ashes of my shelf
Over the years, I've read a few thousand books. Some of which were about business. This list has 44 recommendations.
Magic Words
Years of experience as a magician taught Tim David that real magic is all about words, and the way they influence the minds of the audience. What sets a professional magician apart from an amateur are people skills like communication, influence, and engagement—skills that are also effective in the workplace. By applying seven “magic” words […]
Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson revolutionized the world of advertising and marketing when it first appeared by proposing bold, unconventional strategies for small businesses with limited budgets. The book’s core message is simple but powerful: creativity and energy can outperform expensive ad campaigns. Rather than relying on traditional media buys, guerrilla marketing emphasizes tactics […]
Bad Blood
Bad Blood reads like a Silicon Valley thriller, yet every detail is true. Pulitzer Prize–winner John Carreyrou unpacks the spectacular rise and ruin of Theranos, a blood-testing startup once hailed as the next Apple. At the center stands Elizabeth Holmes, a charismatic founder who donned a black turtleneck and deep voice to convince investors, journalists, […]
Live Work Work Work Die
At the height of the startup boom, journalist Corey Pein set out for Silicon Valley with little more than a smartphone and his wits. His goal: to learn how such an overhyped industry could possibly sustain itself as long as it has. But to truly understand the delirious reality of the tech entrepreneurs, he knew […]
The Catalyst
The Catalyst by Jonah Berger offers a refreshing alternative to traditional persuasion tactics. Instead of trying to push people toward change, Berger explains how great catalysts reduce barriers that are holding people back. Using the REDUCE framework—Reactance, Endowment, Distance, Uncertainty, and Corroborating Evidence—he explores how to identify and lower these friction points in order to […]
Zero to One
Zero to One by Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, is a provocative manifesto on innovation and entrepreneurship. The central thesis is that doing something truly new—going from 0 to 1—is fundamentally more valuable than incremental improvement, or going from 1 to n. Thiel criticizes conformity in Silicon Valley and stresses the importance of […]