Podcast
My First Million book list: the books mentioned on the show
Sam Parr and Shaan Puri brainstorm new business ideas based on trends & opportunities they see in the market. Sometimes they bring on famous guests to brainstorm with them.
Books from the latest episodes
Most recommended on My First Million
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The 4-Hour Workweek
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss came up across multiple episodes of My First Million. Shaan Puri, Sam Parr, and Andrew Huberman discussed and recommended the book. Speakers highlighted its principles of owning and delegating time, automating tasks, and life design. Shaan Puri recommended it to show that designing one's schedule is possible, while Sam Parr and Andrew Huberman credited it with accelerating their careers and inspiring entrepreneurial action.
Discussed“I don't remember everything we read, but it was like it was like Tim Ferriss's book, The 4-Hour Workweek.”
Where to get it
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How to Win Friends and Influence People
On My First Million, hosts Shaan Puri and Sam Parr frequently referenced Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People across multiple episodes. Puri discussed how reading the book when he was younger changed his life, described it as one of the best-selling non-fiction books of all time, and debated the difficulty of translating its obvious insights into practical execution. Parr brought up the book to illustrate Carnegie's famous teaching about avoiding arguments.
Discussed“So that's one of these things where you read a book like how to win friends and influence people and you're like duh that's obvious and it almost becomes a reminder and yet I'm like but how do you tactically make that switch where you say enjoy the relationships not seeking the outcome?”
Where to get it
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The 48 Laws of Power
Robert Greene and Joost Elffers's book The 48 Laws of Power was discussed on My First Million by hosts Shaan Puri and Sam Parr, as well as by Robert Greene himself during an appearance on the show. The hosts explored specific laws from the book concerning self-control and personal reinvention, while sharing marketing trivia such as the rumor that the book was banned in prisons. Greene also reflected on writing the book and recounted how Michael Jackson owned an annotated copy.
Discussed“First, I'm just going to read you from Robert Green who came on the podcast. Really interesting guy wrote 48 Laws of Power. Law number 25. Recreate yourself.”
Where to get it
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Influence
On My First Million, speakers including Shaan Puri, Andrew Wilkinson, and Sam Parr repeatedly discussed and recommended Robert Cialdini's Influence. They highlighted its utility for understanding persuasion, consumer behavior, marketing, and the law of reciprocity, with Puri noting that the book changed his life.
Discussed“We discussed Robert Cialdini's Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion.”
Where to get it
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How to Get Rich
Felix Dennis's How to Get Rich was repeatedly recommended across multiple episodes of My First Million between 2022 and 2026. Shaan Puri, David Senra, Alex Hormozi, Nick Huber, and Sam Parr praised the book for its brutal honesty and tactical business insights, noting that social media mentions frequently caused it to surge in sales and ranking categories.
Recommended“Have you guys ever read this book called How to Get Rich? No. It's by an author called Felix Dennis. Felix Dennis, you guys have to read his book.”
Where to get it
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Atomic Habits
On My First Million, James Clear's book Atomic Habits frequently served as a point of reference for the hosts. Sam Parr recommended the book to illustrate the importance of systems over goals, while Shaan Puri, Morgan Housel, and Sam Parr discussed its massive commercial success, its influence on newsletter formats, its role in shaping industry bestsellers, and its popularity among specific demographics.
Discussed“I remember I felt uh defensive of you when Atomic Habits came out because you were my guy and I'm friends with James.”
Where to get it
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The Game
On My First Million, the hosts and guests including Rory Sutherland, Oz Pearlman, Sam Parr, and Shaan Puri discussed Neil Strauss's book The Game. They reflected on reading it in their youth, how it encouraged them to interact with people, and its influence on social dynamics and pickup artistry.
Discussed“I don't know if you've read The Rules by um I think I think it's called The Game by Neil Strauss, actually, about the pickup artist community. It's quite an interesting book.”
Where to get it
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The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson was discussed on My First Million. Shaan Puri and guest Ryan Holiday spoke about the book's massive sales success, profitability, and how it grew from a blog audience into a multi-million-dollar business empire. Puri also used the book to illustrate the power of personal insight and catchy titles in self-help publishing.
Discussed“so for example Mark Manson when he came on two or three years ago he either said this on the podcast or when I was hanging out with him his book for I think it was Penguin sold 20 million copies...”
Where to get it
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Titan
On My First Million, David Rubenstein, Shaan Puri, Eric Glyman, Lloyd Blankfein, and Sam Parr discussed Ron Chernow's biography Titan in multiple episodes. Several speakers recommended the book as a favorite business biography about John D. Rockefeller, noting how it influenced their views on tracking goals, expenses, and instilling grit.
Recommended“I also love um Titan. That's probably my most favorite uh business biography on John D. Rockefeller.”
Where to get it
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The Laws of Human Nature
Robert Greene's book The Laws of Human Nature was discussed across several episodes of My First Million by hosts Shaan Puri, Sam Parr, and guest Andrew Wilkinson. The speakers praised it as an exceptionally dense and valuable book for understanding human behavior, mastering emotions, and studying historical patterns, with Wilkinson and Parr noting they listened to the audiobook or read it extensively for insights into leadership and business.
Discussed“What I've realized I I realized this when I read Robert Greene's book Human Nature, which is humans are humans.”
Where to get it
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Zero to One
On My First Million, hosts Shaan Puri, Sam Parr, and John Coogan repeatedly brought up Peter Thiel and Blake Masters's Zero to One across multiple episodes. They used the book to discuss business moats, network effects, secrets, and how extreme success is tied to contrarian thinking and extreme personality traits.
Discussed“What I've noticed is that like have you read Peter Thiel's Zero to One? Okay, so he like has this whole chapter chapters on like moats and he's like one moat is I forget what he says, network effects, this or that. And then he gets to the last chapter and he's like, there is one more moat.”
Where to get it
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The Mom Test
On My First Million, Shaan Puri and other hosts frequently recommended Rob Fitzpatrick's The Mom Test as the definitive guide for validating startup ideas and conducting customer discovery interviews by focusing strictly on user problems.
Discussed“so you um have you ever read this thing called the mom test”
Where to get it
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American Kingpin
On My First Million, the book American Kingpin by Nick Bilton was frequently discussed by the hosts and guests. Sam Parr called it the greatest book he had ever read and urged listeners to pick it up, while Shaan Puri shared that it took him years to finally read Parr's recommendation before loving it. Other guests, such as Ben Wilson and Matt Mullenweg, also referenced the book while analyzing Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road, and early marketing tactics.
Discussed“Sam has been telling me about a book for probably 10 years in a row and I finally got around to reading it this year and the book is American kingpen”
Where to get it
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Made to stick
Chip and Dan Heath's book Made to Stick was frequently recommended on My First Million by co-hosts Shaan Puri and Sam Parr. The hosts praised the book as a foundational guide for storytelling, copywriting, and making ideas memorable and viral.
Recommended“If you want to learn more about this stuff, my favorite book on this topic is Made to Stick by Chip Heath. It's two brothers from Stanford and they do the best job of showing like five ways that you can make ideas stick with people.”
Where to get it
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The Inner Game of Tennis
W. Timothy Gallwey's The Inner Game of Tennis was brought up on multiple episodes of My First Million by hosts Shaan Puri and Sam Parr. The hosts recommended the book as a non-business text offering valuable life and sports psychology lessons, using it to discuss flow states, visualization techniques, and the mental separation of critical thought from physical action.
Recommended“the inner game of tennis talks a lot about that. Great book.”
Where to get it
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Unreasonable Hospitality
On My First Million, various speakers including Rory Sutherland, Shaan Puri, Isaac French, Sam Parr, and Ramit Sethi discussed or recommended Will Guidara's Unreasonable Hospitality, highlighting its customer service strategies, its inspiration for an episode of The Bear, and how it motivated readers to strive for excellence.
Recommended“Now, I first came across this in Will Guidara's fantastic book Unreasonable Hospitality.”
Where to get it
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Die with Zero
Die with Zero by Bill Perkins and William O. Perkins was discussed on My First Million across episodes spanning from 2021 to 2025. Daniel Negreanu recommended the book to emphasize that money should be utilized as a tool for life experiences and happiness rather than material accumulation. Shaan Puri and Morgan Housel also brought up the title to examine principles of delayed gratification, the timing of financial gifts, and contrasting perspectives on wealth preservation compared to traditional saving mindsets.
Recommended“I have friends that are billionaires and stuff like that. And one of them actually wrote a book, Bill Perkins, because he does it right. You know, he, he wrote a book called Die With Zero, right?”
Where to get it
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Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens was referenced multiple times across episodes of My First Million. Scott Galloway shared that he read the book several times to fully embed its concepts. Mike Novogratz cited it to illustrate that humans are narrative-driven creatures, while Shaan Puri and Sam Parr both noted the author's hypothesis regarding hunter-gatherers working roughly thirty hours a week. Shaan Puri additionally brought up the book on multiple occasions to discuss how humans self-organize around shared stories and to connect historical discussions on human work habits.
Discussed“The book Sapiens was all about humans are people of narrative, right? I love storytelling.”
Where to get it
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$100M Offers
Alex Hormozi's book $100M Offers was frequently discussed across multiple episodes of My First Million. Shaan Puri and Sam Parr referenced the book during discussions on business strategy, marketing playbooks, and listener questions about creating killer offers. Guests like Ali Abdaal also credited reading Hormozi's book, along with other marketing guides, as instrumental in helping him structure his courses, landing pages, and product offers following step-by-step methodologies.
Discussed“So the first one was this is what this is kind of book one. So this is you know your $100 million offers book.”
Where to get it
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Grit
On My First Million, host Shaan Puri and other speakers referenced Angela Duckworth's best-selling book Grit across multiple episodes from 2020 to 2026. The speakers used the work to discuss delayed gratification, perseverance, mindset metrics, and the argument that grit is more likely to lead to success than IQ.
Discussed“You there's this cool book called Grit. We talked about it a ton here on this podcast and you cite it a bunch.”
Where to get it
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Mastery
Robert Greene's Mastery was frequently discussed on My First Million as a life-changing read. Shaan Puri and host Sam Parr both credited the book with altering their perspectives away from generalism toward deep skill development and finding one's life task. Shaan Puri also noted reading the book during a period when he was trying to get sober.
Discussed“Not just because of your book, but like one of my favorite books is Mastery by Robert Greene. Yes.”
Where to get it
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Profit First
Mike Michalowicz's Profit First was discussed across multiple episodes of My First Million. Shaan Puri and Sam Parr explored the alternative business cash flow and budgeting methodology, noting recommendations from Andrew Wilkinson and company CEOs who utilized the book's strategies to manage company profits.
Discussed“Have you ever read the book Profit First? No. Somebody recommended on the podcast and they go it was like the time when my girlfriend bought me the book The Game before I went to college”
Where to get it
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Shoe Dog
Phil Knight's memoir Shoe Dog came up multiple times on My First Million. In various episodes, Shaan Puri and Andrew Wilkinson discussed it as an iconic founding story of Nike and a model for how a book can make someone legendary. Puri used the book to contrast how Phil Knight portrayed himself in his memoir compared to the movie Air, while Craig Clemens referenced it to illustrate the public hostility toward joggers during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
Discussed“I haven't read Shoe Dog by the way which I know is like supposed to be mandatory. I started it and I was like h. So I've only read Shoe Dog and I've read Bill Bman's book. So I've never read too much about Phil Knight other than that one Shoe Dog.”
Where to get it
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Think and Grow Rich
On My First Million, speakers including Shaan Puri, Sam Parr, and Jack Smith frequently discussed Napoleon Hill's bestseller 'Think and Grow Rich'. Across various episodes, they explored the book's origins, its business model involving lead generation, how Guthy-Renker famously bought its rights to launch infomercials, and its enduring lessons on persistence and success.
Discussed“So, they realize they can buy the rights to the book, Think and Grow Rich, one of their favorite books, because it's like it's such an old book that like the like the copyright or whatever had lapsed or some like that. They could basically buy the rights to it for $100,000.”
Where to get it
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Living with a SEAL
On My First Million in 2023, Shaan Puri and Cody Ko discussed Jesse Itzler's book Living with a SEAL across multiple episodes. The hosts and guests highlighted the story of Itzler living with David Goggins for thirty days, noting that the book played a significant role in helping launch Goggins' fame.
Discussed“I read your book. Uh the real The day I got really into you is when I read Living with a Seal, which is the story of you living with uh David Goggins for 30 days.”
Where to get it
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Rework
On My First Million, hosts Shaan Puri and Sam Parr frequently referenced Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Guest David Heinemeier Hansson discussed how the book captured their early operating principles, such as out-teaching competitors and picking a fight in marketing. Shaan Puri and Sam Parr also praised the book's enduring wisdom and its influence on their website and business strategies.
Discussed“And Rework was a fantastic book. Your website right now is basically kind of like Rework.”
Where to get it
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The Boron Letters
The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert and Bond Halbert was recommended on My First Million by co-host Shaan Puri and other speakers. Puri praised the book as an essential masterclass in copywriting, storytelling, and persuasion, noting that the letters were written by Gary Halbert while he was in prison.
Recommended“have you ever read the Boron letters years ago okay so this is uh mustre yeah uh copyrighting”
Where to get it
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Good to Great
On My First Million, guests Mohnish Pabrai, Hayes Barnard, Guy Spier, and Ryan Holiday referenced Jim Collins' book. They used it to illustrate a business competition metaphor about gas stations, discuss level five leadership, and highlight the rare long-term sales success of hardcovers versus paperbacks.
Discussed“So, yeah, it comes from um a Good to Great. So, yeah, it's a beautiful idea that I haven't thought about for for an enormous amount of time. The idea is, and this is a story I think is in his is in his book Good to Great.”
Where to get it
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Hooked
Nir Eyal's book Hooked was discussed across several episodes of My First Million. Shaan Puri repeatedly recommended the book to startup founders and listeners to help them understand habit-forming product design, internet funnels, and user engagement, and also noted how the book originated from refining thoughts for a live talk.
Discussed“Nir Eyal, same thing when he wrote his book Hooked. Same thing, he's like, 'I first was just giving a talk somewhere. To give the talk, I had to sharpen up my thoughts. By the end of that, I was like, [ __ ] there's something to this.'”
Where to get it
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The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout was discussed on My First Million. Shaan Puri brought up the book while rereading it following a recommendation by Tim Ferriss, and Tim Ferriss himself mentioned the book to explain the concept of the law of category.
Discussed“I think he also wrote the 22 immutable laws of marketing, of which Tim Feres, that's like one of the only three books that he always says like just read this one.”
Where to get it
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Storyworthy
On My First Million, Shaan Puri frequently recommended and discussed Matthew Dicks's book Storyworthy. Puri praised it as an amazing guide on storytelling by a twenty-time moth storytelling champion, noting that he stole a specific exercise called first last best worst from its pages. He and Sam Parr also brought up the book when discussing public speaking, content creation, and how stakes function in narratives.
Recommended“Worthy storyworthy is a amazing book by this like teacher guy who's like this 20 time storytelling champion of the moth storytelling I didn't I didn't even know what this thing was”
Where to get it
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The 2-Hour Cocktail Party
On My First Million, Shaan Puri and Sam Parr frequently brought up Nick Gray's book The 2-Hour Cocktail Party. Shaan recommended the book while discussing party-hosting styles and Nick's knack for organizing social gatherings, while Sam mentioned the author's background and the release of the book.
Recommended“go by his book uh 2hour cocktail party”
Where to get it
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The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Ben Horowitz's book The Hard Thing About Hard Things was discussed on My First Million. Amjad Masad recommended it as a valuable resource for sales-driven businesses and discussed it in the context of leadership dynamics at Andreessen Horowitz. Shaun Puri referenced the book while praising the author's titling style and brought up the concept of lead bullets instead of a silver bullet for business growth.
