Mathias Meyer
Mathias Meyer

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Been a while since the last reading list (here’s a handy link, in case you’re looking for more to read). Time to remedy that. Disclaimer: All links below are Amazon affiliate links. You’ll be feeding my reading habit. Thank you in advance!

Pricing With Confidence by Reed Holden

I know I already mentioned this on the previous list, but it’s just so good. A must read for pricing products or even your time as a freelancer. Must. Read.

Poke the Box by Seth Godin

A nice and short manifesto about starting (and finishing) things. If you don’t finish, technically you never really started, right? Pretty delightful read and a nice kick in the pants about starting something, anything, about making things happen. Because if you don’t, who else is there?

Fool’s Gold by Gillian Tett

An excellent rundown of how the 2008 financial crisis came about and how derivatives and collateralized debt obligations came about. The interesting bit is that they were created with good intentions originally, but as with a lot of things, the short-sightedness and greed of investors and banks turned it into a mind-boggling web that was bound to end up as a cataclysmic and cascading failure across the entire financial system.

Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling

If you’re interested in running a small business, built around profitable products, marketing and building them yourself, this is a great little introduction on everything you need to know. I got quite a few ideas from this book for my next ventures.

After you’re done with it, and you want to keep going, Amy Hoy’s 30x500 class is highly recommended.

Architecture of Open Source Applications Vol. 2

The second edition of this great compilation is upon us, and it’s great. I loved the chapter on ZeroMQ in particular, but there’s still a lot I need to read, e.g. the chapter on nginx or the one on PyPy

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

This book is now 80 years old yet its content is pretty much timeless. The title might be a bit misleading about what it’s really about. If you’re interested in improving your people skills, how to make people want something you have to offer and how you can turn them over to your side, this book is for you. If you’re running a business of any kind, this is a must read. The single most revealing book I’ve read in a while.

It turns out, people and how we interact have barely changed at all. Still so much to learn.

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

A delightful and pretty revealing book about how irrational yet predictable human behaviour is. Driven by scientific experiments, this book is also rather revealing when it comes to marketing products, for example. I’d call this another must-read if you run a business of sorts or sell something for a living.

It Will Be Exilirating by Dan Provost

A very short but nice read about how Studio Neat, makers of the Glif and the Cosmonaut, came about. Talks a bit about successfully running a Kickstarter campaign, but also about running their small business in general. A few bits and pieces to pick up in this one. Most importantly, it’s another inspiration to start something.

Happy reading!