This week's recommendation 31 Aug 2026

Obedience
to Authority

In the 1960s Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram famously carried out a series of experiments that forever changed our perceptions of morality and free will. The subjects – or “teachers” – were instructed to administer electroshocks to a human “learner,” with the shocks becoming progressively more powerful and painful. Controversial but now strongly vindicated by […]

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so good it's unfair
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.

Seeking Wisdom

Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin is an intellectual odyssey into the mind’s workings, drawing on insights from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett, and a wide range of disciplines including biology, psychology, and philosophy. It’s not a book to be read in one sitting—it’s one to be studied and savored. The book dissects human misjudgment and mental […]

Amp It Up

*Amp It Up* by Frank Slootman is a manifesto for performance-focused leadership in high-growth companies. As a CEO who has led companies like ServiceNow, Data Domain, and Snowflake through meteoric rises, Slootman shares his no-nonsense leadership philosophy. At its core, the book demands urgency, intensity, and clarity in execution. Slootman critiques the trend of corporate […]

The Psychology of Money

Morgan Housel’s *The Psychology of Money* offers a profound yet accessible look into how people make financial decisions based not on logic or spreadsheets, but on personal history, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives. The book’s strength lies in its storytelling—short chapters illustrate big ideas using vivid anecdotes and real-world events. Housel emphasizes that doing […]

Cold Steel

Cold Steel is the gripping story of the world’s biggest and most hard-fought industry takeover of recent years, an epic corporate battle that would send shockwaves through the political corridors of Europe, excite the world’s financial markets, enrich thirty hedge funds and transform the global steel industry. In 2006, the two largest steel-producers went head […]

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 […]

Never Split the Difference

Never Split the Difference is a pulse-pounding tour of real-world negotiation, guided by former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss. Voss pulls readers straight into bank robberies, barricaded gunmen, and kidnappings—settings where one wrong word can cost lives—and shows how the same emotional currents flow through everyday business deals and family arguments. His core premise is […]