Person
Every book Max Levchin recommended on podcasts
Across 2 podcasts. Every show Max Levchin appears on, in one place — not just one.
Max Levchin’s most recommended books
- 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer
- A Mind at Play by Jimmy Soni
- Influence by Robert B. Cialdini
- The Founders by Jimmy Soni
- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
- Titan by Ron Chernow
Maksymilian Rafailovych Max Levchin is a Ukrainian-American software engineer and entrepreneur who is the co-founder and CEO of Affirm, a buy now, pay later financial services company, and co-founded PayPal as Confinity in 1998, leading the company as chief technology officer before its acquisition by eBay in 2002. During appearances on the a16z Podcast and The Tim Ferriss Show, Levchin recommended several foundational business, biography, and science books. He recommended Jimmy Soni's book The Founders, praising the author's extensive interviews with everyone involved in PayPal's history, and recommended Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita, highlighting it as arguably the greatest 20th-century Russian language work. For entrepreneurs and builders, Levchin recommended Hamilton Helmer's Seven Powers for building a competitive business, Robert B. Cialdini's Influence as an essential social science book for startup founders, and Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman's A Mind at Play as an outstanding biography of Claude Shannon. Additionally, Levchin discussed how his college and early career life were deeply shaped by Neal Stephenson's science fiction novels Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon, noting he was reading the latter while coding for early PayPal, as well as William Gibson's Neuromancer, the very first book he read after arriving in the United States.
Books recommended by Max Levchin
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7 Powers
7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer is a seminal business strategy book that outlines the foundational economic frameworks companies use to build enduring competitive moats and secure persistent differential returns.
Recommended“There is this book called Seven Powers by Hamilton Hemler.”
Where to get it
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A Mind at Play
A Mind at Play by Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman is a comprehensive biography celebrating the life and intellectual legacy of Claude Shannon, the brilliant mathematician who laid the foundational groundwork for the Information Age.
Recommended“There's a great book called A Mind at Play, which is Claude Shannon's biography.”
Where to get it
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Influence
Influence by Robert B.
Recommended“I am sure it's in your list and everyone's list, but if you haven't read it, if you're trying to start a business, you should read Influence by Chelini because that is probably the most important social science book published in the last 50 years.”
Where to get it
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The Founders
The Founders by Jimmy Soni is the gripping chronicle of PayPal and the ambitious entrepreneurs who ultimately shaped the modern technology landscape of Silicon Valley.
Recommended“the founder is actually a very good book like and part of it is because it's well written but part of it is because Jimmy the guy who wrote it interviewed every single character in the story extensively”
Where to get it
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The Master and Margarita
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is an absolute masterpiece of twentieth-century Russian literature that weaves together parallel narratives featuring the devil visiting the Soviet Union alongside a philosophical story about Pontius Pilate.
Recommended“Anyway, was written by Mikail Bulgakov, who is arguably the greatest Russian language writer of the 20th century in my biased opinion.”
Where to get it
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Cryptonomicon
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is an epic novel blending historical fiction and cyber-thriller elements to trace two interconnected storylines involving codebreaking in World War II and the modern development of cryptography and digital currency.
Discussed“Anyway, as we were doing all this stuff, Neil Stevenson publishes the first 100 pages of Cryptonicon.”
Where to get it
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Neuromancer
Neuromancer by William Gibson is a seminal 1984 cyberpunk science fiction novel that popularized the concept of cyberspace and heavily influenced modern ideas about the internet and digital technology.
Discussed“So, Thorrash basically presented an alternative to Neurommancer. Neurommancer was this dark dystopian. Also, by the way, first book I read when I came to the US. Neurommancer.”
Where to get it
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Snow Crash
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is a seminal cyberpunk science fiction novel that famously anticipated the rise of virtual reality, the metaverse, and modern digital culture.
Discussed“My college life was shaped by Snow Crash with probably the thing that really put him on the map.”
Where to get it
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Titan
Titan by Ron Chernow is a comprehensive biography detailing the life and monumental business career of industrialist John D.
Discussed“Titan is a huge one. Titan is probably the one that's closest to like business advice.”
Where to get it
