44/52: Books of the year
#CapitalAtRisk
The 2010s was the decade of the Entrepreneur. The 2020s will be the decade of the Investor.
“Reputation is the cornerstone of power. So much depends on reputation—guard it with your life”.
Robert Greene
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The top 5
Book of the year
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene — as you’ll know from reading my posts, I love observing people and seeing what makes them tick. This book gives a provocative, unfiltered look at human behaviour, power dynamics, and strategies for navigating people, business and the competition within and between each.
Favourite quote
“The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interests to promote yours”
Jean de la Bruyère, 1645—1696
The universe is wonky!
80/20 Daily by Richard Koch — please buy Richard’s new book, which came out this year — his optimism, confidence and gusto are infectious (and buy his other books too, they’re amongst the most gifted by me to my portfolio companies!). This one is full of terrific snippets to make you think — really think! — 80/20, as well as practical advice on the small number of things you could do that might drive the massive results you seek.
Favourite quote
“Optimism did not flow from prosperity; it was the other way round”
Richard Koch
Speed up your generosity
Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charles T Munger — terrific wisdom, humour, and the unique thinking of Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s business partner and one of the most admired investors and thinkers of our time. A great guide for living a thoughtful, disciplined, and principled life.
Favourite quote
“He [B. F. Skinner of Harvard] also demonstrated that prompt rewards worked much better than delayed rewards in changing and maintaining behaviour”
Charlie Munger
Play long-term games with long-term people
Winning long-term games by Luca Dellanna — I met Luca at VALUEx in February and he kindly sent me a copy of this book later on this year. The key to winning in the long-term, Luca writes, is to stop thinking of short-term games in isolation, game after game after game in a chain. Far better to think of these as steps that you can string together to increase the chances of winning in the long-term.
Favourite quote
“Never kill your Goose, nor risk it… the most common reason people kill their Goose or at least put their Goose at risk is because of the desire to get more or to get it faster”
Luca Dellanna
Wisdom from the late 19th and early 20th centuries
The 38 letters from J.D. Rockefeller to his son by G. Ng — recommended to me ages ago by Tim Armoo this book has such incredible, timeless wisdom from 100+ years ago as J. D. Rockefeller wrangles with the best ways to deal with people, money and life.
Favourite quote
“To win, you must understand the value of risk, and you must have your own vision of creating luck”
J. D. Rockefeller
In other news
🎧 Next time I’ll review some of the best podcasts I’ve listened to this year.
🩻 Busy week next week recording a podcast, a few final meetings before the holidays and getting scanned and whatnot by Daniel Ek’s new Neko Health startup (I have a promo code — if you want to jump up the waiting list just reply and let me know). Wish me luck.
📖 I sort of assume everyone reading this Substack also reads the
one but if you don’t, I share a ‘Weekend Reading’ post each Friday — like this one — with some of the longer or more obscure and thought-provoking pieces I’ve seen during the week.
More from me?
If you like my writing you can get more by buying my book, ‘Find your 9others’. It’s on Amazon here.
And if you’ve already read ‘Find your 9others’ please leave an Amazon review here.
Q&A
🆓 Free subscribers get a short preview and all free public posts. NB: All posts in 2024 will have paid-subscriber-only parts.
💰 Paid subscribers get access to all posts, the angel investor Q&A podcast I did during the 2020 lockdowns, the full archive and can request a video call to ask me anything and talk about the things I don’t share anywhere else.
💰💰💰 Founding Members get all paid benefits plus you get to WhatsApp me unlimited questions for discussion, you get a one hour discussion session once a quarter plus a great lunch in London, on me.
Important: None of these posts are investment advice. If you are thinking about investing you should seek the advice of a suitably qualified independent advisor.
#CapitalAtRisk