Best Reads from 2022
the best books & essays I read 2022
To those who know me well, it’s no secret that I read a lot. Ever since I was little, I’ve loved to read. For me, reading serves many purposes. I read to think. I read to learn. I read to discover ideas. I read for pleasure. I read to satisfy my curiosity.
Where I grew up, reading wasn’t something that most people really did. Much of my friends and family weren’t college educated. Few saw the purpose in reading or learning. I think I was lucky that my father (while not as highly educated via formal credentials) was highly auto-didactic. As a working-class, pastor, he taught himself theology, philosophy, history, science, and much more. He was and is brilliant. I think I picked up my love of reading, of learning, from him.
The pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom is fundamentally human. It’s one of our worthiest pursuits. It’s rewarding in and of itself. It compounds in ways that are hard to describe or predict across one’s life.
So anyway, I love reading and sharing reading recommendations with my friends. Below are my favorite books and essays from 2022.
Side note: Compiling these links is selfish because I’m going to send this to everyone that asks me for reading recommendations for the next 12 months. :)
Essays
Wave Hunting
This essay has heavily influenced my thinking on choosing what to work on. I’ve long held the view that ideas matter more than execution for most founders.
If you’re an action-oriented builder, your biggest risk is that you spend a ton of time working in a bad market or idea space. Ayokunle’s POV is that you want to find a wave and ride it.
Looking at problems through this lens is pretty helpful. Operating in a large and growing market is a force multiplier on your efforts; you can be average on execution and still land in a pretty good place. Operating in a stagnant or shrinking market is a fractionalizer; you might do ok but your execution needs to be that much tighter, and competition will be fierce, and in the end it still might not matter.
If you’re thinking about starting a company in 2023, you should read this.
What I Learned at Clubhouse
by Anu Atluru
I love reading the reflection of builders who recently wrapped a run at a major project or company. That’s what this is for Anu who recently finished a tour of duty as Head of Community at Clubhouse. One of the best essays on company building I’ve read in a while.
Monzo Growth
Reflection on the growth journey of UK-based neobank Monzo from its founder & former CEO.
You can be creative or productive but not both
Creativity and productivity are often not complementary. It’s difficult to do both simultaneously. Damien explores the difference between the two head states, claiming that the difference is fear.
The Cultural Narrative
by HumbleRando
Fascinating piece by a pseudonymous writer on culture, narrative, memetics, and the war of ideas.
Towards a Body of Work
by Reggie James (aka HipCityReg)
Always love Reggie’s writing. This is my favorite piece he wrote in 2022. He writes about death, legacy, ideas, building a body of work, etc. For me, it really spoke to the idea of building something greater than yourself.
Confidence all the way up
by Nate Soares
Nate writes one of my favorite blogs. I highly recommend reading pretty much everything he’s ever written. His idea of “confidence all the way up” is one I return to often.
On reflection, I've concluded that (at least part of) the answer is something I call "confidence all the way up". Insofar as I'm uncertain of my content, I'm confident in my analysis — except, I'm not fully confident in my analysis. But insofar as I'm uncertain of my analysis, I'm confident in my reasoning procedures — except, I don't put faith there, either. But insofar as I'm uncertain of my reasoning procedures, I'm confident in my friends and failsafe mechanisms that will eventually force me to take notice and to update. Except, that's not quite right either — it's more like, every lack of confidence is covered by confidence one meta-level higher in the cognitive chain.
2021 Letter
by Dan Wang
Dan Wang is one of my favorite writers on China and Asia more broadly, especially when it comes to technology or geopolitics. His annual letter on China is always a must-read.
Capital & Taste
This is a biased pick because I spent most of 2022 working at Capital (fka Party Round). IMO, a lot of people underestimated the seriousness and depth of strategy behind all the moves we made. For instance, why we marketed before building a product, why we built a beloved brand only to rebrand, why we started NYC tech week, etc. Packy did an incredible job of capturing the story and articulating the thesis.
Tom Morgan & KCP Insights
by Tom Morgan
This is not a recommendation towards a specific piece, but rather a recommendation to explore the writing and ideas of Tom Morgan. He has interesting views on the future of humanity and human consciousness.
It can be a bit “heady” for some people, but I recommend giving it a try. This piece (not on his blog) by the Infinite Loops team is a great primer on his ideas. For some folks, reading that or listening to him on a podcast might be a better starting place.
