Foreword ✒:
Below is the absolutely non-comprehensive list of Venture resources I’ve explored and compiled as I seek to maintain my perch in this hyper competitive industry. Upon graduating my own MBA program, I made the conscious decision to then earn myself an “MBA in Venture”. This will be a never-ending education and I hope to update the materials below as my thinking evolves.
If it helps even one person to exceed my own meager successes, mission accomplished.
Books 📚:
Legend:
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rr: WL required reading
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r: I’ve read
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u: Unread or requiring revisit
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VENTURE Manuals & VENTURE Philosophy
- Venture Deals (rr) - 'The Venture Bible’; a stellar introduction to the nuts-and-bolts of term sheets, fundraising, etc.
- Secrets of Sandhill Road (rr) - A similar educational resource as Venture Deals, providing an great overview for the venture neophyte
- Angel (r) - Jason Calacanis’s discussion on Angel Investing, strategy and philosophy
- Zero to One (rr) - Peter Thiel. A classic in the venture canon. Short, controversial, effective
- Founder vs. Investor (rr) - A super insightful presentation of contrasting views between a multi-exit entrepreneur and a serial investor. Exceptional resource for both sides of the venture aisle
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VENTURE Histories
- The Power Law (rr) - Mallaby is absolutely awesome. This is a really insightful history of VC, and an examination of how each new generation of VC titans has outcompeted and kept an edge
- Chip Wars (r) - A history of the semiconductor industry. This one's an awesome pairing with The Power Law— The Power Law is a history of VCs and more the Software side, where Chip Wars is really the history and evolution of the Hardware side of the tech revolution
- Done Deals (u) - VCs tell about their biggest deals
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VENTURE / BUSINESS Strategy
- Competitive Strategy (u) - Michael Porter. Porter's 5 forces. Like the most quoted book in your Strategy 101 class. Very dry, but it provides fundamental frameworks for thinking about competition and disruption. Bill Gurley calls it a must read
- The Innovator's Dilemma (u) - The challenge faced by every big corporation and why they get disrupted. Venture 'must read', I just haven't gotten to it yet
- Blitzscaling (u) - By Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn Founder, legendary VC). Everyone loves this one. I thought it could be summed up as "Grow faster than you're comfortable" when I audiobooked it. But I was audiobooking it on a long road trip. Definitely need to reread
- The Hard Thing about Hard Things (u) - Another one I audiobooked that everyone RAVES is Venture canon. Horowitz and a16z are probably the greatest VC shop of all time... but I thought the book was pretty overrated when I read it. I need to reread to give it a really thorough understanding though, with how much people reference it and say it's amazing. Admitting I probably missed something
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GENERAL Financial Education
- A Short History of Financial Euphoria (rr) - Every investor should read this. Full stop. It's <100 pages
- More Money Than God (rr) - Came out before The Power Law, but same concept. This book outlines the history and evolution of the hedge fund industry from Soros to Robertson. It also examines how each generation got an edge to generate alpha. Business gold
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BIOGRAPHIES
- Steve Jobs (rr) - Self explanatory
- Elon Musk (rr) - Love him or hate him, Musk has changed the arc of progress multiple times over, and this biography is worth reading for any entrepreneur or investor
- Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE (rr) - Phil Knight’s telling of the history of Nike. Being a startup before the word really existed, and a masterclass in business education. Banger
- Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (r) - Tangential to venture, but full of wisdom and Franklin’s pre-revolution life as a media mogul made me think about distribution/social media
- Napoleon: A Life (rr) - Napoleon lived a bad ass life. Many lessons in leadership and inspiring people as well as applications to business and strategy
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PSYCHOLOGY / PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Ego is the Enemy (rr) - I was lucky to read this at my first finance job surrounded by hedge fund bros and big egos. Ego is a fool's errand. This is a great lesson to learn early and refresh often
- Peak (r) - Study of peak performers and what they have in common (hint: purposeful practice). This author's research is what Malcolm Gladwell bastardized when he popularized the 10,000 hour rule. One of my faves; I’ve read it a few times
- Grit (r) - Why some succeed and others don't; the highest correlation variable is Grit (a stubborn, unrelenting determination)
- Skin in the Game (r) - This book is a great examination of the power of incentives. Incentives underpin so much in investing
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BONUS: LIFE BOOKS
Pro Tip: To crush long books that are more narrative driven (histories, biographies, non-technical), I almost always audiobook on 1.25x speed. The brain adjusts, and you can crush content.
Blogs 📜:
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TECH / VC / STRATEGY WRITING
- The Generalist - [REQUIRED] - I’ve been a huge fan of The Generalist since the early days. Mario Gabrielle is a brilliant writer and a formidable analyst. He’s only continued to level up what this newsletter is becoming. 10/10
- An absolutely legendary recent drop: Mario’s No Rivals, a four part mega deep dive on the history and gospel of Founders Fund. Incredible writing, deep journalism and a fascinating look at one of greats.
- Not Boring - [REQUIRED] - Packy is incredibly sharp. Great thoughts on companies, businesses, and the future. He is an excellent voice of techno-optimism to counteract the doomers on your timeline
- Stratechery [REQUIRED] - In the tech canon. My highest ‘alpha’ content purchase of 2024. Not the cheapest, but Ben Thompson is a legendary industry analyst. A subscription also gets you access to full length Sharp Tech podcasts, which are superb.
- Above the Crowd - Bill Gurley's blog. Gurley's on the VC Mount Rushmore. I haven't yet, but someday I'll go through his writings in their entirety
- Reaction Wheel - Jerry Neumann’s blog. A Colombia Business School professor and prolific angel investor (co-author of Founder vs. Investor above). Killer.
- Paul Graham - the founder of YC. He writes, Silicon Valley listens. - - his blog is like the 'founder bible'
- Digital Native - Rex Woodbury; great thinker on consumer trends and VC. I really enjoy his stuff each week
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VENTURE OVERVIEWS
- Venture 101: VC Demystified Nicole DeTommaso runs an ongoing blog covering everything an aspiring young VC might need to break into the industry
- Venture 102: The Generalist has been building out a top tier series of tactical deep dives for young VC’s, including [warning: paywalled]…
Note: The Generalist guides are very lengthy, but thorough and informative. They interview and compile wisdom from a plethora of big hitters in the industry for each topic
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Pieces that changed how I think about venture investing: