It’s been two years since I last shared a book list, and during that time my life, Binance’s growth, and of course, the cryptocurrency space have evolved.
So I thought I'd update this list during the holidays. These books have reshaped my worldview and my way of thinking. I hope they will have a positive impact on you as well.
"The Law", by Frédéric Bastiat. In 1950, the French essayist Bastiat wrote this short (just over 60 pages) but enduring book about what the law should and should not be, and what areas it should protect (person, property, liberty). , and which areas should be ignored. This book expresses the author's basic views on the world and his judgment of right and wrong.
"Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt. This book is a great read, and although it has been around for over 60 years, few books provide a better overview of the inner workings of economics. The book also explains how the economy should work, what governments should/shouldn't do, and why some common concepts are actually fallacies.
2.1. "Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life", by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. This book is somewhat similar to "Economics in One Lesson" and is also a very good read.
"Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari. You can't succeed in this world if you don't understand humans. This book gives unique and insightful insights into our history, how we got to where we are today, and why we behave the way we do. It is crucial to understanding human behavior and therefore to success.
The Hacker State: This is a highly readable security book, more like a collection of stories. Security is the cornerstone of our industry. If you don’t have a security awareness, you will not succeed and you should not be in cryptocurrency.
"The Infinite Game", by Sinek. This book gives a perspective on long-term vision that broadens readers' horizons and perspectives. Not only that, this book has a greater meaning: Why do some companies last for a hundred years, while others struggle with invoices? Highly recommended for senior managers to read.
"The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations" by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom. This book talks about decentralized organizations vs. centralized organizations, and why regulation won’t hinder the development of decentralized organizations and how to do so. I really hope every regulator reads this book. If you want to understand how a decentralized organization should work, be sure to read this book.
"On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. Introducing how to write concisely and to the point. This is a must-read for everyone. We work remotely. We can only make 20 calls a day, but edit hundreds of messages. We communicate with tens or hundreds of millions of users, often in written direct messages or on social media.
"Platform Revolution", by Geoffrey G. Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne, and Sangeet Paul Choudary. This book introduces the platform, the construction of the platform, the importance and impact of the platform. If you want to become a business unit (BU) leader at Binance, this book is a must-read.
"The Advantage (REQUIRED for leaders)" by Patrick Lencioni. Why the healthy development of the enterprise trumps everything else. When Binance was founded, we held an off-site meeting to discuss this book. Many of the ideas in this book have left a deep impression on the minds of Binance’s leadership team, and you may want to give it a read.
"The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time" by Jim McKelvey. A must-read for business unit leaders.
Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Rory Sutherland. This book discusses some counterintuitive views in life and business. It is quite interesting to read and is a must-read for marketing teams.
"Sell with a Story: How to Capture Attention, Build Trust, and Close the Sale" by Paul Smith. Learn about the power of stories and how to become a better salesperson, marketer, and communicator. A must-read for marketing teams.
"Contagious: Why Things Catch On" by Jonah Berger. A must-read for all product designers and marketers.
"Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Recommended books on marketing.
"Team Topologies (REQUIRED for any leader)", by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais. This book introduces how to improve the efficiency of workflow by building an enterprise organizational framework and mobilizing technology. It also details how the organizational structure determines the system architecture. How different types of organizational structures work best for different types of systems or platforms. This book can help you understand why Binance has such an organizational structure.
"Exponential Organizations: New Organizations Are Ten Times Better, Faster, and Cheaper Than Yours (and What to Do About It)" by Salim Ismail, Yuri van Geest, and Michael S. Malone. Recommended books about organizations.
"Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers" by Jay Baer. A must-read for marketing and customer service teams. This book talks about how we should serve users, how to interact with them on social media, and more.
"The New Rules of Marketing and PR: A must read for Marketing, Social, Content teams, and senior leadership." This book explains why content is king, why to choose social media instead of mainstream media, and why to choose personal blogs instead of social media.
"The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups" by Daniel Coyle. Binance promotes freedom, but freedom often brings chaos. This book shows how a streamlined, seemingly chaotic organization can operate efficiently. To make it work, we need highly qualified people.
"Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World Hardcover" by Gen. Stanley McChrystal. I think every modern organization should operate this way. Top-down structures no longer work, where decisions are made by those who understand the situation. Embedding/trading platform planning, information sharing, letting the trainees do their work, and supervising the path selection on the premise of respecting the trainees.
"Blitzscaling" by Reid Hoffman. People are talking about Binance’s blitzscaling, which is Blitzscaling. We followed Reid Hoffman's advice and tried to expand our territory quickly. In addition to discussing scaling and growth in great detail, this book also details how organizations of different sizes operate and some of the implications when teams grow to different sizes. This is very helpful for us in planning the development of the enterprise. This is a fairly up-to-date book and even touches on hot topics like cryptocurrency.
"Crossing the Chasm", by Geoffrey Moore. We/Crypto haven’t crossed the perception gap yet. This book helps you better understand what it takes to cross the divide.
"Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. From personal investing to building a long-term company, understand what is/is not fragile. We definitely want Binance to be fragile-resistant. This book explains why we make certain decisions.
"Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries" by Safi Bahcall. The title says it all. After reading this book, you will understand why Binance tolerates failure and, more importantly, what types of failures we can and cannot tolerate.
Work Rules! by Laszlo Bock. This book tells the work-related insights the author gained during his time at Google. Some of the lessons in this book are worth knowing, especially for Binance, which is releasing one product after another at a rapid pace.
"Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World", by David Epstein. While many books talk about specialization issues in an extremely competitive world, the 10,000 hour standard, etc., this book gives a different perspective. This book also introduces how many great inventions occur at the intersection of disciplines.
"The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age", written by James Dale Davidson, Peter Thiel (preface), and William Rees-Mogg. This is a book that was 20 years ahead of its time, and its predictions were completely accurate.
"The 5 Levels of Leadership (10th Anniversary Edition): Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential", by John C. Maxwell. If you want to be a leader, this book should definitely be on your list.
"High Output Management", by Andrew S. Grove. Classic books on management and leadership.
"The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations", by Gene Kim, Patrick Debois, John Willis, and Jez Humble. This book explains how modern technology departments operate, how to continuously deploy code and build high-quality platforms. A must-read for the Binance technical team.
"The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever" by Michael Bungay Stanier. If you are leading a team or coaching someone, I recommend reading this book.
"Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less" by Greg McKeown. Focus on what matters and schedule management.
"Bet on Yourself: Recognize, Own, and Implement Breakthrough Opportunities" by Ann Hiatt. This book explains how Amazon and Google work from the perspective of an executive assistant. For most people, this book inspires them to always give their best.
Culture Wins, by William Vanderbloemen. Excellent bibliography on cultural construction. A must read for all Binance users.
"The Leadership Pipeline 2E: How to Build the Leadership Powered Company" by Ram Charan, James Noel, and Stephen Drotter. How companies develop leaders.
"Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters" by Richard Rumelt. Understand what strategy means.
"The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide To Influencing, Attracting And Winning People Over Paperback" by Jack Schafer. Documented with proven strategies from a former FBI agent who specialized in behavioral analysis and recruiting spies, this book teaches you how to instantly read people and influence their perception of you, so you can easily turn on your behavioral switches.
"The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business", Binance operates a global team, so this book is very suitable for Binance.
"The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness" by Morgan Housel. How to think about money and be happy.
Signals: How Everyday Signs Can Help Us Navigate the World's Turbulent Economy, by Dr. Pippa Malmgren. An excellent book that provides a general overview of the world today.
"Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency" by Andy Greenberg. This book profiles the work of Tigran, Head of Financial Crime Compliance. It reads like a Hollywood movie, taking place across the globe and involving dirty cops, drug bazaars, trafficking rings, and the largest online narcotics market in the history of the Internet.
Biography, the stories of others
"Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber" by Mike Isaac. While we won't follow all the advice in this book, Uber does face challenges such as unclear regulations and rapid growth. They took a more radical approach, depending on how you look at it, of course. Regardless, this book is an excellent read.
"Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose" by Tony Hsieh. In this book, Tony Hsieh, CEO of online shoe retailer Zappos, explains how he created a unique culture and commitment to service designed to improve the lives of employees, customers, suppliers, and supporters. Hsieh used anecdotes and stories from his own life and those from other companies to illustrate the specific methods of the company's success. Even better, he shows how to create happiness and record results at the same time.
"No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention" by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. Key points: talent density, candor, feedback.
"Amazon Unbound" by Brad Stone. It tells in detail how Jeff moves forward bravely on the road to revolutionizing the world.
"American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road" by Nick Bilton. The story of the Silk Road. Excellent bibliography on the industry. Tigran from our investigative team plays an important role in this story.
"Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption and Vengeance in Today's China" by Desmond Shum. A first-person account of how China's business environment operates. This book appears to be banned in China.
No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State, by Glenn Greenwald. The story about Edward Snowden.
"The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America" by James Bamford. Not sure how authentic this book is, but it talks about government eavesdropping capabilities.
"Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China", by Ezra F. Vogel. This is a profound history of Chinese social transformation.
"Neither Civil nor Servant: The Philip Yeo Story", by Peh Shing Huei. The founding history of Singapore.
"Warren Buffett: Inside the Ultimate Money Mind" by Robert G. Hagstrom. The story about Warren Buffett. Even if Buffett doesn't like cryptocurrencies, there's still a lot to learn.
《The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve》，G. Edward Griffin著。
《Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America》，Weijian Shan著。
《Blood and Oil: Mohammed bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power》，Bradley Hope&Justin Scheck著。
No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram: This book provides some interesting insights into the disclosures they had to make for antitrust reasons in order to get the deal done. At one point all conversations had to be reviewed by in-house lawyers. Any mention of market share, competition, dominance, etc. was reviewed. This book also goes into depth about their values and choices, as well as conflicts during post-merger integration, etc.
novel:
"Fallen Dragon", by Peter Hamilton. This is a science fiction novel. This book tells the story of the protagonist who discovers something more important at the end of his search for treasure. Each character has challenging tasks. I won’t reveal too much and hope you enjoy reading it for yourself. But I really enjoyed this book and the technical content in it. This novel is a bit old, but it has always been one of my favorites.
