All the books (50 books) I read this year and a one-line review on them!
A Mega thread!
My last thread for 2021 🧵
#Books #Reading
Let's get started 👇
A few years back, I used to read articles which used to say a CEO read 40 books this year and I always thought how?
It's all about consistently reading a few pages every day!
2020- I read 15-25 pages(not every day) - I read 34 books in 2020
2021- I read 25-35 pages every night before sleeping and 100-150 pages every weekend
Ok, now let’s go through those 50 books 👇
1/n
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Nike started off by importing high-quality, low-cost running shoes from Japan
What’s shocking is the number of times the business came to an end but came out stronger every time!
Never Giving up – The one key lesson from the book!{{ img:6c137d }}
2/n
Ankur Warikoo's 6 Ebooks
Failure Resume
Mistakes I made with my money
mistakes I made in my 30s
Leadership
Time Management
Mistakes I made in my 20s
Read here - ankurwarikoo.com/books/
PS - He is someone I follow very closely, I learn a lot from his content!
@warikoo
Not just the above but his threads, videos, newsletters and podcasts are also amazing!
His new book ‘Do Epic shit’ is out, I would strongly recommend you to order that. I have done that already on Day 1 and I am starting my 2022 with that book 😊
3/n
Sam Walton: Made In America
This is on Sam Walton’s journey, his hard work and a customer-first mentality, and how Wal-Mart completely changed the face of retail
He is an intelligent fanatic who focused all his energy on his Life's Mission - discount retailing!
4/n
Bandhan: The Making of a Bank
In the late 1990s, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh (founder, Bandhan Bank) would hold training camps in NGOs earning ₹100-200/day. Sometimes the NGOs couldn't even afford that and they used to give him a bottle of mustard oil for his services!
The only bank that emerged in eastern India after Independence!
Founded by the son of a sweet vendor with his complete life savings, the story tells how they became one of the largest MFI in India!
The book reminds me of the quote -
5/n
The Psychology of Money
Doing well with money isn’t always about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people
Two Topics impact everyone, whether you are interested in them or not: Health and Money -@morganhousel
6/n
No One Would Listen
Harry Markopolos and his team of financial sleuths tell first-hand how they cracked Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme yet, amazingly, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) refused to hear the truth for nearly 10 yrs
Strongly recommend this!
7/n
Supermarketwala
I am someone who has been shopping with my mom all my life. As someone who is always curious, I have always tried to observe shoppers and put trends to it.
The book is exactly that! It outlines carefully studied consumer behavior
A must-read to know how consumers behave in a certain manner at different places
If you are in the work of shaping consumer products or working in retail businesses , this is a book for you!
8/n
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
Naval is an entrepreneur, philosopher, and investor who has captivated the world with his principles for building wealth and creating long-term happiness.
This is a collection of Naval's wisdom and experience shared as a curation of his most insightful interviews and poignant reflections.
"Earn with your mind, not with your time"
"All the real benefits in life come from compound interest"
Author Eric Jorgenson has done a wonderful job pulling this material together: the end result is a handbook for life that you’ll be able to turn to for guidance again and again
This isn't a how-to book, or a step-by-step gimmick.
9/n
Karna – The Great Warrior
The book explores the eternal of question of doing what is right versus carrying out one’s duty,
Karna – the Great Warrior is an English translation of a Marathi book “Radheya” written by Ranjit Desai in 1973.
10/n
The Curious Marketer
‘Out of curiosity comes everything’ – Steve Jobs
From brand marketing using aliens and flying saucers, the book talks abt fascinating areas that marketers are targeting today
The book talks about his experience as a marketer himself!
11/n
Atomic Habits
Lasting change comes from the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions – doing 2 push-ups a day, waking up 5 mins early, or holding a single short phone call.
The book talks about how these tiny changes will help you get 1% better every day.
12/n
Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs
An insider's tale of creativity and innovation at Apple
The book can be given a miss!
