Podcast
David Senra's book list: the books mentioned on Founders
Books from the latest episodes
Most recommended on Founders
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Zero to One
On Founders, the host referenced Peter Thiel and Blake Masters's book Zero to One in late 2026 episodes. The host quoted a favorite passage from the book regarding how successful people find value in unexpected places, using it to frame discussions around business from first principles and corporate strategy.
Recommended“And one of my all time favorite quotes is from the book Zero to One. In that book, Peter Thiel writes, he says, the single most powerful pattern I have noticed is that successful people find value in unexpected places.”
Where to get it
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Sam Walton
On episode 434 of Founders, released on September 21, 2026, the host introduced "Sam Walton" by Vance H. Trimble as the primary biography for discussion, noting it contained some of his favorite paragraphs about America's richest man. At the conclusion of the episode, the host recommended that listeners purchase the book, suggesting they start with Sam Walton's own autobiography first if they had not read it, but otherwise definitely buy Trimble's work.
Discussed“It's one of my favorite paragraphs in the book I'm going to talk to you about today, which is Sam Walton, the inside story of America's richest man, and it was written by Vance Trimble.”
Where to get it
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How will you measure your life?
On the Founders podcast episode "#114 The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King" (2020-03-09), the host mentioned Clayton M. Christensen's book "How Will You Measure Your Life?" as a potential future topic for an episode of the show.
Recommended“I think that came from his book, like How You Will Measure Your Life, which also will probably be a future episode of Founders one day.”
Where to get it
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I'm All In
On episode 114 of Founders titled The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker G, the host discussed the book I'm All In by Lyle Berman. The host mentioned reading about Lyle Berman and immediately ordering his autobiography, titled I'm All In.
Recommended“He also wrote his autobiography. It's called I'm All In. So as soon as I read about that, I found the book and I ordered it.”
Where to get it
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Roll the Calls
On Founders, host David Senra introduced Ari Emanuel's autobiography Roll the Calls as the primary subject of episode 436. Senra praised the memoir to his listeners, describing it as one of the most entertaining autobiographies and frankly one of the craziest books he had ever read.
Recommended“That is an excerpt from the book I'm going to talk to you about today, and one of the most entertaining autobiographies, and just frankly, craziest books I've ever read. And it's called Roll the Calls, a memoir written by Ari Emanuel.”
Where to get it
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Sam Walton, Made in America
During an episode of Founders on September 21, 2026, the host recommended Sam Walton, Made in America by Sam Walton and John Huey. At the conclusion of the episode, the host advised listeners to read Sam Walton's autobiography first, followed by this book.
Recommended“Highly recommend reading the book. If you haven't read Sam's autobiography, I would start with that first. But if you had read Sam's autobiography, I would definitely buy this book.”
Where to get it
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The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King
On Founders, the host introduced The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King by Michael Craig as the primary book for discussion. He used the beginning of the text to explore the details of a high-stakes poker game.
Recommended“Okay, so that is from the beginning of the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is The Professor, The Banker, and The Suicide King Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time, and it was written by Michael Craig.”
Where to get it
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The Tycoons
On the October 13, 2026, episode of Founders titled #437 The Tycoons: Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gould & Morgan, the host introduced Charles R. Morris's book The Tycoons. Reading from the book's preface, the host explained that the work uses the lives of Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan to examine how they invented the American super economy.
Recommended“That was an excerpt from the preface of the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is The Tycoons, How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan Invented the American Super Economy, and this book was written by Charles R. Morris.”
Where to get it
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Hell
On episode 437 of Founders titled The Tycoons: Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gould & Morgan, the host mentioned a biography about Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick while discussing Carnegie's business relationships. He noted that there is a great biography of the partnership between Carnegie and Frick titled Me, You, and Hell, and mentioned that he had previously recorded an episode on it.
Discussed“There's this great biography of the partnership that he had with Henry Clay Frick that's called Me, You, and Hell. I've done an episode on that.”
Where to get it
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Me, You, Them
On Founders, the host mentioned Me, You, Them by Evie Sage, noting that it provides a detailed biography of the business partnership between Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick. The host referenced the book while discussing Carnegie's entrepreneurial relationships and previous podcast episodes dedicated to the subject.
Discussed“There's this great biography of the partnership that he had with Henry Clay Frick that's called Me, You, and Hell. I've done an episode on that.”
