Person
Every book Ben Gilbert recommended on podcasts
Ben Gilbert is an analytical and thorough podcaster, as evidenced by his extensive and detailed appearances on Acquired, where he deeply investigates the history, strategy, and culture of iconic companies and business empires. Through meticulous preparation and research, Gilbert frequently cites and recommends authoritative books that serve as essential source material for understanding corporate success and industry evolution. For instance, when exploring the foundational story of Home Depot, he pointed listeners to Built from Scratch by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, describing it as the definitive canonical account. Similarly, while preparing for deep dives into major corporate figures and tech giants, Gilbert highlighted Duff McDonald's Last Man Standing as an exceptional resource and recommended Hamilton Helmer's Seven Powers as an indispensable text for business theory. His research-driven approach also involves uncovering granular historical details through works such as Benjamin Lorr's The Secret Life of Groceries, Steven Levy's In the Plex, Parmy Olson's Supremacy, and John Battelle's The Search. Across these episodes, Gilbert utilizes literature not merely as casual reading, but as a rigorous foundation for unpacking complex business histories, illuminating corporate strategies, and providing his audience with a comprehensive understanding of the modern economic landscape.
Books recommended by Ben Gilbert
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7 Powers
7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer is a definitive business strategy book that outlines the seven core economic mechanisms enabling companies to achieve persistent differential returns.
Discussed“So listeners, this is the part where we do the seven powers framework from Hamilton Helmer's book of the same title where we try to figure out what does a company have that enables it to get persistent differential returns”
Where to get it
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The Psychology of Money
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel is a bestselling personal finance book that explores how behavior, ego, and worldview shape financial decisions rather than strict mathematical formulas.
Recommended“i think a huge one for me is psychology of money there's a recency bias on it and we mentioned morgan howel at the top of the show Good Friend of the show great great human i truly i massively change the way that i personally invest”
Where to get it
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Who is Michael Ovitz?
Who is Michael Ovitz? by Michael Ovitz is a revealing entertainment industry memoir detailing the rise and fall of one of Hollywood's most powerful and influential talent agents.
Recommended“mine is a book that has been recommended to me for two or three years now and I finally got around to reading and it was awesome it's called who is Michael Ovitz”
Where to get it
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In the Plex
In the Plex by Steven Levy is a comprehensive non-fiction history that chronicles the meteoric rise, corporate culture, and technological evolution of Google.
Recommended“This is like a small little passage in Steven Levy's great book that's been a source for all of our Google episodes, In the Plex.”
Where to get it
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The Everything Store
The Everything Store by Brad Stone is a canonical history of Amazon's first twenty years and the leadership style of Jeff Bezos.
Discussed“you know of course david and i read both of bradstone's excellent books”
Where to get it
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The Luxury Strategy
The Luxury Strategy by Jean-Noël Kapferer and Vincent Bastien is a comprehensive business and marketing book that outlines the distinct principles and anti-laws required to build and sustain ultra-luxury brands.
Discussed“well if you read the luxury strategy which is great book that we've referenced many times on acquired they start back 50,000 years ago”
Where to get it
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Made in Japan
Made in Japan by Akio Morita, Edwin M.
Recommended“yeah listeners david and i both read a couple books to prep for this but one of them is the excellent made in japan co-written by akio morita himself who we're about to introduce here”
Where to get it
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Supremacy
Supremacy by Parmy Olson is an investigative technology book that explores the inner workings and history of artificial intelligence development, particularly focusing on the journey of DeepMind.
Recommended“Shane has a quote in Parm Olsen's great book Supremacy that we used as a source for a lot of this deep mind story.”
Where to get it
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AI Superpowers
AI Superpowers by Kai-Fu Lee examines the dramatic rise of artificial intelligence in China and Silicon Valley, comparing the distinct technological ecosystems and future economic trajectories of both superpowers.
Recommended“So if you go to blinkist.com/Nvidia you can find books by Gary Kasparov, Kai-Fu Lee, and Cade Metz, who we already mentioned earlier on the show who wrote the amazing Wired article.”
Where to get it
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Beyond the Horizons
Beyond the Horizons by Walter J.
Recommended“I also highly recommend a book called beyond the horizons which is hard to find and most people don't know about by Walter Boyne”
Where to get it
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Built from Scratch
Built from Scratch by Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, and Bob Andelman tells the canonical entrepreneurial story of how Home Depot grew from a modest concept into a retail giant.
