The book this episode covers
A Few Lessons for Investors and Managers from Warren E. Buffett
Peter Bevelin · Reading rank 233 · in 1 other episode
David calls buying the book a no-brainer and a fantastic reference, praising Bevelin's organization of the material.
Dedicated episode · Explicit praise · Founder theme
Books David recommends along the way
Zero to One
Peter Thiel with Blake Masters · Reading rank 5 · in 48 other episodes
David compares Buffett's moat-widening principle with Thiel's argument that most business value lies in future profits.
Founder theme
Becoming Steve Jobs
Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli · Reading rank 8 · in 20 other episodes
David calls Becoming Steve Jobs the best Steve Jobs biography and says he really enjoyed it.
Cross-episode reference · Explicit praise
Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson · Reading rank 13 · in 23 other episodes
David says the Isaacson-written Steve Jobs biography is great, while still preferring Becoming Steve Jobs.
Explicit praise
Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders
Warren Buffett · Reading rank 16 · in 47 other episodes
David calls reading Buffett's shareholder letters a valuable use of time.
Cross-episode reference · Explicit praise
Marc Andreessen's Blog Archive
Marc Andreessen · Reading rank 25 · in 14 other episodes
Cross-episode reference
Distant Force
George A. Roberts with Robert J. McVicker · Reading rank 40 · in 12 other episodes
David says Distant Force was hard to find and worth every penny.
Cross-episode reference · Explicit praise · Founder theme
Becoming Trader Joe
Joe Coulombe with Patty Civalleri · Reading rank 91 · in 9 other episodes
David applies Coulombe's lesson about evaluating advertising by its effect on sales rather than by a fixed budget.
Cross-episode reference · Founder theme
Also mentioned
Ogilvy on Advertising
David Ogilvy · Reading rank 37 · in 16 other episodes
David notes Trader Joe's founder applied Ogilvy on Advertising's ideas to content marketing instead of ad-spend percentages.
Founder theme
This Time Is Different
Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff · Reading rank 378 · in 2 other episodes
David points to the book's eight-century survey of bubbles and busts and says he found it interesting.
Explicit praise
Fearless Flyer
Trader Joe's · Reading rank 416 · in 3 other episodes
David revisits the Fearless Flyer while discussing rational expense decisions, noting that Trader Joe's content-and-mailing approach expanded the business while reducing advertising cost as a share of sales.
Founder theme
Each note is a short paraphrase of why David brings the book up. Book pages show every piece of evidence and its review status. How ranking works