Bill Gurley Recommended Books

On Jamie Dimon's list of favorite books.

"Documents the early days of [Santa Fe Institute] and explains many of the big ideas." - Michael Mauboussin

"Everything by [this author] is worth reading." - Naval Ravikant

"How tech founders always had to fight against the establishment, just like the present day." - Balaji Srinivasan

"The most brilliant and enlightening book I've read in years." - Naval Ravikant

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

"Its subject is the history of humanity, focusing on why our species has succeeded and how we should think about the future." - Bill Gates

"Argues [that] economic progress is the greater force [that] is pushing society forward." - Mark Zuckerberg

"Sparkling explanation of how the economy evolves, producing the glorious cornucopia of goods and services available all around us. How to feel good about the future even in dark times." - Marc Andreessen

"I think three or four of my top 20 books of all time are all [this author's. This is my favorite one.]" - Nick Szabo

"It really puts in perspective how bizarre human beings are. It’s an awesome overview of our species." - Joe Rogan

"I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a fun, engaging look at early human history." - Bill Gates

"Best book I've read in [2015]." - Naval Ravikant

"Basically one of the things we've created here is we've imagined ideas that we all share." - Lex Fridman

"A big history narrative of human civilization." - Mark Zuckerberg

One of Peter Attia's answers to "any books you feel would make your reading list?"

"A must must must read!!" - Arianna Huffington

"A stomach turner." - Tom Peters

Aaron Levie mentioned this book on Twitter.

"For decades, powerful men have responded to sexism in tech by saying, 'It’s always been this way.'" - Melinda Gates

"Important new book about gender equality in Silicon Valley." - Michael Bloomberg

"For B2B, I recommend [this book]." - Andrew Ng

"It’s [about] how do technology products make their way from early adopters to the mainstream." - Drew Houston

"Helps us understand that it is a myth — an incorrect myth, a false myth — to believe that we can start with an idea for a few people and ride it from early adopter to early majority to late majority to laggard." - Seth Godin

"[One of] four good books that I would highly recommend reading if you're gonna build a B2B software company." - Aaron Levie

On the "books read" section of Ev Williams' GoodReads profile.

"Bestselling guide that created a new game plan for marketing in high-tech industries." - Ron Conway

On Jamie Dimon's list of favorite books.

Part of "Jeff's Reading List."

Walter Isaacson said Steve Jobs was deeply influenced by this book.

Mark Cuban's answer to "what's a book you always recommend?"

"We often referenced [this book. A] thought-provoking [book] that validated our crusade." - Marc Benioff

"A great book on strategy." - Ben Horowitz

"About how businesses get disrupted, and a lot of those themes are why startups can succeed and thrive even when there are big competitors who you would think would just wipe ’em out." - Drew Houston

"A road map for investing that I have now been following for 57 years." - Warren Buffett

One of 11 Books Bill Ackman told a young man to read before hiring him.

On Jamie Dimon's list of favorite books.

Michael Mauboussin recommended this book on Twitter.

Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.

"Important investing, business, sports." - Vinod Khosla

"I highly recommend reading [this book]." - Shane Parrish

"This is that rarity, a useful book." - Warren Buffett

One of Peter Attia's answers to "any books you feel would make your reading list?"

"One of my favorite books on value/distressed investing." - Patrick O'Shaughnessy

"It’s accessible, short, qualitative rather than numbers-driven, and deeply insightful." - Lyn Alden

"Glad to hear his insights and celebrate [this] new book." - Michael Bloomberg

"When I see memos from [this author] in my mail, they're the first thing I open and read. I always learn something, and that goes double for his book." - Warren Buffett

"My favorite business book." - Jeff Bezos

On the "books read" section of Ev Williams' GoodReads profile.

On Jamie Dimon's list of favorite books.

Patrick Bet-David recommended this book on his website.

"Adam Smith FTW obv." - Elon Musk

Naval Ravikant's answer to "any good book about economy for a beginner?"

"To learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself." - Neil deGrasse Tyson

"[One] of the most important books I’ve read." - Nick Szabo

On the "Top 100 Books Referenced by Noam Chomsky" list.

Brandon Stanton mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"A gift to all of my Apple II programming buddies from high school and Dungeons & Dragons comrades." - Steve Jurvetson

"A compelling picture of how VR might play out." - Brian Armstrong

"So much fun." - Astro Teller

"Ok writing but a page turner." - Austen Allred

"One of my favorites now." - Jenn Im

"A tremendous amount of fun." - George R. R. Martin

"I couldn’t put down this thriller with a tragic ending." - Bill Gates

"Soooo good." - Andrew Wilkinson

"Amazing [book] about human nature." - Michael Mauboussin

"I recommend to every entrepreneur, investor, & CEO - and anyone else who deals with difficult negotiations." - Vinod Khosla

"Lays out three key aspects of negotiation: framing, process, and empathy." - Patrick O'Shaughnessy

"Great read for anyone who communicates for a living." - Michael Mauboussin

Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list.

"About how he learned to believe the age-old-adage that 'less is more.'" - Arianna Huffington

Ramit Sethi mentioned this book in the "What to Read Next" newsletter.

"A great explanation of why index investing rules, written by a very wise professor/investor guy who has personally researched and debunked most of the common 'wisdom' that exists about stock trading today." - MMM

"I was persuaded to adopt a low-carb approach to eating when I read [this book]." - Gretchen Rubin

"A great one -- had no idea Nike had such a long history." - Alexis Ohanian

"[One of the] best books I read in 2017." - Anthony Pompliano

"Loved [this book]." - Austen Allred

"A refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like." - Bill Gates

"Memoir by the Nike founder and CEO." - Brian Armstrong

"Great inspirational [book]." - Jason Calacanis

"Create an experience that is like nothing else." - Noah Kagan

"One of the best books on hospitality ever written." - Chip Conley

"We did a lot of reading [this book] at SoulCycle." - Julie Rice

"If you are an entrepreneur, you should read this book." - Fred Wilson

"Every business could benefit from [this author's] framework for service and hospitality." - Patrick O'Shaughnessy

"About the Restaurants industry." - Trung Phan

One of Paul Graham's answers to "do you know of any good books about startups?"

"I love [this book]. First it is a story. Second it captures the passion of engineers who are driven to ship a revolutionary product." - Fred Wilson

"Delivers priceless advice for any young person who wants to build something great or change the world for the better." - Ben Horowitz

One of 11 Books Bill Ackman told a young man to read before hiring him.