Max Levchin Book Recommendations
Max Levchin is a Ukrainian-born American software engineer.
(Read more on Wikipedia)40 Books Recommended
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The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
by Ben Horowitz
One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?" (Source)
Also recommended by:
Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Attia, Marc Andreessen, Larry Page, Matt Mullenweg, Andrew Ng, Drew Houston, Keith Rabois, Dustin Moskovitz, Luis von Ahn, Kathryn Minshew, Andrew Wilkinson, Tim Ferriss, Blake Scholl, Chris Dixon, Fred Wilson, Raoul Pal, Jodie Cook, Michael Dell, Marty Cagan
Good to Great
Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't
by Jim Collins
One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?" (Source)
Also recommended by:
Jeff Bezos, Dave Ramsey, Jason Calacanis, Brian Armstrong, Ev Williams, Frank Blake, Tracy DiNunzio, Daniel Ek, John Doerr, Michael Hyatt
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
by Harold Abelson
"Easier to read [than "The Art of Computer Programming"] end-to-end quickly." - Max Levchin (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Art of Computer Programming (4 books)
"I have a certain permanent love for [this series]." - Max Levchin (Source)
Also recommended by:
Artemis
A Novel
by Andy Weir
"A very fun read that I would classify as part of the guilty pleasure section of my personal library." - Max Levchin (Source)
The Ascent of Money
A Financial History of the World
by Niall Ferguson
One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?" (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Master and Margarita
by Mikhail Bulgakov
"One of the finest works of fiction of the last century." - Max Levchin (Source)
Also recommended by:
Peter Thiel, Jordan Peterson, Jack Dorsey, PewDiePie, Jack Edwards
The Three-Body Problem (3 books)
Max Levchin recommended this series on LinkedIn. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Adam Savage, Lex Fridman, Liv Boeree, Mark Zuckerberg, Naval Ravikant, Ryan Shea, Tim Urban, Tobi Lütke, Barry Silbert, Mike Novogratz
Lake Success
A Novel
by Gary Shteyngart
"Follows a hedge fund manager who tries to distance himself from an insider trading investigation." - Max Levchin (Source)
Also recommended by:
When Genius Failed
The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management
by Roger Lowenstein
One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?" (Source)
Also recommended by:
Too Big to Fail
The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System--and Themselves
by Andrew Ross Sorkin
One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?" (Source)
Also recommended by:
Thinking in Bets
Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts
by Annie Duke
"I read this book all the way through because I found the premise so intriguing. [The author] is a well-known poker player and won a World Series of Poker gold bracelet." - Max Levchin (Source)
Also recommended by:
Seth Godin, Marc Andreessen, Mike Maples, Jr., Howard Marks, Michael Mauboussin, Jason Fried, Mark Manson, Danny Miranda
Influence
The Psychology of Persuasion
by Robert Cialdini
One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?" (Source)
The Complete Stories, Vol 1
by Isaac Asimov
"The Last Question is a famous sci-fi short story, and quite possibly one of the best sci-fi stories ever written. [The author]’s degree of forward-thinking is something to behold." - Max Levchin (Source)
The Innovator's Dilemma
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
by Clayton M. Christensen
One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?" (Source)
Also recommended by:
Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Mark Cuban, Marc Benioff, Ben Horowitz, Drew Houston, Aaron Levie, Ev Williams, Tim O’Reilly, Caterina Fake, Guy Kawasaki, Bill Gurley, Blake Scholl, Chris Dixon, Marc Andreessen, Michael Bloomberg, Steve Blank
The Coddling of the American Mind
How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
by Greg Lukianoff
"Highlights the need to continue to have such discussions about sensitive topics instead of ignoring them for the sake of comfort." - Max Levchin (Source)
Also recommended by:
Vinod Khosla, Bryan Johnson, Michael Mauboussin, Richard Dawkins, Tom Bilyeu, Derren Brown, Glenn Beck
Crucial Conversations
Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High
by Kerry Patterson
"A now-venerable guide to having tough conversations in a way that engages the debaters." - Max Levchin (Source)
Also recommended by:
Predictably Irrational
The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
by Dan Ariely
One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?" (Source)
Also recommended by:
High Growth Handbook
by Elad Gil
"[The author] has no-nonsense, highly applicable advice to any operator transitioning a company from the proverbial garage to the next stage and beyond." - Max Levchin (Source)
Also recommended by:
Reid Hoffman, Keith Rabois, Aaron Levie, Kathryn Minshew, Brian Armstrong, Ryan Petersen, Alexis Ohanian, Chris Dixon
The Power of Habit
Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
by Charles Duhigg
"Compiles a bunch of great academic neuroscience and applied psychology research on habit formation." - Max Levchin (Source)
Also recommended by:
Ray Dalio, Scott Adams, Tim Ferriss, Naval Ravikant, Kelly Starrett, Mr. Money Mustache, Danny Miranda, Patrick Bet-David
Zero to One
Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
by Peter Thiel
One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?" (Source)
Also recommended by:
Andrew Ng, Ben Horowitz, Bryan Johnson, Chris Dixon, Dustin Moskovitz, Elon Musk, Eric Weinstein, Keith Rabois, Kishore Biyani, Lee Stranahan, Luis von Ahn, Marc Andreessen, Mark Zuckerberg, Matt Mullenweg, Nassim Taleb, Sam Altman, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Tom Bilyeu, Ryan Petersen, Brian Dean, Rupert Murdoch
The House of Morgan
An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
by Ron Chernow
"Trying new routine: starting day by reading few pages from a history book. Currently, [this book]." - Max Levchin (Source)
Also recommended by:
Fast-Track Triathlete
Balancing a Big Life with Big Performance in Long-Course Triathlon
by Matt Dixon
"A smart pragmatic guide for time-starved triathletes." - Max Levchin (Source)
Slow Horses
Slough House, Book 1
by Mick Herron
Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn. (Source)
The Sympathizer
A Novel
by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Great War of Our Time
The CIA's Fight Against Terrorism--From al Qa'ida to ISIS
by Michael Morell
Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn. (Source)
Dear Leader
My Escape from North Korea
by Jang Jin-Sung
Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn. (Source)
The Song Machine
Inside the Hit Factory
by John Seabrook
Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn. (Source)
Endurance
Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
by Alfred Lansing
Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Ray Dalio, Sam Altman, Bryan Johnson, Ryan Holiday, Scott Belsky, Fred Wilson, Jason Fried, Dominic D'Agostino, Jordan Peterson
The Martian
A Novel
by Andy Weir
Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Ev Williams, Noah Kagan, Chris Sacca, Matt Ridley, Christopher Paolini, Tom Hanks
Hillbilly Elegy
A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
by J. D. Vance
Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Ben Shapiro, Bill Gates, Bill Nye, Jason Calacanis, Stewart Butterfield
The Middleman
A Novel
by Olen Steinhauer
"Explores a scenario involving domestic terrorism in the U.S. and tackles the complex question of how crises like this benefit the parties involved." - Max Levchin (Source)
Black Edge
Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street
by Sheelah Kolhatkar
"Documents the SEC’s investigation into hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors and several individuals including Steven Cohen." - Max Levchin (Source)
