Books Recommended by Alexis Ohanian
Permanent Record
Edward Snowden
Source: "Reading with gusto over the holiday and especially reflecting on this note--true friendship is the best investment one can make." - Alexis Ohanian
Billion Dollar Whale
The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World
Tom Wright
Source: "An incredible story.... If you need some billionaires to despise--look no further than these charlatans." - Alexis Ohanian
Influence
The Psychology of Persuasion
Robert Cialdini
Source: "[Helps you] navigate the world with heightened awareness for how we're always being influenced/manipulated." - Alexis Ohanian
Traction
How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth
Gabriel Weinberg
Source: "The question every founder asks after shipping is always: how do I get traction? This book actually answers it." - Alexis Ohanian
The ONE Thing
The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
Gary Keller
Source: "Makes a strong case for tossing out my daily Todo list in favor of focusing just One Thing every day." - Alexis Ohanian
Founders at Work
Stories of Startups' Early Days
Jessica Livingston
Source: "A bunch of really great interviews [Jessica] did with a bunch of just OGs of entrepreneurship." - Alexis Ohanian
Rage Becomes Her
The Power of Women's Anger
Soraya Chemaly
Source: "Goes in on the patriarchy and it's hard to argue with a lot of the data here." - Alexis Ohanian
Indistractable
How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life
Nir Eyal
Source: "A great foundation for bringing intention and focus to your work- and home-life." - Alexis Ohanian
The Creative Curve
How to Develop the Right Idea, at the Right Time
Allen Gannett
Source: "[Shows] how everyone has the ability to create their own creative masterpiece." - Alexis Ohanian
Frenemies
The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (and Everything Else)
Ken Auletta
Source: "Kept getting recommended to me by people I respected and it didn't disappoint." - Alexis Ohanian
Masters of Doom
How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
David Kushner
Source: "[This book] convinced me to start a company. Thanks for helping create Reddit." - Alexis Ohanian
Hatching Twitter
A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal
Nick Bilton
Source: "Fantastic book [...] Far more relatable than I knew or expected." - Alexis Ohanian
Winners Take All
The Elite Charade of Changing the World
Anand Giridharadas
Source: "I'm ready to be excommunicated from the VC world: I enjoyed [this] book." - Alexis Ohanian
Shoe Dog
A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
Phil Knight
Source: "A great one -- had no idea Nike had such a long history." - Alexis Ohanian
Why We Sleep
Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
Matthew Walker
Source: "One of the best and most important books I've read [in 2019]." - Alexis Ohanian
Superforecasting
The Art and Science of Prediction
Philip E. Tetlock
Source: "Such a great book. Building software right now that's informed by this." - Alexis Ohanian
White Fragility
Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
Robin J. DiAngelo
Source: "Must-read/-listen for all of us in white America." - Alexis Ohanian
The Ride of a Lifetime
Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
Robert Iger
Source: "One of the best leadership books I've read." - Alexis Ohanian
Daemon
Daniel Suarez
Source: "Got a ton of these for the Initialized office." - Alexis Ohanian
The Giving Tree
Shel Silverstein
Source: "Definitely choked up by the end of it... WHY?" - Alexis Ohanian
FAQ
Did Alexis Ohanian recommend all these books?
Not necessarily. This book list has Alexis Ohanian must-read recommendations, but it also has a mix of mentions and suggestions.
How do you know Alexis Ohanian mentioned these books?
Every suggestion made by Alexis Ohanian is validated by our editors. You can find the sources to the recommendations linked next to the books.
Did Alexis Ohanian actually create this list?
No. This reading list was curated by our editors based on confirmed mentions from Alexis Ohanian, the sources are made available under each recommendation.
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