Max Levchin

Max Levchin's Book Recommendations

Business & Entrepreneurship entrepreneurs

Max Levchin is a Ukrainian-American software engineer, entrepreneur, and investor. He is best known as a co-founder of PayPal and the founder and CEO of Affirm. Based on his book recommendations, he seems to enjoy a wide range of topics, from business and self-improvement to fiction and social commentary.

34 books recommended

πŸ“š Books Recommended by Max Levchin 34

Artemis

Artemis

by Andy Weir

"This is another work by Andy Weir (author of The Martian), and it’s a very fun read that I would classify as part of the guilty pleasure section of my personal library"

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Lake Success

Lake Success

by Gary Shteyngart

"Lake Success is pretty outrageous too, but also extremely funny, and terribly sad, and very human"

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The Ascent of Money

The Ascent of Money

by Niall Ferguson

"Q. - What's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs and why? M.L. -Some good ones from the "pure business" category: Zero to One, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, The Innovator's Dilemma, Good to Great, etc. Personally, I prefer less advice, more history. From my favorite business segment: Too Big To Fail, Ascent of Money, When Genius Failed, etc. Books on applied psychology (Influence, Predictably Irrational, etc) are another way to round out primarily technological education :)"

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Thinking in Bets

Thinking in Bets

by Annie Duke

"This book definitely falls in the category I loosely refer to as, β€œself-help,” which I typically skim more than dive into, but I read this book all the way through because I found the premise so intriguing."

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Too Big to Fail

Too Big to Fail

by Andrew Ross Sorkin

"Q. - What's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs and why? M.L. -Some good ones from the "pure business" category: Zero to One, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, The Innovator's Dilemma, Good to Great, etc. Personally, I prefer less advice, more history. From my favorite business segment: Too Big To Fail, Ascent of Money, When Genius Failed, etc. Books on applied psychology (Influence, Predictably Irrational, etc) are another way to round out primarily technological education :)"

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The Power of Habit

The Power of Habit

by Charles Duhigg

"This month I finally got to reading The Power of Habit, a book published a few years ago that compiles a bunch of great academic neuroscience and applied psychology research on habit formation. It includes clear reporting and interviewing work by its author, Charles Duhigg, whose day job is reporting for The New York Times. The book uses the now-standard formula of beginning each chapter with an anecdote that’s later substantiated by research, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting (or useful). Plus, the bits detailing Paul O’Neill’s transformation of Alcoa are priceless reading for a CEO trying to build a mission-driven company."

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Black Edge

Black Edge

by Sheelah Kolhatkar

"Black Edge reads more outrageous and fictional, such is the hubris of the many characters portrayed in it"

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Crucial Conversations

Crucial Conversations

by Kerry Patterson

"A now-venerable guide to having tough conversations in a way that engages the debaters."

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Zero to One

Zero to One

by Peter Thiel

"One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?"

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Good to Great

Good to Great

by Jim Collins

"One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?"

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When Genius Failed

When Genius Failed

by Roger Lowenstein

"One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?"

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The Innovator's Dilemma

The Innovator's Dilemma

by Clayton M. Christensen

"One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?"

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The Coddling of the American Mind

The Coddling of the American Mind

by Greg Lukianoff

"Highlights the need to continue to have such discussions about sensitive topics instead of ignoring them for the sake of comfort."

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High Growth Handbook

High Growth Handbook

by Elad Gil

"[The author] has no-nonsense, highly applicable advice to any operator transitioning a company from the proverbial garage to the next stage and beyond."

Predictably Irrational

Predictably Irrational

by Dan Ariely

"One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?"

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Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

by Harold Abelson

"Easier to read [than "The Art of Computer Programming"] end-to-end quickly."

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The House of Morgan

The House of Morgan

by Ron Chernow

"Trying new routine: starting day by reading few pages from a history book. Currently, The House of Morgan."

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Fast-Track Triathlete

Fast-Track Triathlete

by Matt Dixon

"A smart pragmatic guide for time-starved triathletes."

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The Hard Thing About Hard Things

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

by Ben Horowitz

"Q. - What's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs and why? M.L. -Some good ones from the "pure business" category: Zero to One, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, The Innovator's Dilemma, Good to Great, etc. Personally, I prefer less advice, more history. From my favorite business segment: Too Big To Fail, Ascent of Money, When Genius Failed, etc. Books on applied psychology (Influence, Predictably Irrational, etc) are another way to round out primarily technological education :)"

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The Middleman

The Middleman

by Olen Steinhauer

"Explores a scenario involving domestic terrorism in the U.S. and tackles the complex question of how crises like this benefit the parties involved."

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Consider Phlebas

Consider Phlebas

by Iain M Banks

"Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn."

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Hillbilly Elegy

Hillbilly Elegy

by J. D. Vance

"Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn."

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The Martian

The Martian

by Andy Weir

"Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn."

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Endurance

Endurance

by Alfred Lansing

"Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn."

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The Song Machine

The Song Machine

by John Seabrook

"Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn."

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Dear Leader

Dear Leader

by Jang Jin-Sung

"Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn."

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The Sympathizer

The Sympathizer

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

"Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn."

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Influence

Influence

by Robert Cialdini

"One of Max Levchin's answers to "what's your favourite business book you'd advise to young entrepreneurs?"

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The Complete Stories, Vol 1

The Complete Stories, Vol 1

by Isaac Asimov

"The Last Question is a famous sci-fi short story, and quite possibly one of the best sci-fi stories ever written. [The author]’s degree of forward-thinking is something to behold."

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Slow Horses

Slow Horses

by Mick Herron

"Max Levchin recommended this book on LinkedIn."

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