Podcast
Lenny Rachitsky's book list: the books mentioned on Lenny's Podcast
The most mentioned books on Lenny's Podcast are Creativity, Inc. (4 episodes), A Fire Upon The Deep (3 episodes) and The Hard Thing About Hard Things (3 episodes), and the most recommended book is A Fire Upon The Deep (3 episodes). We have logged 176 books across 64 episodes from 148 people on Lenny's Podcast, through November 8, 2026.
Key facts
- 176 books have been mentioned on Lenny's Podcast, as of November 8, 2026.
- 64 episodes of Lenny's Podcast mention at least one book, as of November 8, 2026.
- 148 people brought up a book on the show, as of November 8, 2026.
- The 3 books mentioned in the most episodes of Lenny's Podcast, as of November 8, 2026: Creativity, Inc., A Fire Upon The Deep and The Hard Thing About Hard Things.
- The latest episode of Lenny's Podcast with a book mention aired on November 8, 2026.
Updated
Books from the latest episodes
Questions about books mentioned on Lenny's Podcast
What books were mentioned most on Lenny's Podcast?
The most mentioned books on Lenny's Podcast are Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace (4 episodes), A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge (3 episodes), The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz (3 episodes), The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro (3 episodes) and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (3 episodes), out of 176 books across 64 episodes, as of November 8, 2026.
What is the most recommended book on Lenny's Podcast?
A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge is the most recommended book on Lenny's Podcast, recommended in 3 episodes, as of November 8, 2026.
What books were mentioned on Lenny's Podcast this year?
In 2026, 130 books came up on Lenny's Podcast, led by The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz (3 episodes), Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace (3 episodes), The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro (3 episodes), A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge (2 episodes) and Incorruptible by Eric Ries (2 episodes), as of November 8, 2026.
Who recommends the most books on Lenny's Podcast?
Lenny Rachitsky has recommended the most books on Lenny's Podcast, with 11 books recommended across 13 episodes, as of November 8, 2026.
Most mentioned on Lenny's Podcast
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Creativity, Inc.
On Lenny's Podcast, Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace was brought up in multiple episodes. Tulsee Doshi recommended it during an episode in November 2026, noting that it is standard in product management circles and offers valuable lessons on building a strong team culture. Later, in April 2026, Lenny Rachitsky referenced the book while discussing the concept of the ugly baby in creative work, noting how every great idea begins as an awkward concept that nobody wants to support, a point that guest Keith Rabois affirmed.
Recommended“another that's maybe more kind of standard in PM circles is Creativity Inc., which I love. It's the Pixar story. But I think it actually speaks a lot to like how do you create good culture”
Where to get it
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A Fire Upon The Deep
Recommended“I'll quickly recommend a sci-fi book to you if you haven't read it. Have you read Fire Upon the Deep? Uh this is Vinge, right? Yeah, it's great.”
Where to get it
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The Hard Thing About Hard Things
On Lenny's Podcast, Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things was recommended by Anish Acharya in September 2026 as the first emotionally honest book about business, and by Tom Verrilli in August 2026 as an essential book on product management.
Recommended“And then, Ben's book, you know, Hard Things is it was the first emotionally honest book about business that was ever written. And that's why founders love it.”
Where to get it
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The Power Broker
On Lenny's Podcast, Lenny Rachitsky mentioned Robert A. Caro’s The Power Broker in May and August 2026, describing it as his long-running reading obsession and praising its surprisingly compelling history of New York.
Discussed“Uh and I also felt like it was very long and but now I'm reading the Power Broker which is like set the set the new president for a long been reading it for half my life at this point. I love the I love the Power Broker.”
Where to get it
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Thinking, Fast and Slow
On Lenny's Podcast, Lenny Rachitsky brought up Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow in October 2026 while connecting system one and system two thinking to the guest’s discussion of quick decisions. Later, in May 2024, Annie Duke mentioned the book on the same podcast while recalling a classroom discussion about studies in it and their replication.
Discussed“And the system one system two stuff is basically Kahneman's kind of I have that book up there actually behind me. This system one just to keep it simple is just like your kind of your amygdala-limbic system making just like gut level quick decisions like snake oh no.”
Where to get it
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7 Powers
On Lenny's Podcast in September 2026, Anish Acharya recommended Hamilton Helmer’s 7 Powers when Lenny asked for worthwhile business books. Anish described the work as an intellectual distillation of business moats and compounding advantages.
Recommended“The two that are so obvious are High Output Management. Which is like that is as good as it ever was.”
Where to get it
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Incorruptible
On Lenny's Podcast, Eric Ries's book Incorruptible was featured across multiple episodes. In May 2026, host Lenny Rachitsky and Eric discussed the book as a companion to The Lean Startup, explaining that while the earlier book focused on building a successful business, the new release addressed protecting what had been built. Later in July 2026, guest Dianne Penn recommended the book on Audible during the episode "Anthropic’s first technical PM on token maxing, the jagged edge, and living in t," praising its insights into company culture metrics and building great organizations.
Recommended“The other book that I uh was listening to on Audible recently is Incorable by Eric Reese. So the Incorruptible Incorruptible Yes. And I I I just I think the question of how to build great companies is important.”
Where to get it
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Outlive
Recommended“Second book it's called Outlive. Uh it's really about kind of the idea It's kind of like you know the author Peter Attia talks about the idea of medicine 3.0 which is really uh the notion of like building personalized medicine”
Where to get it
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Shoe Dog
Recommended“Business books, I'm a big fan of Shoe Dog, the Nike story, one of my favorite books. I just finished reading that. So funny. Amazing. This is great. It was great. Yeah. I love Shoe Dog.”