13/n
How Deepak Parekh Grew HDFC Group Exponentially
While HDFC was H T Parekh’s brainchild, it was his nephew Deepak who shaped it. He left a comfortable job overseas with a heavy salary and perks to join his uncle's mortgage company at 50% pay cut!
The rest is history!
14/n
How Uday Kotak Built A Valuable Indian Bank
Uday Kotak is someone who needs no introduction!
He is Asia’s richest banker who has avoided all NPA crises from 1999! Each one!
From almost losing his life to building a valuable banking franchise, this book tells it all!
15/n
@RayDalio's dad was a jazz musician, his mother a Stay at home mom, and their money situation was tight
Ray Dalio wanted to get rich and from a small age, he started working on any job he could find.
Today he runs the World's biggest hedge fund and is a billionaire
The book contains the key elements of the unconventional principles that helped Dalio become one of the world’s most successful people
Mr. Dalio shares his 5 step framework for life.
1)Goals, 2) Problems, 3) Diagnose the Problem, 4) Design a Solution, and 5)Execute (Do it)!
16/n
Unstoppable: Kuldip Singh Dhingra and The Rise of Berger Paints
The journey of Berger is a real nail biting one
I was surprised to know how the Berger story is largely unheard of despite it being so inspiring!
Kuldip lost his father to an accident early in his life. He and his brothers, Sohan and Gurbachan, started as shopkeepers in Amritsar. From an annual turnover of Rs. 10 lakh in 1970 to over a billion dollars recently!
The one main takeaway from this book?
Look after family, support them, empower them! Read the book to know the way Kuldip supported his family from the very start!
17/n
In early 1997, Jeff Bezos flew to Boston to give a presentation at the Harvard Business School. He spoke to a class taking a course called Managing the Marketspace, and afterward, the students pretended he wasn't there while they dissected the online retailer's prospects
At the end of the hour, they reached a consensus, Amazon was unlikely to survive the wave of established retailers moving online
"You seem like a really nice guy. so don't take this the wrong way, but you really need to sell to Barnes and Noble and get out now," said a student!
When Amazon started, in 1995, with fewer than a dozen employees, Bezos considered naming it Relentless. (It still owns the URL for relentless.com—it redirects you to Amazon.com.)
That’s the one-word review for Jeff Bezos – Relentless! Read this book!
18/n
The Hard Thing About Hard Things:
Ben Horowitz, the co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of the founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in tech companies
19/n
That Will Never Work
Talks about Netflix's birth
Did you know the co-founder actually knew a human Netflix? There was a cd store owner, who was the human version of Netflix. He memorized many movies and he used to recommend those to clients!
20/n
How TCS Built an Industry for India
From evolution of offshoring model to harnessing enormous opportunities offered by Y2K, this book gives a rare insight into a company that they built, brick by brick
Also tells about FC Kohli, First CEO of TCS and his struggles!
21/n
The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani
This is the real story of Reliance – the side that hasn’t been widely talked about
The real side is covered in the Movie Guru and some scenes have been perfectly recreated in the movie! Like exact events recreated!
22/n
Arise, Awake by Rashmi Bansal
Found this to be an ok read
Stories of some entrepreneurs who created good businesses on their own
23/n
The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time
Businesses make millions of decisions every day. But once in a great while a leader makes a truly game-changing decision that shifts everything about the company!
This book is compilation of such events!
24/n
The Making of Hero: Four Brothers, Two Wheels and a Revolution that Shaped India
Hero began with trading in and then manufacturing bicycle parts, evolved into bicycles, mopeds, automotive parts, motorcycles, and scooters
This is the story of Hero and it’s an amazing one!
25/n
The Inheritors
This is a fascinating behind the scenes look into what goes behind brands like Marico, Dabar, Keventers, Berger Paints, Select Group, Max Group and many others.
The book focuses on the culture, family politics, business rivalries between and within families, ego battles and a lot more. Plus there are the inheritors themselves who sometimes take the business to great heights and during others, lead to its doom.
