Sick of renting this summer with 20 of your “closest” friends? Ready to pick up the entire tab at Liars? Then check out these 5 books this summer on how to make that happen. At least try to eventually make that happen.
Photo by John Saddington
One of Steve Jobs’ favorites (that should be enough right?), the book basically delivers that “companies get ruined by their own success, staying committed to a product even after technology (and customers) move on, like Blockbuster did with physical movie rentals.” Written by the legendary Harvard Business School professor, disrupting even your own company’s status quo, in order to achieve long term success is integral to any sustainable strategy. Pretty much get over yourself, and even if you invent the next iphone, keep on hustling.
Photo by Bad Gentlemen
While we can’t guarantee that you’re going to make it through this book in one sitting, we can guarantee that you will have a different outlook on life once you do. A modern philosophical journey that follows a father, son and two friends on a cross country motorcycle trip, essentially breaking down all of life’s complexities into the basics of motorcycle parts and their maintenance. Pretty simple right? Not really. You can buy me a beer after you’re done and we can discuss if Phaedrus is alive or dead. “The only zen you find at the top of a mountain is the zen you bring up there.” – Robert Pirsig
Photo by [amazon.com]
A favorite of our design team, this book walks even the person with a novice idea of what makes good design, through its importance in our everyday lives. The question posed in the book is whether or not great design can transform peoples lives, and a resounding answer throughout is yes. From making medicine safer to counteracting global warming, Berger walks you through the essentials of understanding who’s behind these transformational designs, and their importance to how we exist. Heady I know, but I bet you look at stuff on the aisles a little differently once you finish.
Photo by Health Warrior
From the head craftsman himself, Patagonia’s founder discusses the importance of company culture, and his take on how business leaders have it wrong. His long awaited personal biography essentially breaks down how he never sought to get in “business,” he was just a dirtbag climber who thought the available equipment was shitty, so he made his own.
It definitely triggers the inner “dirtbag” and entrepreneur in all of us, and hopefully your boss becomes more of the “absentee” manager that has built Patagonia into one of the largest clothing brands in the world, and one of the best places to work too.
Photo by if only
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
Yeah we know you think you know all there is to know about starting a business, working for your 3rd startup in Williamsburg alone, but Ben Horowitz has been in the suck, and made it through a number of startups. Here’s his guide to everything that MBA didn’t teach you. We all learn from the success stories of winners throughout history, but here’s a real account of success and failures, and every roadblock in between. It’s always those tough times and obstacles that teach us the most, and Horowitz takes the reader through it all. Peppered with some solid rap lyrics throughout just in case you doze off.
