It has been an incredible year for me in 2023. I had the opportunity to surround myself with many great people and improve my skills in product management, entrepreneurial marketing, and venture financing, in addition to my natural inclination toward technology. As the year comes to a close, I would like to share a list of 12 books that I read. I hope you find them interesting and informative.

I’m grateful for the wonderful people I met and the knowledge I gained this year. I’m looking forward to an even brighter year ahead!

The Open Organization:

Igniting Passion and Performance by Jim Whitehurst

This is my favorite book this year. Since I started to join the startups and have been building products with engineers across different countries, I feel the critical essence for startups to move fast and build reliable products for the customers. To achieve this, it comes to the question, “How can you find a group of talents and motivate them to do the best of themselves?”. The answer lies in building a company with a thriving culture. Besides, leaders need to have a clear vision and storytelling abilities.

Jim was the CEO of The Red Hat, a company that develops open-source software for enterprises. The development of open-source software requires a company culture that is open and vibrant, allowing every idea to be heard no matter the title and giving opportunities for the best idea to shine. In this culture, everyone can strive and grow. I enjoy this book with various case studies, and I hope you enjoy reading Jim’s book, too.

What It Takes:

Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence by Stephen Schwarzman

This book offers a detailed picture of Mr. Schwarzman’s life story, his leadership and management styles, and his journey of building one of the world’s most successful private equity firms, Blackstone. Mr. Schwarzman’s belief that “The best leaders are made, not born” is a recurring theme throughout the book. He shares his perspective on what it takes to become a great leader, emphasizing the importance of hard work, patience, and having supportive mentors.

The book offers valuable insights into the qualities that make a great leader. Mr. Schwarzman highlights the significance of integrity, the ability to build trust quickly, and treating others with respect. He shares numerous anecdotes from his life, illustrating how he put these values into practice and how they helped him become a successful leader.

Furthermore, the book delves into Mr. Schwarzman’s investment philosophy in private equity and how he built Blackstone into the powerhouse it is today. He shares his experience of navigating the ups and downs of the financial markets and how he managed to achieve success even in challenging times.

Overall, this book is an excellent resource for those who aspire to become great leaders and entrepreneurs. It offers practical advice and real-life examples from one of the most successful business leaders of our time.

Start, Stay, or Leave:

The Art of Decision Making by Trey Gowdy

It’s not always easy to decide when to start or leave a journey. The author discusses two questions he asks himself when faced with these situations:

(1) What do I need to consider when starting something new?

  • How does this decision align with the vision for my life?
  • Is my decision driven by logic or emotion?
  • Will this decision limit or prevent me from pursuing other dreams?

(2) Three questions to consider when deciding to leave:

  • Does my current situation facilitate growth and improvement in my life?
  • How have my past decisions and regrets influenced this decision?
  • Do I know what my next step would be?

There are some quotes I like to mention:

  • “Know who you are traveling with is more important than which road you are traveling on.” This reminds me of the importance of the people around you.
  • “Commit to things that can help with the big picture, even if others don’t think you should do that.” You are accountable for aligning your next steps with the big picture you are building. Misunderstandings can happen from other people, but you should be clear and persistent in your ultimate goal.

This book covers a lot of good life lessons, and I encourage you to explore them in the book.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things:

Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz

Creating a successful business is a challenging and demanding task that requires commitment, hard work, and perseverance. I recall reading a book by Ben that described his experience of building a business, and it left a lasting impression on me. He wrote about waking up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, and unsure of what to do next. It was a vivid portrayal of the uncertainty and fear that many startup founders experience on their entrepreneurial journey. The book provided valuable insights and life lessons that can benefit anyone who is building a business.

The Cold Start Problem:

How to Start and Scale Network Effects by Andrew Chen

If you want to build a scalable product with network effects, then you must read this book.

Here are some of my key takeaways:

  • The most important thing is building a great product your customers love. Network effects won’t help you if your product isn’t any good.
  • If you’re building a network-based product, your competitors are probably doing the same thing. The key to winning is to scale your product and leverage your network as effectively as possible. It’s not about being the biggest player at the beginning, but about amplifying the effects of your acquisition, engagement, and economic effects.
  • The quality of your network is more important than its quantity when it comes to network effects. Start with a small, high-quality network and then expand it through high-quality growth.