Where to get it
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Stories of Your Life and Others
On Lenny's Podcast, in the episode titled Inside the black box of AI: How AI models actually think on October 18, 2026, Emmanuel Ameisen recommended Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. Ameisen stated that it was perhaps his favorite science fiction book of all time, describing it as a collection of short stories representing the high art version of the genre.
Recommended“Uh another one is Story of Your Life and Others. This is Ted Chiang. This is maybe my favorite sci-fi book of all time. It's a bunch of short stories. It does what I think is the the like high art version of sci-fi”
Where to get it
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The Design of Everyday Things
On Lenny's Podcast, guest Ian Silber was asked by the host which books he recommended most often. Silber pointed to The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman, acknowledging that while it is a very common choice rather than a unique recommendation, he genuinely loves the title. He highlighted it as an enduring classic text for understanding the fundamental principles of design.
Recommended“Although I will say I have I do love the design of everyday things. I think that's like such a classic. That's the one that's the one that you know it's not like yeah it's not a unique recommendation.”
Where to get it
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The Power of Moments
Recommended“What are two or three books that you find yourself recommending most to other people? I love The Power of Moments.”
Where to get it
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The Selfish Gene
Recommended“So one thing is a selfish gene that's like understand uh it actually changed uh it actually helped me with the question like whether I want to have kids or not.”
Where to get it
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Crossing the Chasm
During an episode of Lenny's Podcast focusing on taste, judgment, and creativity, guest Tony Fadell discussed the strategic frameworks used in his career. Fadell mentioned Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore, explaining that he had actually updated and adapted the book's famous market adoption graphic to illustrate how product development and customer acquisition processes functioned in his own work.
Discussed“I I also updated the Crossing the Chasm uh you know, Crossing the Chasm graphic um in the book saying how we go about this in our in our in in in in uh in our product developments.”
Where to get it
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Thinking in Bets
In the episode Head of Growth (Anthropic): “Claude is growing itself at this point” | Amol Avas of Lenny's Podcast, aired on 2026-04-05, Amol Avasare recommended Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. He explained that he consistently suggests the book to others because it offers a practical framework for breaking down situations and evaluating uncertainty in product work.
Recommended“Those two I I consistently recommend to people and then the third one is more relevant to the product in many ways is Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. I think just being able to break down a situation and someone's like, "I don't know it'll get done in time."”
Where to get it
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A Brief History of Intelligence
A Brief History of Intelligence by Max Bennett was featured on Lenny's Podcast in October 2026. Emmanuel Ameisen recommended the recent book to listeners, describing it as an accessible text that examines the history of brains and highlights five key evolutionary moments that built complex brain systems on top of one another.
Recommended“One I read recently and is A Brief History of Intelligence. Uh it's this really cool book that walks through the history of like basically brains and five key moments in in our evolution that sort of bootstraps these brain systems on top of one another. It's super accessible”
Where to get it
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A Court of Thorns and Roses
In the Lenny's Podcast episode titled Why PMs are suddenly valuable again, Tulsee Doshi discussed A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Doshi shared that she had been very into the romantic fantasy series recently. She recommended the books, along with Throne of Glass, as fun and entertaining reads for anyone looking for an engaging escape into the fantasy genre.
Recommended“I also just have been really into, you know, the Acatar series recently, but that's that's the what series? That's romantic fantasy. So, for anyone who's just looking for something fun to read, you should read The Throne of Glass or A Court of uh Thorns and Roses.”
Where to get it
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A History of Burning
Recommended“history of burning is a is a book that tells a story of um Indian indentured servants that were brought to Uganda to build the um British railroad there. Um, and just parts of history that I was so much less familiar with”
Where to get it
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Accelerando
Recommended“Second one is uh Accelerando by Stross. This is probably, you know, like my my big genre is uh is sci-fi. Uh like probably sci-fi and fiction. Accelerando is just this incredible book”
Where to get it
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Alice in Wonderland
Recommended“Um we are reading Alice in Wonderland. We're reading some of the Shakespearean comedies. The language is so much more sophisticated and my kids still get it and they still think it's funny.”
Where to get it
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Anna Karenina
On Lenny's Podcast in August 2026, Tara Seshan recommended Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina as a deeply layered classic. Lenny Rachitsky subsequently mentioned that he had also recently read the book for the first time and discussed it with her.
Recommended“Um, another book that I might recommend as a as like a book that people should read. Um, I really love uh Anacarina. I've been rereading the classics lately and I love Anacredina because it's like a book of layers”
Where to get it
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Apple
During the April 26, 2026 episode of Lenny's Podcast, titled Snapchat CEO: Why distribution has become the most important moat, guest Evan Spiegel discussed the book Apple by David Pogue. When Lenny asked what books he recommended, Evan stated that he had just finished the work and praised it, specifically recommending the first half because it features interviews with around 150 early Apple team members and is filled with great stories and lessons.
Recommended“Well, you know what I just finished was The First 50 Years of Apple, uh, by David Pogue. I thought it was great. I would recommend the first half uh because you know he interviews like 150 early Apple team members and it the stories are just great”
Where to get it
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Apple in China
Recommended“And the other one is the Patrick McGee book on Apple and China was super super interesting. I'm a huge Apple fanboy. Like, it was just super fascinating learning about Apple's relationship to China.”