Recommended“I think Ben Horowitz and like The Hard Things About Hard Things is it is it very good book and inspiration for especially like a more sales-driven business.”
Where to get it
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Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman's book Thinking, Fast and Slow was brought up across multiple episodes of My First Million. Scott Galloway recommended the book on May 6, 2024, noting he had read it multiple times to understand loss aversion theory. Later, in episodes from mid-2024 and 2026, guests and hosts like Rory Sutherland, Shaan Puri, and George Mack referenced Kahneman's work to illustrate concepts such as decoy pricing, cognitive biases, and the universal struggle of falling victim to mental shortcuts.
Discussed“And he in his book Thinking Fast and Slow, I don't know if you read that, Sean, but one of his like one of the famous examples was The Economist, I think it was, or something like that.”
Where to get it
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The Daily Stoic
On My First Million, Shaan Puri and Ryan Holiday discussed Holiday's work and his book The Daily Stoic, co-authored with Stephen Hanselman. Puri mentioned the book and its accompanying daily newsletter while discussing Holiday's career as an author.
Discussed“So, Ryan Holiday wrote a book on stoicism. He's written six or seven now at this point. But, he has this other property. It's a daily newsletter called the Daily Stoic”
Where to get it
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Empire of the Summer Moon
S. C. Gwynne's Empire of the Summer Moon was discussed across multiple episodes of My First Million. Sam Parr and Noah Kagan both recommended the book during book recommendation segments, while Shaan Puri brought it up while exploring the history of the Comanche Indians and the Texas Rangers.
Recommended“book uh i'm gonna go with endurance story about a shipwreck and then i'll also go with empire the summer moon it's about the comanche indians they're just and and the texas rangers and how they fought and they're all just [ __ ] savages the rate dude endurance is so good”
Where to get it
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I will teach you to be rich
On My First Million, Andrew, Andrew Wilkinson, Shaan Puri, and Ramit Sethi discussed the book I will teach you to be rich. The hosts mentioned reading the book years ago for its lessons on focusing on major financial decisions rather than small expenses, while Sethi discussed the origin of the title and its transition from a blog to a major business empire.
Discussed“so I read this book about 15 years ago by this guy ramit Sethi uh he's got a website I will teach you to be rich and he's got a book called I will teach you to be rich”
Where to get it
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Mastermind
On My First Million, speakers including Shaan Puri, Amjad Masad, and Sam Parr discussed Maria Konnikova's book Mastermind while exploring the criminal history of hacker Paul Le Roux, noting how they originally discovered the story through a Wired magazine article and subsequent book recommendations.
Discussed“There's this uh story uh called the Mastermind about uh the this guy who I think grew up in uh Rhodesia and now it's in Zimbabwe and he was a hacker.”
Where to get it
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Trust Me, I'm Lying
Ryan Holiday's book Trust Me, I'm Lying was discussed across multiple episodes of My First Million. Ryan Holiday brought up the book to explain his initial career bet on himself as a writer, while Sam Parr and Craig Clemens referenced it when discussing media strategies, marketing tactics, and stoicism products.
Recommended“If you like that plant strategy Ryan Holiday wrote a great book called Trust Me I'm Lying and he talks about all these phrases that he planted in the heads of these reporters when he was promoting things like Tucker Maxx books and and you know wild stuff back then.”
Where to get it
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A Short History of Financial Euphoria
On My First Million, Howard Marks and Mohnish Pabrai repeatedly recommended John Kenneth Galbraith's 'A Short History of Financial Euphoria'. Marks and Pabrai cited the book as a major influence on their thinking regarding market behaviors, booms, and busts.
Recommended“So, one is uh a short history of financial euphoria by John Kenneth Galbraith. This was very uh influential in my thinking”
Where to get it
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On Writing
On My First Million, Tim Ferriss and Shaan Puri both highly recommended Stephen King's On Writing. Puri noted that the book changed his life and praised its effective tips and toolbox, while Ferriss named it as his favorite book on the craft.
Recommended“So, anything I get a hold of, On Writing by Stephen King. It's my favorite.”
Where to get it
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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
On My First Million, Shaan Puri and Steph Smith recommended Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team across episodes in March 2020, May 2023, and June 2025. The hosts praised the book as an underrated business advice and fiction hybrid, recommending it to understand successful team collaboration, corporate management dynamics, and team behavior.
Recommended“Have you ever read Five Dysfunctions of a Team? Yeah, by Patrick Lencioni Patrick L? Yeah. I think that's kind of an underrated book.”
Where to get it
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Endurance
On My First Million, Sam Parr frequently praised Endurance by Alfred Lansing, naming it one of his top books of all time and a personal book pick of the year to illustrate extreme toughness. Noah Kagan also brought up the book while discussing the scientific evidence behind cold plunges.
Recommended“the book endurance probably honestly might be the top three books I've read of all time. The story is basically in the early 1900s when he was just in like a ship without you know power sails around to the bottom of the Arctic or Antarctica I forget which one. The ship gets like so deep into the cold that”
Where to get it
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The War of Art
On My First Million, Shaan Puri frequently discussed Steven Pressfield's book, "The War of Art". Across episodes in December 2022, January 2026, and June 2024, Puri brought up the title to examine creative philosophies, the concept of resistance, and the behavioral differences between amateurs and professionals. He used the book's framework to discuss the importance of pursuing fulfilling career paths over easy financial gains.
Recommended“Have you ever read the uh I think it's called the war is it war on art by Steven Presfield? War of art.”
Where to get it
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Traction
Gino Wickman's book Traction came up in multiple episodes of My First Million. Shaan Puri and Alex Lieberman discussed how an investor recommended the book, prompting its adoption as a major turning point for their business operations. Ali Abdaal also recommended the book to creators seeking to learn basic business principles, standard operating procedures, and key performance indicators.
Discussed“The book is called Traction by this guy named Gino. Gino, by the way, Sean has asked to come on a whole bunch.”
Where to get it
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Steal like an artist
Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist came up on My First Million across multiple episodes. Guest Jenny Hoyos recommended the book, explaining that she learned the practice of maintaining a swipe file from it. Co-host Shaan Puri also brought up the work on separate occasions to illustrate that originality is often a remix of past ideas and to reference it while discussing his own creative processes.
Discussed“I have this book um that's on my bookshelf called Steal Like an Artist.”
Where to get it
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The 4-Hour Body
On My First Million, Dr. Andrew Huberman praised Timothy Ferriss's The 4-Hour Body for accelerating his career in science. Later, Shaan Puri cited the book as a prime example of building a personal identity around experiments. Sam Parr also mentioned the work while discussing his own morning protein consumption and dietary routines.
Discussed“Tim Ferris did that a little bit with the 4our body where he tried things that weren't crazy but he did a really good job of explaining it and making that part of his identity”
Where to get it
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The Blue Zones
On My First Million, Shaan Puri featured The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner as one of his favorite reads, initially treating it as a guide for living a long, healthy life. Later in the podcast, Steph Smith also mentioned reading the book years ago as her personal longevity bible, while they discussed potential data inaccuracies regarding the subject.
Discussed“there's a book called The Blue zones and basically like I read it 10 years ago or something and I was like this is my Bible for like living a long healthy life turns out uh now this is a I believe a hypothesis I don't know like what the it's I'm kind of regurgitating like a headline a little”
Where to get it
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The Body Keeps the Score
Shaan Puri recommended The Body Keeps the Score on My First Million as a great resource for dealing with trauma. He later mentioned reading the book to introduce a discussion about trauma and the nervous system, and referenced it again when discussing his coach's emphasis on how physical sensations relate to emotional states.
Discussed“I've read The Body Keeps the Score and I like intuitively know that like trauma is a physical thing, but like to put it on a really practical level, you ever get like a slack or an email from a co-orker that says, 'Can we talk?'”
