Patrick O'Shaughnessy Recommended Books

"[One of five books that confirm] there is far, far more in our unconscious mind than is dreamt of in our philosophy." - Adam Robinson

"Holy shit, this book is good. Just holy shit." - Ryan Holiday

"A work of art." - Ryan Holiday

"Anything by [this author] is gold." - Matt Mullenweg

Patrick Bet-David recommended this book on his website.

Greg McKeown mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"A brilliant composer of quick thoughts that will help us with our problems." - Ryan Holiday

On Jamie Dimon's list of favorite books.

"Required reading for startup execs in this market." - Ryan Petersen

"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?"

"Fun read about our biases and how our brain functions." - Vinod Khosla

"A little bit dense, but it’s so rich, it’s a good one." - Ray Dalio

"[I'm] totally part of his cult. Because I believe in that hero’s journey." - Darren Aronofsky

One of Kyle Maynard's 3 answers to "what is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift?"

Sebastian Junger's answer to "what is the book that you have given to others most often as a gift?"

"Probably the greatest post-WWII military strategist; he developed the F-15 and F-16, revolutionized ground tactics in war and covertly designed the US battle plans for the Gulf War." - Ryan Holiday

"This book left me in tears." - Bill Gates

Melinda Gates recommended this book on Likewise.com.

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

"Best book on re-examining life and values." - Tim Cook

"One of the best books I've read in years." - Peter King

Shauna Niequist recommended this book on Twitter.

"If you want to be a world class big deal negotiator, make sure you pick up [this book]." - Bill Gurley

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

"At last, a real book by a real risk-taking practitioner." - Nassim Taleb

"A great read from the best performing hedge fund manager in 2020." - Anthony Pompliano

"Investors of all kinds will find immeasurable value in this convincing and thoroughly researched book." - Paul Tudor Jones

"An incredible book." - Laird Hamilton

Kelly Starrett recommended this book in the "Tools of Titans" book.

"I read this book 13 years ago, and I still think about it almost every week." - Joel McHale

"An awesome book - and especially relevant in these times." - Michael Mauboussin

Naval Ravikant tweeted about this book.

"Would highly recommend for anyone interested in psychology, persuasion, or how to live an incredible life." - Danny Miranda

One of the books on Scott Adams' "Persuasion Reading List."

"The deepest and most realistic finance book ever published." - Nassim Taleb

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

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

Michael Hyatt recommended this book on his website.

"My latest [craze]." - Laird Hamilton

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

"Detailed the challenges that we all face on the road to expertise in any field." - Maurice Ashley

"A set of prescriptions or principles, for attaining mastery." - Terry Laughlin

"War transformed those idyllic pre-1914 ideas into reality, that war wasn't heroic. [This book] is one example. " - Dan Carlin

"Great book!" - Cal Fussman

"If you're one of those people gifted to writing, this will give you motivation." - Russell Moore

On the "favorite books" section of Barack Obama's Facebook profile.

"[One of] the 10 books with the most page-for-page wisdom." - James Clear

"I really love [this book]. I picked it up because I love the stars, basically." - Caroline Paul

Naval Ravikant mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"[One of five books (this one perhaps most of all) that confirm] there is far, far more in our unconscious mind than is dreamt of in our philosophy." - Adam Robinson

This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.

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

"I love his thinking, especially [this book]." - Derek Sivers

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog.

Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.

"A printed version of some of his essays." - Brian Armstrong

Mentioned on "The Knowledge Project" podcast.

Ryan Shea recommended this book on his website.

Neil Strauss recommended this book in the "Tools of Titans" book.

"So good that it may as well be non-fiction." - Naval Ravikant

"[He] says, 'Love is stronger than hate. Soft is stronger than hard. Water is stronger than stone.'" - David Blaine

"Was recommended to me by a friend." - Emma Watson

Wim Hof's answer to "What do you give to people as gifts?"

Neil Strauss recommended this book in the "Tools of Titans" book.

