Books I recommend
to everyone I work with.
These aren't just books I've read. They're the ones I actively recommend to the engineers, founders, and leaders I mentor. 51picks across leadership, systems, and life, each with a note on why it's worth your time.
51 books
The only business book that actually argues for creating something genuinely new.
The most honest account of what it actually feels like to lead through a crisis.
How to have the high-stakes conversations most people avoid, and come out better for it.
The definitive guide to engineering leadership from tech lead to VP. Read it at every level.
The framework for giving feedback that's both caring and direct. The hardest skill in management.
The data-backed case for what actually makes engineering teams fast and reliable.
Vulnerability isn't weakness. It's the foundation of trust, creativity, and real leadership.
Most leadership failures start with how we see ourselves. This fixes that blind spot.
The missing playbook for structuring engineering teams around how software actually flows.
Bill Campbell coached Google, Apple, and Intuit. This is everything he believed about leadership.
OKRs done right. How Google and Intel turned focus into compounding results.
The unfiltered story of a revolutionary who chose principles over survival.
The bridge between organizational culture and how software actually gets built and maintained.
A new model for the employer-employee relationship built on honesty and mutual investment.
Two legends, two methods, one goal. The tension between their visions still resonates today.
What separates engineers who lead organizations from those who just ship features.
Research-backed scripts for managing the most difficult personalities at work. Practical, direct, and surprisingly necessary.
Cut through the noise and get ruthlessly focused on what actually moves the needle.
A Navy captain's playbook for creating ownership. Give people responsibility and watch them rise.
Learn to recognize the early warning signs of institutional decline before it's too late.
Optimism isn't soft. It's the defining trait of the most effective leaders.
How giving control instead of taking it creates the highest-performing teams.
Master the art of saying exactly the right thing, at the right time, in the right way.
Still the best book ever written on human relationships. 90 years on, nothing has beaten it.
A language for resolving conflict that starts with listening instead of reacting.
The no-fluff playbook for building a profitable software business without VC pressure.
Positioning is the most underrated skill in product. This is the definitive guide.
Learn to have honest customer conversations that actually validate your idea.
Most businesses fail because the founder is working in it, not on it.
The clearest case for why the next era of the internet will be built on crypto, not platforms.
Jack Ma's story is the ultimate proof that vision and persistence beat circumstance.
Culture and differentiation built a grocery empire. The full blueprint is here.
Timeless persuasion principles from the master of the close. Still unmatched.
The untold story of how Silicon Valley's mythology was built, and who paid for it.
A raw, honest account of what living with anxiety actually feels like, and what finally helps.
The most practical system for building habits that stick, backed by science and told plainly.
A short, sharp argument for radical honesty, and why even small lies quietly corrode everything.
Challenge the rules you were given. The ones holding you back most were never yours to begin with.
Understanding how memory works will change how you learn and what you stop worrying about.
Break the overthinking loop that quietly keeps high-performers stuck.
Recognize the patterns keeping you stuck and build real self-awareness to change them.
Release the judgments that quietly limit your relationships and leadership presence.
A timeless reminder that the journey toward your purpose is the point.
Ancient Ayurvedic and yogic wisdom made practical. A holistic guide to physical and mental wellbeing.
Finding purpose in suffering. A short book that completely reframes what resilience means.
The spiritual classic that shaped Steve Jobs, and millions of seekers after him.
Evidence-based strategies that actually get your baby, and you, sleeping again.
Science-backed strategies for raising emotionally intelligent, resilient kids.
A deceptively simple fable about the four disciplines that separate great executives from good ones. Organizational health in practice.
Every engineer needs a reminder not to take the universe too seriously.
The world's greatest epic. A masterclass in duty, consequence, and human nature.