Where to get it
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The Courage to Be Disliked
On My First Million, Mike Maples brought up The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, describing it as amazing. Later, Mark Pincus mentioned the book after discussing a tweet by Andrew Wilkinson, who called it a huge turning point for him. Andrew also referenced the book to explain how its dialogue format and core ideas provided a fresh perspective on breaking free from the trap of seeking external recognition.
Discussed“And there was a great tweet that I love by this guy yesterday. He has some company called like Tiny Co. or something. Yeah, Andrew Wilkinson. That's our that's our good friend. I loved his tweet and he referenced the courage to be disliked and he said he said said it was a huge turning point for him when he”
Where to get it
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The Happy Body
On My First Million, Sean Puri discussed reading The Happy Body as part of his fitness and reading routine. Sam Parr later mentioned that Puri had recommended the book to him, prompting Parr to obtain it and start using its exercises, and Puri brought it up again during a discussion about mobility and joint health.
Discussed“super joints is do you remember so we talked about the book happy body”
Where to get it
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Meditations
On My First Million, Shaan Puri referenced Marcus Aurelius's Meditations while comparing a historical ruler's private journaling to a modern tech CEO's digital archive, and noted that Eric Glyman read the work during his personal development. Sam Parr also shared that he purchased and read the book to understand stoicism.
Discussed“It made me think of I don't know if you've heard people talk about uh meditations by Marcus Aurelius, of course.”
Where to get it
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Outliers
On My First Million, speakers including Shaan Puri and Howard Marks referenced Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers. Puri cited the book to explain how early access to computers gave Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen a distinct advantage, and he also discussed the origin of the popular ten-thousand-hour rule. Howard Marks brought up the same book to emphasize the significant role that luck and timing play in achieving success.
Discussed“The book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell talked a little bit about this like you know, at a young age Bill Bill Gates and Paul Allen the founders of Microsoft, their school was the first one of the only schools in the country to have a computer.”
Where to get it
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The Lean Startup
On My First Million, hosts Shaan Puri and Greg Eisenberg discussed The Lean Startup by Eric Ries across multiple episodes. Greg Eisenberg shared that a mentor gave him the book, which inspired him to test market demand before committing resources, while Shaan Puri referenced its foundational startup hypotheses.
Discussed“Like one of the frameworks I always like that I think has kind gone out of style was Eric Reese when he did a lean startup and he said basically a company you you really have two main hypotheses.”
Where to get it
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The Power Broker
On My First Million, Sam Parr and Lloyd Blankfein discussed Robert A. Caro's historical biography The Power Broker. Parr mentioned beginning to read the acclaimed twentieth-century book after seeing an exhibit, and later highlighted its extensive research, writing process, and the influential forward written by Barack Obama. Blankfein also brought up the book while discussing historical figures like Robert Moses following a visit to the American History Museum.
Discussed“I just started reading finally reading the Power Broker. Power Broker is a historic book considered one of the 50 best books of the of the 20th century.”
Where to get it
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The Power of Habit
On My First Million, Shaan Puri discussed Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit across multiple episodes. Puri noted the book as an inspiration for Atomic Habits, asked Duhigg about its multi-million copy sales figures, and shared his own takeaway that habits are ultimately transferred rather than eliminated.
Discussed“He wrote the book Power of Habit which was a big inspiration to to Atomic Habits and it was a great book.”
Where to get it
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The Wager
On My First Million, Sam Parr and Andrew Wilkinson recommended David Grann's The Wager, praising it as an exceptional book about an 18th-century shipwreck and the harsh hardships faced by stranded sailors. Shaan Puri also recommended the book to guest Laird Hamilton in an earlier episode, highlighting it as a gripping historical account of maritime voyages from England through Argentina.
Recommended“So this year I went on a spree where I read books about people's hardship. So I read The Wager, which was a 10 out of 10. It's about a shipwreck and these guys are stranded for 2 years.”
Where to get it
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Same as Ever
On My First Million, guest Andrew Wilkinson recommended Morgan Housel's book Same as Ever as a comforting counterbalance to anxiety-inducing texts about rapid technological change. Host Shaan Puri also brought up the book to discuss its positive Goodreads reception and its core premise focusing on the things that never change over the long term.
Discussed“and then this new one just came out was it called same as ever”
Where to get it
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The Terminal List
On My First Million, Shaan Puri frequently mentioned Jack Carr and his military thriller series, "The Terminal List". In the March 2024 episode titled "5 Genius Business Tactics Turning Broke Authors Into Millionaires," Shaan Puri recommended the 2018 novel, pointing out its unusually high volume of positive reviews on Amazon. Later, in the May 2024 episode featuring an interview with Jack Carr, Puri discussed how he picked up the first book in the series and became instantly hooked on the author's work.
Discussed“If you don't know who Jack Carr is, you guys should look him up, but basically he has this series of books called The Terminal List.”
Where to get it
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Play Nice but Win
Michael Dell's autobiography, Play Nice but Win, written with James Kaplan, was discussed on My First Million. David Senra brought up the book in April 2025 to illustrate high levels of disagreeableness and competitiveness among billionaires, as well as startup capital constraints. Andrew Wilkinson also mentioned the memoir in December 2023 to highlight Dell's calm, tame public persona.
Discussed“Michael Dell could be on this list, too. I'm reading his autobiography like and I got to the point where they're like he's he's taking the company private.”
Where to get it
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Predictably Irrational
Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational was discussed on My First Million by hosts Sam Parr and Shaan Puri. The hosts brought up the behavioral economist and his book while recounting a past story about consulting him for menu pricing experiments when they were launching a restaurant startup.
Discussed“The author. Yeah, he he wrote this book called Predictably Irrational. So he's a behavioral economist. And he just happened he was a teacher at Duke.”
Where to get it
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Principles
On My First Million, Shaan Puri and Ray Dalio discussed the book Principles. Dalio explained that he initially posted his principles online as a guide for his company, and the document was subsequently downloaded three million times. Puri praised the book for encouraging readers to define their own personal principles rather than simply adopting someone else's. In a later episode, Puri referenced Dalio's macroeconomic theories regarding the cycles of empires and the decline of the United States.
Discussed“and then I put online the principles just so we we have a book of how we're going to be with each other the principles and then that got around 3 million copies were it was downloaded 3 million times.”
Where to get it
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The Psychology of Money
On My First Million, Shaan Puri discussed Morgan Housel's successful book The Psychology of Money to examine sales figures and common psychological mistakes people make regarding personal finance.
Discussed“I read the book uh your your first big hit psychology of money a while ago”
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The Snowball
On My First Million, Shaan Puri mentioned to Sam Parr that he was currently reading the Warren Buffett biography The Snowball. Parr expressed interest in reading it and suggested starting a book club. The podcast also included a discussion of how two entrepreneurs read Warren Buffett's biography, which changed their approach to acquiring companies.
Discussed“So, like right now one of the books I'm reading is is the the Warren Buffett biography, but that's for specific reason. Which one? Snowball or the other one? I'm reading Snowball right now. Snowball's good.”
Where to get it
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Don't Tell Me I Can't
Cole Summers' book Don't Tell Me I Can't was recommended on My First Million by George Mack, who praised it as the most underrated business book in the world and an example of an inspiring, driven individual. Jack Smith also recommended the book when asked for a final book recommendation related to unschooling.
Recommended“The second person on my list is uh is it's a book by called um Don't Tell Me I Can't by Cole Summers. It's the most underrated business book in the world in my opinion.”
Where to get it
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Endurance; Shackleton's incredible voyage
Endurance; Shackleton's incredible voyage by Alfred Lansing was discussed on My First Million in two episodes. On October 19, 2021, Andrew Wilkinson talked about how reading it made him realize the extreme circumstances people can survive. Later, on April 27, 2023, David Senra recommended it as the best book he had read in about three years.
