ashes of my shelf
Over the years, I've read a few thousand books. Some of which were about business. This list has 44 recommendations.
Magic Words
Years of experience as a magician taught Tim David that real magic is all about words, and the way they influence the minds of the audience. What sets a professional magician apart from an amateur are people skills like communication, influence, and engagement—skills that are also effective in the workplace. By applying seven “magic” words […]
Zero to One
Zero to One by Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, is a provocative manifesto on innovation and entrepreneurship. The central thesis is that doing something truly new—going from 0 to 1—is fundamentally more valuable than incremental improvement, or going from 1 to n. Thiel criticizes conformity in Silicon Valley and stresses the importance of […]
The Goal
Alex rogo is a harried plant manager working ever more desperately to try and improve performance. His factory is rapidly heading for disaster. So is his marriage. He has ninety days to save his plant – or it will be closed by corporate HQ, with hundreds of job losses. It takes a chance meeting with […]
Cold Steel
Cold Steel is the gripping story of the world’s biggest and most hard-fought industry takeover of recent years, an epic corporate battle that would send shockwaves through the political corridors of Europe, excite the world’s financial markets, enrich thirty hedge funds and transform the global steel industry. In 2006, the two largest steel-producers went head […]
The Psychology of Money
Morgan Housel’s *The Psychology of Money* offers a profound yet accessible look into how people make financial decisions based not on logic or spreadsheets, but on personal history, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives. The book’s strength lies in its storytelling—short chapters illustrate big ideas using vivid anecdotes and real-world events. Housel emphasizes that doing […]
Amp It Up
*Amp It Up* by Frank Slootman is a manifesto for performance-focused leadership in high-growth companies. As a CEO who has led companies like ServiceNow, Data Domain, and Snowflake through meteoric rises, Slootman shares his no-nonsense leadership philosophy. At its core, the book demands urgency, intensity, and clarity in execution. Slootman critiques the trend of corporate […]