Book · 2019 · Economics
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
- mentions
- 4
- people
- 4
- podcasts
- 3
- episodes
- 3
- recommendation
- 1
I was like, you know what? There's this other piece of advice I got from Safi Bahcall, I think, who wrote a book called Loonshots. Loonshots, yeah. Where he says FBR.
Where and when it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
4 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries by Safi Bahcall is a pragmatic and well-written examination of how groups foster radical innovation and manage critical phase transitions. Tim Ferriss strongly recommended the book to listeners at the conclusion of an episode of The Tim Ferriss Show in 2019, emphasizing its practical and well-written nature. On an episode of the a16z Podcast in 2019, Vijay Pande reflected on the book's account of phase transitions, noting that the interplay between different organizational phases was a particularly surprising and insightful element. During the same podcast episode, Sonal Chokshi asked Bahcall about the book's exploration of the organizational magic number—canonically one hundred and fifty people—beyond which leaders must establish formal structures while attempting to preserve a startup culture. Furthermore, Ali Abdaal referenced Bahcall's book on How I Write in 2023 to illustrate the concept of fast, bad, and wrong when engaging in rapid writing and idea generation. Reviewers and hosts consistently highlighted the work for offering concrete frameworks to help leaders navigate growth, group dynamics, and unconventional thinking without losing their innovative edge.
Every mention
Tim Ferriss I don't say that lightly that you grab a copy of loon shots it is it is incredibly pragmatic it is very wel… 1
“I don't say that lightly that you grab a copy of loon shots it is it is incredibly pragmatic it is very well-written”
Ali Abdaal I was like, you know what? There's this other piece of advice I got from Safi Bahcall, I think, who wrote a… 1
“I was like, you know what? There's this other piece of advice I got from Safi Bahcall, I think, who wrote a book called Loonshots. Loonshots, yeah. Where he says FBR.”
Sonal Chokshi um and so in the book you talk about one of the classic things being the magic number uh you know basically… 1
“um and so in the book you talk about one of the classic things being the magic number uh you know basically number of people at which beyond that it's hard to you have to start to create an org and and a hard structure too often and the magic number is canonically 150”
Vijay Pande and so one of the things I thought was interesting about the book was that face transition interplay betwee… 1
“and so one of the things I thought was interesting about the book was that face transition interplay between the two and how it's not a bad thing to have that face transition that and and that that was maybe one of the more surprising things”
Other mentions (7: passing, ad reads, own books)
“my real motivation is I have a phrase that I keep in mind when I started I got connected to a guy an author named Richard Preston who wrote if you brought the hot zone which was this huge bestseller and then a number of other great books as a New Yorker writer and we were talking I was really”
“and that's ultimately what actually loon shots is about and so let me explain what I mean”
“today we have one of our book launch episodes with sfie ball author of loonshots The subtitle is how to nurture the crazy ideas that win Wars cure diseases and transform Industries”
“the underlying theme of this book is let's look at structure rather than culture you know when I became a first-time CEO I think I was 32 or three and probably like a lot of first time CEOs and entrepreneurs I read everything I could find About Management”
“but to get to your question yes this is a phase transition that's kind of the theme of the book CEOs at the end of the day they're sort of lamenting oh no one cares well that's cuz they don't own half the equity of the company like you do”
“and actually it's just sort of straightforward mathematics and the book that innovating well and and a focus on politics or not is is a phase of human organization I love that you actually have an equation that you outline in the appendix”
“Safi you are most recently author of loon shots that is the title subtitle how to nurture the crazy ideas that win wars cure diseases and transform industries”