Books Recommended by Marc Andreessen
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The Lean Startup
How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
Eric Ries
Source: "[The author] has created a science where previously there was only art. A must read for every serious entrepreneur—and every manager interested in innovation." - Marc Andreessen
The Strange Death of Europe
Immigration, Identity, Islam
Douglas Murray
Source: "One perspective on the politics of immgiration in Europe, playing out in real time, e.g. Merkel almost getting deposed days ago. Confusing on multiple levels from US perspective." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderThe Rational Optimist
How Prosperity Evolves
Matt Ridley
Source: "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
Extreme Ownership
How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
Jocko Willink
Source: "I hand out more copies of this book than any other. How to take responsibility for yourself and for those around you. Modern Stoicism, as applied in the military, business, and life." - Marc Andreessen
The Rise of Superman
Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance
Steven Kotler
Source: "Startling walk through a series of domains where peak human performance is rising at remarkable rates due to "flow state". Thought provoking and then some." - Marc Andreessen
The 4-Hour Workweek
Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Tim Ferriss
Source: "[The author] basically takes all of the time management and personal productivity theories of the last 20 to 30 years and pushes them to 11, to paraphrase 'Spinal Tap.'" - Marc Andreessen
26 recommendersA.J. JacobsBlake MycoskieCaterina FakeCharles PoliquinDaniel PinkDavid Heinemeier HanssonDerek SiversEric WeinsteinEv WilliamsGary KellerJason SilvaLaura R WalkerMarc AndreessenMarc GoodmanMark BellMaurice AshleyMike Maples, Jr.Mike ShinodaRolf PottsTim DraperTristan HarrisWalter IsaacsonLewis HowesJodie CookBrian DeanMichael HyattShattered
Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign
Jonathan Allen
Source: "Best (?) book so far on the Democratic side of the 2016 race, most provocatively on the impact of the press coverage of the email hacks on the last stages of the race." - Marc Andreessen
3 recommendersChasing Hillary
Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling
Amy Chozick
Source: "On the bus/in the plane with the Hillary campaign. Revealing in many dimensions at once, and highly entertaining. Best book on the 2016 campaign so far?" - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderBut What If We're Wrong?
Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past
Chuck Klosterman
Source: "Wide-ranging meditation on how to think about the reality that we're probably wrong about most things we believe. Hard to read and not emerge humbled." - Marc Andreessen
2 recommendersA Higher Loyalty
Truth, Lies, and Leadership
James Comey
Source: "Certainly the story is well known, but given author's propensity to post photos of himself wearing running shoes in Iowa, potentially relevant again starting next year?" - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderDevil's Bargain
Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency
Joshua Green
Source: "Best (?) book so far on the Republican side of the 2016 race, and a deep dive into the intellectual origins of Bannonism and to some extent Trumpism." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderThe Spider Network
How a Math Genius and a Gang of Scheming Bankers Pulled Off One of the Greatest Scams in History
David Enrich
Source: "'Billions'-esque saga of global financial market manipulation, at mind-boggling scale and hiding in plain sight, by a small cabal of bankers in London." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderWhen the Wolves Bite
Two Billionaires, One Company, and an Epic Wall Street Battle
Scott Wapner
Source: "'Wall Street'-esque battle between Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn over unlikely target Herbalife. Sip a delicious Herbal Aloe Shake while reading." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderThinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman
Source: "Captivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate. Will stand as a cautionary tale?" - Marc Andreessen
Living with a SEAL
31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet
Jesse Itzler
Source: "What's it like to train with a Navy SEAL in winter in New York for a whole month? Featuring the truly remarkable American hero David Goggins." - Marc Andreessen
4 recommendersThe Courage to Be Disliked
The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness
Ichiro Kishimi
Source: "Smash hit in Japan, and easy to see why. Adlerian psychology meets Stoic philosophy in Socratic dialogue. Compelling from front to back. Highly recommend." - Marc Andreessen
Conspiracy
Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue
Ryan Holiday
Source: "Startlingly deep cultural history of conspiracies, examined through the lens of the brutally effective Gawker takedown, with full access to the main players." - Marc Andreessen
