Looking for inspiration as you head into the new year? I asked a few top founders and VCs to talk their favorite reads of 2017. These books made the lists of some of the most innovative minds in the business.
Robert Reffkin
Founder and CEO, Compass
Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency
By James A. Miller
This book details the rise of CAA, one of the largest and most successful talent agencies in the history of the world. As the CEO of a real estate technology company, I found so many parallels between the experience of the talent agent and real estate agent. Michael Ovitz and his cofounders were well served by their incredible focus on clients—a principle we take to heart at our company.
Jonathan Swanson
Cofounder and President, Thumbtack
Amusing Ourselves to Death
By Neil Postman
This book offers the most compelling, foundational explanation for what is happening to our political discourse today. Although it was written in 1984, Neil Postman not only predicts our current political environment he also explains why it is happening.
Polly Rodriguez
Cofounder and CEO, Unbound
Letters of Note
By Shaun Usher
My all-time favorite. Copywriting is my passion and written correspondence is a lost art. This collection of famous letters is wonderful for drawing inspiration and sparking creativity. I especially love Iggy Pop's note of encouragement to a teenage fan and F. Scott Fitzgerald's to his daughter, Scottie, on what to worry about.
What She Ate
By Laura Shapiro
The stories of five women as told through their diets, which is far more fascinating than it sounds. I particularly enjoyed reading Eleanor Roosevelt and Eva Braun's chapters. Who knew Hitler was a vegetarian and addicted to sweets?
Ethan Agarwal
Founder and CEO, Aaptiv
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
By Brad Stone
Provides fascinating insight into the thought process and complexity of the world’s most impressive CEO, Jeff Bezos. A combination of ambition, intellect, and vision led to Amazon's insurmountable dominance. The most exciting indication is that he's just getting started.
The Intelligent Investor
By Benjamin Graham
Every CEO is fundamentally an investor. You are investing your resources (time, capital, team resources) to generate an ROI. No one understands investing or can articulate it as clearly as Ben Graham. I read this once a year and encourage other CEOs to do the same.
The Black Swan
By Nassim Nicholas Taleb
CEOs are usually looking for the black swan, or believe they have found it. It's important to remember both the likelihood of a black swan event occurring and the size of the possible impact. Though professorial in his prose, I find tremendous value in Taleb's argument.
Byron Deeter
Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
The Elon Musk Blog Series: Wait But Why
By Tim Urban
Tim Urban is pure mind candy. Start with this one, and then I recommend the AI and Cryonics pieces online next if you want to move into full “mindbender” mode.
Legacy
By James Kerr
Includes unique insights into one of the world’s most high performing teams, the legendary All Blacks of New Zealand. Its lessons are broadly applicable to all leaders.
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
By Brad Stone
This story offers insights, sometimes controversial ones, into the birth and growth of the most dominant company in tech.
Danielle Morrill
Cofounder and CEO, Mattermark
The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class
By Elizabeth Currid-Hallket
Full of insights about building products for the people with "first-world problems" and thinking about what is worth paying for when you can buy anything.
The Mandarins
By Simone de Beauvoir
This one is very relevant to our Trump moment. Set in WWII France as the occupation of Paris is ending and the War thereafter. It explores coming of age moments for young idealists whose premises are challenged.
The Power
By Naomi Alderman
A great dystopian sci-fi novel. Offers a deep reflection on the responsibility that comes with power, written from an angle that will shift your perspective.
Nick Weever
Co-founder and CEO, eero
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
By Douglas Adams
I just reread this one—always a great read! It’s obviously fun, and for being published in 1979, it predicted well where some technology would head.
Steve Vassallo
General Partner, Foundation Capital
The Way to Design
To be honest, the book I love most this year is the one that I wrote. And not because it’s mine, but because it belongs to the scores of designers, designers-turned-entrepreneurs, and design scholars I interviewed. It’s filled with their insights, as well as my own, about what designers need to know to start a company, and what everyone needs to know to create design-led organizations.
Paul Arnold
Founder and Partner, Switch Ventures
How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking
By Jordan Ellenberg
Because math. A great book for the casual reader that I’d recommend to anyone. A well-written reminder of the power of math in making better decisions—whether investing or with anything else.
Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment
By David F. Swensen
The smartest take on asset allocation you will find. This helps me keep an eye on the bigger picture. It is a classic that is worth rereading every few years.
Anti-Intellectualism in American Life
By Richard Hofstadter
Want to understand what's going on with American culture and politics right now? Hofstadter’s book presents a key piece of the puzzle.