Miha Rekar

Good book with lots of good advice on how to communicate better.

Could be a series of blog posts though, and about 20% the size and you'd still get the same value out of it.

I'm a huge fan of Apocalypse Never so I was quite interested by the premise of this book as well. It goes against the popular believes, yet somehow makes perfect sense.

Main idea of the book is that we should focus on treating mental illness, building as many shelters as possible, and cleaning up open-air drug markets. De-institutionalisation of mental illness and housing-first initiatives are the root of homelessness. There's also the problem of misaligned incentives where the homelessness nonprofits whole intention is to keep more people in this cycle, because they're getting money for it.

And now a long quote:
How and why do progressives ruin cities?
They divert funding from homeless shelters to permanent supportive housing, resulting in insufficient shelter space. They defend the right of people they characterize as Victims to camp on sidewalks, in parks, and along highways, as well as to break other laws, including against public drug use and defecation. They intimidate experts, policy makers, and journalists by attacking them as being motivated by a hatred of the poor, people of color, and the sick, and as causing violence against them. They reduce penalties for shoplifting, drug dealing, and public drug use. They prefer homelessness and incarceration to involuntary hospitalization for the mentally ill and addicted. And their ideology blinds them to the harms of harm reduction, Housing First, and camp-anywhere policies, leading them to misattribute the addiction, untreated mental illness, and homeless crisis to poverty and to policies and politicians dating back to the 1980s.

It could be about half the size, since I find many chapters repetitive. But all in all a very good book and I can truly recommend it.

Short. To the point. You probably need to be a senior to have enough context to understand some of it. Just read it.

Prebral v manj kot dnevu, toplo priporočam. Ni vrhunec literature, tudi dodaten lektorski pregled ne bi škodil, ampak vsebina je vrhunska. Komaj čakam dopolnitve z nadaljnimi Matejevimi zgodbami.

Written fantastically, reads/listens like a charm. If you enjoy books like Billion Dollar Loser, you're gonna love this one.

Also don't read 1 star reviews - they're written by people who were burned by either FTX or SBF himself. Or they are effective altruist and thus delusional

The book starts off promisingly but soon veers into subjective territory. As a biography, one would expect a balanced and objective perspective, yet this book disappoints in that regard. It covers Musk's life and achievements for three-quarters of its length, but the final quarter feels like a day-to-day Twitter chronicle. This section, while perhaps relevant at the time of publication, seems unlikely to hold long-term interest.

As the narrative progresses, Isaacson appears increasingly enamored with his subject, bordering on fanboy territory. This bias tints many of the stories within, undermining the book's credibility. A glaring example of this is the fabricated tale of a Ukrainian submarine and Starlink, making it clear no one fact checked anything.

The lack of editorial rigor is evident not just in these inaccuracies but also in the book's unwieldy length. It seems as if there was a rush to publish, leading to a compromise in quality. This is particularly disappointing considering my already tempered expectations from Isaacson, following his horrible biography of Steve Jobs.

The book does offer some intriguing insights and is worth a read or skim. However, I advise taking its contents with a big spoon of salt.

I found ‘The Art of Learning' to be a pretty interesting read, especially getting into the head of someone who went from being a chess whiz kid to a martial arts champ. The book's got some cool stories about his life in both arenas. But if you're looking for a step-by-step guide to self-improvement or something, this might not hit the mark. The author's super competitive, and that's just not me, so I couldn't really connect with a lot of his advice. That said, as a story, it's well-written and engaging. Plus, there's this neat bit about his Slovenian girlfriend, which added a personal touch to his story.

This Art of PostgreSQL is a mixed bag. Its format resembles a patchwork of blog posts rather than a coherent text, and numerous links within are dead, undermining its utility. The book is also marred by grammatical errors and a lack of clear explanations, suggesting there wasn't any professional editing. While it offers a basic introduction to Postgres, it fails to instill confidence in its application, especially for developers concerned about scalability. There are definitely some gems inside that not everyone knows, but the way it's described and structured made an impression like “this books about everything and nothing in the same time”.

Not as good as the A Charming Mass Suicide, in places quite predictable. Enjoyable nonetheless.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but when I do, it's by strong recommendations. This one came from many people and I enjoyed it a lot. There were way too many Finnish town names and names in general, but outside of that I had a lot of fun.

Here's the ironic twist with “The 80/20 Principle” - the book itself seems to be a testament to its principle. About 20% of its content delivers 80% of the value. A quick online search about the 80/20 rule will give you the gist.

While the principle is undeniably insightful, you don't necessarily need to comb through the entire book to grasp it. For a deeper dive, I'd recommend tuning into podcast interviews with the author – you get more bang for your buck (or value for your minute) there than wading through all the pages.

A solid 5-star for the principle, but a little heads-up for those considering a full read!

The book has come highly recommended by many, and while I'm a fan of Rick Rubin in general, I must admit that this book left me quite underwhelmed.

