Tech Books with Insight

Various books and publications you may find very useful. Below the titles are comments by readers who think it was great or not so great check them out and form your own opinion.
 
Zero to Oneby  Peter Thiel
"Zero to One is a refreshing intellectual deep dive into the motives behind entrepreneurship. It’s full of unique, practical insights, and discusses success in terms of human nature and culture."
"I had high hopes, but this book was just ok...Instead, the book is basically a series of rambling, disjointed essays that spell out Thiel’s philosophies on the world, none of which are particularly earth shattering."
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Behind the Cloud by Mark Benioff                                                                     
"This is a fun to read book chock-full of no-holds-barred advice on everything a growth company faces...In short, this is a practical guide on how to grow a successful business without selling your soul to Mephistopheles."
"This is a well-written book I would have preferred some more in-depth stories rather than a series of management platitudes...In sum, this is a good but not great book.”
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Only the Paranoid Survive by Andrew Grove
"Andrew Grove was at the center of this company from its inception, and this is his story in his own words...Warmly recommended as a must for all students of business."
 
"The book is chock full of common sense, backed up with case studies from the world of successful -- and not so successful -- American businesses."
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Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women by Catherine Thimmesh
“This book goes a long way towards encouraging girls (and women!) to put their creative powers to practical use. It is so gratifying to learn that many everyday items (ice cream cones; Toll House cookies) were invented by women. And the items that are not so 'everyday' (Kevlar; space shields) have such a positive impact on the world around us.”
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The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
"As someone who spent 20+ years in Silicon Valley, including both the dotcom boom and bust eras, I felt Ben's pain when I read this book."
"This book is like countless 'how to be a leader' books on the market, and says a lot of the same things. Only this time you get it from the perspective of a guy flailing to build a silicon valley startup to a point where he can unload it on some unsuspecting buyer and walk away with enough money to retire at 35..."
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Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance by Lou Gerstner
"This book focuses on the processes of leadership and management, strategic choice, and the decision process. But it speaks also to the essential importance of corporate culture, at IBM, a way of life that is based on values rather than just on being first."
"Unfortunately, he does not go into enough detail for the reader to fully understand what he faced and how he did it. Neither the technology nor the brutal methods he had to employ were adequately addressed, at least for me."
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The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson
"The era that Anderson characterizes as 'a market of multitudes' continues to grow in terms of both its nature and extent. In this book, Anderson takes his reader on a guided tour of this market as he explains what the probable impact the new market will have and what will be required to prosper in it.
 "But how does the ordinary businessperson experience the success of the eBays of the world? Here, Anderson falls short...Understanding an economy is only the first step. The real question is - what are you going to do about it to make yourself an integral part of the Long Tail?”
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Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent by Sydney Finkelstein
“Superbosses is one of the most important, groundbreaking, and actionable leadership books to hit the market in years. Literally anyone who is seeking to have a positive impact on their organization and to achieve personal success as a natural consequence can apply the powerful yet straightforward concepts in the book starting immediately…”

Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull
"With this book, Ed Catmull has given the world an amazing gift. Much more than a book for managers, it contains wisdom and stories that you will carry into the rest of your life."
"It's not a good business book because the message is too mixed. You get Ed Catmull's views told from his memory and mind mixed together with Amy Wallace's impressions of Ed Catmull's views, as gleaned from talking with Ed Catmull and others around him. The mixture, unfortunately, does not meld well."

How Google Works by Eric Schmidt & Jonathan Rosenberg
"Eric and Jonathan cover a vast territory in their engaging discussion of Google's leadership in our software driven era...Overall, my sentiment about the book is summarized by my ordering copies for my sons, nieces and nephews, regardless of the sectors they work within, or majors they are pursuing."
"Nothing new here folks. Google is unique, it runs itself. The author doesn't get credit (but thinks he does) for the influence or direction of what it is now."

The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman & Ben Casnocha
"...an excellent book to motivate and inspire you to take charge and accountability of your professional career. The authors intertwine interesting historical references and extensive personal experiences to provide a roadmap to transforming your career."
"Rather than drawing directly on their experiences as founders and venture capitalists, Hoffman and Casnocha make a rote journey through modern Silicon Valley-themed business book territory."

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
"In this hard-to-put-down book, Tony Hseieh (CEO of Zappos) tells the story of how his life became entangled with the life of Zappos...Overall a highly enjoyable book, very nicely written in an informal style, with a great story and good pointers to further resources."
"I am not sure the book delivers happiness. But here's what it does do, and does very well. It provides an insight into the success of one of America's trendiest and high performing companies as well as the brain of the man behind it."

Rebooting Work by Maynard Webb
"I was pleasantly surprised at just how engrossing it was, filled with tangible real-world advice and insight while being exceedingly well-written (I finished it in a little over a day)."
"I already "get" that work is changing, entrepreneurship is key, leverage the internet, work smarter, build good systems -- that sort of stuff. Thus, I didn't feel it was necessary to trudge through the page after page of "stories" and examples. It seemed like too much."

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials that Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik
“…I found myself smiling as I read the science behind the everyday things in our lives: concrete, steel, paper, glass—even chocolate—and the most enjoyable part was that his prose was illuminating and the scientific concepts were clearly explained. Instead of being puzzled by the concepts, I found them completely understandable.”

The Industries of the Future by Alec Ross
“One of the best books I have read in a long time. As an entrepreneur, I am always following trends of the future and this is a must read for any one inventing new things that will impact the future in a major way. It is well written and I sped through it in a few days. I couldn't recommend it more honestly.”