Person
Every book Brian Armstrong recommended on podcasts
Across 6 podcasts. Every show Brian Armstrong appears on, in one place — not just one.
Brian Armstrong’s most recommended books
- Changing World Order by Ray Dalio
- The Dip by Seth Godin
- Flash Boys by Michael Lewis
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
- Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order by Ray Dalio
- The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson
- The big short by Michael Lewis
- The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff
- The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
Brian Armstrong is an American businessman and investor who serves as the CEO of the cryptocurrency platform Coinbase, which he co-founded alongside Fred Ehrsam, and is also the co-founder of the anti-aging startup NewLimit. Discussing his perspectives and influences on podcasts, Armstrong has recommended several foundational books. He highlighted Ray Dalio's Changing World Order and Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order as works that shaped his thinking on global shifts. He also recommended James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg's The Sovereign Individual as a provocative book that helped spark some of his core ideas, and included Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged among the perspectives that influenced him. Furthermore, Armstrong mentioned reading Seth Godin's The Dip during a period of introspection in Buenos Aires while evaluating his career direction and short-term business ventures. In other discussions, he referenced Jonathan Haidt's The Coddling of the American Mind to understand workplace culture, and brought up Michael Lewis's The Big Short to illustrate how traditional ratings organizations can become politicized.
Books recommended by Brian Armstrong
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Changing World Order
Ray Dalio's Changing World Order is a sweeping macroeconomic exploration of how major global empires rise, decline, and transition through cycles of debt, economic dominance, and conflict.
Recommended“I think um Ray Doo’s Book Changing World Order you hear some of the ideas reflected in my comments today”
Where to get it
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The Dip
The Dip by Seth Godin is a strategic business book that helps readers determine whether they should quit a project or push through difficult challenges by understanding the difference between temporary obstacles and dead ends.
Discussed“And at some point I remember I read this book by Seth Godin called 'The Dip.' I don't know if you've ever seen that book. - Yeah, I read it a long time ago.”
Where to get it
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Flash Boys
Flash Boys by Michael Lewis is a dramatic non-fiction account that exposes the rise of high-frequency trading and Wall Street market manipulation through the eyes of a group of rebel investors.
Discussed“So there's a lot of people like traders who get super into this, like high-frequency traders, and arbitrage, and all kinds of interesting topics. Flash Boys was like an interesting book on this whole thing.”
Where to get it
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Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is a sweeping philosophical novel that champions objectivism, laissez-faire capitalism, and individual achievement while depicting a dystopian society collapsing under the weight of excessive government controls.
Recommended“also just books like um outl Shrugged and you know these kind of things”
Where to get it
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Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order
Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order by Ray Dalio is an economic and historical analysis that examines the rise and fall of major empires through long-term cycles of debt, economic shifts, and geopolitical power.
Recommended“Ray Doo's Book Changing World Order you hear some of the ideas reflected in my comments today”
Where to get it
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The Sovereign Individual
The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg is a visionary late-twentieth-century book that anticipates the decline of the nation-state and the rise of decentralized digital economies, remote work, and cryptocurrencies.
Recommended“I think there's books like the sovereign individual which I think were very provocative and led to some of the ideas that I'm mentioning here today”
Where to get it
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The big short
The Big Short by Michael Lewis is a non-fiction book examining the accumulation of risk and the bursting of the housing bubble that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
Discussed“I don't feel like it's our job to be recommending investments, you know, like in the traditional financial world, there's like these AAA rated bonds and you know, and I it always felt a little bit like those organizations that do the ratings are kind of always be politicized and like go see the big short.”
Where to get it
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The Coddling of the American Mind
The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt investigates how modern safetyism, declining childhood resilience, and the rapid rise of social media are negatively impacting the mental health and emotional development of younger generations.
Discussed“So, I started to go talk to a bunch of employees in the company and read a bunch of these books, like Jonathan Haidt's book and others. - Which is the Jonathan Haidt book? - Something of 'The American Mind' or 'The Coddling of the American Mind,' I think.”
Where to get it
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The Innovator's Dilemma
The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen is a foundational business and management book that explains why leading companies often fail when faced with disruptive technological change because they listen too closely to their best customers.
Discussed“It's a little bit of that Innovator's Dilemma type thing—Clay Christensen— where culturally it's so hard to get an organization where they're making tons of money off the traditional system.”
Where to get it
