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.
Shoe Dog
Shoe Dog is not a sanitized corporate biography; it is Phil Knight’s raw confession of the messy, exhilarating birth of Nike. Knight recounts pounding Japanese factory floors in the 1960s, selling running shoes out of his Plymouth Valiant, and facing perpetual cash-flow crises that threatened to sink the company. Alongside him is a motley crew […]
Influence
Robert Cialdini’s Influence is the foundational text on why humans comply—or resist—requests. Drawing on decades of laboratory studies, undercover fieldwork, and cross-cultural examples, Cialdini distills six universal principles of persuasion: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. Each principle is illustrated with memorable stories, from door-to-door sales tactics to cult recruitment. What […]
Selling the Wheel
Selling the Wheel by Jeff Cox and Howard Stevens is a business fable that cleverly illustrates different selling styles and how they align with the buyer’s journey. The story follows Max, an inventor in ancient times who creates the wheel but struggles to sell it. As Max partners with a series of salespeople—each with distinct […]
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 […]
Measure What Matters
Measure What Matters by John Doerr introduces the powerful concept of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), a goal-setting framework that has transformed companies like Google, Intel, and The Gates Foundation. Doerr, a legendary venture capitalist, provides a behind-the-scenes look at how clear objectives and measurable outcomes can drive alignment, transparency, and exponential growth. The book […]
All I Want To Know Is Where I’m Going To Die So I’ll Never Go There
This book is about the fictitious Seeker, who has known a lot of misery, and his visit to the “Library of Wisdom” where he meets another fictitious character – the Librarian- along with Warren Buffett and Charles Munger. The Seeker learns how to make better decisions to help his children avoid doing the dumb things […]