Situational Awareness: The Decade Ahead

di
Leopold Aschenbrenner
. Rating:
10
/10

This article is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the AI race, scaling laws, and the global impact of AI. It offers clear-sighted, data-driven predictions. Written by a former OpenAI employee.

Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth

di
Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
. Rating:
9
/10

Traction is a powerful, practical guide for anyone starting out in growth marketing. It offers clear rules of thumb and a structured way to think about the different stages of growth. Many of its concepts have become go-to references for me, and I find myself returning to them repeatedly in my work.

Gemba kaizen book cover

Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy

di
Masaaki Imai
. Rating:
9
/10

A cornerstone book on operational excellence. It will permanently change how you think about improving processes, and make it hard to tolerate wasteful work ever again. Read it at your own risk. 🤓

Make: The Bootstrapper’s Handbook book cover

Make: The Bootstrapper’s Handbook: Learn to build profitable startups the indie way

di
Pieter Levels
. Rating:
9
/10

Pieter is an impressive serial entrepreneur who uses a bootstrap approach to building companies – he is able to launch and scale companies without external funding and with minimum headcount. Read this if you are embarking on the entrepreneur’s journey. Venture capital money and expensive startups is not the only way to go.

7 Powers book cover

7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy

di
Hamilton Helmer
. Rating:
9
/10

Very insightful book on business strategy: it provides a new framework on how to create long lasting power in a market despite the competition.

The 5 Second Rule - book cover

The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage

di
Mel Robbins
. Rating:
9
/10

The rule is simple but effective. Over time it becomes a habit, and you’ll notice that you can get yourself to do many more things on command, especially those that your instincts suggest you should do but that scare you. I’m giving a high rating because the rule works, although the book itself is somewhat repetitive. Watching the TEDx video might save you time, but I preferred reading the book to let the concepts sink in.

Slow productivity - book cover

Slow productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

di
Cal Newport
. Rating:
9
/10

Recommended. It is the natural continuation of his previous book, Deep Work.

Thinking in systems

di
Donella H. Meadows
. Rating:
8
/10

This book is a landmark guide to understanding complex systems and their levers of change, in both nature and society. Through models and real-world examples, the author explains the mechanisms that create resilience and self-preservation, and the levers that can shift system dynamics—sometimes unpredictably. A resource for navigating complex organizations or for situations where you need models to think critically about change levers.

Automate Your Busywork book cover

Automate Your Busywork: Do Less, Achieve More, and Save Your Brain for the Big Stuff

di
Aytekin Tank
. Rating:
7
/10

A framework for identifying what to automate, setting priorities, and executing the automations. With the rise of AI some practical steps are changing, but the core principles remain the same.

The 12 Week Year book cover

The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months

di
Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington
. Rating:
7
/10

I found the idea of breaking plans into 12-week sprints to be very powerful. However, when it comes to personal goals, I’m starting to doubt the effectiveness of SMART goals. Maybe the sweet spot is to adopt 12-week sprints but be much more liberal in how you define your goals. I’m also skeptical that you’d know in advance exactly which tactics to adopt during the 12 weeks. If you’re already an expert in the area, the path to your goal might be clear. But in many cases, you’ll need to adjust your tactics based on what you learn along the way.

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