Recommended“that's the best book I've read in probably three years endurance yeah yeah it's excellent”
Where to get it
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Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got
On My First Million, Shaan Puri recommended Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got by Jay Abraham to illustrate fundamental strategies for growing a business. Ramit Sethi also mentioned the book on the podcast, noting that despite its terrible title, a page from it helped him build a multi-million dollar product.
Recommended“so you know there's a great book called getting everything you have out of everything you got and it just walks through like those are the only three options”
Where to get it
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Little Golden America
Ilya Ilf, Eugene Petrov, and Sam Sloan's book Little Golden America was recommended on My First Million in late 2021. Noah Kagan and Shaun Puri both highlighted the 1930s travelogue, detailing how two journalists from the USSR journeyed across America for four months and recorded their observations of the country.
Recommended“um little golden america in the 1930s two russian journalists from the ussr were welcomed into america and they just traveled for four months all over america”
Where to get it
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Ogilvy on Advertising
On My First Million, the book Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy was discussed in multiple episodes. In August 2026, Shaan Puri recommended the book to guest Shreyas Parab to help him improve his direct-response marketing and copywriting skills. Earlier, in March 2026, the host David also recommended Ogilvy on Advertising, describing it as a simple and foundational book for mastering marketing and positioning.
Recommended“Listen, Joe Sugarman is the author. It's called the the ade guide to copyrightiting. Read that and then read on advertising by David Oglev. Read those this week and your mind will change.”
Where to get it
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The Four Agreements
On My First Million, Daniel Negreanu recommended The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz during two separate episodes released on October 6, 2025. Negreanu described it as a simple, powerful, and impactful book that he loves, noting that it provides valuable life principles and emotional intelligence tricks for founders.
Recommended“one of the books that I loved, it was such a simple book. It's by Don Miguel Ruiz. It's four, it's called The Four Agreements.”
Where to get it
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The Gambler
The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Charles James Hogarth was discussed on My First Million. Thomas Braziel and Shaan Puri brought up the biography while talking about distrested investing and the business history of Kirk Kerkorian, with Puri recommending the book as a really good read.
Recommended“Kirkan. Oh, you like that one? That's a really Oh my god. Yes. The gambler. That's one of the best bio.”
Where to get it
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Undaunted Courage
Stephen E. Ambrose's Undaunted Courage was recommended on My First Million by Shaan Puri in two separate episodes. He first brought it up in 11 Business Lessons I Learned From History Biographies (#478) (2023-07-25) as a resource for historical business lessons centered on Lewis and Clark. He recommended it again in Ex-Goldman CEO: 3 sectors where I'm putting my money right now (2026-06-16), emphasizing its under-discussed perspective on Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea.
Recommended“that's a good book too on undaunted courage Stephen Ambrose the best and people this is way under discussed Sacka Jia for the listener basically Louis and Clark”
Where to get it
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Amp It Up
Frank Slootman's book Amp It Up was referenced across two different episodes of My First Million. On October 23, 2024, in the episode You Have 70 Days to Win the Year, Shaan Puri mentioned the book while discussing priorities and single-word focus in business, identifying Slootman as the former CEO of Snowflake. Later, on June 20, 2025, in the episode We found the top 1 percent of the internet this week, Sam Parr recommended the title, noting that readers could also acquire most of the core concepts directly from Slootman's blog posts.
Recommended“So he's got this book called Amp It Up. But if you really you could just read his blog post called Amp It Up and get 80% of the the idea. It's not even just about working hard.”
Where to get it
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blue ocean strategy
Blue Ocean Strategy was discussed on My First Million by Tim Ferriss, who recommended reading it in combination with a chapter from The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing. In a later episode, Hayes Barnard also mentioned reading the book when describing his strategic shift toward business partnerships.
Discussed“And so I was coming off a big high and I thought about I read a book called the blue ocean strategy.”
Where to get it
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Bowling Alone
On My First Million, Shaan Puri discussed Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam in August 2024 and August 2025. Puri mentioned reading the book to understand the historical decline of club affiliations and social participation in America, and explained how the statistical work profoundly influenced Scott Heiferman to start Meetup.com after September 11th.
Recommended“I was reading this book called Bowling Alone and it's all about um in America uh up until roughly the 60s.”
Where to get it
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Buffett: the Making of an American Capitalist
On My First Million, Shaan Puri recommended reading Roger Lowenstein's biography of Warren Buffett, Buffett: the Making of an American Capitalist, instead of longer alternatives. In a later episode, Puri brought up the book again to read a specific passage that illustrated Charlie Munger's Churchillian self-assurance and unimpressive physical presence.
Discussed“There's this cool story from I think it's called Making of a an American Capitalist. And so, they talk about how the Here, I'll read it just the this part from the book. They go, "Physically, Munger was unimpressive."”
Where to get it
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Deep Work
On the podcast My First Million, Dr. Andrew Huberman discussed Deep Work by Cal Newport in the episode titled Dr. Andrew Huberman’s Path to Fame, Money, and Total Human Optimization. Huberman praised the book as excellent and connected its themes to mental frames, avoiding distractions, and achieving a state of flow. Later, in the episode How to find your thing, Shaan Puri mentioned the same book by Cal Newport to illustrate the perspective that passion serves as a byproduct of mastery rather than a preliminary requirement for success.
Discussed“There was a Cal Cal Newport who wrote Deep Work. He had this thing where he said pass passion is a byproduct of mastery.”
Where to get it
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Founders at Work
Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston was discussed on My First Million in two episodes. On April 13, 2020, Shaan Puri brought up the book as the inspiration for their own transcribed interviews project. Later, on September 22, 2021, he recommended it as a book that fundamentally changed his outlook.
Recommended“There's one book that had a pretty fundamental change in my outlook and it's called Founders at Work and it was by Jessica Livingston, the woman who started Y Combinator with Paul Graham.”
Where to get it
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How to Change Your Mind
On the March 22, 2020 episode of My First Million, Shaan Puri recommended Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind during a conversation about psychedelics and trauma. Later, in the September 8, 2021 episode, Sam Parr mentioned reading the exact same book after becoming curious about exploring psychedelics such as mushrooms, MDMA therapy, and ketamine therapy.
Discussed“But I was getting really curious about uh uh psychedelics. So like mushrooms, MDMA therapy, ketamine therapy. I did what a lot of people did. I read the book How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan.”
Where to get it
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Influence, New and Expanded: the Psychology of Persuasion
Robert B. Cialdini's book Influence, New and Expanded came up on My First Million in multiple episodes. During an episode in May 2021, the host recommended reading the book to understand persuasion in the context of a business idea. Earlier, in a March 2020 episode, the host referenced the book again while discussing a B2B gifting business concept, specifically highlighting Cialdini's rule of reciprocity where performing a favor leads to a returned favor.
Recommended“you should probably go and read like ryan hoover's book hooked near iowa or yeah ryan who was like the editor whatever sorry near or go and read um influence by robert”
Where to get it
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Man's Search for Meaning
On My First Million, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl was referenced in multiple episodes. In These Are Some Of Silicon Valley's Craziest Startup Scams, Shaan Puri brought up the book to emphasize the necessity of having things to look forward to in life and work. Later, in How Mike Posner built a music empire from his dorm room, Mike Posner cited Viktor Frankl's work, reinforcing the idea that individuals need a future goal to provide inspiration and direction.
Discussed“That's Victor Frankl, man. Search for meaning. You need something in the future looking forward to. It's important.”
Where to get it
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Manhunt
James L. Swanson's book Manhunt was featured on the podcast My First Million. Sam Parr recommended the book, which details the twelve-day chase for Abraham Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth, during the episode Business Brainstorm: SAT Prep Cartoons, The Onion For Millennial Moms & More. Parr later brought up the book again in a conversation with David Rubenstein in the episode David Rubenstein: We took $5M and turned it into $500B.