Where to get it
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Area 51
Recommended“You know what's great? Area 51, an uncensored history of the top secret military base. Not very ariodite. Great book.”
Where to get it
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Aurora
Recommended“but I also really love this for, um, fiction, Aurora, which is this book David Cop wrote. It's about uh it's like electromagnetic pulse in the sun that like knocks out it's like fiction for just fun”
Where to get it
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Awareness
During the Lenny's Podcast episode titled Head of Growth (Anthropic): “Claude is growing itself at this point”, Amol Avasare recommended Awareness by Anthony De Mello. Avasare described the book as offering a perspective similar to other mindfulness titles but from a distinctly different angle. He noted that it was one of two books he consistently recommended to people interested in meditation and emotional well-being.
Recommended“I think another one is awareness by Anthony De Mello, which is a kind of similar thing but from a different angle. Those two I I consistently recommend to people”
Where to get it
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Babel
During an appearance on Lenny's Podcast in the episode titled This CPO regrets that product management exists, Tom Verrilli recommended Babel by R.F. Kuang. Verrilli mentioned that the novel was well worth reading for anyone involved in any form of community product. He added that he tended to seek out fiction and fantasy books to read in the evening, making this particular title a favorite for his personal downtime reading.
Recommended“Definitely worth a read if you're in a community product of any form. Uh and the last one is if you're looking for kind of like fiction or fantasy, which is where I tend to go in the evening, Babel by R.F. Kuang.”
Where to get it
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Back Mechanic
Recommended“Another one that's maybe related. I hurt my back. Um, so like it's not great. Back mechanic by Stuart McIll is incredible. So, shout out to anyone who has uh hurt lower back.”
Where to get it
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Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
On Lenny's Podcast on August 30, 2026, Tara Seshan recommended Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan. Seshan explained that she frequently recommended the memoir, noting that it followed the life of a New Yorker reporter who fell deeply in love with surfing as his passion.
Recommended“One book I really recommend to people is Barbarian Days by William Finnegan. I don't know if you've read it. It's about a life of a man who is a New Yorker reporter, but how he fell in love with surfing as his passion.”
Where to get it
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Be Useful
Recommended“Arnold Schwarzenegger has this book that he put out and I feel like the title of the book is the best piece of advice and the simplest way to describe how to be successful in life which is be useful.”
Where to get it
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Breakneck
Recommended“So in the last year I've been reading a lot more about China and kind of like the US China relations. And I think there are two books that came out in the last year that have been really really eye opening for me in that regard. First one is the Dan Wang book breakneck.”
Where to get it
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Build
Discussed“And so it came down to So this was a you know, classic like I I say in build the data versus opinion based decision.”
Where to get it
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Cat's Cradle
In the September 8, 2026 episode of Lenny's Podcast covering the creation of Grok Bot, Roman Ugarte recommended Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut and Martí Sales Sariola. Ugarte mentioned his affection for the author and noted that the novel had been a fun recommendation and a title he had purchased for many friends.
Recommended“One is I love Kerbonagget. Uh, so Cat's Cradle has been a fun fun recommendation that and a copy that I bought many friends before.”
Where to get it
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Code
On the May 3, 2026 episode of Lenny's Podcast, titled Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era, guest Max Schoening recommended the book Code by Charles Petzold. Max highlighted the subtitle, noting that it explores the secret language of hardware and software to answer how computers actually work. He recommended it to anyone seeking a foundational understanding of computer mechanics, pointing out that readers journey through many chapters before encountering any actual code.
Recommended“I would say so code uh by uh Charles Pzled which is uh the secret language of hardware and software. It basically it's like do you know how computers actually work?”
Where to get it
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Codex Seraphinianus
Recommended“Um have you heard of the codeex saraphinus? I'm not sure if I'm saying the safe second name right but not have not this guy Luigi Saraphini who I think um in the 70s did a lot of drugs and basically imagined an encyclopedia of another world.”
Where to get it
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Collapse
Recommended“Guns, Germs, and Steel really are top of that list. A fantastic fantastic book or Collapse, also same author. Um, so yeah, but my my my point to to founders is read the stuff.”
Where to get it
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Competing Against Luck
Recommended“I'm a big fan of and, you know, Clayton Christensen's book on competing against luck um is one of my favorite books on this topic”
Where to get it
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Conquests and Cultures
On an episode of Lenny's Podcast, guest Anish Acharya revealed that Conquests and Cultures by Thomas Sowell is his absolute favorite book to recommend to others. Acharya explained that the publication explores the ways in which historical conquests have driven significant cultural changes across different societies throughout the world, noting why the subject matter resonated deeply with his own perspective.
Recommended“Conquests and Cultures is my very favorite book. Um it's Thomas Sowell, and it just talks about how um conquests have led to culture change in different societies around the world.”
Where to get it
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Conscious Business
During an episode of Lenny's Podcast, guest Matt MacInnis brought up the book Conscious Business by Fred Kofman when sharing leadership insights. MacInnis recommended the text and explained that his product leadership team was actively reading it together as part of a company reading club established at Rippling, utilizing it as a shared framework for organizational culture and management philosophy.
Recommended“one one book is conscious business. I don't have conscious business in front of me because it's actually at the office because we have conscious business reading club at rippling”
Where to get it
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Continuous Discovery Habits
Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres was highlighted on Lenny's Podcast in June 2022. Lenny Rachitsky welcomed author Teresa Torres to the show and praised her work, noting that her book was consistently the number one most recommended title within his newsletter and Slack community. Lenny added that he had personally learned a great deal from her writing, tweets, and shared product management lessons.