"Love [this book]." - Bryan Johnson

"The first book I read on the markets." - Brendan Moynihan

"An excellent short read." - Shane Parrish

"An insightful discussion of the great warrior cultures of the past." - Aubrey Marcus

Richard Branson recommended this book on his "70 must-read books" blog post.

"FAR better than the movie, which is still good." - Ben Shapiro

"Brilliant, beautiful, short little collection of essays, that really shifted the dialogue for me. Partially because [the author] is so open and honest and authentic about his own struggles and depression." - Jerry Colonna

"All about why it is that men love watching fights." - Ben Shapiro

Eric Weinstein tweet about books that mattered enough to him.

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

Eric Weinstein tweet about books that mattered enough to him.

"This, to me, is one of the true classics of all time." - George Raveling

Mark Cuban said he's reading this book in a Politico interview.

"It’s dense, it’s more than fifty years old, it’s an easy read and it’s urgently important." - Seth Godin

"One of the most quotable books I've ever read. I think about it often." - Mark Manson

"A brilliant book on the nature of mass movements and collective psychology." - Marc Andreessen

"Really wonderful." - Caterina Fake

"Wonderful book." - Ray Dalio

Tom Bilyeu recommended this book on his website.

"So good." - Howard Marks

"A must read." - Michael Mauboussin

"It makes you both wiser and eager to reread Sherlock Holmes." - Nassim Taleb

"Gives an overview of entrepreneurship and innovation." - Andrew Ng

"I learned a lot reading it." - Ben Horowitz

"A must read." - Bryan Johnson

Chris Dixon recommended this book on Twitter.

Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book during a Stanford lecture in 2014.

"[This author] has built multiple breakthrough companies, and [this book] shows how." - Elon Musk

Caterina Fake mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

"Few books have made me think more than this one over the last decade." - Ev Williams

"A very good book." - James Altucher

"The general concept is applicable to many fields beyond biology, for instance finance, economics and monetary policy." - Vlad Tenev

"It's so wonderful when books create the language that you need to better reason about the world. [This book] did that as well." - Tobi Lütke

"We definitely want Binance to be antifragile. This book may explain why we make some of the decisions we make." - Changpeng Zhao

"Changed how I see the world." - Shane Parrish

"An amazing book on copywriting and really how to understand human behavior and human drive." - Ramit Sethi

"Details the extraordinary success of CEOs who took a radically different approach to corporate management." - Charlie Munger

"An outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation." - Warren Buffett

"Stories about eight CEOs and how they mastered capital allocation." - Brian Armstrong

"It is, and should at the top of the reading list for CEOs and investors." - Michael Mauboussin

"A business-y thing." - Sam Hinkie

"A good read for any business leader but especially those willing to chart their own course."- Michael Dell

List of books Bill Gates read in 2012.

"One of my favorite books." - Mohnish Pabrai

"If you were to ask me what single business book most changed my perception of the world, it is [this one.]" - Trung Phan

"Sucked me in completely. Everyone I’ve recommended it to loves it." - Ryan Holiday

"Love [this] book." - Andrew Wilkinson

"About Sam Zemurray, who was the banana king." - Jason Calacanis

"About the Bananas industry." - Trung Phan

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

"I thought I knew about Theodore Roosevelt." - Ryan Holiday

"Our own former President Theodore Roosevelt’s journey down [the Amazon] river." - Saagar Enjeti

"An amazing, amazing book." - Ezra Klein

"I love reading first-hand accounts about how people build great companies like Pixar and nurture innovation and creativity." - Mark Zuckerberg

"Pixar has made some of the greatest stories of our time, but [the author]’s personal story, is perhaps the greatest story that has come out of Pixar." - Jason Calacanis

"About Pixar." - Demis Hassabis

"Must read." - Alexis Ohanian

"Best business book I've read in a long time." - Michael Mauboussin

"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?"

