EKMH Innovators: 2019 Recommended Reading and Listening
Published 30 December 2019!
There’s no better time to make a reading and listening list to celebrate the end of the decade and launch into a new decade filled with the promise of dramatic fintech and tech innovation. Below find book recommendations and podcast suggestions from leading Fintech, Crypto, Blockchain, Startup innovators and entrepreneurs for your enjoyment. Best wishes for a very merry 2020 full of reading and listening opportunities!
Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange Interdax CTO Charles Phan:
Books: Bitcoin whitepaper by Satoshi Nakamoto; Mastering Bitcoin by Andreas Antonopolous; and Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor’s Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond by Chris Burniske & Jack Tatar
Podcasts: ”Unchained Podcast”, with Laura Shin; “Off the Chain,” with Anthony Pompliano; and “Bitcoin Uncensored,” with Chris Derose
Capital Cell Director Daniel Oliver:
Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut, For Two Thousand Years by Mihail Sebastian and Ur of the Chaldees by Leonard Woolley.
Utrust Co-Founder and CIO Filipe Castro:
Podcasts: ”Unchained,” with Laura Shin and “The ECB Podcast”
Book: Cryptoassets: The innovative Investor’s Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond by Chris Burniske & Jack Tatar
CasperLabs Co-Founder and CTO Medha Parlikar:
Life after Google by George Gilder
From the Interview Vault….
Startupbootcamp Scale Fintech MD and Finnovista Partnerships Director Christine Chang:
I am currently re-reading The Best Place to Work by Ron Friedman, which I have recommended to several people recently. Next on my reading list is What you do is who you are, by Ben Horowitz on creating your culture. I recommend Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh for anyone who thinks they might be a high-growth startup (you might not be a billion-dollar business and that is ok!), and for corporates who think they are moving fast (you’re not).
I love and adamantly recommend reading anything by Brené Brown, who has really amazing, data-backed insights on being more authentic and more human, as well as how this translates to leadership and the corporate world. As the saying goes, investors invest in teams, not ideas so make sure you have all the tools with which to build and be the winning team, and that starts with each of us as individuals.
Vouch Insurance CEO and Founder Sam Hodges:
I read more non-fiction than fiction, but am trying to re-balance that a bit. Right now I’m excited to read How Money Became Dangerous, which was written by a good friend, Chris Varelas, and am a big fan of Murakami, David Mitchell, and the full swath of magical realist fiction writers, so I’ll always have at least one book from one of them with me as well.
PeopleKeep CEO Victoria Hodgkins:
I just finished and loved She Has Her Mother’s Laugh by Carl Zimmer about heredity and genetics -- it’s fascinating -- and enjoyed Michelle Obama’s Becoming autobiography as an audiobook since she’s the narrator. I am not a podcast regular but, depending on the topic, I listen to “Exchanges” by Goldman Sachs and I just discovered Mo Rocca’s “Mobituaries.” I love him on NPR’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me” show.
ImagineBC CEO Erik Rind:
I read quite extensively, and I alternate my reading among three broad categories. I read classic fiction, non-fiction and non-fiction that I believe is directly related to my business. The following are currently at the top of my list for each category:
Fiction: Hard Times by Charles Dickens. I made it a mission of mine a while back to read through all of Dickens’ work and this is the last one on my list! Saving this one for a warm tropical island.
Non-Fiction: How Change and Stupidity Have Changed History by Erik Durschmied. I’m spending New Year’s in NYC, so I will probably devour this one during that trip.
Non-Fiction Business Related: The Four, The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google by Scott Galloway. I’ll try to fit this one in whenever I can, during lunch or maybe on a sleepy Sunday afternoon.
OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved:
I enjoyed Ben Mezrich’s Bitcoin Billionaires, it was fun and full of great scenes from the trenches of the blockchain. I really get a kick out of Daniel Silva’s spy novels featuring Gabriel Alon, the Israeli superspy who everyone hopes actually exists, and I am quite big on reading the weekly section of the Torah (bible portion) with my growing tribe of grandchildren so we can discuss and learn from the ancient but still relevant wisdom of the Book of Books.
OKEx Head of Operations Andy Cheung:
Normally you will see me working from my phone, but taking a long flight offers a moment of silence. If I bring a book with me on my next trip, Zero To One will be it. Written by Peter Thiel, it shares his experience with Paypal, and his way of thinking of entrepreneurship inspired me in how I would like to shape OKEx. This also represents my personality; I’m fascinated by revolutionary technology and innovation, which gives me the passion to lead businesses to success.
Drum Co-Founder Troy Deus: Ah, so many great books. Hard to choose. Some of my favs are:
Good to Great by Jim Collins. Amazing example stories of businesses who have built great companies when others failed.
The Power of Moments by Dan Heath and Chip Heath. Opportunities and rewards of delighting your customers with memorable experiences.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. Great practical experience for dealing with tough issues facing a business.
Idea Financial Co-Founder and CEO Justin Leto:
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. I have read this book at least 20 times. It is intuitive, thoughtful, and simple. I have given this book as a gift to many people. Whenever my wife thinks I seem unbalanced, she says “Read your book!” My book is the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and it always brings me back to center.
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight is inspiring for any entrepreneur. The challenges that he overcame to make Nike the behemoth it is today will inspire anyone.
Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale was originally published in 1968 and is a book that provides advice for success. After 50 years, the message remains relevant and it is a must-read for anyone who is interested in being a leader in business.
NVoicepay CEO and Co-Founder Karla Friede:
Some of my all time favorites are The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, The Brothers K by David James Duncan and Lamb by Christopher Moore. As for summer reading, I’ve got Bridge of Clay by Marcus Zusak next up. As for podcasts, I’ve gotten plenty of recommendations, but I haven’t delved into that medium yet.
DiversiTech Hub Founder Gemma Young:
If you saw the size of my bookshelves you would not have asked this as we could be here a while! Haha! I love reading and I am currently reading a lot of books to understand different points of views at the moment to aid my D&I knowledge. I recently read Somebody I Used to Know by Wendy Mitchell who talks about her career and abilities with early onset dementia, which was inspiring in terms of seeing the world through somebody else’s eyes. I also read The Source: Open Your Mind and Change Your Life by Dr. Tara Swart, when I was starting to think about setting up DiversiTech. We are so conditioned not to make big changes when it comes to career, particularly when we have a family to support, so this book was very inspiring about understanding the psychology of why we sometimes hold ourselves back and how to overcome those challenges, it inspired me enough to set up DiversiTech, so it must be good!
DM Communications Head of Global PR Adir Alon:
I’m fascinated by the interrelationship between marketing and politics, which is why I’m reading Netanyahu, Master of Political Marketing by Baruch Leshem, Ph.D. Regardless of how you feel about Netanyahu’s politics, the book offers a marketing perspective of Israel’s longest-running prime minister, with professional analysis from leading communications consultants on how Netanyahu has successfully conveyed his messages while building trust with the voters.
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La Biblioteca de la Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona.