Reading
Currently Reading
- The Founders
- Origin of the Paypal Mafia
- Jony Ive - The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
- I was with Naval negotiating with another party on a deal and it occured to me just how world class he is as a negotiator. Ever word was precise, persuasive, and the result was a deal better than the best case scenario I dreamed of. Similarly, we had a meeting where he caught the other person's persuasion technique and articulated why it was effective even if the other party knows it. I must learn the art of persuasion. It's like real life jedi mind tricks
- The Girard Reader
- I find Mimetic Desire fascinating
- Swimming Across: A Memoir by Andrew Grove (Cofounder of Intel)
- I'm not sure how this book came into my hand, maybe Avi Schiffman recommended it to me, or the Founders podcast. It's capitivating hearing Grove's early childhood in Budapest, surviving through WW2 as a jew - all recounted authentically and shamelessly. True great.
- The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch
- In pursuit of a strong foundational understanding, unlike GEB
- Deep Learning with PyTorch
- AUTOMATIC DIFFERNTIATION BABY
Reading Log
In taking my own path, I felt an anticomplacent fire within me to continue learning and enriching my brain, as I would have if I enrolled in college. This log details bits of my autodidactic reading journey.
- The War of Art 🖼️
- November 19th, 2023 - Written by a creative, for creatives. I needed to read this. Every day is a battle with resistance, the difference is what defines the pros - I'm clearly not there yet.
- Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow by Zevin
- November 18th, 2023 - truly great novel on comraderie <3 I cried reading this, it's beautiful. I'm excited to build world changing ventures with my future comrades.
- Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
- November 2nd, 2023 - An empathy for humanity. Those who move the world have to endure so much that it's often advantageous to be aspergers.
- That will never work by Marc Randolph
- Oct 22nd, 2023 - Shoe dog for the story of Netflix. A great example of a company worth building. Netflix really won through focus (Canada Principle), doing things that don't scale (Manually driving to mail DVDs), and it's data driven analytics to validate hypotheses. The layoffs chapter has learnings.
- Diaspora by Greg Egan 🌙
- Oct 21st, 2023 - A physicists/mathmaticians sci fi wet dream: Post mind uploaded society searches the cosmos for intelligent life and an answer to an existential question. Digital intelligences have the capacity to experience 4D, 5D, 6 Dimensional universes! Why don't we have more neural network architectures that are constantly running vs. cold booted till inference? This sci fi novel had some of the best imagined descriptions of the internal operations of artifiical intelligence that challenge your preconcieved multilayer perceptron notions. Highly recommend.
- How to get Rich by Felix Dennis
- Oct 11th, 2023 - Found this on the table in one of my friends' Airbnb, who sold his bootstrapped company for $15 million at 22. Thought I may need it more than he did so I began reading it - fascinating perspectives on wealth creation beyond existing startup widsom. I think for future companies, I will try to bootstrap and raise only if needed / if I have high conviction in scaling the company.
- Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
- Sept 13th, 2023 - I'm inspired by my conversation with Sam Hinkie who introduced me to David Senra's Founders Podcast, which I've obsessively listened to for dozens of hours in the past month. This is the start of many biographies. "Sometimes you have to give up. Sometimes knowing when to give up, when to try something else, is genius. Giving up doesn't mean stopping. Don't ever stop." - Phil Knight
- The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
- August 9th, 2023 - The book about Darwinian evolution. The evolution of genes does not necessarily favor the betterment of a species, merely what would continue to replicate that gene. Makes me wonder how this applies in a world where human mortality is all time low. Humans are reproducing less as they become more selective (global mimetic standards via social media vs previous local ones), and male testosterone is lowering with the ease of access of internet pornography. What does genes do evolutionary pressures then favor? Japan's birth rates are declining drastically. We shall find out.
- Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
- August 1st, 2023 - helped me build Voice to Image on Airchat. Check out Generative Mediations :^)
- Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman
- July 12th, 2023 - I begun doodling on the airplane as I listened to the audiobook, inspired by the artwork Feynmann created and sold after learning how to draw. Characatures of Feynman, Altman, Holtz, Holz, Goggins, Musk, Buterin, Hong, amongst many others intertwined in a graphical story of the beginning of the cambrian intelligence explosion. Thank you feynmann, this has been a blessing. You are my dream professor.
