by Sheryl Sandberg, Jack Dorsey, Jeff Weiner, and 6 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Silicon Valley revolutionizes entire industries through the way we work. It is now time to export our playbook to the rest of the world. The Startup of You is that key playbook: it will help you revolutionize yourself and achieve your own career breakout. [source]

Sheryl Sandberg

COO/Facebook

Everyone, women and men alike, needs to think big to succeed. This is a practical book that shows you how to take control and build a career that will enable you to have real impact. [source]

Jack Dorsey

Co-Founder/Twitter

The Startup of You" describes how to take the Silicon Valley approach to building a life: start with an idea, and work over your entire career to turn it something remarkable. In the world today, I think that the startup approach to life is necessary. This book distills the key techniques needed to succeed. [source]

35

Small Fry: A Memoir

Lisa Brennan-Jobs

4.3

Recommended by Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Brad Feld, and 32 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Learn how to build an empire and transform an industry from the Jedi master of modern Hollywood. [source]

Barack Obama

Former USA President

Fact or fiction, the president knows that reading keeps the mind sharp. He also delved into these non-fiction reads. [source]

Founder/Facebook

When I read Sapiens:, I found the chapter on the evolution of the role of religion in human life most interesting and something I wanted to go deeper on. William James was a philosopher in the 1800s who shaped much of modern psychology. [source]

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36

The Revolt of The Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium

Martin Gurri

4.4

In the words of economist and scholar Arnold Kling, Martin Gurri saw it coming.

Technology has categorically reversed the information balance of power between the public and the elites who manage the great hierarchical institutions of the industrial age government, political parties, the media.

The Revolt of the Public tells the story of how insurgencies, enabled by digital devices and a vast inform

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

All over the world, elite institutions from governments to media to academia are losing their authority and monopoly control of information to dynamic amateurs and the broader public. This book, until now only in samizdat (and Kindle) form, has been my #1 handout for the last several years to anyone seeking to understand this unfolding shift in power from hierarchies to networks in the age of the Internet. [source]

37

Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet

Jesse Itzler

4.5

Entrepreneur Jesse Itzler chronicles his month of living and extreme fitness training with a Navy SEAL in the New York Times and #1 LA Times bestseller LIVING WITH A SEAL, now with two bonus chapters.
Entrepreneur Jesse Itzler will try almost anything. His life is about being bold and risky. So when Jesse felt himself drifting on autopilot, he hired a rather unconventional trainer to live with him

Recommended by Marc Andreessen, Cory Booker, and Chris Goward.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

What's it like to train with a Navy SEAL in winter in New York for a whole month? Featuring the truly remarkable American hero David Goggins. [source]

Cory Booker

If you are a workout guy, it reminds you of things you already know. That you can push your body and yourself far further than you think. [source]

Chris Goward

In the non-business category recently, I found Living with a SEAL by Jesse Itzler to be both entertaining and inspiring. It summarizes a month he spent with the former Navy Seal, David Goggins, living in his home. [source]

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38

Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling

Amy Chozick

3.9

“The Devil Wears Prada meets The Boys on the Bus”—New York Times

The dishy, rollicking, and deeply personal story of what really happened in the 2016 election, as seen through the eyes of the New York Times reporter who gave eight years of her life to covering the First Woman President who wasn't.

For a decade, award-winning New York Times journalist Amy Chozick chronicled Hillary Clinton’s pursuit

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

On the bus/in the plane with the Hillary campaign. Revealing in many dimensions at once, and highly entertaining. Best book on the 2016 campaign so far? [source]

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39

When the Wolves Bite: Two Billionaires, One Company, and an Epic Wall Street Battle

Scott Wapner

4.3

The inside story of the clash of two of Wall Street's biggest, richest, toughest, most aggressive players--Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman--and the little company caught in the middle.

With their unprecedented amounts of capital and their savvy understanding of business, activist investors Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman have the ability to move markets and change the fortunes of investors, workers, and even

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Wall Street"-esque battle between Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn over unlikely target Herbalife. Sip a delicious Herbal Aloe Shake while reading. [source]

40

All Out War: The Full Story of Brexit

Tim Shipman

4.4

‘The best political book of the year’ Andrew Marr

‘A superb work of storytelling and reporting. Sets new benchmark for the writing of contemporary political history’ Andrew Sparrow, Guardian

The only book to tell the full story of how and why Britain voted to leave the EU.