Discussed“Have you read Manhunt about Lincoln's assassination? I did. um that is a it's an interesting book”
Where to get it
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Margin of Safety
Margin of Safety by Seth Klarman came up on My First Million in two episodes. In How To Turn $100K into $4,000,000 with Distressed Investing (2025-09-19), Thomas Braziel recommended the hard-to-find book as part of a reading list for deep value investing. Earlier, in This Hedge Fund Manager Got Away With Insider Trading… Then Made Billions (2023-10-19), Shaan Puri mentioned that Tyler Hogge was reading the book to understand a historical market bubble.
Recommended“So um I think on the list um because I shared like a a book list of course you have people like Seth Clarman and Margin of Safety. It's a hard book to find, but if you Google around, you might be able to find a copy that you can”
Where to get it
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Motive
On the October 28, 2025 episode of My First Million titled "Masterclass: How to go from founder to CEO (without imploding)," Sam Parr recommended Jonathan Kellerman's book as his preferred read for handling difficult conversations. Later, on the December 1, 2025 episode, Shaun Puri also brought up the book, noting that he had just finished reading it to learn how to navigate tough dialogues.
Discussed“Man this is so cool because I just read this book called the motive and the whole book is how to have a conversation like that.”
Where to get it
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Never Split the Difference
On My First Million, Anne Mahlum mentioned reading Chris Voss's book Never Split the Difference during COVID to improve her negotiation skills with landlords. The host also referenced the book to discuss negotiation strategies and empathy, noting the author's background as an FBI negotiator.
Discussed“Well, have you ever read uh Chris Voss's book, Never Split the Difference? Like, if there was any takeaway, it's basically uh so Chris Voss was like a FBI negotiator and he teaches people how to negotiate.”
Where to get it
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The Art Thief
Michael Finkel's The Art Thief was discussed on My First Million in two separate episodes. In February 2024, Noah Kagan recommended the book after reading it the previous night, highlighting a philosophical insight regarding morning routines. Later in August 2026, the host brought up the book to share a true story about an art thief who stole billions of dollars of art.
Discussed“I just started reading Have you heard of this book called The Art Thief? No. Very, very popular book.”
Where to get it
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The Dhandho Investor
The Dhandho Investor by Mohnish Pabrai came up in two episodes of My First Million. On August 17, 2023, Syed Balkhi referenced Pabrai's book while explaining how he learned the essential investment formula for a margin of safety. Later, on April 12, 2024, Shaan Puri briefly mentioned the author and title while talking about Pabrai's background as an investor.
Discussed“Manish from what I know he is a uh what's his book called the dond uh investor”
Where to get it
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The messy middle
The Messy Middle by Scott Belsky was discussed on My First Million. Shaan Puri recommended the book and praised its advice on navigating the difficult middle phase of business, while Jason Fried later mentioned Belsky's book to describe the long-term challenges of running a company.
Discussed“you know like Scott Scott bsky wrote a book called the messy middle”
Where to get it
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The Operator
On My First Million, Shaan Puri recommended The Operator by Robert O'Neill as part of his historical and biographical reading list, noting it details the SEAL Team Six mission to kill Bin Laden. Noah Kagan also discussed reading the book on the show.
Recommended“the second book that I recommend it's called the operator and it's by Robert O'Neill and it's about the time when SEAL Team Six was deployed to go and kill Bin Laden”
Where to get it
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The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
On My First Million, Jack Smith recommended Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success during a book recommendation segment near the end of the episode. In a subsequent episode, Sam Parr mentioned that Shaan Puri had talked about the book previously, which inspired him to read it.
Discussed“you talked about the seven spiritual roles uh and I you you talked about that book that you were reading um um or how you were thinking about reading it”
Where to get it
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Travels with Charley in Search of America
Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck was featured on My First Million in two episodes. Noah Kagan brought up the book in How He Turned His Side Hustle Into A $100M Business (2021-12-03) as his favorite book that year. Later, in #204 - Behind-the-Scenes of Shaan's Power Writing Course (2021-07-28), Shaan Puri discussed reading the memoir about Steinbeck's three-month drive across America.
Recommended“favorite book this year favorite book this year okay you're gonna like this one because you do this it's called travels with charlie in search of america john steinbeck wrote it in 1930.”
Where to get it
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Walt Disney
The Walt Disney biography by A.A. Christiansen was mentioned on My First Million. In November 2025, Jamie Siminoff recommended the book, noting its massive 24-hour audiobook length. Earlier, in April 2023, Shaan Puri referenced reading the biography while comparing Brian Chesky's leadership style to Walt Disney's.
Recommended“In all seriousness, no, I would um I think the book that stands out the most for me is the Walt Disney biography. If you want to read this, like get ready. Like you better clear your calendar because this thing is like I think the audio book's like 24 hours.”
Where to get it
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Wanting
The book Wanting by Luke Burgis was featured across multiple episodes of My First Million. In the October 19, 2021 episode, Andrew Wilkinson recommended the book to his co-hosts, using it to explore the concept of memetic desire and how people unconsciously copy the desires of those around them. Later, in the February 8, 2022 episode, Shaun Puri mentioned that he picked up the book specifically because Andrew had recommended it on a previous recording of the podcast.
Discussed“i'm reading three two two books on this topic the first is called wanting which is uh andrew suggested it that's why i bought it he suggested it on this pod it's called wanting”
Where to get it
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Beat the Dealer
On My First Million, Mohnish Pabrai and David Senra both discussed Edward O. Thorp's book Beat the Dealer. Mohnish Pabrai talked about it on May 22, 2026, explaining that Thorp wrote the millions-selling book to expose how to beat casino blackjack after being barred. David Senra mentioned the same title on January 12, 2026, highlighting its role in explaining 1960s card-counting techniques.
Discussed“So, he said, 'I'm not going back.' But, to get back at them, he wrote a book called Beat the Dealer, which sold millions of copies, which basically says, 'Here's how you beat the casinos.'”
Where to get it
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Bible
Discussed“I was uh raised Catholic so I went to Catholic School my whole life so I had to read the Bible all the time”
Where to get it
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Bringing Down the House
Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich was discussed on My First Million by Shaan Puri. Puri recounted reading the book in college before the movie adaptation came out, explaining how it shifted his perspective on card counting and inspired him and his friends to attempt starting an underground blackjack club.
Discussed“until I read the book I think it's called Bringing Down the House or something like that that's the other Blackjack card counting book and immediately my mind shifted into oh black Che is a beatable game”
Where to get it
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Creativity, Inc.
On My First Million, Shaan Puri and a host brought up Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace's book "Creativity, Inc." to illustrate Pixar's corporate culture. Puri highlighted the brain trust concept, where raw scenes are evaluated early to foster trust, while the host noted that the book reframes the creative process as taking something that is not good and systematically removing the flaws.
Discussed“Pixar, I think, wrote this book, Creativity, Inc., which is very like they talk about the brain trust that they have of how they show raw kind of like not even the movie but like a single scene and how they created a dynamic of trust.”
Where to get it
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Devil Take the Hindmost
On the My First Million podcast, Edward Chancellor's book Devil Take the Hindmost was mentioned across two episodes. On the March 25, 2026 episode ("Watch This Before You Invest Another Dollar"), Mohnish Pabrai cited it as one of the greatest books he had ever read regarding investor behavior. Earlier, on the August 25, 2025 episode ("Howard Marks: 79 Years of Investing Wisdom in 55 Minutes"), Howard Marks discussed reading the book on financial speculation in the fall of 1999 prior to writing his famous bubble.com memo.
Discussed“And I mentioned Devil Take the Hindmost, 99, one of the greatest books I ever read was”
Where to get it
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Eat this, not that
Eat this, not that by David Zinczenko was discussed on My First Million in two episodes. On March 3, 2021, Shaan Puri brought up the book to discuss its format and how its concept could apply to modern Instagram content. Later, on December 27, 2021, he mentioned the series again while discussing popular health and diet comparisons for fast food.