26/n
Let's Talk Money by @monikahalan
The best book to read on Personal Finance! I can’t emphasize the importance of this book!
It’s so simple to understand! And that’s the way finance is too – very simple but the Financial world complicates it for us!
27/n
The Maruti Story
The project succeeded in ways that were unimaginable in 1983. The car revolutionized the industry. The story of how Maruti actually took off! They faced hurdles at every juncture, but they stuck to it and you have a giant today thanks to all the efforts!
Some interesting snippets of the auto sector -
The waiting list for Bajaj scooters was as long as 17 years at its peak! Bridegrooms were enticed into marriage by the promise of a ‘Bajaj’ as part of the dowry.
28/n
Havells: The Untold Story of Qimat Rai Gupta
From a small trader in Delhi to building Havells, one of India’s largest electrical goods company, Qimat Rai Gupta’s story makes for an inspiring read
Havells' first factory came up in 1976 at Kirti Nagar in west Delhi, now home to 100s of furniture shops, where switchgears were assembled. The cost of machinery was ₹2 Lakh, and the factory's monthly rent ₹8000
During his last years, Havells acquired German giant Sylvania which was twice its size. When Sylvania’s losses pushed Havells to the brink, QRG fearlessly decided to keep the company nonetheless
29/n
Bringing the Rainbow: The Hindware Story
In the 1960s the Somany family decided to build India’s first vitreous ceramic sanitaryware
A the story of how R K Somany pioneered a whole new industry (and its practices) and built India's best known sanitaryware brand Hindware!
30/n
Billion Dollar Whale
This is on the 1MDB Scam of Malaysia
A thrilling read on how over 10 years, Jho Low, with the aid of investment banks and others, siphoned billions of dollars from a sovereign investment fund--right under the nose of global financial watchdogs!
31/n
Trillion Dollar Coach
The book is about Bill Campbell and his leadership and mentoring style
Bill Campbell played an instrumental role in the growth of several prominent companies, such as Google, Apple, Intuit and fostered deep relationships with Silicon Valley
visionaries such as Steve Jobs, Larry Page.
He mentored dozens of other important leaders on both coasts, from entrepreneurs to VCs to educators to football players, leaving behind a legacy of growing companies, successful people, respect, friendship, and love after his death
32/n
Flash Crash
May 6, 2010 - Global Financial markets tumbled simultaneously and without warning. In 5 mins, trillion $ of Valuations were lost.
A rebound came in less than 30 mins and experts around the globe were left perplexed. The book uncovers what happened exactly!
33/n
Tuesdays With Morrie
It’s a conversation between a old man who is dying and his student.
This book certainly makes one melancholic but teaches us life’s greatest lessons including how to live life to its fullest.
34/n
The Google Story
Gmail was launched purposely on April 1 to create hype as not many believed that Gmail will give free storage
The book tells the company’s wild ride from an idea that struggled for funding in 1998 to a firm that today rakes in billions in profits.
35/n
Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Studying the world's most successful athletes, artists, musicians, scientists, Epstein demonstrates why in most fields – especially those complex and unpredictable – generalists, not specialists are primed to excel.
No matter what you do, where you are in life, whether you are a teacher, student, scientist, business analyst, parent, job hunter, retiree, you will things differently after you've read Range
36/n
The Warren Buffett Way
Study, Study, and then study some more :) There is no other alternative to research because sooner or later shortcuts will be costly!
Pick up the book 😊
37/n
Indra Nooyi – My Life in Full
"At Yale, I worked at the reception counter at night to make money. When you don't even have clothes for job interviews, all of a sudden life gives u a wake-up call and u realize u have got to work extremely hard to make it happen for you"
What a brilliant leader and what a brilliant story!
The book talks about her upbringing, her journey , the people who supported her and her leadership learnings!
