I’ve always spent money on books. I never viewed that as an expense. That’s an investment in me.
Naval Raviknat, The angel Philosopher
I read a lot and will update this page with a short summary, who’s it for, and my rating.
Sometimes I write reviews that are for specific people e.g., Marketers, Founders, Scientists. The links will contain relevancy by title where applicable.
Sometimes I’m just posting my book notes that I highlighted on Kindle.
Some links may contain affiliate links to buy the book which pays me like $.12 or something.
If you have any questions, you can also email me.
The Alamanack of Naval Ravikant
Date Read: Continuously. Recommendation: 10/10
I access and use parts of this book every week. This book altered the trajectory of my life, changing the way I think about wealth and happiness. The author did a fantastic job of compiling publicly available thoughts and ideas from Naval and presenting them in an easy-to-digest format. In all seriousness, this is required reading.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
Deep Work
Date Read: 02/2023. Recommendation: 7/10
Overall a great concept for people looking for an advantage in an increasingly distracted world. The author is very scientific in his style and provides excellent advice on why and how you can add Deep Work to your game.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
Atomic Habits
Date Read: 01/2023. Recommendation: 8/10
If you’re looking to break a bad habit or start a new one, this is your book. In this review, I go over a really cool podcast combination with the book that helped me internalize it, as well as some tactics for Marketers/Founders to utilize.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
Built to Sell
Date Read: 02/2023. Recommendation: 8/10 (10/10 if you are building a company)
If you’re a service business owner (or SaaS) looking to increase the value of your business, “Built to Sell” by John Warrillow is a must-read book. If you’re a Marketer or Business leader, I wouldn’t say this is a must-read, but you’ll get some great ideas from it.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
The Mom Test
Date Read: 02/2023. Recommendation: 10/10
This is THE practical guide to learning how to test your product and company ideas BEFORE you build them. It’s the book I wish I had read before I ever built a company or launched a single new product. If you are a Founder, Product Marketer, Product Manager, or Customer Success person, go buy this book and implement it.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
The 4-Hour Work Week
Date Read: Continuously. Recommendation: 10/10
Words can’t describe how much I love this book. Life lessons, work lessons, it’s all here. Learn the 80/20 rule, learn Parkinson’s Law. Take a mini-retirement or two. Escape your job. Some of the tactics are a bit dated, but the takeaways are timeless.
Read my Review for Marketers, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
The Art of Selling Your Business
Date Read: 3/2023. Recommendation: 7/10 (10/10 for First-Time Founders)
This is a useful non-fiction book written for a very specific audience of founders with businesses between $1 and $100M in revenue that are looking to sell them. The book was produced from years of podcast interviews with Founders and provides some nice examples of each of the key steps in the process of selling a company. The process is easy to follow, but I don’t think the action steps were as straightforward as they could have been. Took me two mornings to read it/take notes.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
The Jolt Effect
Date Read: 5/2023. Recommendation: 8/10
If you’re in Sales, Sales Enablement, or RevOps, go read this book now. It explains with facts and anecdotes why deals are stalling that you think you won and tells you how to overcome it. Very important sales research here.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
Die With Zero
Date Read: 4/2023. Recommendation: 10/10
This quick read completely changed my family’s approach to saving for retirement and what we plan to leave to charity when we die. It freed us up to start spending earlier on experiences while we are still healthy.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
Pitch Anything
Date Read: Continuously. Recommendation: 9/10
This book is an absolute clinic on how to pitch literally anything. I’ve read it continuously for years. The Idea Introduction Pattern chapter is solid gold.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
Marketing Is Not A Blackhole
Date Read: 6/2023. Recommendation: 7/10 (10/10 if you are a CMO)
This book attempts to bridge the gap between Marketing, Finance (Analysts), and Academics.
My biggest takeaway is Marketing needs to “speak” better finance to get a real seat at the table.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.
Who: The A Method for Hiring
Date Read: Continuously. Recommendation: 10/10
This is the only book you need to hire A Players.
My biggest takeaway is you need a method to hire great and end the misery of hiring B and C players.
Read my Review, or go to the Amazon Page to see others’ reviews.