Books I'm reading in 2025 as a tech startup founder!

Garrett Love

816 views • 10 months ago

Video Summary

This video outlines a list of books a tech startup founder plans to read in 2025, offering recommendations for viewers. The selection spans various genres, including biographies, business strategy, self-improvement, creativity, and technical application development. One of the books, "What It Takes," details the professional journey of Stephen Schwarzman, founder of Blackstone, whose personal connection to the speaker's hometown and high school adds a unique layer of interest. The speaker emphasizes the importance of continuous learning for personal growth and professional success, aiming to share insights gleaned from these readings. An interesting fact is that the speaker discovered a shared alma mater with Stephen Schwarzman, the author of "What It Takes."

Short Highlights

Books recommended for tech startup founders in 2025 include "What It Takes" by Stephen Schwarzman, "Competitive Strategy" by Michael Porter, "What to Say When You Talk to Yourself" by Shod Helmstead, "1 + 1 = 3" by Dave Trot, "Designing Data-Intensive Applications," and "Ecosystem Le Growth" by Bob Moore.
"What It Takes" chronicles the life of Stephen Schwarzman, founder of Blackstone, a prominent figure with surprising local ties to the speaker.
"Competitive Strategy" by Michael Porter is a foundational text for understanding industry analysis and competitor strategies, often used in business programs.
"What to Say When You Talk to Yourself" focuses on improving self-talk to combat negative thinking and enhance mental well-being, a topic particularly relevant to those dealing with anxiety and depression.
"Designing Data-Intensive Applications" is highlighted as a crucial technical read for building reliable, scalable, and maintainable systems, essential for data-intensive projects and startu

Key Details

What It Takes by Stephen Schwarzman [00:11]

The book "What It Takes" is presented as a biographical account of Stephen Schwarzman's professional life and his journey to becoming one of the world's wealthiest individuals.
Schwarzman is the founder of Blackstone, an alternative investments fund.
A personal anecdote reveals that Schwarzman attended the same high school as the speaker, who only realized this connection while reading the book. The speaker also notes Schwarzman's significant financial contributions to their shared high school, including the naming of the football stadium.

"I never really realized who it was until like I was actually reading the book and so I bought the book because I saw it like on CNBC on the news and I started reading it"

Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter [01:31]

"Competitive Strategy" by Michael Porter is discussed as a key resource for understanding how to analyze industries and competitors within the business world.
This book was referenced in a previous recommendation, "Play Bigger," which focuses on category development for companies.
The speaker notes that "Competitive Strategy" is commonly used in college curricula and MBA programs, suggesting its academic and practical importance. The speaker is reading it to gain a foundational understanding of business strategy, particularly relevant for entrepreneurs.

"I don't know but I want to be an entrepreneur I want to be in the world of business and so uh you know I think that thinking about strategy is a really interesting thing"

What to Say When You Talk to Yourself by Shod Helmstead [02:56]

This book focuses on the practice of self-talk and how to engage in it positively to avoid depression and negative self-perception.
The speaker finds this topic particularly important and personally relevant due to their own experiences with depression and anxiety.
The speaker sees value in improving their mindset and perspective, viewing it as an opportunity to potentially help others through daily interactions.

"I think that's super super important and it's something that I struggle with as someone who has depression and has anxiety and things like that"

1 + 1 = 3 by Dave Trot [04:40]

The book "1 + 1 = 3" by Dave Trot explores creativity, different processes for generating ideas, and how individuals come up with novel concepts.
The speaker, an advertising major in college, had previously encountered this book in a "creative thinking" course but did not read it at the time.
The speaker hopes this book will help enhance their creativity, which they believe is valuable for generating ideas for YouTube videos, startups, or coding challenges.

"I want to be more creative I think given the opportunity anyone would want to be more creative I think"

Designing Data-Intensive Applications [06:07]

This is the only purely technical book on the speaker's list, focusing on data-intensive applications.
It is relevant to two projects the speaker is working on: a client's mobile and web app development and their own startup, Lifer.
The book aims to teach the fundamental concepts behind building reliable, scalable, and maintainable systems, which the speaker identifies as a potential weakness in their current skill set.

"I think um not that I can't but I think you know I find it interesting and I think that there's a lot that I could learn and this one is specifically all about the Big Ideas behind reliable scalable and maintainable systems"

Ecosystem Le Growth by Bob Moore [07:44]

"Ecosystem Le Growth" by Bob Moore is another book the speaker has started reading and intends to finish.
Bob Moore is noted as a successful startup founder from the speaker's hometown of Philadelphia and the book was a New York Times bestseller.
The speaker has read the initial parts of the book and finds it interesting, with the full text potentially divided into two or three sections.