Recommended“Teresa Torres is a speaker teacher a consultant product coach and also the author of continuous Discovery habits which is the number one most recommended book in my newsletter slack community”
Where to get it
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Crucial Conversations
On Lenny's Podcast in July 2026, Dianne Penn discussed Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Stephen R. Covey's Crucial Conversations while explaining how she used AI to prepare for difficult management conversations. Lenny Rachitsky then explained how Dianne's custom AI skill drew lessons from the book.
Recommended“I used it a lot and actually like prepping for how to have better conversations um in the moment during like crucial conversations. So I love that book and so I actually have a skill that helps me figure out am I having am I going in the right level of detail”
Where to get it
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Designing the Obvious
Recommended“Two two books. The Power of Moments and um one of the books early on I read was Designing the Obvious, which I found very insightful.”
Where to get it
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Designing Your Life
Recommended“One of them I said before, The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leaders, and I love Designing Your Life by Bill Bernett. I love that book, too. People don't talk about that book enough.”
Where to get it
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Einstein's Dreams
During Lenny's Podcast on September 20, 2026, Peter Sellis recommended Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. Sellis mentioned that this was his third recommendation, noting that he frequently gave the book by the MIT physicist to many consumer product managers.
Recommended“When Jesus failed is about the fall and the rise and fall of long-term capital management in late 1998 caused like one of the crashes or nearly averted crashes. And then my third one which I actually give to a lot of consumer PMs is um Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightiteman the physicist from MIT.”
Where to get it
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Emotional Intelligence
During Lenny's Podcast, in the episode The playbook for building high-talent-density teams | Adam Ward, Head of Talent, released on 2026-08-09, Adam Ward recommended Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. He shared that the book was transformative for him personally and emphasized that emotional intelligence remains a crucial asset, particularly in the modern AI age.
Recommended“And it's emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman. And you know it's kind of the the rise of EQ um as an important piece of it.”
Where to get it
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Exhalation
In the episode Why PMs are suddenly valuable again | Tulsee Doshi (Head of Product, Gemini) of Lenny's Podcast, aired on 2026-11-08, Tulsee Doshi recommended Exhalation by Ted Chiang. She highlighted that the science fiction collection features a specific story about keeping digital avatars alive, which strongly resonated with her perspective on relationships with technology.
Recommended“I don't know if you've read Exhalation, which is a set of like science fiction stories. And there's a particular story in that that actually speaks to a set of individuals who are trying to keep a set of digital avatars alive”
Where to get it
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Factfulness
Recommended“The first book is called Factfulness. Maybe you heard about it. It comes from Ola Rosling and Hans Rosling and Anna Rosling. The three are Swedish. It got it's been a bestseller for years.”
Where to get it
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Four Thousand Weeks
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman was discussed on Lenny's Podcast in October 2026. Emmanuel Ameisen named the title as one of his favorite nonfiction books of all time. He highlighted its exploration of time management and shared that the book deeply resonated with him by addressing the flawed mindset of the when-I-finally mentality.
Recommended“There's like one non-fiction book that really is like one of my favorite ever. It's 4,000 weeks. Um it has a lot in it that that I think is cool. Uh one of the cool things is a sort of thing that was really relevant to me, which is that like the when I finally mentality is a common mentality”
Where to get it
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From Third World to First
Recommended“I know like Limi Guango I'm not so sure what's the title it but like he did so he was the one who led Singapore from uh he changed uh Singapore from a third country to a forceful country within 25 years”
Where to get it
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Functional Programming in Scala
Recommended“One is it is functional programming in Scala. This is the single best technical book I've ever read. It's very weird because you're you're not going to use Scala”
Where to get it
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Good to Great
Recommended“And then I think in business I think uh uh like good to great. It's it's not the like it's not the read that you're going to be most excited to you know enjoy on a vacation.”
Where to get it
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Guide to Better Business Writing
Guide to Better Business Writing by Harvard Business Review was discussed on Lenny's Podcast in August 2022. Wes Kao recommended the book during her appearance, stating that she frequently suggested it to new team members alongside another writing guide to help with professional communication and leadership skills. When Lenny asked her to reiterate her top book recommendations toward the end of the episode, Wes mentioned the Harvard Business Review title again.
Recommended“so we'll link this the show notes and another one is better business writing by Harvard Business press they have a whole series on you know leadership managing up writing Etc and I recommend those two books usually to to new team members”
Where to get it
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Guns, Germs and Steel
Recommended“And so guns books like Guns, Germs, and Steel really are top of that list. A fantastic fantastic book or Collapse, also same author.”
Where to get it
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Hidden Multipliers
Recommended“Also, I'll add that after 20 years of blogging online, Jason is about to publish his very first real book. It's called Hidden Multipliers. You can now pre-order it online at hidden multipliers.com. I am going to grab a bunch.”
Where to get it
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High Growth Handbook
During the August 9, 2026 episode of Lenny's Podcast, Adam Ward recommended High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil while discussing talent-density teams. Ward stated that it was a book he loved for founders, expressing his strong fandom for texts where readers can simply jump to a specific chapter to find an answer.
Recommended“Uh and the other one I love for founders is just uh the high-growth handbook by Elad Gil. I just think it's set I'm a big fan of a book where you can just jump to a chapter and get an answer.”
Where to get it
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High Output Management
During the September 6, 2026 episode of Lenny's Podcast, Anish Acharya recommended High Output Management by Andrew S. Grove. When Lenny asked which business books belonged on a worthwhile reading list, Acharya cited Grove's work as an obvious choice that remained as good as it ever was.
