Book recommendations

Mindfulness

Self-enquiry books for those that are inclined to prefer these type of books (and / or authors). The books are in order from the most approachable towards more in-depth insights. The bonus books are for fun and flavour at the end of the list.

• Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality
• The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
• The First and Last Freedom
• The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga: The Path to Self-Realization and Philosophic Insight, Volume 1
• The Wisdom of the Overself: The Path to Self-Realization and Philosophic Insight, Volume 2
• Who Am I? The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi (Pocket Edition)
• I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
• Fragments of Reality: Daily Entries of Lived LifeThis is my practical workbook type of take on the matter. I never wrote an intro book to this one :)
• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: The Complete EditionA bonus book in the kit
• Siddhartha: A NovelThis is a bonus book in this kit.
• The Alchemist: 25th Anniversary EditionA bonus book

Startup books

What to expect, experiences and practical examples.

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy AnswersWhat you should know before you need to know it
• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the FutureClassic that puts you on right track with your ambition level
• Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your BusinessA must-read for startup CEOs With a few more words: Startup CEO
• Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early DaysVery influential and inspiring read
• Startup, Scaleup, Screwup: 42 Tools to Accelerate Lean and Agile Business GrowthPractical handbook with the very latest knowhow combined with interviews from the Northern European startups See my review: Book review: Startup Scaleup Screwup
• Loops: Building Products with Clarity & ConfidenceHow to build products? There are two ways to build a product. Either you start with a solution in mind and launch it to the market or you start with a group of people with a problem and then solve it for them. This book is about the latter. I have also written a few words about it: Book review: Loops
• Category Creation: How to Build a Brand that Customers, Employees, and Investors Will LoveGreat guide when considering your positioning See my review: Book review: Category creation
• Startup Boards: Getting the Most Out of Your Board of DirectorsWhat you need to know when it's time to build a professional board, and before
• High Stakes, No Prisoners : A Winner's Tale of Greed and Glory in the Internet Wars90's Internet and how to make it
• The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley StoryHigh tech scene in the 90's
• Eat People: And Other Unapologetic Rules for Game-Changing EntrepreneursThink big and find innovations worth building
• Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky: How the Top 1% of Entrepreneurs Profit from Global ChaosGlobal entrepreneurship is the future
• Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley (As Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom)It's good to know how innovations are built. Timing matters, luck matters, and hard work matters. Current legends were just mostly regular people before their success who did extraordinary things.
• How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhoneThere are never too many stories and you can always learn from the past experiences. The history does not repeat but it rhymes and helps you to figure out your next moves (see Range for why :)
• Survival to Thrival: Building the Enterprise Startup - Book 2 Change or Be ChangedThe internal change within the organisation and the people
• Unleash Your Inner Company: Use Passion and Perseverance to Build Your Ideal BusinessA practical guide for nurturing your idea into business
• Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your CityStartup Communities is about the inspiring story and the message that you can build a vibrant startup ecosystem anywhere. If you can do it with a small 100 000 inhabitant city in Colorado it can be done elsewhere. Read more: Startup Communities

Startup funding essentials

Startup finance classics This is a very short list on purpose. If you have more time and interest it's easy to elaborate on each topic with a book or two but it's important to have an overall perspective first.

• Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture CapitalistIf you read one book pick this one.
• Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get ItExcellent and contemporary See my review Book review: Secrets of Sand Hill Road
• High Tech Start Up, Revised and Updated (text only) Rev Upd Su edition by J. L. NesheimClassic but have good info even thought it is rather old in startup years

Technology

Books about innovation and technology

• How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in FreedomWhether you want to learn about various innovation stories or understand better the interconnected nature of the innovation system Ridley shines light to the crucial area of our existence. Who wants to go back thirty, twenty or even ten years? Read more: How innovation works
• The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our FutureTechnological forces at work and shaping our future
• Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform IndustriesSome times the crazy ideas are the only ones working
• What Technology WantsWired founder Kevin Kelly explores the world of technology
• WTF?: What's the Future and Why It's Up to UsLet's talk about future
• Supertrends: 50 Things You Need to Know About the FutureWhat's ahead of us

Economics for everyone

These get you up-to-speed quickly and provide a better understanding what's happening in our societies

• Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic EconomicsThis classic is a best-seller for a reason. And it's based on another classic 100 years earlier. I would read this first.
• The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central BankingDon't let the title mislead you. You can totally ignore the Bitcoin and focus on the economics part. It's very concise and clear overview. (And the Bitcoin part is not bad either).
• The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves (P.S.)News cycles focus on click-baits, negativity and scandals. This brings easily bias to our worldview. Economics is mainly about things that are not obvious and self-evident. Often, the counter-intuitive is the actual answer.
• The Bastiat CollectionThere are many versions of the these classic texts. If you're in hurry check at least these: - What is seen and what is not seen - The Law
• Living Economics: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Independent Studies in Political Economy)This is not a basic reading but a curiosity piece in the mix. It's purpose is to make you dig deeper into different topics and explore further readings.

