Dave Child's Top Book Recommendations

Ben HorowitzFocus by Al Reis is a excellent on branding, naming, and marketing. (Source)

Dave ChildWell, let's start with the business one, as that's a bit easier. Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on It by Al Ries is a few years old by now, but the advice hasn't changed. I suffer (for want of a better word) from something I call Shiny Thing Syndrome - I'm easily tempted by new features, or a new website, or some new technology, and while I absolutely think there's value in exploring... (Source)

Ola OlusogaI've read Influence by Robert Cialdini 3 times, and Traction by Gabriel Weinberg twice, so if number of times read indicates favor, then those are it. (Source)

Joel GascoigneTraction has been a somewhat recent read for me. The key take-away I had from the book was to try to spend as much time on traction as on product development. The other realization the book triggered for me was that in the early days of Buffer, we focused our content marketing efforts around traction, and we found that guest blogging helped us a lot with spreading the word and triggering new... (Source)

Gunhee ParkThis book lays out a framework to help any startup brainstorm ways to gain more customer traction. (Source)

Larry PageGoogle co-founder has listed this book as one of his favorites. (Source)

Sergey BrinBrin told the Academy of Achievement: "Aside from making really big contributions in his own field, he was pretty broad-minded. I remember he had an excerpt where he was explaining how he really wanted to be a Leonardo [da Vinci], an artist and a scientist. I found that pretty inspiring. I think that leads to having a fulfilling life." (Source)

Timothy FerrissPaints a picture of a very brilliant problem solver and merry prankster who was a polymath, taught himself how to play the bongos, used to paint in strip clubs. You've got to love this guy! And it's a hilarious book but it also shows you how good he was at testing assumptions and questioning dogma. Even in the face of embarrassment or criticism. (Source)

The Editor@StevieSunshine1 [1/2] What a man you are for opening up and explaining why you struggle. I can recommend a great book called “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith, it will help you greatly as it has many people (from CEOs to janitors). (Source)

Dave ChildTriggers by Marshall Goldsmith was eye-opening for me. I was going through a period of greater introspection, and trying to improve my ability to identify when I was being productive, and then to develop an understanding of what led me to have famines and gluts of productivity. Triggers helped me spot more connections and as a result I'm better at spotting when I'm struggling and when I'm in a... (Source)

Kelly Ellis@elanpin @Nicole_Cliffe Like a favorite song, just thinking about this book immediately takes me back to the point in my life when I first read it. I really enjoyed The Goldfinch, as well. (Source)

Jess Brammar@StigAbell Love that book (Source)

Dave ChildIn my 20s, it would have been The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It's a shame you can only read a book for the first time once, because this doesn't fare so well the second time around, when you already know what happens. I'm not sure I've found another book quite like it since, but then I'm not really sure what sort of book it is. It isn't a murder mystery, except when it is. It isn't a crime... (Source)

Dave ChildI think if I had to pick a favourite then, it would be Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. That was the first Discworld book I read where I realised there was another level to it - that Discworld was satirical. I went back and started reading the whole collection from The Colour of Magic onwards, and haven't missed one since. (Source)

Malcolm GladwellI don’t need to say much here. This book invented an entire genre. Economics was never supposed to be this entertaining. (Source)

Daymond JohnI love newer books like [this book]. (Source)

James Altucher[James Altucher recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)

Dave ChildI'm in the middle of Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I really liked Fahrenheit 451 but for whatever reason I didn't read anything else by him. When he died in 2012, I picked up a few more of his books and this one had sat on my shelf for a while. So far I'm loving it, and that's enough of a gain for me. (Source)

Dave ChildI'd recommend reading anything that helps develop your ability to understand and solve a problem. Triaging issues by importance and properly identifying their causes is critical in almost every aspect of business. Without that, you can easily spend a lot of time on the wrong problem, or an ineffective solution, and your time is, more or less, your most valuable commodity. So I'd suggest books... (Source)

Dave ChildPerhaps Managing Humans by Michael Lopp would be the most practical - it's a great read, and for people making the leap from developer to manager, it's full of useful advice. (Source)

Michael ShalytIn the book, a group of misfits saves the day because they put their mind to it and get a little lucky. Startups are a little bit like that - the odds are stacked against you but you might win nevertheless. (Source)

Dave ChildGrowing up, I loved fantasy worlds - Middle Earth, Discworld and Narnia were where I loved to let my mind wander. I think if I had to pick a favourite then, it would be Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. That was the first Discworld book I read where I realised there was another level to it - that Discworld was satirical. I went back and started reading the whole collection from The Colour of... (Source)

Dave ChildAnd now I'm in my late 30s, I find myself reading more biographies and histories, and my favourite is Pyke - The Unknown Genius by David Lampe. Geoffrey Pyke's story is the kind you might read about in a work of fiction and dismiss as unrealistic. And today, he's virtually unknown. I particularly like the story of Project Habakkuk, the aim of which was to build a gigantic aircraft carrier out of... (Source)