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Here are the books I read in 2008:
1. The Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar -- Good book for the entrepreneur who may get caught up in simply making money or just doing what has to be done to earn a living. There's more to it than that. The book's advice is "to make work pay not just in cash, but in experience, satisfaction and joy."
2. My Startup Story: What a (very) young CEO learned about Silicon Valley by Ben Casnocha and Marc Benioff -- This book was fascinating and inspiring to me because it shares the life of a very young first-time entrepreneur, who is 19 years old and builds a company from scratch. He shares a wealth of advice throughout his experiences around generating revenue, customer feedback, advisory boards, pitching, power of mentors, etc.
3. Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath -- This book is a guide about effective communication. Why do certain stories stick in our minds more than others? Chip and Dan illustrate six key principles: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions and stories (the initial letters spell out "success") that explain why and how some stories stick.
4. The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz -- I found this book quite intriguing because it leads one to question their pursuit of creating more options for themselves. The society we live in aims to create more choice, however, Barry questions whether that result is in fact better for us and will make us happier or not. Is the world better off with more options?
5. The Starfish and The Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom -- I cited this book in a previous posting entitled, "Are you building a centralized or decentralized company?" The book describes some interesting differences between two types of companies - centralized and decentralized, and leads you to conclude which ones may be more successful.
6. The wisdom of crowds by James Surowiecki -- This book draws some interesting conclusions around groups being remarkably intelligent and actually smarter than the smartest people in them. Surowiecki provides several examples that are very thought provoking.
7. Once You're Lucky. Twice You're Good by Sarah Lacy -- I loved this book, partly because I'm in the Web 2.0 space, but also, due to the rare insight Sarah shares regarding a few internet companies that have almost defined many peoples lives today. Great book for those who are curious about successes like Facebook, Digg, Twitter, etc. I also cited this book in a previous posting entitled, "Should first-time internet entrepreneurs have a higher probability of success today?".
8. The Mouse Driver Chronicles: An Entrepreneurial Adventure by Kyle Harrison and John Lusk -- This book was referred to me by a fellow entrepreneur. It's fun a story about two MBA's who set out on a non-traditional path to produce and sell a computer mouse designed to look like a golf-club head.
9. Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi -- This book is about all of the intricacies involved in networking and the techniques Ferrazzi uses to create great relationships.
1. The Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar -- Good book for the entrepreneur who may get caught up in simply making money or just doing what has to be done to earn a living. There's more to it than that. The book's advice is "to make work pay not just in cash, but in experience, satisfaction and joy."
2. My Startup Story: What a (very) young CEO learned about Silicon Valley by Ben Casnocha and Marc Benioff -- This book was fascinating and inspiring to me because it shares the life of a very young first-time entrepreneur, who is 19 years old and builds a company from scratch. He shares a wealth of advice throughout his experiences around generating revenue, customer feedback, advisory boards, pitching, power of mentors, etc.
3. Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath -- This book is a guide about effective communication. Why do certain stories stick in our minds more than others? Chip and Dan illustrate six key principles: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions and stories (the initial letters spell out "success") that explain why and how some stories stick.
4. The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz -- I found this book quite intriguing because it leads one to question their pursuit of creating more options for themselves. The society we live in aims to create more choice, however, Barry questions whether that result is in fact better for us and will make us happier or not. Is the world better off with more options?
5. The Starfish and The Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom -- I cited this book in a previous posting entitled, "Are you building a centralized or decentralized company?" The book describes some interesting differences between two types of companies - centralized and decentralized, and leads you to conclude which ones may be more successful.
6. The wisdom of crowds by James Surowiecki -- This book draws some interesting conclusions around groups being remarkably intelligent and actually smarter than the smartest people in them. Surowiecki provides several examples that are very thought provoking.
7. Once You're Lucky. Twice You're Good by Sarah Lacy -- I loved this book, partly because I'm in the Web 2.0 space, but also, due to the rare insight Sarah shares regarding a few internet companies that have almost defined many peoples lives today. Great book for those who are curious about successes like Facebook, Digg, Twitter, etc. I also cited this book in a previous posting entitled, "Should first-time internet entrepreneurs have a higher probability of success today?".
8. The Mouse Driver Chronicles: An Entrepreneurial Adventure by Kyle Harrison and John Lusk -- This book was referred to me by a fellow entrepreneur. It's fun a story about two MBA's who set out on a non-traditional path to produce and sell a computer mouse designed to look like a golf-club head.
9. Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi -- This book is about all of the intricacies involved in networking and the techniques Ferrazzi uses to create great relationships.
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