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Careless People is very good. However, I'm currently reading "Character Limit" about the acquisition of Twitter by Musk which I think is even more interesting.

Careless People is very good. However, I'm currently reading "Character Limit" about the acquisition of Twitter by Musk which I think is even more interesting. Does anyone have any recommendations for more books like these?

dgxyz 8mo ago
Will buy that today. Thanks for the recommendation.
didsomeonesay 8mo ago
maybe take a look at "Bad Blood" by John Carreyrou
- arethuza 8mo ago
  Yes - already read that, it's also very good! Edit: Maybe I should find one about the shenanigans in the crypto space...
ioadk 8mo ago
I love these kind of books, some recommendations: Tech-specific (more like Careless People): - Empire of AI: tells the story of how the massive AI labs started and became as big as they are with a focus on OpenAI, provides new insight into the coup that outed Altman a couple years ago - Number Go Up: digs into the crypto culture and scams with novel insight into Tether - Bad Blood: a classic about Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes and how far a technologically impossible startup can go - Super Pumped: about Uber and the dirty tactics they employed to stay ahead, also touches on the toxic culture that was propagated there - Money Men: about the criminal enterprise around Wirecard, hard to keep up with at times due to the focus on the FT investigation rather than the fraud but interesting anyway Finance-focused: - Barbarians at the Gate: a classic about the attempted takeover of RJR Nabisco (oreos and tobacco) by management and early PE firms, told from first hand accounts - Too Big Too Fail: similar in form to Barbarians but instead focused on the 08 collapse and the attempts by the government to save all the irresponsible banks, told in too much of a sympathetic way for me but interesting to see how things happened behind the scenes - All the Devils Are Here: on the other hand a very unsympathetic look into the 08 crisis, by the same authors as Smartest Guys in the Room Other: - The Smartest Guys in the Room: my favourite of them all, tells the story of Enron and their rise and incredible fall, basically a foundational text on how to do a financial crime (and not get away with it) - Chip War: very relevant look into the production of computer chips, highlights the reliance on only a few companies and the incredible costs involved - Empire of Pain: also a favourite, goes into the Sackler family and how they built Perdue Pharma and then proceeded to cause the devastating opioid epidemic - The Power Broker: a classic about Robert Moses who basically built half of New York at the expense of marginalised residents, it's very long so I'd recommend reading/listening along with the 99% invisible breakdown I've not read Character Limit so have added that to my "To Read" pile!
- jerrybender 8mo ago
  Empire of AI was quite bad
- arethuza 8mo ago
  Thanks - "Number Go Up" is just what I was looking for.
- Jommi 8mo ago
  Unfortuantely Empire of AI is incredibly sour and pessimistic, choosing to present only one side of the story. I would def read it, but with a grain of salt.
- HaZeust 8mo ago
  Great list - thank you!!

dgxyz 8mo ago

Will buy that today. Thanks for the recommendation.

didsomeonesay 8mo ago

maybe take a look at "Bad Blood" by John Carreyrou

arethuza 8mo ago
Yes - already read that, it's also very good! Edit: Maybe I should find one about the shenanigans in the crypto space...

ioadk 8mo ago

I love these kind of books, some recommendations: Tech-specific (more like Careless People): - Empire of AI: tells the story of how the massive AI labs started and became as big as they are with a focus on OpenAI, provides new insight into the coup that outed Altman a couple years ago - Number Go Up: digs into the crypto culture and scams with novel insight into Tether - Bad Blood: a classic about Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes and how far a technologically impossible startup can go - Super Pumped: about Uber and the dirty tactics they employed to stay ahead, also touches on the toxic culture that was propagated there - Money Men: about the criminal enterprise around Wirecard, hard to keep up with at times due to the focus on the FT investigation rather than the fraud but interesting anyway Finance-focused: - Barbarians at the Gate: a classic about the attempted takeover of RJR Nabisco (oreos and tobacco) by management and early PE firms, told from first hand accounts - Too Big Too Fail: similar in form to Barbarians but instead focused on the 08 collapse and the attempts by the government to save all the irresponsible banks, told in too much of a sympathetic way for me but interesting to see how things happened behind the scenes - All the Devils Are Here: on the other hand a very unsympathetic look into the 08 crisis, by the same authors as Smartest Guys in the Room Other: - The Smartest Guys in the Room: my favourite of them all, tells the story of Enron and their rise and incredible fall, basically a foundational text on how to do a financial crime (and not get away with it) - Chip War: very relevant look into the production of computer chips, highlights the reliance on only a few companies and the incredible costs involved - Empire of Pain: also a favourite, goes into the Sackler family and how they built Perdue Pharma and then proceeded to cause the devastating opioid epidemic - The Power Broker: a classic about Robert Moses who basically built half of New York at the expense of marginalised residents, it's very long so I'd recommend reading/listening along with the 99% invisible breakdown I've not read Character Limit so have added that to my "To Read" pile!

jerrybender 8mo ago
Empire of AI was quite bad
arethuza 8mo ago
Thanks - "Number Go Up" is just what I was looking for.
Jommi 8mo ago
Unfortuantely Empire of AI is incredibly sour and pessimistic, choosing to present only one side of the story. I would def read it, but with a grain of salt.
HaZeust 8mo ago
Great list - thank you!!