- Fundamentals of Deep Learning: Designing Next-Generation Machine Intelligence Algorithms (2nd Editon) by Nithin & Nikhil Buduma
- July 10th, 2023 - A comprehensive book on ML that helped refresh and tie together foundationional ML. Great PyTorch examples, and an essential to anyone becoming serious in ML. I love O'Reilly books because they are well structured, and easily indexable. Meeting with the author Nithin Buduma in SF on July 14th, 2023 asking for advice on continuing my ML Autodidacting journey.
- 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B Peterson
- July 8th, 2023 - I've read a hundred self-help themed books by now and I think I've 80/20 exhausted most of the great ideas. Most are predictable at this point and no longer stimulating. This will probably be one of my last ones in a while- shifting to history of technology (xerox parc, bell labs, chips), science fiction (to push my imagination so I can build the future), and technical textbooks.
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson ❄️
- July 3rd, 2023 - It's time to build. Absolutely love hiro protagonist. One badass hacker
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- June 27th, 2023 Picked up at SFO Airport, Reminded me of the dynamics that emerged in a 30 person hacker house in SF when leaders get a taste of power. With great power comes great responsibility, and Animal Farm satirically depicts the evolution of those who gained newfound power over a tribe. Hacker houses raised me, they were my college, I loved exploring the world through fascinating people, and hacker houses were an incredible way to meet brilliant peers from diverse backgrounds. I found the best houses to be warm, curious, ambitious, intimate- some of the fondest experiences of my life. Yet within overly large houses, it's easier for house poliitcs to emerge and interpersonal relations to clash. The beggings are usually wonderful, but as people move out to pursue further dreams, leasers need to fill rooms and make rent, and the quality of the curation of people begins to decline. Great hacker houses never last. Having lived in a multitude of different hacker houses over the past 2 years, going forward I plan to live in much smaller, intimate spaces of my own :)
- Awaken the giant within by Tony Robbins
- June 1st, 2023 - This week was a Derek Sivers week - I was consuming all the podcasts of his that I could find and he mentioned how profound he found this book when he read it in his youth. To be honest, I found the insights obvious/ not as stark as I thought they would be - I guess everyone has their defining book that they read during their youth - for me that would be the navalmanack. Derek's notes here: https://sive.rs/book/AwakenGiant. I also sent him an email life update 2 years after he responded to my first cold! What a wonderful dude.
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- May 18th, 2023 - Watney you son of a bitch. You did it against all odds. I love Weir - incredibly scientific and nerdy, all physically possible which is a delight to all nerds. I watched the movie afterwards and it was not as good hehe. Manga > Anime
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- April 29th, 2023 - OMFG this is the best audiobook of all time for reasons I cannot disclose w/out spoiling. 10/10 sound production - my favorite science fiction book (better than the martian imo). THE SCIENTIFIC NERDYNESS IS UNMATCHED - euphoria.
- I, Robot by Issac Asimov
- 4/20, 2023 - written in 1950, an ever relevant scifi piece that made asimov asimov. Explores the ethical conundrums of sentient robots around the Three Laws of Robotics. "Robbie", the first short story is by far my favorite which I share on airchat https://getairchat.com/s/MltxM6ie. Better than the movie ofc :)
- Range by David Epstein
- February 4th, 2023 - Suprisingly, Late specialization after sampling is dominant- most successful fullfilled people were lost initially and explored a ton of different roles. It's okay to feel lost :) Experiment lots! Finding the right fit requires doing over reflecting. Average age of successful startup founder is 45!
- The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
- February 2nd, 2023 - the first "spiritual" book that made sense. No abstract jargon. Suffering stems from a strong sense of self and attachment. Enlightement is when you can go through life without being attached to anything or event. Let go <3
- The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman
- January 28th, 2023 - Pivotal book. Thank you suds and brooke for the recommendation <3 Frameworks for making smart important life decisions. A, B, Z helps you take and embrace risk. Reid hoffman is so so so smart.
- Man's Search for meaning by Victor E. Frankl
- January 28th, 2023 - Suffering can be meaning with a paradigm shift.
- So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport
- January 26th, 2023 - Passion is a myth. Fulfilling careers are built from self-efficacy and mastery of a discipline. I quite resonate with the idea of being so good they can't ignore you. Anime protagonist energy
- BUILD: an unorthodox guide to making things worth making by Tony Fadell
- The Molecule of More by Liberman and Long
- December 27th, 2022 - All about dopamine, motivation, attention. I listened to this on my road trip to Yosemite with my dad. I'm fascinated by the widespread degredation of everyone's attention and how we (especially myself) can counteract a world of addictive distractions.
- Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins
- December 25th, 2022 🎁 - One hard mfer on the frontier of pain endurance. Audiobook is beautiful with the interview segments w/ goggins. I feel grateful for what I have, and inspired to become one badass mfer myself. I have been consistently cold showering for the past 100+ days (as of June 28th, 2023) to sharpen my mind ❄️ I don't even think about it now. Raising my run from 5 minutes (when I started I could barely do) to 10 now.
- The Obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday
- December 24th, 2022 - Every obstacle presents itself an opportunity to thrive. Look forward to it. The Obstacle is da wey :D
- 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
- November 20th, 2022 - for technologists building a better future.
- The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
- November 19th, 2022 - The first Science Fiction book I read in a long time. Captivating. Therapeutic!!! Quite the gateway drug. Sophons are 4 Dimensional cathode ray tubes
- Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday
- October 21st, 2022 - DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM.
- Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention by Johann Hari 🔥
- Mastering Ethereum: building smart contracts and dapps by Gavin Wood
- July 26th, 2022 - EVM MAKES SENSE. Smart Contracts and Blockchains make sense!
- How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie ✅
- July 7th, 2022 - Heavily annotated. The months afterwards relationships blossomed. Something subconsious has changes
- JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 7th Edition by David Flanagan
- June 17th, 2022 - Wonderful coverage of Javascript, the DOM, how the browser works. IT ALL MAKES SENSE! Read in 14 days every night before bed.
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill 😼
- June 12th - 15th, 2022 - My mom gave me this book when I was 8 years old to read and summarize by chapter. Hill writes and reiterates that you cannot tap into the secrets of the book until you are ready to recieve them. BS amirite? At the time I coudn't grasp any concepts beyond the idea that if you Desire something hard enough it will transmute itself into reality. I couldn't understand it at the time but the concept embedded itself into the tapestry of my psyche.
- This time around, I got it. Crystal Clear. Heavily Annotated. Desire is important as it sets you up to be ready to take advantages of the opportunities ahead of you. Mindset is everything and this book is for programming your mind :)
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel
- June 7th, 2022 - Indefinite Optimism 🚀 Everything falls under power law distributions so play winner takes all games. Competition is the opposite of capitalism, that's why it's for LOSERS
- The Almanack of Naval Ravikant (Reread)
- May 5th, 2022 - Great to see I've internalized so much of it (or so I thought haha).
- Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It by Kamal Ravikant ❤️
- Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
- May 2nd, 2022 - Creativity. Reminded me of how parodying helped me learn skills, whether it was via animating youtube parodies of my favorite youtubers to then transmuting to recreating technology - the same muscle became cross-disciplinary.
- Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
- April 26th, 2022 - Building in Public in a book :D
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- March 22nd, 2022 - Build your own bolligen Tower :)
- Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
- February 12th, 2022 - Invaluable book on negotiation - the best. I will definately revisit this in the future as I advance in my career. Wish I read it sooner :)
- Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal
- Opened on Jan 30th, Finished on Feb 8th, 2022 - "The wealth of information means a dearth of something else... a poverty of attention". Master internal triggers. All motivation is a desire to escape discomfort. Anything that stops discomfort is potentially addictive
- The Courage To be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi
- January 19th, 2022 - wonderfully written as a conversation between the monk and angsty student. Superiority & Inferiority complexes are both rooted in feelings of inferiority. Helpful for those who are too much about what other people think, preventing them from doing the actions of a life worth living :D
- Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday 💪
- January 1st, 2022 - This book spoke to me. I felt like Ryan was talking directly to me in the first chapter. When I made the decision to disconinue building bitswap, I felt my self worth (which was built on the praise of others) crumble down. I wanted to build confidence, self esteem, not ego which is fragile. Highly recommend for anyone young and ambitious. Ego is the enemy ;)
- CODE by Charles Petzold 🤓
- December 25th, 2021 - Sapiens for computers - starts from transistors all the way to assembly and computers. Incredibly visual - great for visual learners seeking technical foundation
- SUM: Forty Tales From the afterlives by David Eagleman
- November 9th, 2021 - 40 different interpretations of the afterlife. perspective
- Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
- Sept 15th, 2021 - Loved just as much as sapiens. Futuristic, and eye opening.