Books I've read

...in partial, or in full.

I read a lot of technical articles, just didn't read books–especially fiction–for a long time, since I'd get too engrossed. In an attempt to get away from social media, I figured books were a better source of info and space for thinking.

Like many, I used to think that it only counts if I read the whole book. Well, life is short. I shouldn't stick to reading something that I'm not enjoying. Here's my ongoing list, most recent first.

Romney: A Reckoning ✅

This was an biography of the former Utah Senator, with sources from his personal journal. As a result, there's a lot of shade thrown at other Republican Senators, with names. There's lots to say about it, but the main question for me: Why was Romney able to buck against the tide? I don't think there's a single ingredient. There was his belief in God, the reputational stubbornness of Romney men, the support of his family on his political decisions, already feeling like an outsider as a Mormon, and a deep desire to win the approval of both his deceased dad and beloved wife. All coalesced and put him in a position to say no when it mattered.

One Hundred Years of Solitude ⛔️

I don't know much about Latin American history, so the analogy was lost on me. Didn't finish it, but I got the gist of the allegory once I asked GPT-5 about what I was reading. In addition to my recent interest in geopolitics through Dr. Sarah Paine and the allegory, I have a deeper appreciation for just how fortunate the United State is to have had a stable institutions upon which to build an economy. That said, I know this book isn't for me.

The Mom Test ✅✅

When conducting ethnographic customer development interviews, you can't ask people hypotheticals or what they'll do in the future. That's just inviting people to lie to you. The only reliable thing is to ask people about their concrete and specific experience in the recent past. It's up to you to notice their pains. I recently turned this into a coaching prompt.

Heart of Innovation ✅

Two important ideas: First, people don't buy what you think they're buying, because the context with which they find themselves (so that they they have a problem to solve) isn't always clear to you. Hence, you need to shift perspectives to figure that out. Second, figure out why they can't afford to not buy you. That means you're sitting at the part of the value chain where you offer something unique, where there aren't many alternatives. That's where the value capture occurs.

Pattern Breakers ⛔️

This is a book that looks backwards for patterns, to project them forward. That usually has survivor bias. This is more of a collection of startup conventional wisdom at the time of writing. There's wisdom in there, but it's not clear which half.