Podcast
BG2 Pod book list: the books mentioned on the show
Books from the latest episodes
Most recommended on BG2 Pod
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The Innovator's Dilemma
The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen was brought up by Brad Gerstner and another host on BG2 Pod in 2024. The speakers used the book's core concepts to analyze market volatility, evaluate whether major tech companies like Google face traditional disruption from startups, and contrast current technology shifts with historical corporate acquisitions.
Discussed“if you back and read the innovator's Dilemma you know the the reason startup companies are able to to come in and take shares often because precisely because the incumbents are slow-footed”
Where to get it
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The Rational Optimist
On BG2 Pod, Bill Gurley recommended The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley as part of a two-book reading suggestion concerning prosperity and economic growth. He later cited the book to argue that rises in living standards and prosperity are consistently tied to free trade and the free exchange of ideas.
Discussed“And The Rational Optimist walks through history and shows that rises in in prosperity and standard of living are always tied to free trade and the free exchange of ideas.”
Where to get it
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Finite and Infinite Games
On BG2 Pod, Bill Gurley brought up Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse, noting that he had been rereading it based on a recommendation from the Collisons. He used the book's core distinction between finite and infinite games to explain his perspective on corporate competition, while Brad Gerstner later referenced the same framework to discuss AI models and innovation.
Discussed“there's a book that I've been rereading that the Collison's talked about once called Finite and Infinite Games by James Carrs. A finite game is a game that has a beginning and an end and a winner.”
Where to get it
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Breakneck
Discussed“And there's this new book out by Dan Wang that I want to talk about um you know uh where where he really takes on the differences between the two countries.”
Where to get it
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Billion Dollar Whale
On BG2 Pod in February 2025, the host recommended Billion Dollar Whale by Bradley Hope and Tom Wright. He praised it as an exciting and cautionary read that details how political influence and financial mismanagement nearly destroyed Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund.
Recommended“if you want to see how I can go really wrong uh please go read billion dooll whale it's one of the most uh exciting books you could possibly read about what happened to the Malaysian Sovereign wealth fund”
Where to get it
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How Innovation Works
How Innovation Works by Matt Ridley was discussed on BG2 Pod. Bill Gurley recommended the book to listeners alongside The Rational Optimist, also by Matt Ridley, suggesting that the two titles should be read in that specific order.
Recommended“I would highly encourage listeners to read two books uh the first one is the rational Optimist by Matt Ridley and the second one is how Innovation Works also by Matt Ridley and they should be read in that order”
Where to get it
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Play Nice but Win
Play Nice but Win by Michael Dell and James Kaplan was discussed on BG2 Pod. Brad Gerstner recommended that listeners read or listen to the book, highlighting that the audiobook's narration by Michael Dell added unique personal inflection and nuance to the story.
Recommended“And everybody should run out and read your book, Play Nice But Win. Um, I'm actually I would recommend they listen to it because Michael took what I understand to be a very painful process for an author to read their entire book, but it's Michael's voice”
Where to get it
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The Power of Regret
On BG2 Pod in October 2025, Bill Gurley recommended The Power of Regret by Daniel H. Pink. Gurley cited the book's concept of boldness regrets—the tendency for people to look back with sorrow on the chances they failed to take.
Recommended“And there's a there's a great book. I read a lot of books in writing my book, but there's a great book called The Power of Regret by Daniel Pink. He's He's a well-known author, but he he has this thing he calls boldness regrets.”
Where to get it
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Chinchillas
Tom Handford's paper or work on Chinchillas came up on BG2 Pod in December 2024. Dylan Patel brought up the concept while explaining the scaling relationship between training data and model size, noting that Google published a paper outlining the optimal ratio of data to parameter size.
Discussed“so uh Google published a paper called chinchilla which says the optimal ratio of uh data to parameter you know model size and and that's the scaling thing”
Where to get it
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Crossing the Chasm
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore was brought up on BG2 Pod by Brad Gerstner. Gerstner used the book's conceptual framework to describe the challenges capital-intensive startups face when attempting to sell innovative technology to conservative utility companies.
Discussed“And I like to think about it in the framework of crossing the chasm. You basically you're selling only to laggards. And that's very difficult for for especially for a capital-intensive startup to be selling only to laggards.”
Where to get it
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Mindset
On BG2 Pod, Satya Nadella brought up Carol S. Dweck's Mindset in December 2024. Nadella shared that his wife had introduced him to the book a few years before he became CEO, and that he initially read it through the lens of parenting and his children's education.
Discussed“My wife had introduced me to a book by Carol Dweck, you know, a few years before I became CEO, which I read on growth mindset more in the context of my children's education and and parenting and what have you.”
Where to get it
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The Anxious Generation
On BG2 Pod, Bill Gurley brought up Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation in October 2025. Gurley mentioned consuming the book while discussing the social harms caused by internet apps, noting that these concerns had motivated state lawmakers to regulate technology.
Discussed“As an aside, I just consumed Jonathan Haidt's book Anxious Generation where he talks about what he believes is some social harms caused by some of the apps on the internet ecosystem.”
Where to get it
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The Coddling of the American Mind
On BG2 Pod, Bill Gurley mentioned The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt in October 2025. Gurley cited the authors' concept of a resume arms race while discussing the career pressures placed on young people.
Discussed“In The Coddling of the American Mind, Haidt and Lukianoff called it a resume arms race. And we've really taught them to be grinders, but Angela Duckworth highlights that if you have persistence but not passion, you eventually recognize you're in a grind.”