Discussed“You're not American, so I don't know if they have this in Canada, but it was called Eat This, Not That. Yes. I've heard of that”
Where to get it
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Elon Musk
On My First Million, Shaan Puri discussed Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk. Puri noted that he was reading the book and was about two hundred pages into it, bringing it up while conversing with guests Craig Clemens and Jason Yanowitz about the intense lives of prominent founders.
Discussed“Right now, I'm reading Elon Musk's biography; it's great. That's why I just told you about that, Sean.”
Where to get it
The other 322 books mentioned on My First Million, ranked, with the latest episode and time
- Hard Drive by James Wallace
- Harry Potter by Unknown
- Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld
- Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg
- Power Vs. Force by David R. Hawkins
- Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin
- Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
- The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
- The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
- The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
- The Rounders by Max Evans
- The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh, Steve Jamison, Craig Walsh
- The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Hatching Twitter by Nick Bilton
- The Algebra of Wealth by Scott Galloway
- The Victory Lab by Sasha Issenberg
- Finding Ultra by Rich Roll
- The 50th Law by 50 Cent, Robert Greene
- Copywriting Secrets: How Everyone Can Use the Power of Words to Get More Clicks, Sales, and Profits...No Matter What You Sell Or Who You Se by Jim Edwards
- Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware
- Bulletproof Web Design by Dan Cederholm
- Dotcom Secrets by Russell Brunson
- Getting Real by 37 Signals
- How Stuff Works by Marshall Brain
- I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max
- Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
- Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
- Positioning by Al Ries
- Range by David J. Epstein
- The Algebra of Happiness: Notes on the Pursuit of Success, Love, and Meaning by Scott Galloway
- Traction by Gabriel Weinberg
- 10 to 25 by David Yeager
- A million little pieces by James Frey
- A New Way to Think by Roger L. Martin
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Gordon Malkiel
- Advertising Secrets of the Written Word by Joseph Sugarman
- All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
- Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
- Black Ivy by Jason Jules
- Built to Sell by John Warrillow
- Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
- Chasing Perfection by Rachel Brooks
- Chief by Daryl F. Gates
- Churchill by James C. Humes
- Clash of the Titans by Unknown
- Code by Lawrence Lessig
- Coming Out of the Ice by Victor Herman
- Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines by Marvin Minsky
- Confessions of a real estate entrepreneur by James A. Randel
- Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy
- Contagious by Jonah Berger
- Corporate Turnaround Artistry by Jeff Sands
- Creative Selection by Ken Kocienda
- Descartes' Error by Antonio Damasio
- Doyle Brunson's Super System by Doyle Brunson
- Dream Big by Cristiane Correa
- Dressing the Man by Alan Flusser
- Fight Right by Julie Schwartz Gottman, PhD
- Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Founding Sales by Pete Kazanjy
- Frames Of Mind by Howard Gardner
- Free Country by Neil Gaiman
- From Pieces to Weight by 50 Cent
- Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher
- Hackers & Painters by Paul Graham
- Hellbound by David McCaffrey
- How To Become An Advertising Man by James Webb Young
- Ilf & Petrov's American Road Trip PB by Aleksandra I. Ilʹf
- Inside the Box by David Epstein
- Just Culture Algorithm 4. 0 by David Marx
- Kochland by Christopher Leonard
- Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
- Letters from a Stoic by Seneca
- Listen by Patty Wipfler
- Make Something Wonderful by Steve Jobs
- Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel
- Maverick by Ricardo Semler
- No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Obvious Adams by Robert R. Updegraff
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser
- Once An Eagle by Anton Myrer
- Outlive by Peter Attia, Bill Gifford
- Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan
- Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch
- Playing to Win by A.G. Lafley
- Practical Law of Attraction by Victoria Gallagher
- Pressure is a Privilege by Billie Jean King
- Propaganda by Edward L. Bernays
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin
- Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green
- Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
- Searching for Sugar Man II by Contributor Howard a DeWitt
- Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
- Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Gary Kinder
- Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono
- Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns by Kent Beck
- So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
- Status and Culture by W. David Marx
- Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive by Harvey Mackay
- Talk Like TED by Carmine Gallo
- The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
- The Americana by Unknown
- The Art of Fear by Kristen Ulmer
- The art of happiness by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso the XIV Dalai Lama
- The Body by Bill Bryson
- The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson
- The Case against Education by Bryan Caplan
- The choice factory by Richard Shotton
- The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
- The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber
- The Essays of Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett
- The fourth turning by William Strauss, Neil Howe
- The Great CEO Within: The Tactical Guide to Company Building by Matt Mochary
- The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
- The Illusion of Choice by Richard Shotton
- The intelligent investor by Benjamin Graham
- The Internet of Money by Andreas M. Antonopoulos
- THE LIFE AFTER LIFE by Pratish Aggarwal
- The Longevity Imperative by Andrew J Scott
- The Luxury Strategy by Jean-Noël Kapferer
- The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard
- The Outsiders by William N. Thorndike Jr.
- The Power of Regret by Daniel H. Pink
- The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking by Dale Carnegie
- The River of Doubt by Candice Millard
- The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
- The Story of Little Black Sambo by John R Neil
- The Successful Novelist by David Morrell
- The Sweaty Startup by Nick Huber
- The talent code by Daniel Coyle
- The User Method by Jeff Schwarting
- Think on These Things by Jiddu Krishnamurti
- Train Hard, Win Easy by Toby Tanser
- Tribe by Sebastian Junger
- Trust by Dr. Henry Cloud
- Weapons of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gatto
- Winning by Tim S. Grover
- You and Your Research by Richard Wesley Hamming
- You Can Be a Stock Market Genius by Joel Greenblatt
- $100M Leads Summary & Workbook by Alex Hormozi
- 13 steps to mentalism by Tony Corinda
- 50 Shades of Grey by Adult Coloring Adult Coloring Books
- 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer
- A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman
- A First-Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi
- A Man for All Markets by Edward O. Thorp
- A Promised Land by Barack Obama
- A Time to Kill by John Grisham
- A World Without Email by Cal Newport
- Adventures of a Bystander by Peter Drucker
- Alexander the Great by Waldemar Heckel
- Am I Being Too Subtle? by Sam Zell
- American Scoundrel by Kai Bird
- An Immense World by Ed Yong
- Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Asada by Bricia Lopez
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
- Attack of the Mutant (Goosebumps #25) by R. L. Stine
- Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda Paramahansa
- Awaken The Giant Within by Tony Robbins
- Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das
- Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
- Be Here Now by Ram Dass
- Beating the Street by Peter Lynch
- Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza
- Ben Horowitz's The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
- Biography of Louis Fitch Q.C by Bernard Figler
- Black edge by Sheelah Kolhatkar
- Brothers Emanuel by Ezekiel J. Emanuel
- Cable Cowboy by Mark Robichaux
- Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins
- Catch Me If You Can by Bernard Most
- Chip War by Chris Miller
- Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher
- Conspiracy by Ryan Holiday
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Customers for Life by Carl Sewell
- Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans
- Digital Gold by Nathaniel Popper
- Dying by Martin Shepard
- Elon by Don Bolden
- Elon Musk by Faiz Siddiqui
- Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World by Barry Lopez
- Encountering the Holy Spirit in Every Book of the Bible by David Diga Hernandez
- Entertaining by Martha Stewart
- Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck
- Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
- Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
- From Poop to Gold by Christopher John Harrison Jones
- Getting Things Done by David Allen
- Give and Take by Adam Grant
- Going Infinite by Michael Lewis
- Good Profit by Charles G. Koch
- Grey by E L James
- Gym Launch Secrets by Alex Hormozi
- Hamilton by Ron Chernow
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
- How I Trade and Invest in Stocks and Bonds by Richard Wyckoff
- How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates
