Category: Bio/Autobiographies

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BR 320: Poor Charlie’s Almanack – Edited by Peter D Kaufman

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Comments: I read this book over a period of nearly ten years picking it up and putting it down periodically. It had a lot of nuggets of wisdom from someone who was as wise as he was wealthy.

Insights that resonated: 

(1) When Warren Buffett lectures at business schools, he says, “I could improve your ultimate financial welfare by giving you a ticket with only twenty slots in it so that you had twenty punches – representing all the investments that you get to make in a lifetime. And once you’d punched through the card, you couldn’t make any more investments at all. Under those rules, you’d really think carefully about what you did, and you’d be forced to load up on what you’d really thought about. So you’d do much better.”

(2) I thought this Q&A was a beautiful illustration of Charlie Munger’s approach to life.

“What should a young person look for in a career?”

“I have three basic rules. Meeting all three is nearly impossible, but you should try anyway:

  • Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself
  • Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire.
  • Work only with people you enjoy.”

“What overall life advice do you have for young people?”

“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Step-by-step you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. But you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts. Slug it out one inch at a time, day-by-day, and at the end of the day – if you live long enough – like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve.

Life and its various passages can be hard, brutally hard. The three things I have found helpful in coping with its challenges are:

  • Have low expectations.
  • Have a sense of humor.
  • Surround yourself with the love of friend and family.
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BR 318: A Curious Mind by Brian Grazer

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Comments: Brian Grazer is a successful Hollywood producer whose work touched all of us through works like “A Beautiful Mind” and “24.” He focuses this autobiography on one trait that he’s worked on developing over the course of his life – curiosity. And his method of exercising curiosity was to make it a point to engage in “curiosity conversations” with luminaries from various fields which, in turn, influenced the movies and shows he made. The book occasionally tips to “here’s who I met and what they really are behind the scenes” – but is a nice read overall.

Insights that resonated: 

My favorite insight from the book was about the bias against curiosity in culture. People in power have always found curiosity threatening. The Adam and Eve parable is the oldest example – the moral being that curiosity leads to suffering.

Curiosity also killed the cat.

Even in everyday language, when we describe something as “curious,” we mean it’s an oddity. A little weird. Other than normal.

It makes sense when you think about it. Curiosity asks why things are the way they are. It doesn’t take things for granted. That’s challenging to any established order.

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BR 303: Be useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Comments: I picked this up as I was fascinated by Arnold’s career. It is hard to succeed in any one career – and quite something to manage it in three of them (bodybuilder, actor, politician). Arnold’s stories got a touch repetitive by the end – but it was nice to hear it all in his voice.

Insights that resonated: The message from the book was simple – take the time to develop clarity of vision, then go all in and work incredibly hard to make it happen.

Stories of his work ethic were awe-inspiring. He definitely walked the talk.

Note: I read this following the Elon musk autobiography. Arnold talks briefly about the mistakes he’s made in his family life. Sadly, it was another tale of infidelity and a broken family. Another one of those that made me reflect on how extreme success can be ruinous in the dimensions of our life that matter in the end.

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BR 302: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

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Comments: Always fascinating, sometimes generous in its portrayal of Elon, and occasionally riveting.

Insights that resonated: I don’t yet know what I’ve taken away from the book. That’s not to say there isn’t much.

Elon’s ability to reason from first principles is always fascinating to read about. His ability to then convert this reasoning to simple and ambitious targets and then use it to rally his teams with “surges” is often inspiring. His surge to get Model 3 production up to 5000 per week was just a great display of operational excellence and leadership.

His approach to risk is mind blowing. I think there are few people on the planet who can reasonably label themselves as “risk takers” after watching Elon in action.

Then there is all the cringe-worthy drama that comes with all of this. I think it is lucky the book’s timeline stops when it does. Elon’s actions in the following months would have challenged the heart of Walter Isaacson’s message – which I interpreted to be “Elon is a complex character. All the cringe is just the flip-side of the traits that make the good possible. And there is more good than bad given the inspiring feats he’s pulled off.”

It is hard not to read the book and avoid reflecting on the trade-offs that come with extreme success and wealth.

Also, as someone who works in close relative proximity to Twitter, the portion of the book dedicated to that made for an interesting read. And it definitely inspired me to reflect on the kind of person and leader I wanted to be.

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BR 292: Build by Tony Faddell

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Comments: I enjoyed Tony Fadell’s book. It felt honest, direct, and helpful.

Insights that resonated: 

(1) I appreciated the many Apple/Steve Jobs stories. Some of it confirmed Steve’s intensity (e.g., Jobs on vacation was worse than Jobs at work) and some of it also showed just how much Steve cared about the details. For example, there was a lot of debate between Apple’s product and marketing teams about an “all glass” iPhone. The marketing team wanted something similar to the Blackberry. Steve simply stepped in, made the call, and asked the team to move on.