Recommended“All right. So, I I looked this up, David, in the book Built from Scratch, which is the awesome book that uh is kind of the canonical Home Depot story written by Bernie and Arthur.”
Where to get it
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Deep Thinking Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins
Deep Thinking Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins is a book by Garry Kasparov that examines the historical chess matches between human grandmasters and artificial intelligence, offering insights into the future of human-machine collaboration.
Recommended“So if you go to blinkist.com/Nvidia you can find books by Gary Kasparov, Kai-Fu Lee, and Cade Metz, who we already mentioned earlier on the show who wrote the amazing Wired article.”
Where to get it
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Last Man Standing
Last Man Standing by Duff McDonald is a detailed examination of leadership, corporate strategy, and the financial sector, focusing heavily on prominent figures in modern banking.
Recommended“One great book I read for research was Last Man Standing to prep for the Jamie Diamond interview. That was really good.”
Where to get it
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Memory's Legion
Memory's Legion by James S.
Recommended“and they released a compendium of all the short stories plus a few new ones called memories legion and this is really cool like i mean they're great writers great short stories to read even if you don't know anything about the expanse story”
Where to get it
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Open
Open by Andre Agassi is a candid and revealing memoir that chronicles the professional tennis star's turbulent athletic career, his complex relationship with his demanding father, and his deeply conflicted personal feelings toward the sport.
Recommended“my quick one is the second book that i read on vacation which is open by andre agassi his co-writer or ghost writer i don't know the right term”
Where to get it
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Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is a gripping science fiction novel that chronicles a lone astronaut's desperate mission to save humanity from an extinction-level threat.
Recommended“project Hail Mary oh yeah I think I read it on your recommendation that's right can vouch very good I think it's the best fiction I've ever read definitely the best sci-fi I've ever read I think it's the best fiction I've ever read”
Where to get it
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Saul
Saul by Robert Browning is a biographical work detailing the life of Saul Price, the retail visionary behind Price Club and a foundational figure in warehouse club retailing.
Recommended“we mentioned that there's basically one book about Costco and Price Club and it is self-published by Saul Price's son Robert price as you can imagine it's out of print we managed to get our hands on three of them”
Where to get it
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Skunk Works
Skunk Works by Leo Janos and Ben R.
Recommended“there is a wonderful book there are a bunch of wonderful books around Lockheed but a book titled Skunk Works that was written by Ben Rich who was Kelly's second in command for a long time at Skunk Works”
Where to get it
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Starting strength
Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe is a comprehensive guide to barbell training and foundational weightlifting techniques designed to help individuals build raw strength.
Recommended“called starting strength by Mark ripo”
Where to get it
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Strategic Sourcing and Category Management
Strategic Sourcing and Category Management by Magnus Carlsson is a professional business guide that explores supply chain operations, procurement strategies, and organizational logistics through corporate case studies.
Recommended“There's a book called strategic Outsourcing and category management Lessons Learned at Ikea by Magnus Carlson and Magnus was a senior executive in Ikea supply chain for 25 years”
Where to get it
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The Artist's Way
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron is a classic self-help primer on recovering, protecting, and nurturing one's innate creativity.
Recommended“it's called the artist sway by julia cameron oh yeah tim ferris loves this book right yeah i read it as a part of a college class a cool class at ohio state called personal creativity and innovation”
Where to get it
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The Genius Makers
The Genius Makers by Cade Metz is a comprehensive historical account of the artificial intelligence revolution, tracking the key breakthroughs and figures that shaped modern machine learning.
Recommended“So if you go to blinkist.com/Nvidia you can find books by Gary Kasparov, Kai-Fu Lee, and Cade Metz, who we already mentioned earlier on the show who wrote the amazing Wired article.”
Where to get it
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The Godfather
The Godfather by Mario Puzo is an iconic crime novel chronicling the Corleone mafia family, examining power, loyalty, and the American criminal underworld.
Recommended“is it the book is Mario puza's book The Godfather it's so good I think it was better than the movies”
Where to get it
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The Power Law
The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby is a comprehensive non-fiction exploration of the venture capital industry and its profound influence on the modern technological landscape.
Recommended“the power law by Sebastian Melody”
Where to get it
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The Qualcomm Equation
The Qualcomm Equation by Dave Mock is a business book that chronicles the history, growth, and strategic decisions of the telecommunications giant Qualcomm.
