Ethan

A good book with valid points. The main role of a manager is to improve the skills of their subordinates. Not to ego trip their way through a fantasy life of false achievement. Very few managers in reality ever get this message though. Maybe we can try reminding them about it.

Even better than the five dysfunctions of a team book. Very relatable, practical, insightful, to the point, etc. Humble, hungry, smart; I've got it written by my desk now :-).

The book is way too long and often buried in the weeds of this acronym versus that acronym, and you should track this and that so you can feel potentially one percent better for two extra years at the end of your life. And then there was the oddly deeply heartfelt last few chapters that didn't fit in with the scientifically analytical voice of the whole rest of the book. That said, I really liked how at the end of the day, the key points were that you should ONE get 8hrs of sleep TWO eat a normal (non-processed) diet, THREE spend time light-jogging in nature FOUR lift weights and FIVE avoid depressive modes of thought. I don't recall any chapter where it said that you should drink eight glasses of water per day, but I'm assuming that was implied.

I like the author's gift for storytelling, especially stories about his own life, and his own internal struggles. And I really appreciate that he read the audiobook himself because his voice is so crystal clear I could mostly blast through the book at 3.5x and skip over the acronym sections, thereby reducing 17hrs to a much more appropriate 6 hours or so.

It's an important book because I am going through some of these issues, and I can see it in people around me. I'm not sure it really gave me any answers but maybe it motivated me too try to be a better person to recognize everyone's struggles, and that different people deal with these struggles in ways that are counterproductive, but I should not hold it against them, including myself.

I had NO IDEA how badass the Walmart founder and his story and his philosophy were. I had no idea how interesting one can make the retail industry seem. Such a passionate book. It could have been even longer I wouldn't mind, and I rarely say that about books. No BS, no fluff; straight wisdom within this one. Unfortunately I can only find one video on YouTube of this guy actually saying anything and it's not very good.

Pretty good points. Find your strengths and use them to navigate your career path.

Really enjoyable friendly writing with sharp insights about business and software. Didn't always agree with his long winded arguments for lisp, since it uses too many parentheses for me. But yeah macros would be nice to be able to use. Maybe he could try scala.

Only made it 40% through. The narrator on audible's accent was such that I couldn't speed it up much. The story was pretty interesting but with ~4hrs of listening left there's no way I have the patience to find out what happens next. It's pretty bleak and very well written. I don't read fiction much and this book reveals why: I often feel there is way way way too much irrelevant detail, and then half way through I can't bear to continue because I'm tired of the overall scenario.

Very clear writing, luxurious print layout/design, solid advice, nothing extraordinary in it and generally the same advice given in other books in the genre. The mental model they refer continuously to in here (a bathtub of your wealth being drained and filled at the same time at independent rates) was very easy to grasp.

Very clear engaging and informative book. Interesting to be a fly on the wall in this imaginary executive suite.

Pretty clearly written for such a technical topic as how to structure the nitty of your code. Practical wisdom from a respected coder and explainer. Helped me to better conceptualize what code smells are and how to efficiently remove them.

The mad-lib style gets a bit tired by the end, but I laughed a lot throughout.

Highly recommend reading this. You've gotta serve somebody. Could've been cut a bit shorter.

Couldn't finish it too boring. I got too about 55% then skimmed for a while found nothing of interest and gave up. His main book on writing well was pretty good but this one not so much.

Definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to start a company in tech. For everyone else, it's only useful if you're interested in what the CEO is thinking about.

It's not just the subject matter that was good, the writing was also amazing. Best Isaacson book I've read yet.

The book is not exactly bad but I've read a lot in this genre and this is not in my top 5, when judging by simplicity, clarity, completeness, and correctness. I would refer potential readers to Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins instead as a starting point.

enlightening and entertaining

Pretty old school feeling but still totally relevant and practical. No dull segments. Witty and bold. Would be happy to reread it after a while.

It's basically just a motivational speech but it's a really good one.

At times it's pretty cheesy, summarized as: “just go on and DO it man, don't let FEAR hold you back from your DREAMS” lol.

But then there's his stories about he actually exemplified pushing past fear and insecurity and taking on roles larger than he was used to, like getting his own TV show, or quitting his drug addiction. Those stories are really entertaining and profoundly introspective.

Practical read. Lots of fluff and a bit out of date and didn't much cover the scenarios I was particularly interested in. That said still learned quite a bit of useful knowledge.

Enjoyed the opinions and clarity of writing. Seems a bit outdated though. Would recommend only for historical interest.

I definitely prefer the zero book over this one

Very clear and informative, with appropriate length. Lots of important subtopics that I had not thought about, like how should the courts evaluate how much power the president has over the rules followed by the regulatory agencies.

Instantly easily one of my 5 favorite books of all time. I liked it even more than Atlas Shrugged, since I found it more relatable.

This is one of those books so powerful that it changed something very deep within me, and caused me to begin to see the world differently. Mostly due to the triangle between Roark, Toohey, and Keating. One can see these 3 archetypes in any person in different proportions. It begs me to make many ethical judgements: which of these characters do/should I aspire to be? Is there anything unethical about these characters' actions?

Yes it is pretty long, but it was a good length for the point that it tries to get across. And the story is compelling enough that it doesn't drag on or go into irrelevant details like lots of fiction writing does. That is because this book is an amazing example of “show don't tell”. Mrs. Rand uses the book as a tool to convince you about her philosophy. Not in a subversive subliminal way; she is quite open about it. But she never references the principles of her philosophy within the book. It is a book of political philosophy even though for some reason many modern academics don't believe it belongs in the canon of such works. Instead of being a collection of dense one-liners that take forever to digest like many philosophy books, it is a story full of life, relationships, and career.

A bit long and too much politics but very interesting characterization of inner turmoil.