Reading List
The best ideas come from cross-pollinating knowledge across domains. These are the books that have had the biggest impact on how I think about engineering, business, relationships, and life.
library-photo.jpg
My personal library
Drop your library photo into /public/images/library-photo.jpg
Tim Ferriss
Rewired how I think about time, leverage, and what work actually needs to look like. The idea that you can design your life around outcomes rather than hours was a turning point — and it's how I ended up running multiple ventures simultaneously.
View on AmazonMarcus Aurelius
The original operating manual for staying grounded under pressure. When you're troubleshooting a shredder at 2 AM or navigating a $200M sales pipeline, Stoic principles aren't philosophy — they're survival skills.
View on AmazonEric Jorgenson
Play iterated games with iterated people. This book crystallized what I'd been doing intuitively for years — working consistently in the same industries, with the same people, letting compound returns do their work. A universal truth.
View on AmazonWalter Isaacson
Having worked on the Tesla Gigafactory, this one hit different. First-principles thinking, relentless execution, and the willingness to do what others think is impossible. Whether you agree with the man or not, the intensity is instructive.
View on AmazonGene Kranz
Mission control mindset applied to everything. When you're responsible for systems where failure means real consequences — whether it's a shredder or a data center — this book teaches you what accountability actually looks like.
View on AmazonClifford Stoll
The true story of an astronomer-turned-detective tracking a hacker through early computer networks using nothing but curiosity and persistence. Pure first-principles troubleshooting — the same mindset that makes you good at debugging PLCs makes you good at hunting hackers across terminals.
View on AmazonAndy Weir
Pure problem-solving joy. An engineer alone in space, working through impossible challenges with nothing but first principles and creativity. If that's not a metaphor for entrepreneurship, I don't know what is.
View on AmazonLiu Cixin
Expanded my thinking about systems, game theory, and civilizational-scale challenges. The dark forest theory is the prisoner's dilemma writ large — and it changed how I think about competition and cooperation.
View on AmazonYuval Noah Harari
Understanding where we came from to understand where we're going. The idea that shared narratives are what hold societies together applies directly to building companies and cultures.
View on AmazonJoseph Henrich
Why Western societies think and operate the way they do. Understanding the cultural and psychological foundations of the markets you operate in is an underrated competitive advantage.
View on AmazonThomas Gryta & Ted Mann
The cautionary tale of how GE went from manufacturing powerhouse to financial failure through misguided policy. A masterclass in what happens when a company abandons its engineering roots for financial engineering. Every builder should read this as a warning.
View on AmazonJordan Peterson
Personal responsibility, meaning, and the importance of getting your own house in order before trying to change the world. Practical philosophy for navigating chaos — which is most of what entrepreneurship actually is.
View on Amazon