Build:

An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making by Tony Fadell

Building, building, building! For consumer startups, success comes down to executing well and creating a product that everyone loves. Startups that solve customer pain points with user-friendly products at reasonable prices, strong marketing campaigns, and excellent customer service can drive significant sales. It is important to remember that no matter how much funding a company raises, how big names its investors are, or how positively it is portrayed in the media, the company won’t be financially sustainable if its product fails. Therefore, it is crucial to have founders who are doers and builders with experience in product-building and operations.

Tony, a genius behind several well-known products at Apple, shares some principles he applies while building. He suggests building with your vision in the absence of data, and with data when it is available. If the first version fails, you should learn from it and build another version by talking to your customers. Tony also advises against hiring too many people for a project. It is better to have a team of doers than commanders. Lastly, every project should have a deadline, and you should reinforce it by asking to show the product internally.

I will leave more insights for you to explore in this book.

How Big Things Get Done:

The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything In Between by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner

I gained valuable insights from this book, including

  • Execution matters: It’s important to think carefully and plan ahead, but also to act quickly to ensure that the plan is correct.
  • Know your customers: Prioritizing the customer experience and working backward from there is crucial.
  • People matter: Hiring experienced professionals and building a competent team are essential for success.
  • Divide and conquer: Breaking down projects into smaller, modular components is key to making them more manageable.
  • Repetition: Repeating tasks and projects is a great way to improve your skills and gain experience.
  • Manage expectations: In each project, we need not only the pilot but also the flight attendants to have a positive attitude.

Startup Boards:

Getting the Most Out of Your Board of Directors by Brad Feld and Mahendra Ramsinghani

The recent drama at OpenAI involving its board of directors and CEO, along with my personal experience in corporate structure and governance, has piqued my interest in learning more about this topic. Brad Feld’s book covers a comprehensive range of topics, from startup board composition and management to hiring, CEO transitions, and exits. It is an excellent resource for startup founders and first-time board members.

Startup Life:

Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur by Brad Feld and Amy Batchelor

Brad Feld’s book emphasizes the importance of having a solid support system when building a company. Founders who have the support of family and friends in the back end can better focus on their challenging work. It is also crucial for founders to maintain a balance between work and life, even though building a company requires a lot of effort.

This book is not only geared towards entrepreneurial couples, but it also provides valuable insights on how to handle close interpersonal relationships. It offers a comprehensive guide on how founders can navigate the startup life without sacrificing their personal relationships. By reading this book, founders can learn how to strike a balance between work and personal life while still building a successful company.

Thinking in Bets:

Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts by Annie Duke

Startup founders, management executives, and early-stage VC investors will always face uncertainties. How should they make smart decisions when they do not have enough data?

I find the last chapter of this book most helpful. Here are a few points I learned from this book:

  • When someone comes to you with complaints, it’s important to clarify whether they want to vent or receive advice. Being clear about their intentions can make you a better listener.
  • Use the time travel method to make the decision. Look into the future on what life will be like when we make this or that decision.
  • Scenario planning involves putting decisions and their related futures together in a chart, comparing the probabilities, and understanding the results. It is important to discuss all the scenarios the data can support. When faced with uncertainties, scenario planning can help. It is essential to consider the best guess of each decision. The benefits of scenario planning include knowing all possible outcomes, knowing how to respond to all possible outcomes, and being able to anticipate good and bad outcomes and plan the strategy accordingly. Being responsive to the changing future is a good thing, but being surprised by the changing future is not.
  • Backcasting is a planning approach that involves setting a goal within a specific timeframe and then working backward to create sub-goals at different stages. On the other hand, premortems involve considering the worst-case scenario and determining what could go wrong. By using backcasting in conjunction with premortems, we can have a more realistic view of the future, especially when dealing with uncertainties.

Secrets of Sand Hill Road:

Venture Capital and How to Get It by Scott Kupor and Eric Ries

This book helped me gain a better understanding of VC investment. I was fortunate enough to meet Scott in person and get his signature on the book. It feels just like the times when I used to take pictures with well-known professors during my time in academia. :-)

The book provides comprehensive coverage of venture capital investment, explaining how venture capitalists make their money and offering guidance to first-time founders seeking to raise funds. Understanding these concepts is crucial when looking for the right investor and knowing how to work with them. Additionally, the book emphasizes the importance of comprehending the termsheet, as signing an unfavorable one can cause significant problems for a company during the next funding round. This book serves as a valuable reference for anyone working on any aspect of venture capital investment.

Margin of Safety:

Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor by Seth Klarman

Unfortunately, this book is no longer in print and there are few physical copies circulating in the market. If you happen to come across one, it is an excellent book for value investors.