Business Books

Charlie Munger, the lesser-known business partner of Warren Buffet, once said, "I believe in the discipline of mastering the best of what other people have figured out." The Great Mental Models project, authored by Shane Parrish of Farnam Street blog, is a homage to the aforementioned idea. A series of four books, aimed at distilling the most useful mental models from a wide variety of disciplines, should surely help anyone who reads it upgrade their thinking, and subsequently, decision-making capabilities. The first volume of the series The Great Mental Models introduces us to nine fundamental metal models, in a bid to help...

Naval Ravikant once said, “I would rather read the best 100 books over and over again until I absorb them rather than read all the books.” When it comes to writing, 'Elements of Style' is widely regarded as one of the greatest books published on the craft of writing. It was named as one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923 in Time Magazine's 'All-TIME 100 Nonfiction Books' list released in 2011. Even Stephen King, an acclaimed author, in his own book on writing; recommended every aspiring author to read 'Elements of...

In 2014, Brad stone published 'The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon,' chronicling Amazon's journey from its inception until the year of publishing. In 2021, Brad Stone released another book, Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire, chronicling Amazon's growth from 2014 to 2021. Both books are essential reading for those who want to make sense of Amazon's all-encompassing and, at times, perplexing business. I read 'The Everything Store,' Stone's first book on Amazon, and made a book summary in Dec 2020. So, when Stone released 'Amazon Unbound' in May 2021, I decided to read...

Before I briefly explain the note-taking process, I want to introduce Gary Provost, the author of ‘100 ways to improve your writing.'  "Being a writer is not my profession. It is my nature," once said Gary.  His voluminous lifelong work is proof that the statement was not an exaggeration. Gary sold 22 (fiction and nonfiction) books to major publishing houses throughout his career, writing in almost every genre that the mind can conjure: How-To texts for writers, True Crime, Satire, Mystery, Romance, and more. Apart from writing books, Gary was also engaged in teaching writing, constantly honing his craft by helping...

Originally a designer focussed on consulting, Paul Jarvis has written five books (including 'Company of One'), sold digital courses, and co-founded Fathom Analytics, a privacy-focused Google Analytics Alternative. His contrarian philosophy of purposefully staying small and questioning the conventional wisdom of building a big business empire has shaped Paul's long, successful, and personally meaningful career. In 'Company of One,' Paul shares the ideas behind his choosing this alternate path in business, and more broadly, in life -- a mindful approach based on designing work around life, not the other way around. Note: 'Company of One' contains 13 chapters but the book...

Acclaimed Silicon Valley Journalist Brad Stone has been covering Amazon since its early days. "The Everything Store," is a result of Stone drawing upon his writing experience and interviewing numerous Amazon executives, with the blessings of Jeff Bezos. The book provides a comprehensive account of Amazon's growth from its 1996 inception until 2013, the year of publishing. Reading the book was fruitful because it gave me a window into Amazon's way of thinking & helped me understand Amazon's complex business by breaking it down into distinct components. I've structured my book summary such that it should do the same for...

Before I briefly explain the note-taking process, I want to take a few sentences to introduce William Zinsser, the author of 'On Writing Well.'  A lifelong nonfiction writer, William began his career as a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune in 1946. In the 1970s, he taught a writing class at Yale University. He also wrote 18 books in a writing career spanning more than half a century. First published in 1976, 'On Writing Well' is widely regarded as his best work. To date, it has served as the canonical writing book for three generations of writers, journalists, & editors.  In...

I read the book & highlighted the key ideas to create a distilled yet detailed version of the subject matter. Whether you're looking to gauge if the full book is worth your time or want to revisit ideas you've already read, my summary should come in handy. Book Summary of ‘Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles & Ship Work that Matters’ by ‘Ryan Singer’. Chapter 1: Introduction This book isn’t about the risk of building the wrong thing. Other books can help you with that (we recommend Competing Against Luck). This book is about the risk of getting stuck, the risk of getting...

I read the book -- highlighted material that stood out, trimmed it down to the essential & made minor edits to align the text with the summary format. People who have read the book a long time ago, forgotten the book matter to a certain degree, and would like to refresh their memory of its content would benefit the most from the notes considering the way we've designed them. If you haven't read the book, we'd recommend buying and reading it, because it's not just about knowing key lessons. Reading a book forces you to think about the idea at length....

When you search for the keyword "best business books," this is what the Google search result looks like All the top-ranking results give you lists, ranging from 7 to a whopping 101 business books. The problem with these lists is that they miss the point. You can't learn all there is to running a successful business by just reading business books ( & nobody is actually going to read 101 business books. It just doesn't make sense ) In our digital economy, aspiring/existing entrepreneurs need to learn how to think, how to learn, how to write, how to build good habits, how to...