Michael

This anthology of mostly blog articles served as a decent introduction to the startup ecosystem and innovating in Southeast Asia and as a friendly reminder to build your startup with an eventual platform / ecosystem (i.e. reservoir) in mind. Although vivid analogies in exploratory expeditions (like the 1910s Antarctic race) are used as skeletons for the stories, they feel mostly contrived and somewhat verbose.

Key message of the book is that impromptu speaking is all about preparation. Use the “leader script” to formulate any off the cuff remark.

I found this to be very helpful about the book, next to recommendations like “Pausing before you speak” and having a catalogue of management messages ready that you can share at any time.

I'll give one star less, because the first part of the book was more about “how to lead” than “impromptu speaking” and the book could've done without it for brevity's sake.

I've had a love-hate affair with this book.

Originally, purchased in 2017, because a fellow founder recommended it to me. I couldn't get through the first pages of the book, because of its fantastical tone and exclamatory ALL CAPS.

In 2020 tried reading it again, but struggled halfway through the book. It was just too convoluted.

This year, 2021, I made it till the end, because I guess I've finally become receptive to its message.

Although the book is of course hopelessly misplaced in the current epoch with some of its observations and recommendations, there are some valuable pieces of advice that have really made me think differently. After all: “Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you.”

Fantastic book that goes into great detail about the evolution of Venture Capital starting in the 50s with Fairchild Semiconductor, to the rise of “activist investing” by Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins in the 70s, to “growth investing” (Tiger Global, Softbank) in the 2000s, to “Unicorn poker” in the 2010s (Theranos, WeWork, Uber). Highly recommended if you want to understand how this crucial industry came about to catalyze global innovation as we know it.

Also really appreciated the chapter on China, where a non-US-centric view is taken. Even though Venture Capital including its derivatives like convertible notes, stock options etc. is an American invention, it's becoming more dispersed worldwide with China recently overtaking the US in funds deployed.

I thought, however, that parts of the last chapter were unnecessary, where author Mallaby steps away from his largely neutral tone in the rest of the book. In his Conclusion, he discusses and advocates for limiting China's access to US funds and knowledge or blocking Chinese VCs from investing in US companies. I find this petty and futile, given that China is on the rise and the US should rather look inward and improve by working harder.

I haven't read a book in Dutch in a while, nor have I consumed anything history related lately. But with the sole intent to shuffle things, I decided to take this gifted book from the shelf that was catching dust.

Was it worldview changing? Definitely not. Was it entertaining? Surely yes.

Moresnet was a small little “condominium” (a country that's administered by more than 1 ruler) that existed for 100+ years in the 19th/20th century as a legal abnormality created by 2 countries (NL and Prussia) that were too stubborn to lose face. The author Dröge is deft at relaying the history of this patch of land by taking us through the sentiment of the time with several anecdotes that have been well-researched.

Raffles, the narcissist, whose pernicious contributions got posthumously heavily redacted.

But no, that's not how we remember Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles.

It's that larger-than-life guy on a pedestal in front of Victoria Concert Hall, as founder of Singapore.

It's the hero “with genius and perception” who is adored and eternalized in buildings (Raffles Hotel), schools (Raffles Institution), and places (Raffles Place)l

Which description of the man is true? It must be the latter, right?

In this book, Tim Hannigan does a painstaking, yet balanced job at uncovering the quirks and the actions of East Indian Company officer Raffles during the British reign in Java 1811-1816l

We learn that while Raffles dreamt big (and was a visionary), he was also a petty truth-bending despot who ignored higher orders.

We learn that later biographers (including his second wife Sophia) conveniently left out all his conniving self-dealing.

We learn that Raffles died a bankrupt man, being presented a retroactive bill from his employer after his stolen treasures went up in flames.

But most importantly: We learn that the heroic image of Sir Stamford Raffles is a very generous interpretation.

It was a joy to read this book of transcribed audio from the mystic Osho. Many anecdotal nuggets of him challenging the status quo (but surely slightly exaggerated by him here and there to suit his argument). Most important takeaway for me: A rebel is someone who acts according to their own nature, while a revolutionary is someone who reacts against what's gone before them. The latter is nothing but the same - perpetuating the cycle. The former is unique - breaking the cycle and leaving it altogether.

While long-winded, verbose, and at times simply repetitive, the book “What your teacher didn't tell you” does a great job at providing the perspective of the forgotten and colorful past of a current seemingly lopsided ethno-nationalistic and monotheistic Malaysia.

I've always been romanticizing the exploration of new worlds. I loved reading about the Holland Empire and how Dutch names ended up on various maps. As a kid, it also drove me to play the game “Settlers of Catan” fondly. But I never thought about it from a domination of other people kind of perspective.