Where to get it
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The Diamond Age
On BG2 Pod in May 2024, Bill Gurley brought up Neal Stephenson's science fiction novel The Diamond Age. He noted that recent AI education demos reminded him of the book's premise about a tablet serving as an interactive primer for a young girl, praising the novel as prophetic and well-written.
Discussed“And I even tweeted when I was watching one of the demos, it reminded me of There's a great Neal Stephenson book called The Diamond Age, where and the the subtitle of the book is A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer”
Where to get it
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The Diamond Age, Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
Neal Stephenson’s book The Diamond Age, Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer came up on BG2 Pod when Bill Gurley referenced the work during an episode in May 2024. While discussing modern education demonstrations and technology, Gurley noted the book's subtitle and described its narrative about a hero who receives a tablet that acts as a tutor throughout the course of the story.
Discussed“the subtitle of the book is A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, and the the narrative the hero heroine of this book um gets a little tablet, and the tablet teaches her through throughout the course of the book.”
Where to get it
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The Wealth of Nations
On BG2 Pod in January 2024, Bill Gurley cited Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations while discussing macroeconomic history. He noted that the book was published around 1775 to 1780 and used it to mark the historical introduction of free-market capitalism and market democracies, linking them to accelerating global GDP growth.
Discussed“remember Adam Smith's wealth of Nation about free market capitalism published in like 1775 1780 and so we have free market capitalism Market democracies introduced into the world about that point in time”
Where to get it
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Trump: The Art of the Deal
Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump and Tony Schwartz was brought up on BG2 Pod. Brad Gerstner mentioned the book while discussing negotiation tactics and examining whether the text explicitly referenced or advised anchoring strategies.
Discussed“so then I asked Chad GPT in the art of the deal by Donald Trump you know did he did he explicitly refer to anchoring right or did he advise anchoring in a negotiation”
Where to get it
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Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?
Louis V. Gerstner Jr.’s book Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? was brought up on BG2 Pod by Bill Gurley in January 2024. Gurley referenced the book while discussing the common business phenomenon where large companies eventually lose their ability to innovate and earn strong returns on capital.
Discussed“remember the I think it was Lou Gerson who wrote the book elephants can dance right there was this idea that elephants can't dance the companies get large they can't innovate they can't earn a great return on Capital and So eventually they get competed away”
Where to get it
Guests who recommended books
Latest mentions
“As an aside, I just consumed Jonathan Haidt's book Anxious Generation where he talks about what he believes is some social harms caused by some of the apps on the internet ecosystem.”
“In The Coddling of the American Mind, Haidt and Lukianoff called it a resume arms race. And we've really taught them to be grinders, but Angela Duckworth highlights that if you have persistence but not passion, you eventually recognize you're in a grind.”
“And there's a there's a great book. I read a lot of books in writing my book, but there's a great book called The Power of Regret by Daniel Pink. He's He's a well-known author, but he he has this thing he calls boldness regrets.”
“And there's this new book out by Dan Wang that I want to talk about um you know uh where where he really takes on the differences between the two countries.”
“And everybody should run out and read your book, Play Nice But Win. Um, I'm actually I would recommend they listen to it because Michael took what I understand to be a very painful process for an author to read their entire book, but it's Michael's voice”
“there's a book that I've been rereading that the Collison's talked about once called Finite and Infinite Games by James Carrs. A finite game is a game that has a beginning and an end and a winner.”
“if you want to see how I can go really wrong uh please go read billion dooll whale it's one of the most uh exciting books you could possibly read about what happened to the Malaysian Sovereign wealth fund”
“so uh Google published a paper called chinchilla which says the optimal ratio of uh data to parameter you know model size and and that's the scaling thing”
“My wife had introduced me to a book by Carol Dweck, you know, a few years before I became CEO, which I read on growth mindset more in the context of my children's education and and parenting and what have you.”
“so then I asked Chad GPT in the art of the deal by Donald Trump you know did he did he explicitly refer to anchoring right or did he advise anchoring in a negotiation”
“And I like to think about it in the framework of crossing the chasm. You basically you're selling only to laggards. And that's very difficult for for especially for a capital-intensive startup to be selling only to laggards.”
“if you back and read the innovator's Dilemma you know the the reason startup companies are able to to come in and take shares often because precisely because the incumbents are slow-footed”
“And I even tweeted when I was watching one of the demos, it reminded me of There's a great Neal Stephenson book called The Diamond Age, where and the the subtitle of the book is A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer”
“the subtitle of the book is A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, and the the narrative the hero heroine of this book um gets a little tablet, and the tablet teaches her through throughout the course of the book.”
“And The Rational Optimist walks through history and shows that rises in in prosperity and standard of living are always tied to free trade and the free exchange of ideas.”
“remember the I think it was Lou Gerson who wrote the book elephants can dance right there was this idea that elephants can't dance the companies get large they can't innovate they can't earn a great return on Capital and So eventually they get competed away”
“remember Adam Smith's wealth of Nation about free market capitalism published in like 1775 1780 and so we have free market capitalism Market democracies introduced into the world about that point in time”
“I would highly encourage listeners to read two books uh the first one is the rational Optimist by Matt Ridley and the second one is how Innovation Works also by Matt Ridley and they should be read in that order”
Episodes
Link to this list from your show notes
Host or produce BG2 Pod? Give your listeners every book mentioned on the show, with the episode and the minute it came up. New episodes are added as they come out.