Recommended“The two that are so obvious are High Output Management. Which is like that is as good as it ever was.”
Where to get it
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Histories
During Lenny's Podcast on May 17, 2026, in an episode about the AI hardware boom, Caitlin Kalinowski recommended Histories by Herodotus. Kalinowski called the work pretty incredible, noting that while Herodotus was wrong a lot, it stood as the first history book and featured him gathering firsthand and secondhand accounts of events.
Recommended“I think Herodotus histories is pretty incredible. He's wrong a lot but he's also it's the first history book and in many cases he's going and finding you know firsthand or secondhand accounts of what happens.”
Where to get it
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Homegoing
Recommended“Uh, Pachinko does this with a family in Korea over generations and moving to Japan. Uh, there's a book called Homegoing, which is about the west coast of Africa and the impact of the slave trade”
Where to get it
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House of Huawei
Recommended“The summary version of this is I think the way you we we recently read as a company we read this book uh house of Huawei which is just a really great interesting book”
Where to get it
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How Asia Works
On the April 23, 2026 episode of Lenny's Podcast featuring Cat Wu, the guest recommended How Asia Works by Joe Studwell. Wu shared that she really liked the book, highlighting it as a story about economic development and the specific government policies that create long-lasting, successful economies.
Recommended“I really like how Asia works. It's a story about economic development and what are the like the policies and governments that make long-lasting successful economies.”
Where to get it
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How Big Things Get Done
Recommended“It's kind of a random one. I will say I love how big things get done. I can't pronounce the name. I think one's they're Scandinavian. One is um but it's it kind of dissects really large projects through recentish history and where they failed and why.”
Where to get it
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How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia
In an episode of Lenny's Podcast on September 20, 2026, featuring product advice from Peter Sellis, Lenny Rachitsky asked which books the guest most often recommended. In response, Sellis named How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid alongside another title.
Recommended“Two or three books that you find yourself recommending most to other people. I'm going to butcher the title a bit. Uh how to get filthy rich in rising Asia and when genius failed.”
Where to get it
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How to raise an adult
On Lenny's Podcast, in the episode titled Anthropic’s first technical PM on token maxing, the jagged edge, and living in t, Dianne Penn recommended How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims. Sharing a personal pick as a mother, Penn explained that the book provided valuable framing for understanding parenting goals and helped her reflect on the specific characteristics she wanted to foster and harness in her own children.
Recommended“One personal one I really like how to raise an adult. So uh I'm a mom. So just the framing of what does that mean and what does it mean? What are the characteristics that we want to hone and like harness and foster in our kids?”
Where to get it
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Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy
During an appearance on Lenny's Podcast on September 6, 2026, in the episode Why companies are becoming a series of loops, Anish Acharya discussed the textbook Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy by W. Brian Arthur. Anish recalled that Mark Andreessen had sent him this book before he started working at the firm. He explained that the text was awesome and played a role in helping him understand the economic effects and dynamics of the technology industry.
Recommended“And one was a book, a textbook, called um Increasing Returns to Scale. Which I think is Brian Arthur is the author. It's It's an awesome book.”
Where to get it
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Influence
Recommended“What are two or three books you find yourself recommending most to other people? Influence by Robert Cialdini.”
Where to get it
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Insomniac City
Recommended“The second one that I recommend to a lot of people is uh, a book called Insomniac City, which is written by Bill Hayes, who is was the partner of the scientist Oliver Socks around the time that Oliver Sox died.”
Where to get it
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Into Thin Air
In the episode Why Netflix is betting on systems thinkers—not specialists—in the AI era | Eliza of Lenny's Podcast, aired on 2026-07-19, Elizabeth Stone recommended Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. When Lenny Rachitsky asked her for book recommendations, she included Krakauer's work alongside Michael Lewis's Liar's Poker to help remind people of her past experiences working on Wall Street.
Recommended“So, two that are coming to my mind Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer, and Liar's Poker, Michael Lewis. So, I I worked on Wall Street and I like reminding people what it was like in the way back time.”
Where to get it
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It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences
It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences by June Casagrande was recommended on Lenny's Podcast in August 2022. Wes Kao brought up the title during the interview as one of her top recommendations for learning the craft of writing, noting that she often suggested it to new team members. When Lenny asked her to remind listeners of her top book recommendations, Wes repeated the title and author.
Recommended“so one of the books that that I've been recommending and I think I'm jumping ahead to potentially a lightning round question but uh not allow it it's it's a book called it was best of sentences it was the worst of sentences by June KAS Grande”
Where to get it
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Liar's Poker
In the July 19, 2026 episode of Lenny's Podcast focused on systems thinkers at Netflix, Elizabeth Stone recommended Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis. When Lenny Rachitsky asked what books she recommended to others, Stone mentioned the title and pointed to her background working on Wall Street as a reason she liked reminding people what that era was like.
Recommended“So, two that are coming to my mind Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer, and Liar's Poker, Michael Lewis. So, I I worked on Wall Street and I like reminding people what it was like in the way back time.”
Where to get it
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Life at the Speed of Play
Mark Pincus's book Life at the Speed of Play was discussed on Lenny's Podcast by host Lenny Rachitsky and the author. Rachitsky praised the forthcoming book as an excellent and quick read, while Pincus discussed how its title evolved from its working title and elaborated on core concepts from the book, including the Proven, Better, New framework, day-365 retention metrics, the abyss as a source of ideas, and his views on micromanagement.
