Category: Business Books

Written in the “olden days” of the Internet (i.e. late 1990s), Randy Komisar’s “The Monk and the Riddle” is a classic with a timeless message: there’s a fundamental difference between passion and drive. The latter is what propels type A personalities to succeed at anything they undertake. The former is more visceral and personal; it…

Danny Meyer is a legend in the restaurant business. His bestselling business book, “Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business,” should make him a lower deity in the realm of American business gurus. Beginning with the Union Square Café in 1985 and culminating (for now) with Shake Shack, which went public in…

’ve written over 300 book reviews here on Amazon over the past couple of decades, but this one for “Straight Talk for Startups” by Randy Komisar and Jantoon Reigersman is one where my opinion is something very close to “expert.” I’ve worked in Silicon Valley for nearly twenty years, most of it spent as a…

One of the most influential business books of all-time, Clay Christensen’s “The Innovator’s Dilemma” is a must-read for anyone interested in business strategy. The author’s paradoxical conclusion is that what is often perceived as good management practice – listen to and faithfully serve your current customer base – actually exacerbates the problems associated with dealing…

Behavioral economics has been all the rage among business types for well over a decade now. I was first introduced to the field in 2012 when my employer at the time, consumer software maker Intuit, hired behavioral economics pioneer Dan Ariely to consult with the company. As part of the process the company had us…

Some books are worth reading because they are grand and insightful, even if the writing is a bit stale and dry. “The Visible Hand” falls into that rare fraternity of non-fiction; a book that is tough to get through, but will forever alter how you perceive a given subject, in this case, the early economic…