(2) I appreciated how long Tony spent thinking about thermostats. There’s a whole saga about thermostats at his home in Tahoe. My mental model for starting a company is that you should only start a company when you can’t not do it. It certainly was the case with Nest.

(3) Tony’s story about Nest at Google was a true and sobering look at big company acquisitions. Few work as intended.

(4) Tony keeps driving home the importance of having high standards as a leader. Everything flows from there. That resonated.

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BR 291: The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson

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Comments: Walter Isaacson writes incredible biographies – that is known. I felt a rush of gratitude to him for such an in-depth take into the research process of one of the greatest breakthroughs of all time. The iterative process of discovery and the story of the collaboration between Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier and their respective research teams is a nice combination of fascinating, inspiring, and riveting.

Insights that resonated: 

(1) A recurring theme in the story was the power of bringing together people with curiosity, single-minded determination, resilience, and a willingness to collaborate on thoughtful hypothesis driven experimentation.

It is a great reminder of an enduring idea – high quality teams, led by strong and capable leaders, can accomplish amazing things.

(2) The discovery of CRISPR was a first step to humans being able to reprogram ourselves – a step as seminal as any. And yet, I appreciated the thoughtfulness with which the scientists involved proceeded. They attempted to continue to experiment while ensuring there was an ongoing conversation on the responsibilities and guardrails required. It was heartwarming to see the amount of thought paid to unintended consequences.

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BR 288: Will by Will Smith, Mark Manson

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Comments: My book of the year. Raw, vulnerable, thoughtful, and insightful.

Insights that resonated: 

(1) Internal confidence comes from insight and proficiency”

(2) “It is easy to be a good student when you know your teachers love you.”

(3) Will’s success as a rapper, then television actor, and then movie star had all the ups, downs, and challenges you’d expect. The common thread – outside of the usual doses of luck – was a sometimes-ridiculous amount of drive and grit. Will and his loyal team (many of whom have worked together for over 20 years) get an A for effort.

I also appreciated the refreshing honesty and vulnerability about his insecurities. The first few chapters of the book felt like it could have been written as an explanation to what might have driven that infamous Oscar slap.

I came away with many reflections about the nature of fame and success and the trade-offs that come with it.

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BR 254: The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger

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Comments: This book is to corporate leaders what “Shoe Dog” is to sports entrepreneurs and “The Hard Things About Hard Things” is to tech entrepreneurs. Surprisingly candid, incisive, and insightful. A phenomenal read – the sort of book that should be mandatory reading in every graduate school of business.

Top 3(+) Lessons: 

1. There’s a wonderful story about how Bob got Roy Disney to waive off a lawsuit against him early in the book. The lawsuit was a culmination of years of perceived slights and pent up frustration against the Disney board and leadership. Bob gave Roy the title of Chairman Emeritus, a small consulting fee, and an office at Disney. While folks criticized Bob for bending over to Roy’s demands, Bob shared that most people just want a bit of respect. And, in difficult situations, it is so important to not let our ego get in the way of that happening.

2. I love how straightforward Bob is through the course of the book. There is no false humility. He believed he deserved to be CEO, hated that he was made to go through the ringer for it, and made it count when he got the chance.

3. That said, he also demonstrated a lot of patience as he went through a series of changes and acquisitions before getting the job. He was 54 when he finally became CEO.. and, boy, did he make it count.

4. “Avoid getting into the business of manufacturing trombone oil. You may become the greatest manufacturer of trombone oil in the world, but in the end, the world only consumes a few quarts of trombone oil a year.”

5. There was an incredible anecdote about how he pulled the plug on the Twitter acquisition on the sunday before the deal was announced. “It just didn’t feel right” – he’d earned the right to trust his gut by then.

6. When faced with expected internal resistance about Disney+, he convinced the Board to change all executive bonus agreements to a rating decided by him on how much they were contributing to the shift to streaming. Another brave move.

 

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BR 242: Principles by Ray Dalio

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Comments: This is going to be a controversial rating for a book that has been lauded a fair bit in the mainstream media. Ray Dalio is a legendary investor and is clearly very smart. I just happened to follow his work via his videos and his “Principles” website after having done a case on Bridgewater in graduate school. So, a lot of the book wasn’t new to me. It would be in the “Buy it” category otherwise.

Top 3 Lessons: 

1. Ray Dalio’s success built on investing since he was 12 + reflecting on experiences + approaching every decision with a fear of being wrong (never being over confident).

2. First order and second order consequences are often in opposition. Unhealthy food has a good first auto consequence but a bad second out a consequence.
Question – Will you choose a painful healthy route or an unhealthy comfortable delusion?

3. Managers are engineers. They focus on setting up the machine to create the outcomes they seek. Build systems first, then put people in.