The book was line after line after line of superficial inspirational quotes that were interspersed with inspirational quotes written by others. While these are undoubtedly profound teachings, their representation in this book felt like a repackaging rather than a fresh perspective.

I know where he's coming from, but the focus on musicians seemed limiting, sidelining other forms of creativity.

Also what the hell was up with the audiobook version? Chiming bell at the end of each chapter is something you expect in a cultist book, not a serious read.

It's a classic, I know. But I didn't find it very enjoyable. The fact that every chapter starts with “Sun Tzu says” surely didn't help. Like we get it, the guy wrote the manual, stop with the repetition already.

It's a short book, with each chapter focusing on a different aspect of warfare, and providing wisdom on strategy, tactics, and leadership. The main point is that using deception is what achieves victory.

Outside of select few fields, I think we've grown past this as humanity. I hope, at least. We should be aiming for collaboration, not war.

The book aims to help individuals overcome their creative struggles. It is certainly a book that has resonated with many people, but personally, I found it to be a mixed bag.

The book's core message is valuable and relatable, as it identifies the enemy of creativity as “Resistance” and offers practical advice on how to conquer it. Pressfield emphasizes the importance of discipline, consistency, and adopting a professional mindset, which are undeniably essential aspects of any creative pursuit.

However, the tone of the book didn't sit well with me. Pressfield's writing often came across as overly aggressive and didactic, which I found to be off-putting. Instead of feeling inspired, I sometimes felt alienated by the author's approach. I believe the message could have been delivered more effectively with a more empathetic tone.

If you can look past the author's aggressive style, there is valuable advice to be found.

I read this after liking her last book Quit. Gotta say, the writting improved a lot, because I much preferred the way Quit was written.

This is a good book, but it could be narrowed down to a couple of pages. The main point is simply that life is like poker, not like chess. This makes it unpredictable, and we should be thinking in probabilities certain events will happen and base our decisions on those numbers. They can still go the other way, but this way we'll be confident in ourselves that we looked at all the possibilities and decideded on the best outcome for us based on the information we had at the time.

She provides some practical strategies for separating outcome quality from decision quality, identifying and overcoming cognitive biases, and embracing a mindset of learning from our experiences. Ultimately, “Thinking in Bets” teaches readers how to become more rational and effective decision-makers in both personal and professional contexts.

It is an insightful and engaging book that provides a behind-the-scenes look into the business strategies and corporate culture that have driven Amazon's extraordinary success.

I found many of the points in this book to be quite valuable. The authors, both former Amazon executives, delve into the company's unique principles, such as their focus on customer obsession, long-term thinking, and data-driven decision-making. The book explores the idea of working backwards from the customer's perspective, which has been a key factor in Amazon's ability to innovate and disrupt various industries.

While I quite enjoyed “Working Backwards,” there were moments when the book felt a bit too much like a promotional piece for Amazon. Despite this, the valuable insights and lessons shared by the authors make it a worthwhile read for anyone interested in understanding the driving forces behind one of the world's most successful companies.

Main suggestions:
- Replace PowerPoint presentations with six-page narratives and PR/FAQ documents for discussing complex topics in leadership meetings.
- Implement the Bar Raiser hiring process, which improves the quality of hires and overall team performance.
- Focus on controllable input metrics, requiring patient trial and error to identify those with the greatest impact on desired results.
- Adopt an organizational structure with autonomous teams and single-threaded leaders, starting with your product development group.
- Revise the compensation structure for leaders to encourage long-term commitment and decision-making.
- Clearly articulate the core elements of your company's culture and integrate them into every process and discussion.
- Develop a set of leadership principles with input from multiple contributors and incorporate them into every process.
- Create a visual representation of your company's growth drivers, evaluating actions based on their impact on the flywheel.

TLDR: Spend money when you're young an able on experiences. That way when you tell stories they accrue interest like money would. Also you want to experience thing while you're still fully abled and not in your late years when everything hurts.

Quitting is just as important as is sticking with something. Deciding where to do one or the other is where the magic lies. This book tries to persuade you that we should do way more of quitting and it gives plenty of examples why. Good read.

A Curious Mind is a fascinating and inspiring read. As a curious person myself (my tinder bio was “incurably curious”), I was immediately drawn to the idea of exploring how curiosity can enrich our lives.

Grazer does an excellent job of weaving personal stories and insights from his own life with those of the many influential people he has met throughout his career. He shares his own experiences of how his curiosity has helped him in both his personal and professional life, and how it has led to some of his greatest achievements.

One of the things I appreciated most about the book was the way Grazer encourages readers to be curious and to never stop asking questions. He argues that being curious can lead to new opportunities, deeper connections with others, and a greater sense of fulfillment in life. He also provides practical tips and advice for how to cultivate and nurture curiosity on a daily basis.

There's nothing particularly new in the book, though. And if you're not interested in a life of a Hollywood producer, you might find it hard to enjoy.