Recommended“well one small bit of Ado before we dive into the story is we owe a big thank you to Dave mock the author of The Incredible Book the Qualcomm equation Y which is not wellknown but is the definitive history of Qualcomm”
Where to get it
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The Score Takes Care of Itself
The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh, Steve Jamison, and Craig Walsh is a leadership and management book written by the legendary San Francisco 49ers head coach that outlines his philosophy of focusing on daily standards, preparation, and inputs rather than obsessing over final outcomes.
Where to get it
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The Search
The Search by John Battelle is an industry chronicle that explores the origins of search engines, the rise of internet giants, and the cultural transformation brought by web discovery.
Recommended“This is from John Battel's book, The Search, which is excellent. From 1993 to 1996, the web grew from 130 sites to more than 600,000.”
Where to get it
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The Secret Life of Groceries
The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr is an immersive nonfiction exploration of the dark miracles and intricate logistics behind the American supermarket industry.
Recommended“So listeners, this comes from Benjamin Lore who wrote the exceptional book, The Secret Life of Groceries, which we're going to reference a bunch in this episode.”
Where to get it
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Thinking, Fast and Slow
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman explores the dual systems of the human mind that drive how people think, make choices, and commit cognitive errors.
Recommended“my third one is a classic Thinking Fast and Slow by kman and tersi it's just everything you think you know about the way your brain perceives the world and how you make decisions is wrong”
Where to get it
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Titan
Titan by Ron Chernow is the definitive, sweeping biography of John D.
Recommended“and also wrote titan the biography the definitive biography of john davis and rockefeller that is the main source for this episode”
Where to get it
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America's Game
Discussed“But we do have some sports thank yous to Michael McCainbridge, author of America's Game, which provided much of the research for this episode.”
Where to get it
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Breakthrough
Discussed“I spent a bunch of time reading this book Breakthrough by Thea Cooper and Arthur ansburg and they go way into this basically this team was the first one to figure out you could Target the pancreatic eyelets and isolate the extra in a relatively pure form”
Where to get it
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Built to Last
Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry I.
Discussed“right around this time is when Jim Collins first big book built to last comes out Bob reads it loves it as he's thinking about what's going on at tvi and what he wants his future fund and what Benchmark would become to be totally aligns with Jim's principles in the book they actually hand a copy of the book”
Where to get it
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Enzo Ferrari
Luca Dal Monte's Enzo Ferrari serves as a definitive, deeply researched biography of the legendary automotive visionary behind the iconic Italian sports car empire.
Discussed“We should say that much of this history, this whole episode comes from the fantastic really definitive biography of Enzo called Enzo Ferrari written by Luca Delonte who worked at Ferrari and Maserati for many years and then after he retired dedicated about a decade of his life to researching and writing this definitive biography.”
Where to get it
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Enzo Ferrari
Discussed“So this is a quote here from Brock Yates's biography of Enzo. Brock Yates was the longtime editor of Car and Driver magazine.”
Where to get it
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Fluid Concepts And Creative Analogies
Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies by Douglas R.
Discussed“Shell's friend John way wght makes the first purchase on April 3rd 1995 a book called fluid Concepts and creative analogies by Douglas hoffstead”
Where to get it
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Go Like Hell
Discussed“So listeners, most of this is from the book Go Like Hell, which is the book that Ford versus Ferrari is based on, the movie.”
Where to get it
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God's Secret Formula
Discussed“The book I was reading, which is called Secret Formula, a great book on the history of Coca-Cola that had access to all the corporate archives, really describes Peton in this phase as finding his capitalist streak”
Where to get it
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Higher Control in Management
Discussed“while he's in England Forest reads a textbook called higher control in management by TG Rose”
Where to get it
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Onward
Onward by Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon is a business memoir that chronicles the dramatic period when Schultz returned as CEO of Starbucks in 2008 to rescue the struggling global coffee giant from financial decline and cultural dilution.
Discussed“and when you came back in 2008 I mean this is the whole Crux of your book onward there's an entire books worth of material here”
Where to get it
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Shoe Dog
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight is a compelling entrepreneur autobiography detailing the grueling early struggles, near-failures, and ultimate triumph behind the founding and rise of Nike.
Discussed“but it's the same pulitzer prize-winning writer who helped fill knight with shoe dog and it is written in that same page-turning thriller style”
Where to get it
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Super Pumped
Super Pumped by Mike Isaac is a non-fiction book that chronicles the meteoric rise and turbulent fall of Uber and its co-founder Travis Kalanick.
Discussed“Well, for listeners who don't know the events of, you know, Uber leading all the way up through their IPO and the implosion around that and the just insane story that all of that was is coming out as a Showtime series on February 27th called Super Pumped.”