4 recommendersThe Maverick and His Machine
Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM
Kevin Maney
Source: "If you want to read what's it's like to work for someone harsh, read [this book]. He makes all of today's entrepreneurs look like cream puffs." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderCan't Hurt Me
Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds
David Goggins
Source: "Anytime anybody feels mopey about what's happening in their startup or in their life, this is the book to read to reset all the expectations." - Marc Andreessen
Schulz and Peanuts
A Biography
David Michaelis
Source: "Amazing. And, basically, the biographer makes the case that Peanuts was the longest, continuous work of American art ever made." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderCivilian Warriors
The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror
Erik Prince
Source: "The founding and growth of military contractor Blackwater as told by its founder and CEO; newly relevant due to the Mueller investigation." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderA Spy Among Friends
Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal
Ben Macintyre
Source: "True, chilling saga of straight up, profoundly deep treason and betrayal. Sociopaths in high positions of power and influence. Hair curling." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderThe Network State
How To Start a New Country
Balaji Srinivasan
Source: "[The author] has the highest rate of output per minute of good new ideas of anybody I’ve ever met, and [this book] may be his best." - Marc Andreessen
A Very Expensive Poison
The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko and Putin's War with the West
Luke Harding
Source: "The astonishing story of the Litvinenko and Perepilichnyy assassinations in the UK; reads like a Lee Child thriller; plenty topical now." - Marc Andreessen
3 recommendersAll Out War
The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain's Political Class
Tim Shipman
Source: "Inside story of how Britain decided to exit the EU. Economic self-destruction or national liberation? Repercussions to play out for decades." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderSlugfest
Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle between Marvel and DC
Reed Tucker
Source: "Spellbinding creative and business history of the incredibly imaginative comic book industry in the decades before it ate Hollywood." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderThe Fabric of Civilization
How Textiles Made the World
Virginia Postrel
Source: "The story of technology is a story of human ingenuity, and nowhere is this more clear than in the story of textiles." - Marc Andreessen
3 recommendersHistory Has Begun
The Birth of a New America
Bruno Macaes
Source: "On the country and culture the United States is evolving into, not necessarily decline, but something very different." - Marc Andreessen
2 recommendersA Guide to the Good Life
The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
William B. Irvine
Source: "Best (?) walk through the ancient/current philosophy of Stoicism. You can't control other people but you can control yourself, so do that." - Marc Andreessen
Whole Earth Discipline
Why Dense Cities, Nuclear Power, Transgenic Crops, Restored Wildlands, and Geoengineering Are Necessary
Stewart Brand
Source: "On why even environmentalists should be pro building, pro cities, pro nuclear, and pro genetic engineering." - Marc Andreessen
Recapturing the Spirit of Enterprise
George Gilder
Source: "On how economic systems that encourage aggressive entrepreneurship build the most for the benefit of the most." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderHacks
The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House
Donna Brazile
Source: "Visceral, raw, you-are-there recounting of living through the hack attacks and resulting meltdown of the DNC in 2016." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderWho Is Michael Ovitz?
Michael Ovitz
Source: "Learn how to build an empire and transform an industry from the Jedi master of modern Hollywood." - Marc Andreessen
Skin in the Game
Incerto, Book 5
Nassim Taleb
Source: "Skin in the game as conflict of interest, or as attaching one's livelihood to one's speech? Who to listen to, and why." - Marc Andreessen
Triumph of the City
How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier
Edward Glaeser
Source: "How cities drive the development of civilization, by putting people together. Highly relevant to the future of the Internet!" - Marc Andreessen
2 recommendersGolden Gates
Fighting for Housing in America
Conor Dougherty
Source: "On why we can't build in great American cities like San Francisco today and what we need to do about it." - Marc Andreessen
2 recommendersThe Power of Productivity
Wealth, Poverty, and the Threat to Global Stability
William W. Lewis
Source: "On how technology-driven productivity growth improves human welfare and creates more jobs and higher wages." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderExpert Political Judgment
How Good Is It? How Can We Know?
