For many things in this world you don't need a teacher. Just open the book.
I wish I could proudly claim that I have read many books in my life but I haven't. Reading books is time consuming and I carefully select those I am going to spend more than 3 hours on. Those that I recommend I select with even more care.
Here is the collection of books that had a serious impact on my life and career. With a few exceptions, I have read them through multiple times and gifted to people on various occasions.
Here is the collection of books that had a serious impact on my life and career. With a few exceptions, I have read them through multiple times and gifted to people on various occasions.
I wish I could proudly claim that I have read many books in my life but I haven't. Reading books is time consuming and I carefully select those I am going to spend more than 3 hours on. Those that I recommend I select with even more care.
Here is the collection of books that had a serious impact on my life and career. With a few exceptions, I have read them through multiple times and gifted to people on various occasions.
Here is the collection of books that had a serious impact on my life and career. With a few exceptions, I have read them through multiple times and gifted to people on various occasions.
Product Management
The Four Steps to the Epiphany
Steve Blank
Steve Blank
My most gifted book. I cannot count how many times I gave it to young CEOs, product managers, programmers with the 'ultimate facebook killer' ideas and many other people working on software and hardware products.
This is absolutely a MUST-read before you invest a single hour of your (or anyone else's) time into a new venture.
This is absolutely a MUST-read before you invest a single hour of your (or anyone else's) time into a new venture.
| Buy |
Crossing the Chasm
Geoffrey A. Moore
Geoffrey A. Moore
If you liked The Four Steps to the Epiphany (and you really should if you want to become a good product manager), this book is a perfect addition to it. Every young CEO is strongly advised to read it at the very beginning of their entrepreneurial journey to prevent burning out their team and cash.
| Buy |
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
Eric Ries
This is the first book on product management I have ever read and I am really glad it was this one. It helps to form the right mindset and philosophy for those who happen to work on any kind of software and hardware products. You will get the very basics of how to set the deadlines, manage requirements and deal with stakeholders.
| Buy |
The Humane Interface
Jef Raskin
Jef Raskin
Even though I entered product management with a technical background, I believe that every successful product is an alloy of technical and visual excellence. Many techies really suck when it comes to their sense of beauty and as result they launch functional yet ugly products. If you are a product manager with a background of a hardcore backend developer - start with this book.
| Buy |
Programming
Code
Charles Petzold
Charles Petzold
My second most gifted book. I believe that like a surgeon has to do a basic anatomy course (and much more in fact) before operating on a real human body, every programmer should start coding only once he or she understands the basics of how computers work. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of today's coders this is not the case.
| Buy |
The Passionate Programmer
Chad Fowler
Chad Fowler
I have heard once that "programming is a desperate losing battle against the unconquerable complexity of code". This is absolutely true, coding is a job that is full of frustration and results are often far from perfection.
This book is a great guidance to protect yourself from burning out on your way to conquering the world.
This book is a great guidance to protect yourself from burning out on your way to conquering the world.
| Buy |
Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach
Stuart J. Russell and Peter Norvig
Stuart J. Russell and Peter Norvig
If you think AI is something you would like to devote your life to - start here. Just like Code by Petzold, it will give you the most important foundations on how neural networks work. I am glad that was one of my text books at uni.
| Buy |
Compilers: Principles, Techniques and Tools
Alfred V. Aho, Monica S. Lam, Ravi Sethi, and Jeffrey D. Ullman
Alfred V. Aho, Monica S. Lam, Ravi Sethi, and Jeffrey D. Ullman
This was my text book for the M.Sc. compilers course and I will be honest with you: I have never finished it. Moreover, this book has become the major decision making factor for me to drop this course and choose something that I am more passionate about. And yet, I believe this is the best book you can find if you are into machine code.
| Buy |
Business
Start With No
Jim Camp
Jim Camp
I believe that saying no to unimportant things is a much more crucial skill for becoming successful than saying yes to the right ones. Just like many people in this world, I had troubles rejecting offers to do something for someone because I was afraid to hurt them or to simply miss a (not necessarily) great opportunity. Very often that's not true so stop wasting your time now.
The book is generally great for any life situation but especially for CEOs who risk time and money which is not only theirs.
The book is generally great for any life situation but especially for CEOs who risk time and money which is not only theirs.
| Buy |
The Tipping Point
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell
I love this book for its unique perspective on product successes and failures by looking at them through the prism of customer social behaviour. Very often, our own accomplishments as well as prosperity of our business depends on nothing but the primitive instincts of the crowd. Learn how human psychology works and you will triumph. After all, we are all animals down to the gut.
| Buy |
Small Giants
Bo Burlingham
Bo Burlingham
I have always thought that The Four Steps to the Epiphany is the most important business book one can ever read but I would put this one right next to it. After more than 10 years in product management I can say with certainty: a good product can only be created by people that love their job and the place they work in.
| Buy |
The Innovators Dilemma
Clayton M. Christensen
Clayton M. Christensen
Company's impotency towards sustainable innovation was the main reason why I left Buhler. This book covers the topic very well and helps to overcome the trap when selfish ambitions of c-level managers pull industry giants into the draining race of setting up accelerators, innovation challenges etc with zero result. Sounds familiar? Open the book and learn from others' experience first.
| Buy |
General Life Knowledge
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius
The gold mine of ancient knowledge on how to be a decent person. Not only your friends and family will find it easier to interact with you once you read it. Your own life will become much simpler as you will refocus your attention on things that really matter instead of thinking over and over again how to take revenge on that asshole that pissed you off in the morning.
| Buy |
Cosmology
Plotinus
Plotinus
This is the first Philosophy book that I have read to the end. It's pretty hardcore in a sense that one's IQ level should be certainly above certain threshold to be able to understand its concepts. Sometimes it took me 5 minutes of reading the same sentence over and over again to get its meaning so this book certainly isn't something for your next bus ride.
However, this book has become my own door into the world of Philosophy that had the most serious influence on my life and career.
However, this book has become my own door into the world of Philosophy that had the most serious influence on my life and career.
| Buy |
Fooled by Randomness
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Amazing book for those who deal with tasks that require scientific approach but did not study university-level Math or Physics. Absolute MUST-read for traders who do not know anything about statistics and random processes but believe they have just discovered the ultimate winning strategy.
| Buy |
Introduction To General Psychology
Y. Gippenreiter
Y. Gippenreiter
Best book on psychology that I have come across so far. In a simple manner, it helps to understand both adults and children better.
