I have recently finished the third book from my “entrepreneur” bookshelf. All three are incredibly eye-opening and crazy interesting. If you are seeking for some stunning literature on the bespoke topic or probably considering to set up your own start-up, there is no doubt that these books are for you.
I am going to briefly guide you through their subject. Hopefully, it will encourage you to read them 🙂
How Google Works
This book is as much interesting as its authors’ profiles. Written with a great sense of humor by Google ex-CEO Eric Shmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, who was SVP of Product and counselor of Larry Page.
Both of them are sharing the experience and knowledge acquired during Google transformation – from university start-up to global corporation. The book is full of entertaining stories and striking examples of daily googlers’ lives. On the one hand, it perfectly illustrates the story behind the rise of one of the most innovative companies in the world. On the other hand, it is an excellent guide for managers that shows how to succeed in the era of new technologies. Among others, it covers such topics as strategy, innovation, corporate culture, talents etc.
Personally what I like the most about this book is that it gives an inside-out view on different stages of the company growth. It puts light on miscellaneous challenges the founders were facing throughout the journey. It also presents the importance of having the right team to be able to go about these difficulties. The authors emphasize how important is to empower employees and give them the freedom to unleash full potential.
Elon Musk
The biography of an extraordinary man with out of this world ambitions is truly amazing. The book describes the personal and professional life of the Tesla & SpaceX CEO. It reveals some special moments of Elon Musks childhood in South Africa and how it impacted other parts of his life.
The path from Africa to Canada, then to the US was a huge journey. This book changed my perception of this man and how he became one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. The most astonishing and at the same time one of the hardest moments was when SpaceX was being created. He invested last money after selling PayPal into this company with a strong belief that it will work. And he and his team finally went off very well, because of the extremely rare combination of skills that Elon Musk posses. Technical mind and marketer soul are two main components of his superiority.
I would highly recommend this book to someone who already has some perception of this guy and want to know something out of the general context. If you haven’t heard yet of this person check out the book as soon as possible – it might positively impact your view on and knowledge regarding contemporary entrepreneurship.
Zero To One
I already mentioned PayPal, right?! The author of this book is the head of ‘PayPal mafia’. Peter Thiel is a co-founder of the online payments giant, founder of Palantir Technologies, one of the first investors of Facebook, SpaceX, and LinkedIn.
This the smallest book from the described bundle – you can read it in 1-2 evenings. But in terms of entrepreneurs tips & tricks, priceless suggestions and guidelines this one is the richest. The book is based on the notes of one Blake Masters – a student that was attending Peter Thiel’s lecture at the Stanford University. It concentrates around building new things (going from zero to one), as opposed to duplicating already existing ones (from one to many).
You should read it not only because it could answer some of your questions concerning innovation or new business, but also because it will show what are the most important questions you didn’t ask yourself yet.
Hope you will enjoy the reading 😉
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