My favorite books on business, management, investing and design
Out of the many books I've read in different subjects, below is a list of some of my favorites with some brief commentary for some of them. There are a few other "Mental Model" categories (psychology, history, economics, ecology, etc.) that I left out -- hopefull they'll be the subject of another post.
Business theory
The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses, Amar Bhide -- extensive study of startups of all kinds, how they grow, what makes them successful (this is not a "help" book it is mainly observational)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Peter Drucker -- how companies should systematically innovate -- lots of good startup/innovation strategies (it's not random)
The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton Christensen -- every businessperson or investor needs to read this (and the one below) -- every industry's value chain is disrupted at some point
The Innovator's Solution, Clayton Christensen -- expands on "Dilemma" with better explanations and examples -- I think the "jobs to be done" concept is one of the most important in business
Competition Demystified, Greenwald + Kahn -- how businesses capture value by building a moat, and what strategies to use if you have or don't have one
The Halo Effect, Phil Rosonzweig -- the anti-business-book -- but still has great insights on how businesses work and how best to run them
Built to Last, Jim Collins -- read this with The Halo Effect in mind -- lots of good advice & stories (I like this much better than "Good to Great")
The Strategy Paradox, Michael Raynor -- dense at times but a great theory on why strategy is so hard
Hidden Champions, Hermann Simon
Management
The Essential Drucker, Peter Drucker -- if you run any kind of business and haven't read this, stop what you're doing and get it now
The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge -- a great management book but an even greater book on thinking and problem solving
Only the Paranoid Survive, Andy Grove -- classic on business strategy
Eat People, Andy Kessler -- this book seems stupid at first but has lots of great insights about business & economics -- recommended for entrepreneurs
First, Break all the Rules, Buckingham & Coffman -- the sections on culture/HR are great
Drive, Dan Pink
The Ten Commandments of Business Failure, Don Keough -- invert, always invert
Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough, Christopher Tisch -- lots of stories and anecdotes on how to give customers a great experience (this is Tisch of Loews fame)
Business history
They Made America, Harold Evans -- fantastic history book with each chapter telling the detailed story of a businessperson or inventor in U.S. history
In Their Time, Mayo & Nohria -- similar to above
The Visible Hand, Alfred Chandler -- great business history book on the "invention" of management in 1800s -- a little dry but if you like business history you will love this
Andrew Carnegie, David Nasaw -- great book; Carnegie was a lot more of an investor than an industrialist (steel was to him as insurance is to Buffett)
Titan (John D. Rockefeller), Ron Chernow
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist, Roger Lowenstein -- the book that got me into value investing
Steve Jobs, Walter Issacson
Call Me Ted, Ted Turner -- I wish Ted Turner was still running a public company
Pour Your Heart Into It (Starbucks), Howard Shultz
Googled, Ken Auletta -- "In the Plex" was good also but I liked Auletta's better
Made in America (Wal-Mart), Sam Walton -- from the best merchandiser ever
Grinding it Out (McDonalds), Ray Kroc -- I wrote about this here
Get Big Fast (Amazon), Robert Spector -- good early history of Amazon
Distant Force (Henry Singleton), George Roberts
Design
The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman -- this is the Bible of design -- read it to know why you like using Apple products so much and why everyday frustrations are probably not your fault
Universal Principles of Design, Lidell + Holden + Butler -- lots of great mental models on design and psychology
Envisioning Information, Edward Tufte -- I have been using this book heavily in designing Atlastory; will have a post about it soon. After you read this you will realize most data visualizations on the web suck
Retail
Why We Buy, Paco Underhill -- the best book on the nitty-gritty details of retailing, merchandising, and buying psychology
Buyology, Martin Lindstrom
Winning at Retail, Ander & Stern
Bare Essentials (Aldi), Dieter Brandes -- history/principles of European retailer Aldi; they own Trader Joe's and use many of the same principles
Investing
Security Analysis, Benjamin Graham -- every time I flip through this I find something insightful -- it "resets" my investing mindset
The Intelligent Investor, Benjamin Graham
Common Stocks & Uncommon Profits, Phil Fisher
The Essays of Warren Buffett, Larry Cunningham
Margin of Safety, Seth Klarman -- find digital copies of this here
The Most Important Thing, Howard Marks -- same as Security Analysis above
Fooled By Randomness, Nassim Taleb -- read this every time you're doing well
Against the Gods, Peter Bernstein
Secrets of Professional Turf Betting, Robert Bacon -- an old book about betting on horse races (very analogous to investing) -- used copies are expensive, and I hope one day to scan my copy and distribute it
Bernard Baruch, Jim Grant
I would be interested to hear any recommendations based on the list above.
This will also be posted in the "Books" section of the blog. Each of these links to the Amazon product that I receive a small commission for. (Despite the potentially misaligned incentives, take comfort in the fact that I don't know how much I receive if you buy a book, and the amount is probably very small. Ignorance is bliss!)