Where to get it
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Summary & Analysis: The Space Barons by Christian Davenport: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos
On the March 9, 2020 episode of Founders titled #114 The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker G, the host referenced a previous discussion from Founders No. 38 covering Summary & Analysis: The Space Barons by Christian Davenport. The host noted that the book explores the strategies used by modern-day entrepreneurs to build private space companies.
Discussed“All the way back on Founders No. 38, I did a podcast on the book Space Parents, and that book goes into the strategies by a bunch of modern-day entrepreneurs and how they build private space companies.”
Where to get it
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The Everything Store
On the September 21, 2026 episode of Founders, the host referenced The Everything Store by Brad Stone. The host used a line from the book about Jeff Bezos to illustrate Sam Walton's intense management style.
Discussed“This is a great line in this book of Jeff Bezos that I read. It's in the Everything Store, where it says that, you know, if you're good, Jeff will jump on your back and kind of ride you into the ground.”
Where to get it
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The House of Morgan
On the Founders podcast episode titled #437 The Tycoons: Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gould & Morgan, broadcast on October 13, 2026, the host brought up The House of Morgan by Ron Chernow. While discussing J.P. Morgan and his father Junius, the host mentioned this lengthy, estimated 600 or 700-page history detailing the Morgan family.
Discussed“So I read this book. I think it's like a probably a 600 or 700 page history of the Morgan family. I think it's called the House of Morgan, if I remember correctly.”
Where to get it
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The Space Barons
On Founders (2020-03-09), during the episode "#114 The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker G," the host referenced a previous podcast installment, Founders No. 38, which focused on Christian Davenport's book The Space Barons. The host recalled how that book details the strategies used by modern-day entrepreneurs to build private space companies.
Discussed“All the way back on Founders No. 38, I did a podcast on the book Space Parents, and that book goes into the strategies by a bunch of modern-day entrepreneurs and how they build private space companies.”
Where to get it
Guests who recommended books
Latest mentions
“That was an excerpt from the preface of the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is The Tycoons, How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan Invented the American Super Economy, and this book was written by Charles R. Morris.”
“There's this great biography of the partnership that he had with Henry Clay Frick that's called Me, You, and Hell. I've done an episode on that.”
“There's this great biography of the partnership that he had with Henry Clay Frick that's called Me, You, and Hell. I've done an episode on that.”
“So I read this book. I think it's like a probably a 600 or 700 page history of the Morgan family. I think it's called the House of Morgan, if I remember correctly.”
“And one of my all time favorite quotes is from the book Zero to One. In that book, Peter Thiel writes, he says, the single most powerful pattern I have noticed is that successful people find value in unexpected places.”
“That is an excerpt from the book I'm going to talk to you about today, and one of the most entertaining autobiographies, and just frankly, craziest books I've ever read. And it's called Roll the Calls, a memoir written by Ari Emanuel.”
“It's one of my favorite paragraphs in the book I'm going to talk to you about today, which is Sam Walton, the inside story of America's richest man, and it was written by Vance Trimble.”
“This is a great line in this book of Jeff Bezos that I read. It's in the Everything Store, where it says that, you know, if you're good, Jeff will jump on your back and kind of ride you into the ground.”
“Highly recommend reading the book. If you haven't read Sam's autobiography, I would start with that first. But if you had read Sam's autobiography, I would definitely buy this book.”
“Okay, so that is from the beginning of the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is The Professor, The Banker, and The Suicide King Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time, and it was written by Michael Craig.”
“All the way back on Founders No. 38, I did a podcast on the book Space Parents, and that book goes into the strategies by a bunch of modern-day entrepreneurs and how they build private space companies.”
“All the way back on Founders No. 38, I did a podcast on the book Space Parents, and that book goes into the strategies by a bunch of modern-day entrepreneurs and how they build private space companies.”
“I think that came from his book, like How You Will Measure Your Life, which also will probably be a future episode of Founders one day.”
“He also wrote his autobiography. It's called I'm All In. So as soon as I read about that, I found the book and I ordered it.”
Episodes
| Episode | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|
| #437 The Tycoons: Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gould & Morgan | 2026-10-13 | 5 |
| #436 Ari Emanuel's Autobiography | 2026-10-05 | 1 |
| #435 Mark Zuckerberg's Empire | 2026-09-28 | 1 |
| #434 Sam Walton | 2026-09-21 | 4 |
| #114 The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time | 2020-03-09 | 5 |
Link to this list from your show notes
Host or produce Founders? 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.