Where to get it
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The Animated Man
Discussed“There's a great quote in the book Walt Disney and American Original by Bob Thomas that says, "Before Disney, cartoons were slapdash. Two-dimensional characters in bizarre movement before elemental backgrounds. Disney insisted on rounded humanized figures."”
Where to get it
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The Enzo Ferrari Memoirs. My Terrible Joys ... Edited by Richard Hough. Translated by Ivan Scott. [With Plates, Including Portraits.].
Discussed“I mean, the title of his memoirs is my terrible joys. Tells you everything you need to know right there about Enzo's life.”
Where to get it
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The High Cost of Low Wages
Discussed“so in 2006 Harvard Business Review published a really great piece called the high cost of low wages where they very directly compare Costco and Walmart employee salaries and benefits”
Where to get it
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The Most Important Thing Illuminated
Discussed“i went back through my notes from business school from howard your book the most important thing illuminated and every other page on there is like risk equals permanent capital loss”
Where to get it
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The Ride of a Lifetime
The Ride of a Lifetime is a business memoir by Robert Iger detailing his leadership experiences and career at Disney.
Discussed“Bob, and he recounts all of this in Ride of a Lifetime, comes out with, I think, one of the most brilliant campaign framings that I have ever heard.”
Where to get it
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The Road Ahead
Discussed“but in this book called The Road head I have two copies of it here on my desk the hard cover copy and the soft cover copy which was revised and came out in 1996”
Where to get it
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The Smartest Guys in the Room
The Smartest Guys in the Room by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind is a detailed investigative account of the rise and spectacular fall of the Enron Corporation.
Discussed“and this is in the smartest guys in the room a lay my body across the tracks issue without joining the company”
Where to get it
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The Tao of Cricket
Discussed“There's an amazing line about this by an author named Ashis Nandi who wrote a book called the Dow of Cricket and he says cricket is an Indian game accidentally discovered by the English.”
Where to get it
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Walt Disney: an American Original, Commemorative Edition
Discussed“There's a great quote in the book Walt Disney and American Original by Bob Thomas that says, "Before Disney, cartoons were slapdash. Two-dimensional characters in bizarre movement before elemental backgrounds. Disney insisted on rounded humanized figures."”
Where to get it
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Working Backwards
Discussed“amazon web services lives within the amazon associates program and that is run by a guy named colin breyer which is very very fun because colin goes on to do many things including recently co-authoring the book working backwards which is a great book we used for a source in both this episode and the previous episode on amazon.com”
Where to get it
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World War 3.0
Discussed“and one of the things that I read to prepare for this episode is a book called World War 3.0 which is exclusively about this trial”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (16: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Our last episode was with Andrew Ross Sorcin, founder of the New York Times Deal Book, host of CNBC's Squawkbox, and author of 1929.”
“you know Buffett was one of the first people to believe the intelligent investor”
“so when he's 10 he has his parents take him to the local Barnes & Noble one day and begs them to buy him C++ for dummies”
“this is from the Facebook effect David Kirkpatrick's book”
“Dustin was actually an econ major he had no idea how to code he goes out and buys Pearl for dummies”
“Starting from six tiny stores when Howard took over in 1987, this quirky coffee company named after a character from Moby Dick has scaled to nearly 40,000 locations worldwide.”
“it makes me think of Paul the main character in The Dune movies in the book”
“or they've got a microwave line between New Jersey and Chicago and they're trying to ARB the difference between two markets you need to have the fastest connectivity in the world to pull this off this is Flash Boys”
“you can find our material for this episode including Dave's awesome book and de Hawk's Memoir one from many at blinkist.com”
“they're also including other books in that collection that are about doing a few things but very well like the book essentialism which is from friend of the show Brad gerstner that is one of his favorite books”
“well one small bit of Ado before we dive into the story is we owe a big thank you to Dave mock the author of The Incredible Book the Qualcomm equation Y which is not wellknown but is the definitive history of Qualcomm”
“I had just read the hard thing about hard things and I was like oh my God so fun”
“having just recently listened to the audiobook of masters of doom”
“brian arthur was friends with cormac mccarthy the author who wrote all the pretty horses and no country for old men and cormack helped shape the pros in that piece”
“brian arthur was friends with cormac mccarthy the author who wrote all the pretty horses and no country for old men and cormack helped shape the pros in that piece”
“because i read the everything store right right exactly”