How to give feedback, but also how to receive it. Very repetitive throughout the book. TL;DR: Feedback can come in the form of appreciation, evaluation, or coaching. The task of the recipient is to learn to separate one from the other. There are some techniques explained on how to go from “this is wrong” to “explain to me” without tragedies and conflicts.

It's definitely worth a skim through or a read, but do not get the audiobook. It's horrendously produced.

Odlična knjiga, ki nas popelje v pandemično leto 2020 skozi Mazzinijeve oči. Avtobiografski roman v kratkih poglavjih skače skozi obdobja Mihovega življenja in pripoveduje prepletajoče se zgodbe. Vse od strašnega otroštva, ki sta ga s svojimi domišljijami in sanjami definirali njegova mama in stara mama, do partnerskega odnosa, ki se je kar šestkrat prekinil, ter vse vmes.

Avtor se odloči spopasti s svojimi travmami s “čudežnimi rešitvami” od hoje po žerjavici, DMT-ja, 10-dnevne Vipassane, do in šamanskih ritualov do hoje po Caminu. Vseh se loti v klasičnem skeptičnem in kritičnem Mazzinijevem slogu, a iz vsake potegne neke nove zaključke.

Prek vseh teh zgodb pa knjiga komunicira samo eno: medčloveške odnose. Vsak bralec se bo najbrž spominjal svojih zgodb, ki so paralele avtorjevim in tako poleg zabavnega branja dobil tudi precej materiala za premišljevanje o lastnih odnosih.

Še obvezen citat:
>Nagrada avtorju kolumn je, ko ga hkrati zmerjajo levi in desni, pohvala razumu, da ga žalijo svečenice novodobnosti, kompliment znanstveniku, da ne naseda ideološkim frazam in čast pisatelju, da ga policijski minister imenuje državna sramota. Kot piše v Bibliji: Bog izpljune mlačne.

Edina kritika, ki jo lahko dam knjigi je spremna beseda. Avtorica je bolj zainteresirana v komuniciranju lastne razgledanosti in vsevednosti, kot pa nameniti besedo knjigi, ki naj bi jo pospremila. Ker je postavljena na konec knjige tako pusti grenak priokus fantastičnemu zaključku Mazzinijevih besed.

Much better than the title would have you believe. I really enjoyed all the stories in the book. It was much less about the weird subtitle of company losing soul, but all about Jony Ive, Tim, Cook, and Steve Jobs and the differences between the way these people work, think, and manage other people. It's one of the best history books on Apple I've read so far with tremendous amount of detail.

I was vaguely aware of Theranos, but never really looked into it. This book tells the entire story behind it and how Elizabeth Holmes charmed affluent people into board members and, with that, gathered a ton of investments. It's especially interesting reading it after I read a Billion Dollar Loser and watched WeCrashed a couple of months ago. A similar story of charismatic individuals selling bullshit and getting a ton of personal gain in the process.

The big difference, however, is that WeWork didn't directly affect people outside the company/investors, whereas Elizabeth with Theranos played with many people's health and lives. Theranos went to extraordinary lengths to get around quality standards. The industry is highly regulated, and new diagnostics undergo rigorous testing. Move fast and break things does not apply when lives are at stake. No one really cares if a service goes down for a day. But if, as a consequence of your actions, people can die, then you shouldn't do it.

The book being written by the investigative journalist who broke the original story is just the cherry on the top.

There's nothing really ground-breaking in this book. Certainly nothing “Unorthodox”. There's a ton of Americanisms and US work mentality: work as much as you can, sleep as little as you can, and when you dream - dream about work. Which are not the views I agree with. At all.

However, the book is interesting as a memoir - a look behind the curtains at General Magic, Philips, Apple, Nest, and Google. Especially the parts about iPod and iPhone development and extremely tight deadlines.

A nice overall view of what it means to be a founder, a CEO, and a leader in a successful or less successful startup.

The book offers a good overview of the history of transportation and some prediction about where we're going. It's filled with tons of interesting information, so I've highlighted it all over.

For example, did you know that the oldest actual wheel ever found was discovered in Ljubljana Marshes in Slovenia? Or that wheels were not widely used for thousands of years after their invention.

There are a bunch of fun anecdotes from the history and stories of how various technologies were competing for dominance and why petrol-powered ICE won.

There's even some managerial advice from Ford himself: “the payment of five dollars a day for an eight-hour day was one of the finest cost-cutting moves we ever made.” It turns out that paying higher wages was a way of cutting costs and improving efficiency: it reduced employee turnover and hence the amount of time needed for training.

It also talks about suburban America, how that made them completely car-dependent, and how car drivers “won” over pedestrians over street ownership. In the closing chapters, he also talks about how this trend is reverting in many cities and how a varied slew of public transportation options are better for health and climate.

The book really is all over the place, so it's hard to give it a proper review or, for that matter, five stars. But I definitely recommend reading it.