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

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

"A highly readable, even entertaining, argument against top-down design." - Nassim Taleb

"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

"All entrepreneurs should read." - Bill Gurley

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

"Wonderful, short book." - Tom Peters

"Beautifully written and filled with such wisdom." - Arianna Huffington

"Ray Dalio has provided me with invaluable guidance and insights that are now available to you in Principles." - Bill Gates

"[The author] open sourced Bridgewater’s methods in [this book] and the results were good evidence that collectives can operate at higher levels when they are open and honest about and can see past their cognitive flaws." - Bryan Johnson

"[Ray Dalio]'s a great guy and has a great book out you all need to get called Principles. It’s a major key!!" - Diddy

"Greg Penner, our chairman, asked me to read it." - Doug McMillon

"Sketched really concise and good thoughts for [how to approach life]." - Drew Houston

Garry Tan recommended this book on Twitter

On the "books read" section of Emma Watson's GoodReads profile.

"@z_al and I came up with the Tree Internet sequence after being inspired by [this book]." - Brit Marling

"A fascinating book about the complexity of something that seems basic." - Morgan Housel

"Read [this book], and thank me later." - Scott Adams

"Good but closer to a single-themed book." - Naval Ravikant

"Fascinating and useful read. An instant classic." - Michael Mauboussin

Alex Hormozi recommended this book on Instagram.

"The most mind-bending book you can imagine, because it essentially taught you always humans are flawed and influential." - Tobi Lütke

"100 percent of effective people seem to have read [this book]. In fact, it’s one of those things that when I meet somebody and they’re operating at a pretty high level, if you mention [this book], they’ve all read it." - Scott Adams

"Fundamental and had a lot to teach." - Naval Ravikant

Charlie Munger recommended this book in the "Poor Charlie's Almanack" book.

Adam Robinson mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

Ramit Sethi mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

Keith Rabois recommended this book on Quora.

"Talked about the power of grounding metaphor." - Tristan Harris

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

Raoul Pal recommended this book on Twitter.

"Written in 1982. It literally predicts everything that's going on now." - Tristan Harris

Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.

Patrick Collison labeled this book "substantially above average."

"We’re kind of, like the title of the book, amusing ourselves to death. We’re so caught up in distractions and pleasure and entertainment that we might be missing out on the bigger things." - Matt Mullenweg

"One of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read." - Michael Batnick

"Best book I've read since Sapiens (far less mainstream, though)." - Naval Ravikant

"One of the books that tremendously influenced me when I started PayPal." - Peter Thiel

"Was really ahead of it's time, a lot of original thinking (some really out there stuff too)." - Brian Armstrong

One of Ryan Shea's 4 answers to "what is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift?"

Sahil Lavingia recommended this book on Notion.

"If you want to find startup ideas here’s the book." - Balaji Srinivasan

"About life and how to [...] navigate in a more improvisational way." - Tristan Harris

"Gave me a mathematical framework for my own spirituality." - Kevin Kelly

"A fundamental interest is gamification – thinking of things in game terms and designing things in gaming terms is one of the profound things that civilization has done for a very long time." - Stewart Brand

"Defines these two kinds of games." - Simon Sinek

"I like [this book] which has been going around a lot." - Graham Duncan

"It’s basically a book about games, but then it turns out it’s about the meaning of life." - Jane McGonigal

"Excellent book." - Matt Mullenweg

"[I read and give this book because] you need to understand what you’re up against." - Doug McMillon

"It's a great book and especially for people starting out." - Tracy DiNunzio

Mark Manson recommended this book on his website.

"Do you dare run a business like Jeff?!" - Jodie Cook

"Everyone should read [this book]." - David Deutsch

"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

"I'm a huge fan of [this author]." - Bill Gurley

"About the Restaurants industry." - Trung Phan

Naval Ravikant mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

Dave Elitch mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

Tom Bilyeu recommended this book on his website.

Pete Holmes recommended this book on Twitter.

List of books Bill Gates read in 2011.

"About how Paul Farmer's local and global life combines theory and practice." - Donald Knuth

"I really enjoyed [this book]." - Jeff Dean

"A biography of the great doctor, teacher and humanitarian, Paul Farmer." - Rainn Wilson

Richard Branson recommended this book on his "70 must-read books" blog post.