Recommended“It's called Life at the Speed of Play. It's coming out in a few weeks, and it is so good, and it's also a really quick read.”
Where to get it
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Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
On an episode of Lenny's Podcast titled "Snapchat CEO: Why distribution has become the most important moat," guest Evan Spiegel brought up the book Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries by Safi Bahcall. Spiegel referenced the work while explaining the concepts that shaped Snap's approach to innovation. He noted that the publication serves as an academic overview or summary of these ideas and explicitly endorsed it as a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the subject.
Recommended“The best sort of like academic overview or summary I think comes from a guy Safi Belell who wrote a book called Loonshots. It's really worth reading.”
Where to get it
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Man's Search for Meaning
Recommended“I'm really enjoying it. Um, Man's Search for Meaning is great. Uh, I'm just going through what have I read recently.”
Where to get it
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Migrations And Cultures
On an episode of Lenny's Podcast titled Why companies are becoming a series of loops, aired on September 6, 2026, guest Anish Acharya brought up the book Migrations And Cultures by Thomas Sowell. When host Lenny Rachitsky asked which books he frequently recommends, Anish named this work as his absolute favorite. He explained its central subject, highlighting how conquests have driven cultural change across different societies throughout the world, and shared why the book deeply resonated with him.
Recommended“Conquests and Cultures is my very favorite book. Um it's Thomas Sowell, and it just talks about how um conquests have led to culture change in different societies around the world.”
Where to get it
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Mindset
Recommended“And then more on the psychology side Mindset by Carol Dweck, who coined the term growth mindset. It's just such an amazing book. It kind of sounds like a self-help book, but then you understand that it's completely psychological and is based on research and that book completely changed my life.”
Where to get it
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Mrs. Dalloway
Caitlin Kalinowski appeared on Lenny's Podcast on May 17, 2026, in an episode discussing the AI hardware boom, and recommended Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Kalinowski expressed her love for the novel, describing it as a very interesting post-war book centered on transitions.
Recommended“I love Mrs. Dalloway, actually. I think it's a very interesting book about transitions, and it was a post-war book by Virginia Wolf.”
Where to get it
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My American Journey
Recommended“You know my American Journey is also very good. Cole Powell's book it's not it's not on my website but it's it's really good.”
Where to get it
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Nature's Metropolis
During an appearance on Lenny's Podcast on May 31, 2026, in the episode A rational conversation on where AI is actually going, Benedict Evans recommended Nature's Metropolis by William Cronon. He described the book as a fascinating economic history of Chicago and highlighted its direct relevance to technology, noting that it touches on standardization, packetization, logistics, channel conflict, network dynamics, and network neutrality.
Recommended“There's a book by I think William Cronin about the economic history of Chicago which is fascinating and actually very relevant to technology because it's talking basically about standardization and packetization and logistics and channel conflict and network dynamics and network neutrality.”
Where to get it
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Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t
Recommended“The book I always point people to when they're want when they're struggling with this sort of thing and like, "Okay, I did this and no one like no one cared. It didn't do any good is there's a book by uh Scott Presfield, I think is his name, uh called Nobody Wants to Read Your Shit."”
Where to get it
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Nonviolent Communication
Discussed“It's from Marshall Rosenberg's non-violent communication has a book and a framework. So it's four steps. The first step is observations.”
Where to get it
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Ogilvy on Advertising
Recommended“So, it's 40 years old, but it's just packed with a bunch of different practical examples about copy and creative that that work, in, you know, these are old school ads, right?”
Where to get it
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On Writing Well
Recommended“What are two or three books that you find yourself recommending most to other people for writing on writing well by William Zinszer. I know I'm not the only one but that's kind of the point. um on my best day I write like that.”
Where to get it
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Pachinko
Recommended“I love this book uh Pachenko that tells the history of um a Korean family over several generations. And in one of the generations sort of in the 1600s, 1700s, there are two wives”
Where to get it
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Positioning
Recommended“This is book positioning um which is an absolute classic. It's very short. I would recommend everyone read it. Where the the point of it is from my perspective it's almost impossible to create a net new idea in someone's head.”
Where to get it
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Project Hail Mary
Recommended“There's a book along those lines that I love. They're making a movie of it right now called Hail Mary. Oh, I'm in the middle of reading that right now.”
Where to get it
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Radical Candor
Recommended“And then I like radical candor. I know some of your guests put that on. I've met Kim Scott, she's phenomenal. Like that radical candor really gave me the confidence to be assertive”
Where to get it
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Sam Walton, Made in America
Recommended“I think Sam Walton's book made in America is a unbelievable book. It's very very good. He wrote it on his deathbed.”
Where to get it
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Seeing Like a State
During Lenny's Podcast, in the episode Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max, released on 2026-05-03, Max Schoening discussed Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott. He mentioned that he frequently gives the book to executives who are creating systems, pointing out its focus on the limits of legibility and noting its popularity through a famous Stack Overflow reference.
Recommended“And then the last one that I give mostly to executives uh that I think are creating a lot of systems uh is uh seeing like a state uh which I think there is a famous stack overflow that sort of um popularized this”
Where to get it
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Strong Product People
Recommended“And the second book is actually very close to my heart. It's called uh strong product community by Petra who's been on the show by the way. And the reason why I recommend this book is because actually I started my career in research.”