Nevertheless, 16th-century discovery voyages are inextricable from the ensuing establishment of exploitation of local resources, especially with the help of enslaved laborers from the African region. This book, written in 1933 (!) by the son of a former slave, is a magnificently clear and eloquent protest against the excruciating conditions in which hundreds of thousands of workers were forced to grind on plantations in the Dutch colony of Suriname. Especially, physical torture through flagellation is one that was completely normalized as a supposedly punitive measure.

Reading this has been a true eye-opener and as most have commented similarly, I believe we ought to teach newer generations the full story of colonial powers. All that generated wealth was evidently at the expense of others.

All of the 80's references are completely lost on me, but the quest flow sprinkled with action makes for a compelling book. I wish the main character Wade/Parzival had slightly more setbacks throughout (except for 1 life changing event, it seems everything just goes his way) especially given that the non-metaverse outside world is completely in shambles.

Better to read a summary of the book to get the gist of it :)

Poignant memoir on the exploration of racial divide. Pleasantly amusing to listen to Obama impersonating his Kenyan relatives. Reads like a fiction.

This book made me realize it's okay to be an introvert as the exemplar of a gregarious and ebullient extravert has been projected upon every child growing up in the past 80 years.

Classic read. Although I've encountered a lot of its lessons before in different shapes and forms, it was nonetheless still fun to listen to. Jim Collins is an engaging narrator who is clearly passionate about these yearlong deep-dives he and his team have conducted in the field of business.

In Drive, Pink lays out nicely why in this day and age we will care more about purpose than (financial) rewards. Rewards even can act negatively / counterproductively when not applied thoughtfully. If people can work out of a flow state (and with deliberate practice), they will achieve mastery.

Although the book is still a great motivator to keep pushing yourself out of your comfort zone by taking the “Big Leap” and identifying your “Upper Limit” problem(s), the concepts explained in the book are unoriginal and barely scratching the surface.

His experiences of being a life coach seep through in that it's very anecdotal and always seems to have a happy end.

The title does not capture the actual content. I've held off for quite a while reading this book, assuming that it would only discuss techniques to remember better with the epitome being the “memory palace”. I was pleasantly surprised that the narrative is really more of a review of how we as humans have perceived our own memory over the course of time, intertwined with the author's own journey in becoming the US national memory champion. Reads mostly as a novel.

The one book I will recommend to aspiring founders who think the only way to raise funds is through venture capital.

Fascinating sequel to Brad Stone's “The Everything Store”. Although Bezos is on the cover of the book, the book highlights multiple other key players that have contributed to Amazon's success.

After reading “Working Backwards” written by two former VPs, I had a very favorable perspective on Amazon. It boasted the innovation engine and the enviable best practices that the company put in place.

“Amazon Unbound” is a refreshing counter-narrative to that. With well supported journalistic research, Brad Stone recalibrates the verdict as to how Amazon has impacted the US and the world. Highly recommended.

I think I will need to relisten the audiobook to truly distill the main takeaway. Scott Galloway is provocative in his thinking, yet also ranting (sometimes ironically, judging by his voice).

Although I agree with the notion that it reads as a quotes book, it has been enlightening to follow along with Naval's philosophy and modi operandi. Will revisit the book at a later time to absorb even more from it as it is chockful with goodies.

Fascinating to read the comeuppance of Amazon through Bezos' annual shareholder letters. The second part, which is an anthology of thoughts and speeches is sometimes repetitive, but brings home Bezos' firm beliefs (e.g. customer obsession). The introduction by Walter Isaacson is riveting and sets you up for a great ride.

The book reads like a fictional out-of-this-world thriller you can't put down. From an investor who gets showered with fire-retardant foam after committing a check, to CEO Adam Neumann instructing the building designers to implement a duct in his office to surreptitiously suck out the smell of weed.

Then again, I feel the book shows a predominantly negative sentiment towards all the effort Neumann put into building WeWork. The line between a convincing and visionary founder and an entrepreneurial conman is inherently vague, but author Wiedeman does not always view Neumann's actions as more nuanced.

Fantastic read! The processes developed within Amazon and described in the book give great insight into how to - slowly but surely - drive innovation within a larger corporation. Besides that, the case studies later in the book, like the one on AWS, are page-turners. Pretty cool, how they were willing to bet big (and completely out of their comfort zone) to keep developing value for their customers.

Good and brief introduction to ADHD (I was curious to understand if I had it; It could be that I show some symptoms of the predominantly inattentive type). I found the wobble board / balancing exercises an interesting treatment suggestion that I'll explore further.