Impact

Impact investing and entrepreneurship

• Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better WorldSocial entrepreneur and founder of Acumen Jacqueline Novogratz calls for a revolution to reimagine how we are living on this planet in this century. Read more: Manifesto for a Moral Revolution
• Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social GoodLean methods applied to social entrepreneurship
• Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business UnusualThe story of Patagonia
• The Responsibility Revolution: How the Next Generation of Businesses Will Win
• Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make ThingsA classic from the early 2000s.
• Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: How Interface Proved That You Can Build a Successful Business Without Destroying the PlanetAn inspirational account from the 90's.
• Raising the Bar: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business: The Story of Clif Bar Inc.A startup story with a high bar
• Ben & Jerry's Double-Dip: How to Run a Values-Led Business and Make Money, TooThe story of Ben & Jerry's

Investing

Readings about investing

• The Templeton TouchThe story of Sir John
• Stay the Course: The Story of Vanguard and the Index RevolutionThe history of index funds and Vanguard and the relentless dedication to wait till the world catches-up with your vision
• The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition)The refutable classic of value investing
• Flash Boys: A Wall Street RevoltWhy it has been game over for day-trading for a long time
• Dark Pools and High Frequency Trading For DummiesFlash Boys explained
• Beat the Crowd: How You Can Out-Invest the Herd by Thinking Differently (Fisher Investments Press)The contrarian approach
• The Money Formula: Dodgy Finance, Pseudo Science, and How Mathematicians Took Over the MarketsWhy some financial instruments make no sense
• Big Mistakes: The Best Investors and Their Worst InvestmentsA bonus read for fun and flavour.
• Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups--Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 into $100,000,000The world from an angel's perspective

Non-fiction

• Seven Brief Lessons on PhysicsA good easy to read intro book
• Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum GravityRovelli is such a poetic scientist.
• The Order of TimeTime is ignorance.
• How to Win Friends & Influence PeopleA classic that I should have read earlier
• Atomic HabitsUnderstanding how to make changes and why they work and don't makes all the difference.
• Lifespan: Why We Age―and Why We Don't Have ToYou have time to read this, and even more afterwards :)
• Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't KnowWe are tilted towards giving the benefit of doubt to people and believing in them. Defaulting to the truth makes our society to work. See more: Talking to strangers
• The Polymath: Unlocking the Power of Human VersatilityThe most comprehensive exploration of the term polymath
• Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the FutureAn anti-dope for negative news bias
• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized WorldThe path to great discoveries and success is not always paved with grit and specialisation. Generalist may be slower in life to bloom but more weird and wicked their world become the better they tend to perform compared to specialist. Read more: Book review: Range
• The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information OverloadWhy multitasking is not good for you
• Inside the Box: A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough ResultsHow to innovate
• Out of Our Minds: The Power of Being CreativeAbout creativity (and education)
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good LifeYep, just read it
• The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the WorldThe issues that needs our attention

Society

Books about society from various aspects

• Open: The Story of Human ProgressWhy have we progressed more in the last few hundred years than in the previous tens of thousands before? A magnificent book that gives insights into our current world, the state we are with all the polarisations and conflicts but also how fragile our success is, and why it is not guaranteed to last. See the full review: Open: The Story of Human Progress
• Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You ThinkHans Rosling is a legendary educator and this book is a must read. If you have not heard of him just google him. You won't be disappointed.
• Permanent RecordA must read for everyone about our society
• Intellectuals and SocietyThomas Sowell is a clear thinker and he speaks his mind.
• Paper Money Collapse: The Folly of Elastic MoneyThe history of money is the history of our modern society
• Beyond DemocracyVery timely
• The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little GoodClassic
• From Village School to Global Brand: Changing the World through EducationAnother take on education
• Life After the State: Why We Don't Need GovernmentWhen a comedian starts to look for answers before the financial crisis
• The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas EmergeSmall things change the society
• The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market OdysseyIf you like stories this is a book for you. It has been translated in over 50 languages, and it's storyline might surprise you.
• The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of CompetitionThis is not surprising or is it?
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and ReligionWhy are we so divided?
• The Fourth Revolution: The Global Race to Reinvent the StateReinvent or perish
• The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn’t What It Used to BeTop-down is coming down crumbling
• The Last Vote: The Threats to Western DemocracyTo the roots of democracy