Where to get it
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Switch
Recommended“one of my favorite well actually one of the only business books I've ever liked is called Switch. Uh it's about change management and they talk a lot about shrinking the change”
Where to get it
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The purpose driven church
While appearing on Lenny's Podcast in the episode This CPO regrets that product management exists, Tom Verrilli recommended The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren. Describing it as a slightly unconventional choice, Verrilli called it the best book ever recommended to him, noting that former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear used to require people to read it. Verrilli praised its insights into how people invest emotionally in communities.
Recommended“Slightly left field, um, but the best book anyone's ever recommended to me to read which I now recommend to others, um, is The Purpose Driven Church by a pastor called Rick Warren. Uh, Emmett Shear, the CEO at at Twitch used to basically make sure that people read it.”
Where to get it
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The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership
Recommended“I really love the um the 15 commitments to conscious leaders. I don't know if you know that book, but one of the concepts is about taking 100% responsibility, not being in the world of blame, being a victim or being a hero.”
Where to get it
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The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
On an episode of Lenny's Podcast titled How a 19-year-old intern built the growth engine behind this $2B AI company, Hector Serrano recommended The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson. Serrano stated that he had read the book about a year and a half to two years prior and noted that its concepts, particularly regarding media as permissionless leverage, had grown increasingly meaningful to him over time as he reflected on his professional journey and personal growth.
Recommended“I'm going to give one really good book which might be a cliche one but Naval Ravikant's Almanac. I remember reading that about two years ago or maybe a year and a half ago.”
Where to get it
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The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Recommended“I absolutely believe reading uh a a book like Malcolm X's autobiography will make you a better founder and it's not I again it's like the whole cleaning zen all the way to clean code.”
Where to get it
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The beginning of infinity
Recommended“And then lastly uh it's a book that also came out many years ago but it's called The Beginning of Infinity uh which I really like by um uh Deutsch and it's it's uh it's wasn't an easy read for easy read for me”
Where to get it
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The Big Orange Splot
During the June 28, 2026 episode of Lenny's Podcast, titled OpenAI Codex lead on the new shape of product work, Andrew Ambrosino discussed the children's book The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater. In response to a question about children's books, Andrew named it as his favorite childhood story and urged listeners to look it up, especially if they dislike homeowners associations, describing it as a celebration of individuality and agency.
Recommended“My favorite children's book ever is a very old one and it's called The Big Orange Spot or some something along those lines. Look it up. It's great. Go get it. Um if you hate HOAs, go get it.”
Where to get it
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The Book of the New Sun
On the May 17, 2026 episode of Lenny's Podcast, titled Why we’re at the beginning of the AI hardware boom, guest Caitlin Kalinowski recommended the work of fiction The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. While expressing a slight uncertainty regarding the exact title, she praised it as a great fiction book that she strongly recommended to listeners.
Recommended“Book of the New Sun is a great fiction book, which I really recommend. I think that's what it's called.”
Where to get it
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The Culture
Recommended“I have been reading a lot of science fiction recently. And I'm sure this has been recommended before, but the Culture. I think it's Ian Banks is the name of the author. Part of why I love it is because it's like basically relatively recent writing about a future with AI, but it's an optimistic future with AI.”
Where to get it
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The Effective Executive
The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker was brought up on Lenny's Podcast in December 2025. Matt MacInnis recommended the classic 1960s text to leaders, acknowledging that while it is an anachronism that uses dated pronouns for secretaries and executives, it still offers simple and enduring advice on how to lead teams effectively.
Recommended“And then the third is classic 1960s the effective executive. It's an anacronism. It uses weird pronouns for the secretary and the executive.”
Where to get it
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The Emperor of All Maladies
Recommended“Um but uh the emperor of all maladies the the cancer book uh fantastic book I'm almost done with it. Like I think it changes the way I think.”
Where to get it
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The End of the World is Just the Beginning
During an appearance on Lenny's Podcast in the episode Snapchat CEO: Why distribution has become the most important moat, Evan Spiegel recommended The End of the World is Just the Beginning by Peter Zeihan. In response to a question about his favorite book recommendations, Spiegel highlighted the title as especially relevant to the current moment, noting that it provides deep insights into the vulnerabilities of global shipping and the wider economy.
Recommended“there's a great book maybe relevant for this particular moment called the end of the world is just the beginning. Um which actually touches a lot on the vulnerability of global shipping.”
Where to get it
The next 76 books mentioned on Lenny's Podcast, ranked
- The Fish That Ate the Whale by Rich Cohen
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
- The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
- The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
- The Innovator's Solution by Clayton
- The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith
- The Joy of Living by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
- The Last Kings of Shanghai by Jonathan Kaufman
- The Lessons of History by Will Durant
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- The Master and Margarita by Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков
- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- The messy middle by Scott Belsky
- The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
- The Nature of Order by Christopher Alexander
- The Overstory by Richard Powers
- The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
- The Power of Pull by Rob Snyder
- The Rigor of Angels by William Egginton
- The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck
- The Second World War by Sir Winston S. Churchill
- The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre
- The Technology Trap by Carl Benedikt Frey
- The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
- The undoing project by Michael Lewis
- The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is Good for You (and How to Get Good at it) by Kelly McGonigal
- The Wandering Earth by Cixin Liu
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
- There Is No Antimemetics Division by Qntm
- Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows
- Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
- Tools for Conviviality by Ivan Illich
- Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
- When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
- When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein
- Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu
- You Can Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen
- A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- AI Engineering by Chip Huyen
- Am I Overthinking This? by Michelle Rial
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Charts for Babies by Michelle Rial
- Dark Squares by Danny Rensch
- Don't Make Me Think! by Steve Krug
- Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book (Classic Seuss) by Dr. Seuss
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Frictionless by Nicole Forsgren
- Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher
- How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand
- I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
- James by Percival L. Everett
- Negotiation Made Simple by John Lowry
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
- Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
- Nudge by Richard H. Thaler
- Product Delight by Nesrine Changuel
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin
- Scaling People by Claire Hughes Johnson
- SPQR by Mary Beard
- Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, second edition by Harold Abelson
- The Ancient City by Peter Connolly
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo
- The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick P. Brooks Jr.