Philip E. Tetlock
Source: "Is the future knowable, and by whom? All pundits and commentators should publish their prediction track records, yet don't." - Marc Andreessen
3 recommendersThe Machiavellians
Defenders of Freedom
James Burnham
Source: "Together [with 'The Managerial Revolution'], the best explanation for the current structure of our society and politics." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderDays of Rage
America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence
Bryan Burrough
Source: "How 1960s racial politics descended into 1970s terrorist bombings, thanks to privileged college students breaking very bad." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderPlay Nice But Win
A CEO's Journey from Founder to Leader
Michael Dell
Source: "An incredible window into what it’s like to be in a founder’s shoes, and the difficult work of growing a company." - Marc Andreessen
Edison
Edmund Morris
Source: "On perhaps the greatest American builder of all, the builder who brought electricity to us all, Thomas Edison." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderThe Managerial Revolution
What is Happening in the World
James Burnham
Source: "Together [with 'The Machiavellians'], the best explanation for the current structure of our society and politics." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderThe Hard Thing About Hard Things
Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
Ben Horowitz
Source: "Let’s just say, we started out relationship with vigorous disagreement, and we’ve continued that to this day." - Marc Andreessen
12 Rules for Life
An Antidote to Chaos
Jordan Peterson
Source: "A bracing disassembly and reconstruction of a theory of individual progress in the modern world." - Marc Andreessen
Lone Survivor
The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
Marcus Luttrell
Source: "The film was fine but the book is unreal; incredibly vivid story of superlative American heroes." - Marc Andreessen
2 recommendersBelieve in People
Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World
Charles Koch
Source: "An unrelenting picture of optimism that's a roadmap for solving our country's biggest problems." - Marc Andreessen
3 recommendersBecoming Steve Jobs
The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader
Brent Schlender
Source: "In this deeply-researched book, you'll find the most honest portrait of the real Steve Jobs." - Marc Andreessen
Public Choice Theory and the Illusion of Grand Strategy
How Generals, Weapons Manufacturers, and Foreign Governments Shape American Foreign Policy
Richard Hanania
Source: "A sobering reexamination of how democratic governments actually make decisions." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderOnly the Paranoid Survive
How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company
Andrew S. Grove
Source: "One of my favorite topics. And so that is also a very good book [I] recommend." - Marc Andreessen
Zero to One
Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
Peter Thiel
Source: "The first book any working or aspiring entrepreneur must read—period." - Marc Andreessen
The Ancient City
A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome
Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges
Source: "The single best book I have found on who we are and how we got here." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderThe Tycoons
How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy
Charles R. Morris
Source: "On how four great builders of the 19th century built the world we live in today." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderThe True Believer
Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
Eric Hoffer
Source: "A brilliant book on the nature of mass movements and collective psychology." - Marc Andreessen
Infamous Scribblers
The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism
Eric Burns
Source: "A great articulation of how the news business actually grew up in the US." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderTechnological Revolutions and Financial Capital
The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages
Carlota Perez
Source: "Describes a general model for the deployment of new technologies." - Marc Andreessen
2 recommendersBorn Standing Up
A Comic's Life
Steve Martin
Source: "Nothing about his career was an accident, which I thought was fascinating." - Marc Andreessen
Blitzed
Drugs in the Third Reich
Norman Ohler
Source: "One of the craziest books I've ever read; highly recommend." - Marc Andreessen
2 recommendersThinking in Bets
Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts
Annie Duke
Source: "Compact guide to probabilistic domains like poker, or venture capital." - Marc Andreessen
The Captive Mind
Czeslaw Milosz
Source: "The definitive work on intellectual life under totalitarianism." - Marc Andreessen
2 recommendersThe Power of the Powerless
Citizens Against the State in Central Eastern Europe
Vaclav Havel
Source: "The definitive work on practical life under totalitarianism." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderWithout Their Permission
The Story of Reddit and a Blueprint for How to Change the World
Alexis Ohanian
Source: "Software is eating the world and [this book] is your ultimate cookbook." - Marc Andreessen
4 recommendersAn Apology for the Builder
Nicholas Barbon
Source: "Written in 1685. [...] Some things never change!" - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderHigh Output Management
