Person
Every book Alex Wilhelm recommended on podcasts
Alex Wilhelm’s most recommended books
- A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
- A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
- Salvation: Salvation Sequence Book 1 by Peter F. Hamilton
- The Five Temptations of a CEO by Patrick Lencioni
- The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby
- There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
- Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
- My American Journey by Colin Powell
- One Billion Americans by Matthew Yglesias
- The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
Alex Wilhelm recommended and discussed several science fiction novels, startup guides, and strategic manuals across multiple episodes of This Week in Startups. Wilhelm strongly encouraged audiences interested in startups, technology, and AI to read qntm's There Is No Antimemetics Division. He promoted Sebastian Mallaby's The Power Law during discussions about angel investing and urged listeners to review the principles outlined within it. Wilhelm also shouted out Patrick Lencioni's The Five Temptations of a CEO as an incredible book offering vital advice for chief executives regarding the pitfalls of wanting to be liked. When asked about science fiction, Wilhelm recommended Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace alongside Peter F. Hamilton's Salvation: Salvation Sequence Book 1. Furthermore, Wilhelm discussed Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto, noting that his office team regularly relied on its checklist strategies, and he brought up Joe Haldeman's The Forever War as a classic science fiction exploration of how humanity might manage future interstellar conflicts.
Books recommended by Alex Wilhelm
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A Desolation Called Peace
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine is a science fiction novel that serves as the sequel to the acclaimed space opera A Memory Called Empire.
Recommended“and a desolation called peace yeah those are fantastic or the salvation sequence is tremendous”
Where to get it
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A Memory Called Empire
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is a science fiction novel following an ambassador in a massive interstellar empire.
Recommended“um most a memory called empire oh my god that's what i was going to say you stinker”
Where to get it
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Salvation: Salvation Sequence Book 1
Salvation: Salvation Sequence Book 1 by Peter F.
Recommended“those are fantastic or the salvation sequence is tremendous um tara incognitas”
Where to get it
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The Five Temptations of a CEO
The Five Temptations of a CEO by Patrick Lencioni is a popular business fable that explores the core behavioral pitfalls and vulnerabilities that commonly undermine executive leadership.
Recommended“Shout out Sarah Five Temptations of a CEO is like an Incredible Book every CEO should read the thing about wanting to be liked is like an Achilles heel that we all as humans have”
Where to get it
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The Power Law
The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby is a comprehensive history of venture capital that examines the legendary firms and high-stakes investments that shaped the modern tech economy.
Recommended“if you haven't read the power law you don't know what the power law is the prao principle go ahead and look it up”
Where to get it
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There Is No Antimemetics Division
There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm is a science fiction work centered around a secretive government agency tasked with managing dangerous concepts that inherently erase themselves from human memory.
Recommended“I'm going to bring up a book that I'm just finishing that I think is so interesting that everyone who appreciates startups, technology, AI, and thinking about the future should absolutely get into.”
Where to get it
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Fifty Shades of Grey
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.
Discussed“just like having I guess a YouTube channel um most famously 50 Shades of Gray was originally TW Twilight fanfic I I knew that it was Twilight fanfic”
Where to get it
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My American Journey
Discussed“but if you go back to Colin Pal's autobiography and his parents discussion of their I think Lottery went that let them buy a house yeah it was a way to essentially have an option on a different future”
Where to get it
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One Billion Americans
One Billion Americans by Matthew Yglesias is a nonfiction book that presents a provocative argument for aggressively increasing the population of the United States through immigration and pro-family policies to maintain global superpower status.
Discussed“Not to bring up the Matthew Glacius by accident, but his book 1 billion Americans actually got me thinking about this point.”
Where to get it
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The Checklist Manifesto
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande is a nonfiction exploration of how simple checklists and systematic processes can dramatically reduce human error and prevent catastrophic failures in complex fields like medicine and aviation.
Discussed“like they thought it would never work and then when they got the checklist going and there you have it Jason bringing forward the checklist manifesto which is a common occurrence here at the launch and twist offices”
Where to get it
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The Forever War
Discussed“the other thing that comes to mind is the Forever War which is by um I had to look this up Joe halman uh which describes how humans will handle not just future conflicts but also future Interstellar conflicts”
Where to get it
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is a celebrated comedic science fiction series that follows the absurd interstellar adventures of the sole surviving human, Arthur Dent.
Discussed“I think I started hitchhiker's guy to the Galaxy at some point but I don't know if I ever finished it”
Where to get it
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The Wealth of Nations
Why people recommend it: Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations is a foundational 1776 text by the Scottish economist often regarded as the father of modern capitalism, examining the nature and causes of national prosperity through free markets and division of labor.
Discussed“um he is paraphrasing a quote from Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations which I'll just share because why not what's called book talk quote people of the same trade seldom meet together even for Mart and diversion”
Where to get it
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What is Project 2025?
Project 2025 is a comprehensive conservative blueprint and policy transition plan designed to restructure the federal government during a future Republican presidential administration.
Discussed“so I went ahead and I I I went back through project 2025 short day today so I didn't get to as much research as I wanted but it was not nearly as opposed to an active hand preventing very large companies getting larger”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (19: passing, ad reads, own books)
“And I think it's just a similar kind of snow crash moment where like something about these data that that and this this consumption is really messing with with human brains.”
“she wrote the Go Direct manifesto which I think actually I get credit for but okay I think she probably rewrote my ideas. I don't know when her let's see when this manifesto came out about going direct”
“Michael Bur likes to delete his tweets. I don't know if he's deleted them, but if you follow the Michael Bur account, famous from the Big Short, he is accusing the big tech companies from committing fraud.”
“Now, I don't know what they do in that instance, but hey, Brave New World and here we are, folks.”
“So that's another great things that it brought like Actually, another developer who also watched the Queen's Gambit and got into chess.”
“I think he was the gray and he came back as the white for Return of the King.”
“I was already working at a bookstore like I was selling kids Harry Potter books at that. So you may have sold it to Alex come in with his Alex mullet.”
“Well, I mean, the the really interesting thing I think about this is you're you're making some sort of a bet, and if you think in bets as um Annie Duke would say in the poker world, thinking in bets is her book.”
“the electric State it's called yeah it's based on an illustrated novel”
“I'm reading um the Nvidia Way by Tay Kem and uh we were going to have Tay on the show today uh but as it turns out there's some things going on that have taken his time away from us so we will have him on shortly”
“I'm curious now like if I could put myself into a doeski novel um well I guess that's probably not copyright protected but you know what I mean put my my daughters into a Harry Potter book or whatever and see what we come out the other end that's really fun”
“and what am I gonna do with the little bit of Goodwill that I have is I'm going to sell trunk Bibles gold shoes and then I'm going to drop not one but two successive coins”
“yeah I well I used to read Thomas Ren back in the day I read hot flat and crowded back in the day I'm very hopeful that you're right”
“Then we have Will Guidara out. You did tap out, it's fine. Will Guidara, Unreasonable Hospitality, 1966. You had a blast on that one.”
“it's going to be Choose Your Own Adventure next year then”
“um I have read The Big Short so there you go Business book that we both read now I have the data for you and what you just said”
“50 Shades of Gray was originally TW Twilight fanfic I I knew that it was Twilight fanfic are you saying that it was on a web tune back in the day it was on watpad”
“i talked to him a month or two ago uh at tc the only concern that i would have is he wrote a book and i have it i need to read it”
“you know I read that and I was like this can't be I was like in 1984 or something I mean that can't be very crazy in some parts of China that's happening”