- How To Be Rich Ideas From Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett
- How to Make a Few More Billion Dollars by Brad Jacobs
- How to Not Die Alone by Logan Ury
- How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie
- Howard Marks' Book Of Dope Stories by Howard Marks
- HTML for Dummies by Ed Tittel
- I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison
- If-- by Rudyard Kipling
- Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
- It's not about the bike: My journey back to life by Lance Armstrong
- Jab, jab, jab, right hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
- Jobs Book by David DeRocco
- Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
- Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich
- Lean Thinking by James P. Womack
- Lifespan by David A. Sinclair, Matthew D. LaPlante
- Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook by Yoshi Abe
- Market-based Management by Roger J. Best
- Misbelief by Dan Ariely
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
- Money for Couples by Ramit Sethi
- Moneyball by Michael Lewis
- More money than God by Sebastian Mallaby
- Mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died by Emerson Spartz
- No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
- Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
- One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch
- Only the Paranoid Survive by Andrew Grove
- Out Of Control by Kevin Kelly
- Poor Charlie's Almanack by Peter D. Kaufman
- Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross
- Radical Candor by Kim Malone Scott
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
- Rise by Brigitte Gabriel
- Save the cat! by Blake Snyder
- Six Sigma by Donna C. S. Summers
- Sons of Wichita by Daniel Schulman
- Start at the End by Dan Bigham
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- Stolen Focus by Johann Hari
- StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
- The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene
- The 5 Love Languages for Men by Gary Chapman
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- THE ALLIANCE by Reid Hoffman
- The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu
- The big short by Michael Lewis
- The Caesars Palace Coup by Sujeet Indap
- The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt
- The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
- The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman
- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
- The Daily Laws by Robert Greene
- The E-myth by Michael E. Gerber
- The Firm by John Grisham
- The Gentle Art of Making Enemies by James McNeill Whistler
- The Gita: For Children by Roopa Pai
- The Goal by Elle Kennedy
- The Gospel of Saint Mark in West-Saxon by Mark the Evangelist
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- The Holy Grail of Investing by Tony Robbins
- The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
- The Koran by Unknown
- The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill
- The Lazy Man's Way to Riches by Joe Karbo
- The Leangains Method by Martin Berkhan
- The Lehman Trilogy by Unknown
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko
- The Mobile Wave by Michael Saylor
- The One Minute Manager by Kenneth H. Blanchard, Spencer Johnson
- The Outsiders by S. E Hinton
- The Plantpower Way by Rich Roll
- The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
- The Premonition by Michael Lewis
- The prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
- The Prospect of Immortality by Robert C. W. Ettinger
- The Psychology of Totalitarianism by Mattias Desmet
- The Queen's gambit by Walter S. Tevis
- The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
- The Science of Fear by Dan Gardner
- The Second Mountain by David Brooks
- The Self-driven Child by William R. Stixrud, Ned Johnson
- The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman, PhD
- The Shadow Work Journal by Keila Shaheen
- The Smartest Guys in the Room by Bethany McLean
- The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson, William Rees-Mogg, Lord William Rees-Mogg
- The Sports Gene by David Epstein
- The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi
- The Tibetan book of living and dying by Sogyal Rinpoche
- The trap by Goldsmith, James Sir
- The Triple Package by Amy Chua
- The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
- The Warren Buffett Way by Robert G. Hagstrom
- The White Paper by Satoshi Nakamoto
- The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman
- The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
- This Cheese is Nuts! by Julie Piatt
- This Time Is Different by Carmen M. Reinhart
- To Sell Is Human by Daniel H. Pink
- Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart
- Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump
- Veeck As In Wreck by Bill Veeck
- Viral Loop by Adam L. Penenberg
- Voicing Change by Rich Roll
- Warren Buffett and the interpretation of financial statements by Mary Buffett
- Water Boy by Ros Asquith
- What color is your parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles
- When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein
- Who by Geoff Smart
- Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
- Winning the Loser's Game, 6th Edition: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing by Charles Ellis
- Wool by Hugh Howey
- Your Word is Your Wand by Florence Scovel Shinn
Guests who recommended books
- David Heinemeier Hansson (9)
- Ramit Sethi (9)
- Ali Abdaal (9)
- Rory Sutherland (8)
- Ryan Holiday (8)
- Mohnish Pabrai (7)
- Howard Marks (6)
- Amjad Masad (6)
- Daniel Negreanu (6)
- Rich Roll (6)
- Lloyd Blankfein (5)
- Robert Greene (5)
- Tim Ferriss (5)
- Guy Spier (5)
- Jack Smith (5)
- Jack Carr (5)
- Laird Hamilton (5)
- Andrew Huberman (5)
- Joe Hudson (4)
- Steph Smith (4)
- Morgan Housel (4)
- Nick Bilton (4)
- Craig Clemens (4)
- Alex Hormozi (3)
- Thomas Braziel (3)
- George Mack (3)
- Dharmesh Shah (3)
- Scott Galloway (3)
- Codie Sanchez (3)
- Producer Ben (3)
- David Rubenstein (2)
- Barry Ritholtz (2)
- Joe Liemandt (2)
- Graham Weaver (2)
- Oz Pearlman (2)
- Jesse Cole (2)
- Hayes Barnard (2)
- Anand Sanwal (2)
- Jason Fried (2)
- Syed Balkhi (2)
Latest mentions
“Well, you read Poop to Gold. Yeah, Poop to Gold.”
“There's a book called The User Method by Jeff Schwarting and Jeff Schwarting goes through and explains that out of the top businesses, the vast majority of them were made by founders who were just solving a problem for themselves.”
“so for example Mark Manson when he came on two or three years ago he either said this on the podcast or when I was hanging out with him his book for I think it was Penguin sold 20 million copies...”
“He wrote a book called Autobiography of a Yogi, which was Steve Jobs' favorite book.”
“the way he phrased it, I went and started reading this book called Untethered Soul, which is kind of a fine book. It's only fine.”
“Yeah, well, there's this great book called The Six Thinking Hats. I found this to be a very productive book. Edward De Bono?”
“So that's one of these things where you read a book like how to win friends and influence people and you're like duh that's obvious and it almost becomes a reminder and yet I'm like but how do you tactically make that switch where you say enjoy the relationships not seeking the outcome?”
“The samurai use this the I mean so many traditions use this which is visualizing their own death and they Tibetan book of living and dying samurai and then also what was it is like the Marcus Aurelius.”
“The samurai use this the I mean so many traditions use this which is visualizing their own death and they Tibetan book of living and dying samurai and then also what was it is like the Marcus Aurelius.”
“the inner game of tennis talks a lot about that. Great book.”
“So, and you can read a book about this. It's called Deart's Error. It was written by a neuroscientist in like 2012 or something.”
“I've read The Body Keeps the Score and I like intuitively know that like trauma is a physical thing, but like to put it on a really practical level, you ever get like a slack or an email from a co-orker that says, 'Can we talk?'”
“I there was this thing called handin-hand parenting which I highly recommend a book called listen which is like one of the most profound practices in my life and that was really where the big emotional understanding started coming in that that like oh I can be with my children in these big emotions and all they need to do”
“I've read a book on Roy Conn. It's called I think American scoundrel which was a really good book by Ky Bird who previous wrote a book on Robert Oppenheimer that won the Pulit surprise”
“I just started reading finally reading the Power Broker. Power Broker is a historic book considered one of the 50 best books of the of the 20th century.”
“I also love um Titan. That's probably my most favorite uh business biography on John D. Rockefeller.”
“Have you read Manhunt about Lincoln's assassination? I did. um that is a it's an interesting book”
“As for a book, um I I recently finished this book Make Something Wonderful. It's a Steve Jobs like in his own words. It's a really good one. You know, I think Steve Jobs, he sort of he has like a larger-than-life reputation. This book is literally just emails, speeches, literally just like his own his own thinking.”
“What I've noticed is that like have you read Peter Thiel's Zero to One? Okay, so he like has this whole chapter chapters on like moats and he's like one moat is I forget what he says, network effects, this or that. And then he gets to the last chapter and he's like, there is one more moat.”
“Listen, Joe Sugarman is the author. It's called the the ade guide to copyrightiting. Read that and then read on advertising by David Oglev. Read those this week and your mind will change.”
Episodes
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