- The Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Winslow Taylor
- The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander
- This Is Strategy by Seth Godin
- Vibe Coding by Gene Kim
- Why Nothing Works by Marvin Harris
- Working Backwards by Colin Bryar
Guests who recommended books
- Qasar Younis (10)
- Anish Acharya (7)
- Jessica Fain (6)
- Jacob Warwick (6)
- Sam Lessin (6)
- Tony Fadell (5)
- Max Schoening (5)
- Sherwin Wu (5)
- Rachel Lockett (5)
- Robby Stein (5)
- Tulsee Doshi (4)
- Peter Sellis (4)
- Eric Ries (4)
- Boris Cherny (4)
- Stewart Butterfield (4)
- Nicole Forsgren (4)
- Jason Droege (4)
- Wes Kao (4)
- Emmanuel Ameisen (3)
- Tom Verrilli (3)
- Dianne Penn (3)
- Mark Pincus (3)
- Benedict Evans (3)
- Dan Shipper (3)
- Caitlin Kalinowski (3)
- Evan Spiegel (3)
- Cat Wu (3)
- Amol Avasare (3)
- Jeetu Patel (3)
- Becky Kennedy (3)
- Jason Cohen (3)
- Zevi Arnovitz (3)
- Matt MacInnis (3)
- Tomer Cohen (3)
- Chip Huyen (3)
- Dylan Field (3)
- Seth Godin (3)
- Roman Ugarte (2)
- Tara Seshan (2)
- Adam Ward (2)
Latest mentions
“I don't know if you've read Exhalation, which is a set of like science fiction stories. And there's a particular story in that that actually speaks to a set of individuals who are trying to keep a set of digital avatars alive”
“another that's maybe more kind of standard in PM circles is Creativity Inc., which I love. It's the Pixar story. But I think it actually speaks a lot to like how do you create good culture”
“I also just have been really into, you know, the Acatar series recently, but that's that's the what series? That's romantic fantasy. So, for anyone who's just looking for something fun to read, you should read The Throne of Glass or A Court of uh Thorns and Roses.”
“I also just have been really into, you know, the Acatar series recently, but that's that's the what series? That's romantic fantasy. So, for anyone who's just looking for something fun to read, you should read The Throne of Glass”
“I'm going to give one really good book which might be a cliche one but Naval Ravikant's Almanac. I remember reading that about two years ago or maybe a year and a half ago.”
“One, I remember reading the first chapter of his book and feeling the weight lifted off my shoulders that I'm not some silly clueless outlier and that this is a normal part of the process.”
“The um my favorite one is the four volume nature of order series by Christopher Alexander. It's book on architecture, series of books on architecture. Best thing ever. Never heard that recommendation before.”
“And the system one system two stuff is basically Kahneman's kind of I have that book up there actually behind me. This system one just to keep it simple is just like your kind of your amygdala-limbic system making just like gut level quick decisions like snake oh no.”
“One I read recently and is A Brief History of Intelligence. Uh it's this really cool book that walks through the history of like basically brains and five key moments in in our evolution that sort of bootstraps these brain systems on top of one another. It's super accessible”
“Uh another one is Story of Your Life and Others. This is Ted Chiang. This is maybe my favorite sci-fi book of all time. It's a bunch of short stories. It does what I think is the the like high art version of sci-fi”
“There's like one non-fiction book that really is like one of my favorite ever. It's 4,000 weeks. Um it has a lot in it that that I think is cool. Uh one of the cool things is a sort of thing that was really relevant to me, which is that like the when I finally mentality is a common mentality”
“Like you know, books like Neuromancer and then you know, the original like Star Trek. Um you know, I think about that a lot.”
“Two or three books that you find yourself recommending most to other people. I'm going to butcher the title a bit. Uh how to get filthy rich in rising Asia and when genius failed.”
“Two or three books that you find yourself recommending most to other people. I'm going to butcher the title a bit. Uh how to get filthy rich in rising Asia and when genius failed.”
“When Jesus failed is about the fall and the rise and fall of long-term capital management in late 1998 caused like one of the crashes or nearly averted crashes. And then my third one which I actually give to a lot of consumer PMs is um Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightiteman the physicist from MIT.”
“There's this quote that I'm going to butcher because I don't have it in front of me. Um, that that is from John Steinback in um, East of Eden, I think, about the passage of time.”
“One is I love Kerbonagget. Uh, so Cat's Cradle has been a fun fun recommendation that and a copy that I bought many friends before.”
“And then second is The War of Art by Steven Presfield, uh, that I find myself frequently coming back to, even if it's just a page or two at a time. Um, and I'd recommend for anybody.”
“The two that are so obvious are High Output Management. Which is like that is as good as it ever was.”
“The two that are so obvious are High Output Management. Which is like that is as good as it ever was.”
Episodes
Link to this list from your show notes
Host or produce Lenny's Podcast? Give your listeners every book mentioned on the show, with the episode it came up in. New episodes are added as they come out.
