My Top 3 Books of 2020
By: Luis A Fausto
Tags: Startup, Books, Startup Lessons, Reading

All about startups this year!

Top 3 Books | Luis Fausto

T he Startup Vibe

This year was the year I read the most books (30 to be exact). The topics I dove into varied from politics, business, climate change, social justice, and education.

However, my main reads leaned more into the tech world. This was definitely influenced by the fact that I am a first-time founder of an EdTech company called Learkn.com.

For this reason, I wanted to really dive into books that shared stories inside enormous corporations that started and flourished around the corner from where I am: The Silicon Valley.

Here are my top 3 reads of 2020.

1. No Rules Rule by Reed Hastings & Erin Meyer

Ah, Netflix.

The Blockbuster business buster. Funny thing is, they pitched the idea to Blckuster early on and were denied any type of deal that involved an acquisition.

Interesting how the tables have turned.

Although this book briefly talks about the start of the company, it highly focuses on building company culture.

Reed, CEO of Netflix, wanted the company to be a pioneer in how culture should be cultivated. Did you know that being a Netflix employee, you are granted endless vacation days? Pretty sweet, right?

They also limit, nearly eliminate, bureaucracy. They move fast because you do not necessarily need to get the approval of many things as long as it’s in the best interest of the company.

For example, there was a time where Netflix was optimizing House of Cards for 4K. However, one morning, the employee in charge of presenting that operation, came to the office realizing that a team of trash removal has disposed of the TV’s inside that specific office.

Luckily, a junior employee was able to purchase one at a local Best Buy and saved the day.

The new TV cost around $2K. This wouldn’t have been possible if the employees had to check in with managers or finance to approve the purchase.

So if you are looking for a read that emphasizes culture and running a billion-dollar company, add this to your library

(Get it here)

2. The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

The author, Ben Horowitz, is a sought out investor in the Valley. He has started multiple companies and has great success before becoming one of the heads over at the investing firm a16z.

In his book, he does share his early struggles as a founder and CEO.

There was this one time where his company was about to IPO and his wife had got really sick. He was in a pickle because he felt very guilty. However, his wife supported him and encouraged him reminding him that she will live; IPO’s don’t happen as often.

This book is great for developing a founder mentality. Some of the stories he shares are extreme in terms of the work ethic. I know many people shy away from “hustle culture” due to the toxic byproducts of it, but the stories he shares are one-of-a-kind and can help prime the near future for anyone starting a business.

I really recommend this one. Bring a notebook or a highlighter as there are some practical steps you can take within this book.

(Get it here)

3. High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil

Elad Gil is a phenomenal blogger and author. He has also successfully built businesses that scale and also, advises early-stage startups himself.

This book is more practical than the 2 others. This guides you on how to hire, how to scale, how to build culture, and also, how to create a pathway to the eventual goal which is to IPO.

What I love most about this book is that he incorporates interviews from sought out individuals such as Naval Ravikant, Keith Rabios, Claire Hughes Johnson, and many more.

It helps to really get a first-hand perspective from some of the most successful people in the Valley.

Although this is catered more to high-scaling startups, I do think this is a great read for any business owner or executive.

It influences the mindset it takes to grow a steady and sustainable company.

This one really helped me because in reading this, it put me into a new realm of building Learkn. It led to great discussions with the team and insight on how we plan to hire a team, develop our product, and eventually bring on more executive members.

(Get it here)