Andrew S. Grove
Source: "The best book on management ever written." - Marc Andreessen
The Rise and Fall of American Growth
The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War
Robert J. Gordon
Source: "I disagree with the book, but it's a very well written book." - Marc Andreessen
Behave
The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
Robert M. Sapolsky
Source: "Robert Sapolsky's magnum opus on human behavior." - Marc Andreessen
The Innovator's Dilemma
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
Clayton M. Christensen
Source: "Really critical to understanding how this industry works." - Marc Andreessen
Private Truths, Public Lies
The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification
Timur Kuran
Source: "The book that's had the biggest impact on me." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderWhat You Do Is Who You Are
How to Create Your Business Culture
Ben Horowitz
Source: "My partner Ben Horowitz has a new book!" - Marc Andreessen
How to Decide
Simple Tools for Making Better Choices
Annie Duke
Source: "Provides exercises for how to decide." - Marc Andreessen
Walt Disney
The Triumph of the American Imagination
Neal Gabler
Source: "The best biography on Walt Disney." - Marc Andreessen
3 recommendersHow to Live
Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
Sarah Bakewell
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
3 recommenders- 1 recommender
The Myth of the Rational Voter
Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies
Bryan Caplan
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
2 recommenders- 1 recommender
Intellectuals
From Marx and Tolstoy to Sartre and Chomsky
Paul Johnson
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderAlexandre Kojève
Wisdom at the End of History
James H. Nichols Jr.
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderThe End of History and the Last Man
Francis Fukuyama
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderOrdeal of Civility
Freud, Marx, Levi-Strauss, and the Jewish Struggle With Modernity
John Murray Cuddihy
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderNo Offense
Civil Religion and Protestant Taste
John Murray Cuddihy
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderAntifascism
The Course of a Crusade
Paul Gottfried
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderFascism
The Career of a Concept
Paul Gottfried
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommender- 1 recommender
Joseph McCarthy
Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator
Arthur Herman
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderThe Romance of American Communism
Vivian Gornick
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommender- 1 recommender
- 1 recommender
- 1 recommender
- 1 recommender
The New Right
A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics
Michael Malice
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderWar for Eternity
The Return of Traditionalism and the Rise of the Populist Right
Benjamin R. Teitelbaum
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderThe Second Coming of the KKK
The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition
Linda Gordon
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderThe Ambassador
Joseph P. Kennedy at the Court of St. James's 1938-1940
Susan Ronald
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommender- 1 recommender
Mine Were of Trouble
A Nationalist Account of the Spanish Civil War
Peter Kemp
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommenderSpain In Our Hearts
Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939
Adam Hochschild
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
1 recommender- 2 recommenders
A Conflict of Visions
Ideological Origins of Political Struggles
Thomas Sowell
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
2 recommendersWho We Are and How We Got Here
Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past
David Reich
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
The WEIRDest People in the World
How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
Joseph Henrich
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
2 recommenders- 4 recommenders
Lenin
The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror
Victor Sebestyen
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
2 recommendersRadical Chic
And Mau Mauing The Flak Catchers
Tom Wolfe
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
2 recommenders- 1 recommender
The Guarded Gate
Bigotry, Eugenics and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America
Daniel Okrent
Source: Marc Andreessen recommended this book on Twitter.
2 recommenders- 1 recommender
More from Less
The Surprising Story of How We Learned to Prosper Using Fewer Resources―and What Happens Next
Andrew McAfee
Source: "One of the best books [of 2019]." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderThe Wizard of Menlo Park
How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World
Randall E. Stross
Source: "A great biography of Edison." - Marc Andreessen
2 recommendersA New World Begins
The History of the French Revolution
Jeremy D. Popkin
Source: "On the French Revolution." - Marc Andreessen
1 recommenderPoor Charlie's Almanack
The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
Charlie Munger
Source: "Tremendous." - Marc Andreessen
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