All posts in Book Notes

Zero to One outlines an approach to create startups with the potential to become very large businesses. Peter and Blake explain that successful startups strive for a monopolistic advantage, meaning they do something significantly better than anyone else which makes it difficult for others to compete. Venture capitalists use this logic to invest in companies…

Good Strategy Bad Strategy will guide you in developing a sound business strategy. Richard emphasizes the importance of focusing strategy on a few key objectives that lead to a cascade of favorable outcomes. This is in contrast to bad strategies that attempt to accomplish too much through fragmented initiatives. The optimal structure of a strategy…

Essentialism provides advice on how to decide what truly matters and is worth focusing on. In a world with an ever-expanding menu of distractions, the skills of proactive choice and saying “no” are increasingly important. Greg explains that the key to this mindset, is to shift from asking, “How can I make it all work?”…

Mindset explains that successful people share the belief that they have the power to significantly grow their existing abilities. People with a “growth mindset” are attracted to challenges because the opportunity to learn and grow far outweighs the inevitable failure that precedes eventual success. Carol cautions us to avoid “fixed mindset” tendencies, which manifest as…

The Things We Make makes you appreciate the engineering method as the optimal way to solve real-world problems and contrasts it with the scientific method, which seeks to explain universal truths. In the engineering method, the solution comes before the proof, so rules of thumb are needed to get there. These are developed by applying…

The Inner Game of Tennis reveals how to relax and focus your mind for peak performance, a lesson that extends far beyond the tennis court. Timothy teaches the massively underutilized skill of nonjudgemental awareness, described as the ability to observe what is happening without feeling the need to have an opinion about it. This helps…

Thinking Fast and Slow is a seminal study on the intricacies of mind’s inner workings, encompassing decision making and judgments. Daniel describes the core principle through two modes of thought: System 1 – fast, intuitive, emotional and System 2 – slow, logical, intentional. Within this framework, he explains numerous cognitive biases that lead to errors…

Atomic Habits deconstructs tremendous accomplishments into a series of tiny compounding habits and reveals how to implement a system to achieve similar results. James explains the science of habit through four intuitive steps: 1) cue, 2) craving, 3) response, and 4) reward. He then describes the optimal actions for each step to make it easy…

Blue Ocean Strategy explains how to create differentiated strategies that access untapped markets/consumers (i.e., blue oceans) instead of competing directly, which destroys value.W. Chan & Renee remind us that the rules of how we compete in established industries are not permanently fixed, and those who strategically deviate from these norms are best positioned to succeed.…

Grit unpacks the force behind the effort that translates talent into achievement. We apply this by finding something so interesting that we loyally and routinely expend significant effort developing and improving the skills needed to achieve excellence in that space. Angela reveals that while the seeds of passions are discovered, they only blossom when we…