Saturday, November 1, 2014
Who are the mentors to billionaires, chess prodigies, rockstars, and mega-bestselling authors? Who teaches them to do what they do? To achieve the success they achieve? Oftentimes…it’s books.
On
The Tim Ferriss Show (
iTunes,
SoundCloud), I dissect world-class performers to find the tools and tricks you can use. Here’s a
full list of guests. One of the questions I always ask is:
“What book have you gifted most often to others, and why?” Below is a list of answers from people like billionaire investor Peter Thiel, Tony Robbins, Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull, chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin, etc.. (And
here are my own current answers, if you’re interested.)
You’ll see several books that appear more than once. Can you guess which they are?
The Ultimate To-Read Book List
Kevin Kelly is the founding editor of WIRED magazine, real-life Dos Equis “Most Interesting Man In The World.”
Favorite book(s):Full Conversation:Peter Thiel, billionaire investor (first outside investor in Facebook) and co-founder of PayPal, Palantir…
Favorite book(s):Full Conversation:Tony Robbins, performance coach to Bill Clinton, Serena Williams, Paul Tudor Jones, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey, and more.
Favorite book(s):Full Conversation:Peter Diamandis has been named one of the world’s 50 greatest leaders by Fortune Magazine. In the field of Innovation, Diamandis is Chairman and CEO of the
X PRIZE Foundation, best known for its $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private spaceflight. Today, the X PRIZE leads the world in designing and operating large-scale global competitions to solve market failures.
Favorite book(s):Full Conversation:Joshua Waitzkin – Considered a chess prodigy and the basis for
Searching for Bobby Fischer, Josh has perfected learning strategies that can be applied to anything, including chess, Brazilian jiu-jutsu (he is a black belt under phenom Marcelo Garcia), business, and Tai Chi Push Hands (he is a world champion).
Favorite book(s):Full Conversation:Ed Catmull is a co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios (along with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter) and president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation.
Favorite book(s):Full Conversation:Neil Strauss has written 7
New York Times bestsellers, including
The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.
Favorite book(s):Full Conversation:Tracy DiNunzio is the self-taught founder and CEO of
Tradesy.com, which has attracted legendary investors like Sir Richard Branson and John Doerr.
Favorite book(s):Full Conversation:Mike Shinoda is best known as the rapper, principal songwriter, keyboardist, rhythm guitarist and one of the two vocalists of the band Linkin Park, which has sold 60+ million albums worldwide.
Favorite book(s):Full Conversation:James Altucher is an American hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, and bestselling author.
Favorite book(s):