Founders #324 · · 6 books

John D. Rockefeller (38 Letters Rockefeller Wrote to His Son)

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The book this episode covers

  1. The 38 Letters from John D. Rockefeller to His Son

    John D. Rockefeller (attributed) · Reading rank 152 · in 2 other episodes

    David strongly recommends buying the attributed letter collection, calls it important and remarkable, and says its father-to-son framing makes it powerful.

    Dedicated episode · Explicit praise · Founder theme · Reread language

Books David recommends along the way

  1. Zero to One

    Peter Thiel with Blake Masters · Reading rank 5 · in 48 other episodes

    David locates a luck-versus-causation maxim in Zero to One and applies it to Rockefeller’s outlook.

    Founder theme

  2. Titan

    Ron Chernow · Reading rank 10 · in 29 other episodes

    David calls Titan an excellent biography and recommends it as the second Rockefeller biography to read.

    Cross-episode reference · Explicit praise

  3. The Mind of Napoleon

    Napoleon Bonaparte, edited and translated by J. Christopher Herold · Reading rank 32 · in 8 other episodes

    David recommends getting a copy and positively describes its direct access to Napoleon's words.

    Cross-episode reference · Explicit praise · Founder theme

  4. John D.

    David Freeman Hawke · Reading rank 47 · in 7 other episodes

    David calls it the best biography on Rockefeller.

    Cross-episode reference · Explicit praise

Also mentioned

  1. Poor Charlie's Almanack

    Charles T. Munger, edited by Peter D. Kaufman · Reading rank 11 · in 44 other episodes

    David references a line from Poor Charlie's Almanack about the value of history books when explaining the value of founder knowledge.

    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