Based on unrivalled access to all the key politicians and their advisors – including Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, George Osborne

Recommended by Marc Andreessen, Andrew Hindmoor, and Boris Starling.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Inside story of how Britain decided to exit the EU. Economic self-destruction or national liberation? Repercussions to play out for decades. [source]

Andrew Hindmoor

All Out War and Fallout are consummate insider accounts of the politics of the last few years. These are events we’re still living through, and the third book in the trilogy will be out later this year. Both are really substantive books that I give to my students. They’re very long and very detailed, not lightweight books by any means. He’s got this amazing capacity to marshal the minutiae of what’s going on, but also make his account rich in its personalities and its anecdotes. [source]

Boris Starling

All Out War is brilliant. It’s one of the best political books I’ve ever read. It’s 200,000 words and he wrote it in something like ten weeks. Just to produce that amount of words that quickly and for it to be so good is really phenomenal. There’s the old cliche about journalism being the first draft of history. This really is. [source]

41

The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History

David Enrich

4.2

The Wall Street Journal's award-winning business reporter unveils the bizarre and sinister story of how a math genius named Tom Hayes, a handful of outrageous confederates, and a deeply corrupt banking system ignited one of the greatest financial scandals in history. The paperback edition includes a new chapter discussing further fallout from the scandal.

In 2006, an oddball group of bankers, trade

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

"Billions"-esque saga of global financial market manipulation, at mind-boggling scale and hiding in plain sight, by a small cabal of bankers in London. [source]

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42

The Baroque Cycle: Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World

Neal Stephenson

4.6

Get all three novels in Neal Stephenson's New York Times bestselling "Baroque Cycle" in one e-book, including: Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World. This three-volume historical epic delivers intrigue, adventure, and excitement set against the political upheaval of the early 18th century.

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

The Baroque Cycle—a work of rigorously researched historical fiction with only the slightest overlay of science fiction—tells the story of the emergence of the modern world and its systems (democracy, the scientific method, financial markets, etc.) in a way that is wholly fresh. These novels make me think about what a Neal Stephenson of 2300 may write about our times and us. [source]

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43

The Twilight of Sovereignty

Walter B. Wriston

3.9

Recommended by Marc Andreessen.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

The Sovereign Individual—written 20 years ago, this is the most thought provoking book on the unfolding nature of the 21st Century that I’ve yet read. It’s packed with ideas on every page, many that are now fast becoming conventional wisdom, and many that are still heretical. Two related books to read are The Twilight of Sovereignty and Cryptonomicon. [source]

44

Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination

Neal Gabler

4.4

The definitive portrait of one of the most important cultural figures in American history.

Walt Disney was a true visionary whose desire for escape, iron determination and obsessive perfectionism transformed animation from a novelty to an art form, first with Mickey Mouse and then with his feature films–most notably Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi. In his superb biography, Neal Gabler shows us how

Recommended by Brian Chesky, Marc Andreessen, and DJ Vlad.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Both Marc and Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, have read and recommended Neal Gabler's biography of Walt Disney. [source]

Brian Chesky

Co-Founder & CEO/AirBnb

Walt Disney … was a hero, he left behind an unbelievable legacy. You kinda hold him regard as the iconic successful founder. He was brilliant. The thing that's amazing is Walt bet everything over and over, was always on the brink of bankruptcy, and almost should never have been successful. [source]

45

But What If We're Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past

Chuck Klosterman

3.9

We live in a culture of casual certitude. This has always been the case, no matter how often that certainty has failed. Though no generation believes there’s nothing left to learn, every generation unconsciously assumes that what has already been defined and accepted is (probably) pretty close to how reality will be viewed in perpetuity. And then, of course, time passes. Ideas shift. Opinions inve

Recommended by Marc Andreessen, Ryan Holiday, and Bryan Johnson.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Wide-ranging meditation on how to think about the reality that we're probably wrong about most things we believe. Hard to read and not emerge humbled. [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

To balance out that depressing book, I highly recommend David Brooks’ The Road To Character, Sebastian Junger’s Tribe and Chuck Klosterman’s What If We’re Wrong. [source]

Bryan Johnson

Bryan Johnson recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

46

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future

Kevin Kelly

4.2

From one of our leading technology thinkers and writers, a guide through the twelve technological imperatives that will shape the next thirty years and transform our lives

Much of what will happen in the next thirty years is inevitable, driven by technological trends that are already in motion. In this fascinating, provocative new book, Kevin Kelly provides an optimistic road map for the future, sh

Recommended by David Allen, Marc Andreessen, Chris Anderson, and 7 others.

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Automatic must read. [source]

David Allen

Author

Kevin said: We’re at a time right now, an apex in our culture, that is more significant than the Industrial Revolution, in terms of how much it’s going to change the world. I love his first chapter. He said, ‘You’re never going to get really good at anything, because everything keeps being updated. [source]

Chris Anderson

This boook offers profound insight into what happens (soon!) when intelligence flows as easily into objects as electricity. [source]

47

Cryptonomicon

Neal Stephenson

4.3

With this extraordinary first volume in an epoch-making masterpiece, Neal Stephenson hacks into the secret histories of nations and the private obsessions of men, decrypting with dazzling virtuosity the forces that shaped this century.

In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse—mathematical genius and young Captain in the U.S. Navy—is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a h

Recommended by Ev Williams, Marc Andreessen, Risto Siilasmaa, and 2 others.