100 books like Invention

From my notes after I read it, “Great content and organization. Triggered me to write and plan a 2022 Book.”

There was specific practical content like removing vacation policy, removing travel and expenses policy. An opening the books, which showed the practices behind the no rules idea, and their consequent results in the business. As a consultant, these give me a tool for discussion with clients. What if you did the same?

Again a great leader, and successful businessperson, using persistence and imagination to deal with the forces against change.

In this book, Ray Dalio shares the invaluable knowledge he has gathered throughout his career.

He believes that principles of life, management, economics, and investing can all be systematized and understood like machines. With hundreds of practical lessons that revolve around his principles of "radical truth" and "radical transparency," Dalio highlights the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams.

He also describes the innovative tools that his firm uses to bring idea meritocracy to life, including "baseball cards" for employees that distill their strengths and weaknesses and computerized decision-making systems that make believability-weighted decisions.

While the book provides novel ideas for organizations and institutions, Principles also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter their goal.

No surprises. Self-made businessperson, with persistence and imagination.

This book is unusual. It is literally written by Bezos over decades of developing Amazon. It is mainly his annual reports to the shareholders! So it gives a continuous picture of the growth of the empire.

My favourite practical tip, is his executive meeting process. Meeting begins with a 6-page (with a 1-page summary) briefing, to reread for the first 20 minutes of as meeting in silence, then discussed. No presentation with slides and pretty pictures, and soothing ambiguous words.

The briefing is the result of hard work, in advance, crafting it to be useful. Wow! 

I have read many Musk books, and seen many Musk videos. So this is just one of many.

I have extracted the methods, Musk uses, in a collection. I have to admit, one reason I like them, is that they are essentially the same as my own, in Competitive Engineering! Just great engineering and management.

But, Musk, as yet, has not written his own methods book, or even articles or slides. So we have these biographical books, and videos, as the only evidence of his methods.

But his methods are clear enough in essence. “Fanatic on metrics” (source March 1, 2023 Investors video). Frequent, early, automated, measurement of results. Empowerment to increment towards a super-competitive product, service, and organizational results. Visions of the very best qualities, by far (example Safety).

Three Tesla models are top 3 of the 50 safest cars currently rated for safety! I value my family’s lives.… show more.

Michael Nesmith was famous for being a member of “The Monkees,” but his family was rich before that success. His mother, Bette Nesmith, a secretary, and amateur artist, invented Liquid Paper in 1958. She sold her company to Gillette in 1979 for $49,500,000. This book chronicles the amazing achievement of hundreds of people just like Bette. Some became famous (Orville Wright, Levi Strauss, Fred, and Donald Trump, Helen Keller), whereas others were outshone by their creations. The author explains the thought processes, work systems, promotional efforts, and production demands behind each creative person’s journey from idea to finished product. Superb drawings enhance the explanations of machines, bridges, tunnels, and skyscrapers.

I absolutely love this book! It’s an easy read, reads like a novel, but it’s packed with very valuable lessons on entrepreneurship, venture capital, and leadership.

The story is told through a conversation between a venture capitalist (Komisar) and two young entrepreneurs who are planning to start a business for all the wrong reasons. It’s humorous, touching, and very entertaining. I laughed a lot.

In the end, you learn that a business needs much more than nuts and bolts. It needs heart and soul.

Equally as important as what you learn about startups, the story will teach you how to avoid the Deferred Life Plan, putting off what you want to do, and instead live your life with passion.

In Good Company, Arthur Blank, one of the founders of Home Depot, shares his views on leadership, hiring, his biggest mistakes, and how creating a culture of putting the customer first in everything you do can drive tremendous business results, brand loyalty, and customer satisfaction. 

Pick it up to understand how 2” can make a massive difference.

In 2015, she “was sleeping on the floor of the San Francisco airport” and living off of food stamps. Less than ten years later, Arlan Hamilton is hosting her own conference, Your First Million 2024, teaching other entrepreneurs how to come “for the cake, not the crumbs!” 

This book, and Arlan, inspire me as an entrepreneur to keep going. She formed her own company, Backstage Capital, for women, people of color, and LGBT founders in response to the fact that 90 percent of venture capital deals go to white men. Like me, Arlan did not see a problem and just complain about it; she did something about it.

This book showed me that I, too, can help make the world a more equitable place.

David Sax spent more than a year on the road, living with a handful of real live entrepreneurs. We get to know these people, what their days are like, what their families are like, their stresses and their joys—ultimately what it feels like to be an entrepreneur. You’ll feel like a voyeur, but you’ll ultimately empathize with what these entrepreneurs do what they do as well as the challenges they constantly face. The book is a page-turner.

I know the work that Entrepreneur First does and some young founders who have benefitted from their work and built successful businesses. This book is read by the founders as they talk about entrepreneurship, the start-up phase and co-founding.

I found the sections on understanding and using your ‘edge’ especially interesting, and this leads to some smart thinking about how to choose the right co-founder. The book stops at the point where the business is about to take off; keep that in mind.