Top Books/Blogs/Podcasts of 2018!
Through out 2018 we met with different professionals in the tech, digital, and HR spaces to discuss their careers, their passion for their work, and more! In each interview we asked if there was a book, blog, or podcast that has helped them in their career and why.
Check out the list and responses below!
Raj Suchak, Founder of Grit Seed
“I read a book called The 4 Hour Work Week and that resulted in me quitting my job and starting my own company. I would highly recommend everyone read that book. Another book is The Now Habit and that one is hugely valuable as well.”
John Jahnke, CEO of Tackle.io
“I’m a huge Tim Ferris fan so The Four Hour Work Week is a big one for me. I also really like his blogs and podcasts too. He is tremendous at prioritizing time for value. I am also a big fan of The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. It is all about build, measure, learn and applying that to business practices.”
Lena Levine, Founder of Lena Levine Studio
“I read a lot of different books. My philosophy is that it is necessary to keep reading and to keep learning to better yourself. Lately, I have been reading a lot about sales and leadership from different industries. I even recently read a few books about the real estate industry and it is really interesting to learn about the different principles and ways they attain business. One of the books I read that was really great is called the The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller. It was really interesting to have a glance into a completely different industry. A lot of times we are so focused on our own niche that we forget to take a look at different and better ways that things can be done.”
Jonathan Gorczyca, Helm Co-Founder and Partner
“The book I’m reading is now is Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Khaneman, which is incredible. I’m about halfway through and it basically looks at the way our mind processes input and how much effort is applied when we’re solving complex tasks versus the things that are more automated. High Output Management by Andrew Grove is one of my favorite books. I found it invaluable when starting my own business.”
Mary Holler, VP and CIO of Integer
“I am a reader, so I have lots of books and some of my most favorites I have given away. If the book is really good I love to share it and want other people to read it. One of my favorites is a classic Who Moved My Cheese and it is about how to adapt to organizational change. It is a short read that has really helped me in my career.”
Andy Hakes, EVP of AireXpert
“There are two books that come to mind, and the first is The E-Myth. That is one I read a long time ago and while I enjoyed it and learned from it I really didn’t understand at the time the tremendous impact that it was going to have on my career. The second book I would recommend is Crossing the Chasm. I’ve also become somewhat of a Tim Ferriss podcast addict. I find it to be fascinating and captivating that he can pull insights and lessons from the top players in industry and life.
Michael Canzoneri, Chief of Staff at IVR Technology
“There are so many! Good to Great and The Hard Thing About Hard Things are some real foundational reads. I like solid data-driven types of content about technology businesses. While I’m not a big sports guy, I’m currently reading The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership which covers how Bill Walsh brought the San Francisco 49ers from the worst franchise in sports to one of the greatest organizations in the NFL. His impacts were felt in the entire sport, and there are a lot of ways that the lessons there transfer to tech industry strategy. Lately, I’ve been listening to the Indie Hackers Podcast, and they talk a lot about building up technology projects and companies from the ground up. There are a lot of staples like the 99% Podcast and the a16z podcast that have really informative content.”
Judy Feldman, CIO of ValueCentric
“There have been several along my career, and we are currently reading one as an organization. One of our development managers read it and thought it was a really good book. It is called Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love. ValueCentric has a group across our IT and product areas who are reading this book and discussing what values and implications it has for us here at ValueCentric.”
Peter Cimino, Director of IT for the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors
“Well there is one book that one of my friends gave me called Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Loyalty. It wasn’t necessarily an eye opener for me per say, but it was more something I read and thought to myself that everybody should be doing the stuff in this book.”
Sam Insalaco, Founder of theBREWROOM
“There is a book called 40 Freelancing Secrets, and if anybody is thinking of starting in freelancing this gives you a lot of the information you will need. Another book is The Big Leap and that talks about what may be stopping you from doing what you want to do and making that next step in your career and life.