38/n
Jack Welch Winning
A wide-ranging, in-depth, no-holds-barred management guidebook about the tough strategic, organizational, and personal challenges that face people at every stage of their careers.
Loaded with candid personal anecdotes, hard-hitting advice, and invaluable dos and don’ts
Found this to be a boring read (no offence to the authors)
39/n
Diamonds in the Dust
Mr Mukherjea is an excellent writer, so why would this be any different?
A great read due to all the interesting case studies , the compounding part seems to be repetitive from other books.
Overall a good read!
40/n
Ikiga
“Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.”
In researching this book, the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds—one of the world’s Blue Zones.
Ikigai reveals the secrets to their longevity and happiness: how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and their best-kept secret - how they find ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives.
41/n
Tatastories: 40 Timeless Tales to Inspire You
An amazing book on the Tata Group!
Stories that will make you believe in entrepreneurship, in giving back, in dreaming, in not giving up!
It is a fact that Tata’s don’t work with the motive of profits but with the motive of stakeholder empowerment
This book consists of some really interesting stories, don’t miss this one!
42/n
How Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw ‘Fermented’ Biocon
A first-hand account of how Biocon evolved to become an exemplary institution and one of the global pharma innovators
Found this to be an ok read!
43/n
Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
One thing I learned from the book was that Elon Musk loves to challenge everything and there are many such small snippets And whenever he sold off a stake or his company, he used it to fund something to make the world better!
A lot of book reviews say that the book changed their life, I used to always wonder, is that really so?
I had my doubts, but trust me this book did change my life!
Read this and know why!
Book review - Elon Musk is a person who never stops!
44/n
Harsh Realities: The Making of Marico
The story of Marico and the journey of Mr Harsh Mariwala!
Fellow entrepreneurs should read this – How Marico created a name and separated from the family business to become a giant today!
Cool Stories inside!
45/n
How Anil Naik built L&T’s remarkable growth trajectory
Found this to be an ok read tbh , however thanks to the author for outlining the story of L&T
Book tracks the journey of Anil Naik from a junior engineer to a CEO
46/n
Billion dollar loser
When Airbnb’s founders first raised money from VCs, an adviser encouraged them to tweak only one item in their pitch deck: swap out a letter and boost their $30 million revenue target to $30 billion. “Investors want B’s, baby,” they said.
The inside story of WeWork and its CEO, Adam Neumann
The story of one of the most audacious, and improbable, rises and falls in American business history
The stories of valuations fundraise, FOMO and madness inside will just shock you!
47/n
The biography of a failed venture
We always hear about success stories, well this one is a different story
The book provides a brutally honest account of why the author’s startup called D:FY failed and what we can learn from it! A refreshing and honest read!
48/n
Company Analysis Volume 4 (covers 10 stocks) by Dr Vijay Malik
Deep dive of KNR, Cupid, MGL, Nesco, etc
@drvijaymalik is rightly called the Doctor of stocks, he is the best in fundamentals!
Read his other books too to learn about a fundamental analysis framework!
49/n
The power of habit by Charles Duhigg
If atomic habits is the remix of a 80s song, then power of habit is that 80s song
It talks about habit creation and how to go about it! It talks about how habits go on autopilot mode when u create that set of processes.
50/n
The Courage to be disliked
A Japanese analysis of the work of 19th-century psychologist Alfred Adler, who established that happiness lies in the hands of each human individual and does not depend on past traumas.
My friend Vidya has done a great job about this book on a thread here -
End of thread! Thanks for reading!
If you liked the thread, do share it with others and retweet it as it will motivate me to write more in the future 😊
Just want to clarify that I targeted reading just a set number of pages every night (25-35) before sleeping and nothing else!
Reading books is important but implementing those learnings is more important!
My one lesson to all - break down everything into simpler and smaller parts - Be consistent and keep at it!
Here's a thread for all the books that I read in 2020 -
cutt.ly/pREuPVE
Until next time! Stay safe and take care 😊
Lots of Love,
Aditya Kondawar
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