⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Lavingia
| Full Title | The Minimalist Entrepreneur: How Great Founders Do More with Less |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sahil Lavingia |
| Year Published | 2021 |
| Date Read | November 08, 2023 |
| Rating | 4/5 stars |
I’ve seen Sahil talk a few times previously (once at a “fireside” at Stripe) and am generally already a fan. Overall I’d say pretty good: the book has a great signal-to-noise ratio and does a good job of balancing between the approach that Sahil is promoting while weaving in stories from other founders that have also found success. Does not come off as too prescriptive.
I listened to it, which was fine, but I think this probably works best as a ‘workbook’ of sorts that you reference at different stages of your entrepreneurship journey. Would recommend for anyone that is interested; this guy offers a much better ROI than your average non-fiction book.
⭐⭐ The Capitalist Manifesto by Norberg
| Full Title | The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World |
|---|---|
| Authors | Johan Norberg |
| Year Published | 2023 |
| Date Read | November 08, 2023 |
| Rating | 2/5 stars |
Originally saw this on Musk’s Twitter.
I’m already sold on the thesis. What I was hoping for was some new perspectives on the ‘morally right’ part, or explanations of non-obvious mechanics that make capitalism so successful. Instead you get chapters full of stats on just proving the success and not much more.
Would not recommend. If you’re interested in this area, I think Capitalism without Capital: The Rise of the Intangible Economy is an excellent alternative. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind would be further away from capitalism but in the same abstract area.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Elon Musk by Isaacson
| Full Title | Elon Musk |
|---|---|
| Authors | Walter Isaacson |
| Year Published | 2023 |
| Date Read | October 20, 2023 |
| Rating | 4/5 stars |
Takes a little bit to get going but then becomes quite compelling. Much of the book is focused on the last two years, when Isaacson shadowed Musk directly — this means that there’s less focus on his earlier background than I’d like, but does result in a very high-fidelity telling of some of the most recent events (Twitter acquisition in particular).
As someone that generally has a positive view of Elon but doesn’t follow what he does very closely, I found that the book overall improved my perception of him. It’s unclear if this is because Isaacson was not critical enough of Musk (as many online have accused him of), or if in general Musk is simply bad at personal PR and he’s really a mostly non-insane dude that sometimes Tweets crazy stuff.
For those interested in Musk and how he runs his companies, I’d recommend reading sooner rather than later due to book’s recency bias. Probably wouldn’t recommend otherwise, especially so if you’re already anti-Musk.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Outlive by Attia
| Full Title | Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Attia, Bill Gifford |
| Year Published | 2023 |
| Date Read | October 06, 2023 |
| Rating | 5/5 stars |
Been a fan of Attia for a while and this book didn’t disappoint. Impressive how vulnerable he gets. Lots of learnings from both the physical and emotional sides — got me to do another DEXA and an RMR+VO2 max test. My one note would be, perhaps don’t go into as much depth on the diseases chapters — but not worth knocking a star off. Would highly recommend to folks interested in health.
⭐⭐⭐ Chip War by Miller
| Full Title | Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chris Miller |
| Year Published | 2022 |
| Date Read | September 02, 2023 |
| Rating | 3/5 stars |
Pretty good, maybe worth 4 stars. Even though I work in tech there was a bunch of stuff here that was news to me.
* Kinda crazy how much Mao’s Cultural Revolution really set China’s tech back; probably worthy of reading a book dedicated to that topic.
* Chipmaking was one of the first industries to do the “offshoring in Asia” thing.
* TSMC is really quite dominant in actual chip fabrication. It’s basically fabless + TSMC, heightening the tension of if Taiwan is part of China or not.
* Intel is at this point quite behind in chipmaking. If you look at their earnings, things have recently turned really bad.
Recommended read for those interested in the China/US geopolitical struggles or technology in general.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ham on Rye by Bukowski
| Full Title | Ham on Rye |
|---|---|
| Authors | Charles Bukowski |
| Year Published | 2014 |
| Date Read | May 10, 2023 |
| Rating | 5/5 stars |
The origins. Another easy 5 stars for Bukowski