Weekly Bookmarks –
172nd Edition – February 17, 2025
We want to help you build the resume you never have to use.
Dino Bianco as quoted by Ron Monteiro in Love Mondays!
1. Revisiting American Kingpin
American Kingpin is one of the best narrative nonfiction books I’ve read. You can’t go wrong with either the print or audio versions.
According to the WSJ, the founder of the darknet market Silk Road has been pardoned. The article states that after a three-week jury trial in 2015, Ross Ulbricht was convicted on seven counts, including distributing narcotics and conspiring to launder money. His entire story in American Kingpin is gripping and hard to put down. I can see why the average rating on Amazon is 4.7 across 11,000+ reviews.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. The unbelievable true story of the man who built a billion-dollar online drug empire from his bedroom—and almost got away with it.
2. A New Book on Buffett
When a new book on Warren Buffett is released, which seems to happen once or twice a year, I always ask, “Is there going to be anything new to learn?”
The answer is a resounding ‘yes’ with Brett Gardner’s new release Buffett’s Early Investments. The subtitle is A New Investigation into the Decades When Warren Buffett Earned His Best Returns.
There are no stories about Coca-Cola, The Washington Post, Nebraska Furniture Mart, or See’s Candies. But we will learn about Studebaker, Union Street Railway, and British Columbia Power.
Incidentally, the chapter on Studebaker is my favorite. I appreciate that Brett includes condensed financials in each chapter.
Buffett’s Early Investments investigates ten investments that legendary investor Warren Buffett made in the 1950s and 1960s, which earned him his first millions and uncovers unique insights.
3. The Other Charlie Munger
As much as I appreciate Charlie Munger’s wit, humor, and sage advice, I probably have forwarded Byron Wien’s Lessons Learned in His First 80 Years to others more than any other document I can think of. Here are three of my favorite lines from this Munger-like advice:
- Read all the time. Don’t just do it because you’re curious about something; read actively.
- Travel extensively. Try to get everywhere before you wear out.
- At the beginning of every year, think of ways you can do your job better than you have ever done it before.
Wien passed away the same year as Munger did (2023). Thankfully, we can read more about his ideas with co-author Taylor Becker. The book Stay at Risk and Live Forever: Lessons from a Life of Curiosity, Grit, and Reinvention was released a few months ago.
Byron Wien, a legendary figure on Wall Street, shares his profound insights and life lessons in a memoir that provides a unique blend of personal anecdotes and professional wisdom from his decades-long career.
4. Turnarounds
My favorite books on business turnarounds are Reversing the Slide and Corporate Turnaround Artistry. However, The Turnaround Formula may be the most practical and actionable. While some themes and ideas are dated, the workshop format is education-packed with plenty of stories by the late Marvin Davis.
Don’t work in turnarounds? It doesn’t matter. This audio-only content is a unique way to build your business acumen. I was pleasantly surprised to find a 200+ page PDF with the presentation.
Learn the secrets in a step-by-step program that will begin to have an effect from day one in an ailing company. Your organization will take on a lean, mean, more aggressive posture that gives it an edge in today's super-competitive marketplace.
5. Upcoming Book Releases
Here are several book titles I’m keeping an eye on that will be released in the months to come:
- When I read the book description of The Ten Toughest Leadership Problems by Dr. Katie Best, I wanted to read that list immediately. I’ll have to wait. Katie’s book will be released in August.
- The Ride of a Lifetime and The Disney Way are my favorite books related to Disney. Now, there’s a new title I don’t think has ever been written about. According to the book’s publisher, After Disney is about the untold succession struggle at Walt Disney Productions following the death of its founder and the generational transformation that led to the birth of the modern multibillion-dollar animation industry. The book will be released in March.
- I like narrative nonfiction, and I’m always interested in a book that reads like Bad Blood. Those books are rare, but I become intrigued when titles like No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson catch my eye. The publisher states the author takes us light-years away from the company’s image as the child-friendly “baby company” as he uncovers reams of evidence showing decades of deceitful and dangerous corporate practices that have threatened the lives of millions. No Tears will be released in April.
Nick Huber will tell us how to get rich by doing boring things in The Sweaty Startup, released in April.
Finally, Bill Gates has a new book out. Source Code: My Beginnings has an average Amazon rating of 4.6. I’ll pay you $100 if we publish your review. I want to read it but can’t until later in the year.
Random Bookmarks: 122 | 99 | 48
Thank You
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Take care, and have a great week. Always be learning.