Quit Your Job
by Wolf Tivy
The author makes a case for why you should quit your job, enabling space for “creative leisure.” He argues that this leisure is necessary to get in touch with your own interests, ambitions, and pursuits. The ultimate goal being to create, build, and will your own ambitions into reality.
Perhaps this is why our society has been so stagnant and uncreative in some ways for the past 50 years. We chose the path of comfort, certainty, measurable progress, and indeterminate hedging of bets. In our cowardice, we turned away from the uncertain leaps of faith of collective struggle after fatal ends that would have demanded us to truly live.
To get back on track, we must quit our comfortably lazy routines and leap back into the unknown wilderness….
So quit your job and become the wild and ambitious elites you wish to see in the world. Live by instinct in the untracked frontier, shoot your shot, and live or die by your intuitive visions of what must be done. You can carry out your cosmic duty and win glory only in the bold attempt.
Books
After the Dance
by Jan Gaye
Written by singer Marvin Gaye’s wife. Martin’s belief that his creativity stemmed from suffering is both fascinating and tragic. H/T to Aaron McClendon for the rec.
The Science of Storytelling
by Will Storr
Stories, myths, and narratives are humanity. Worth studying their history and what we currently understand about them.
A Technique for Producing Ideas
Written by a retired advertising executive in the 1960s, this tiny book is one of the most practical books on the process of generating ideas that I’ve ever read. H/T to David Booth for the rec.
Setting the Table
by Danny Meyer
The memoir of one of the greatest restauranteurs to ever live. From Union Square Cafe to ShakeShack, Meyer’s built several of the most iconic restaurants in New York City and beyond.
1776
Recommendation for those that love American history. 1776 charts the highs and lows of the first year of the American war for independence. The thing I loved most about this book is that the author made you feel like you were living in colonial America during the Revolution.
Dominion
by Tom Holland
History of Christianity and how it has shaped our modern world.
Reflections on the Art of Living
I read pretty much everything ever written by Joseph Campbell this year. This was definitely my favorite. I also think it’s the best introduction to his work. H/T to Jordi Hays for the rec.
Iron War
Read this while training for the SF marathon. It charts the history of the Iron Man race and the competition between the two men that dominated its early decades.
Endure
There is nothing that I’ve learned more from in this life than by doing and enduring hard things. Cameron Hanes is an expert in enduring hard.
Transparently, you’ll only like this book if you’re the type of person that does or has done hard physical shit. If not, this book will fly over your head.
The Will to Power
Been slowly making my way through Nietzsche’s writing. I think this one’s my favorite of all his work.
The Power Law
Good read on the history of the Venture Capital industry. In many ways, this book is a great reminder of how much has changed and how much has stayed the same in venture.
The Founders
by Jimmy Soni
The definitive story of the famed PayPal mafia. If you’re a startup nerd, you’ll love it.
Napoleon: A Life
The 3rd biography I’ve read on Napoleon. This one was probably my favorite. Roberts spends less time myth building (or destroying) and more digging into Napoleon before and during the french revolution as well as covering the character traits that made him great.
No Red Lights
Memoir of the venture capitalist that founded New York venture firm Greycroft, APAX partners before that, and most recently a firm focused on elder care called Primetime Partners. His life story is interesting but I found his vitality for life at age 88 to be especially inspiring. He’s still investing in startups and running marathons to this day.
Why Nations Succeed and Fail
by Ray Dalio
I appreciate Ray Dalio not for his predictions but for the way he sees the world and the depth by which he studies human history. Even if he’s wrong, I always learn something from his frameworks.
Cable Cowboy
The story of John Malone and the rise and fall of the cable industry. Some pertinent lessons for the tech industry in this one.
The Sun Eater Series
One of the best fiction series I’ve ever read. Great mix of fantasy and sci-fi. H/T to James O’Brien for the rec.
There is no Anti-memetics division
by QNTM
This is one of the trippiest (in a good way) sci-fi reads I’ve read in a long time. If you’re familiar with memes, this book explores the opposite, anti-memes.
An antimeme is an idea with self-censoring properties; an idea which, by its intrinsic nature, discourages or prevents people from spreading it.
The book and author originated in the SCP Foundation forum (a rabbit hole of its own). Can’t recommend enough.
This is a brilliant list - thanks for all the Xmas reading material 😄