The books this episode covers
Hard Drive
James Wallace and Jim Erickson · Reading rank 6 · in 23 other episodes
David calls Hard Drive still his favorite Bill Gates book and praises its storytelling as phenomenal.
Cross-episode reference · Explicit praise · Founder theme · Reread language
Source Code
Bill Gates · Reading rank 381
David explicitly says he reread Source Code before recording this episode.
Founder theme · Reread language
Books David recommends along the way
Made in Japan
Akio Morita with Edwin M. Reingold and Mitsuko Shimomura · Reading rank 21 · in 21 other episodes
David draws the founder-theme idea of hiring a paid critic from Akio Morita's Made in Japan.
Founder theme
In the Company of Giants
Rama Dev Jager and Rafael Ortiz · Reading rank 27 · in 22 other episodes
David directly recommends In the Company of Giants, calling it incredible and something everybody should buy.
Explicit praise
Play Nice But Win
Michael Dell with James Kaplan · Reading rank 48 · in 8 other episodes
David says he absolutely loved Michael Dell’s autobiography.
Cross-episode reference · Explicit praise · Founder theme
Overdrive
James Wallace · Reading rank 180 · in 5 other episodes
David draws out Bill Gates's ruthless competitive drive and fear of failure as a theme from Overdrive's Philippe Kahn stories.
Founder theme
Idea Man
Paul Allen · Reading rank 185 · in 8 other episodes
David draws the founder theme of perpetual dissatisfaction and refusal to rest on laurels from the Idea Man material.
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