Books
I enjoy reading a lot and will try to use this page to write down what I believe are the most important take-aways from each book I read. Most of the books I read are technical books or biographies.
The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King
By Rich CohenKnow you business from end to end. Sam was in the field with his workers instead of managing it from a distant office. He knew every aspect of his business and as a result he continually made better decisions than his competitors. Also, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Sam started his business by purchasing ripe bananas from larger companies that were deemed worthless. The ripes would not make it to their desitination before rotting. Sam bought them and sold them directly out of the rail car.
How to Make Sh*t Happen
By Sean WhalenEvery thing you do relates to one of the following categories: body, relationships, mind, or business. Take action each day to work on each one of these categories. Small incremental improvements will snowball into massive results.
The Tao of Microservices
By Richard RodgerTo build a scalable microservice architecture you must ensure you have transport independence. Microservices should NOT know about each other. Microservices must be able to send messages into the ether and a seperate transport layer will route them to the correct listening microservice. Also, when designing a microservice architecture think about what the messages are before figuring out what microservices you will have. Once you have listed all the messages the microservices to support those messages will be obvious.
Onward
By Howard SchultzIt was so long ago that I read this one that I don't remember any key take-aways but I do remember highly enjoying this book. It was interesting to see the rise of Starbucks from a single coffee shop to a coffee empire.
How to Win Friends & Influence People
By Dale CarnegieThis book is a classic. It was published in 1932 and its lessons are still applicable today. This book shows you how to be a likable, persuasive, and influental leader. Read this once a year.
What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite
By David DiSalvoOur brain is wired to take the easiest route. However, this may not be the best outcome for us. DiSalvo urges readers to think critically about why we may be doing or thinking certain things.
Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
By Richard BransonRichard Branson is a hustler. The most important theme I could derive from his business ventures is to create massive value for people and your business will prosper. I also found his adventures/stunts incredibly interesting.
Outliers: The Story of Success
By Malcolm GladwellThis was a great read. Gladwell proposes that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from. He argues that success is the result of chance opportunity and the preparation to be able to take advantage of that opportunity.
Third Circle Theory: Purpose Through Observation
By Pejman GhadimiOne of the first "success" books I ever read. I don't remember much. I'll have to re-read this and update later.
The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future
By Chris GuillebeauA bunch of short accounts of different people who built businesses with very little money.
I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59
By Douglas EdwardsLP & SB made decisons based on data. They also placed a large emphasis on always learning. Employees were on a "need to know" basis. Why slow down to explain when the value of what LP & SB were doing was so self-evident that people would eventually see it for themselves? If you are not adding value, get out of the way.
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
By Peter ThielTrue progress can only be made with new technology. New technology is something that has not existed before, not a spin off of something else (i.e. - we are the Uber of...). Corporations are too large to make any real progress. A startup is the largest group of people you can convice of a plan to build a different future. Startups should make every person in the company responsible for doing just one thing. This reduces fights over responsibilities. Sales is just as important as building the product.
The Alchemist
By Paulo CoelhoI don't like fiction but this was a great book. Will probably read again.
Reliable Data Structures in C
By Thomas PlumThe title is pretty self explainitory. Read this is you're a CS student.
C Programming Language, 2nd Edition
By Brian W. Kernighan & Dennis M. RitchieI was lucky enough to get my hands on an original copy of this. This is the C bible. Read this is you're a CS student.
The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing
By Benjamin GrahamBuy index funds.
Data Structures in C
By Noel KalicharanSemi-modern read on data structures. Read this if you're a CS student.
HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites
By Jon DuckettThis one holds a special place in my heart. This was the first "programming" book I ever read (I know HTML isn't programming). Super easy read if you're an aspiring web developer. HTML & CSS are the foundations.
Steve Jobs
By Walter IsaacsonI don't remember many of the details about this book but it was an enjoyable read.
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
By Ashlee VanceElon Musk is a super human. He's a wicked smart engineer with business intelligence. I don't know how he accomplishes the things he does. Elon is an active learner like LP & SB. He accepts nothing less than excellence.
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
By Brian ChristianIt was interesting to see how to apply the things I learned in CS classes to real life.
The Wolf of Wall Street
By Jordan BelfortHighly entertaining read. Way better than the movie (although the movie is pretty great).
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything
By Chris HadfieldChris Hadfield was born an Canadian and it was very likely he would never go to space. However, that did not stop him from pursuing his dream. Hadfield stresses to always be prepared for the opportunity to realize your dreams but don't hang your self-worth on reaching that goal. Enjoy the ride, not the destination.
The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
By Eric RiesThe Lean Startup devulges a plan that companies can use to engineer success. This plan focuses on experimentation, feedback, interative design, and small units of work. The backbone of this plan is the build-measure-learn feedback loop. Startups should use this to turn ideas into products, measure customers' responses, and decide whether to pivot or persevere. Highly recommend reading this.
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
By Joseph MurphyInteresting book about Law of Attraction. Highly repetitve but has many great points. The gist is what you impress on your subconscious mind will become your realty.
How to American: An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents
By Jimmy O. WangInspiring an hilarious memoir about growing up in America as a Chinese immigrant and making it in Hollywood. Jimmy has achieved the "American Dream" by turning down a mundane job in finance and pursuing his dreams of being a stand-up comedian. Through his pursuit of a comedy career Jimmy was able to meet many of his childhood heroes and become an actor in top TV shows and movies such as Silicon Valley and Patriot's Day.
Rework
By Jason Fried & David Heinemeier HanssonRework challenges conventional business wisdom. You don't need a business plan, you don't need funding, and you don't need a large team. One of my favorite pieces of advice in this book is "Good enough is fine". When facing an obstacle, look for a solution that delivers maximum efficiency with minimum effort. As an engineer, I think we have the tendency to create over optimized solutions to problems because it's sexy. However, these solutions do not necessarily contribute more added value to the bottom line and are just wasted time and effort. Rework also refutes the idea of workaholism. Workaholics don't accomplish more than nonworkaholics. Come up with an effienct solution rather than brute forcing more hours into it. This book goes hand-in-hand with The Lean Startup.