I've put together my fall reading list, thanks to kind advice from fellow WSOers. Sharing in case it's useful to you, or in case anyone wants to add some suggestions.
VC * Venture Deals, by Brad Feld * From Zero to One, by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters * The New New Thing, by Michael Lewis * The Hard Things About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz * Valley Boy: The Education of Tom Perkins, by Tom Perkins * Deal Terms, by Alex Wilmerding * Investment Visionaries, by Peter Tanous * Good Ventures, by John W. Wilson * Masters of Private Equity and Venture Capital, by Andrew Roman * Venture Capital and Private Equity: a Casebook, by HBS' Josh Lerner * Mastering the VC Game, by Jeffrey Bussgang * The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries * VC and finance of innovation, by Andrew Metrick * Business of Venture Capital
PE, IBD
* Mergers and Acquisition Playbook, by Mark Filippel
* The Complete Guide to a Successful Leveraged Buyout, by Allen Michel and Israel Shaked
* Idiots and Dummies Guides to M&A
* Leveraged Buyouts; a Practical Introductory Guide to LBO's, by David Pilger.
* Mergers and Acquisitions from A - Z, by Andrew Sherman
* McGraw Hill's Art of Distressed M&A (500 pgs)
* Distressed Debt Analysis, by Moyer
* Advanced: The Art of Distressed M&A: Buying, Selling and Financing Troubled Companies, by Nesvold
* Buyout and Distressed Private Equity: Performance and Value Creation, by Christian Graf
* Managing by the Numbers, by Kremer
* The Art of M&A, by Stanley Foster Reed
* Investment Banking, by Joshua Rosenbaum
**Value Investing **
* Little Book that Beats the Market
* stock mkt
* security analysis
* intelligent investor
* buffett/forbes, tap dancing to work
* lawrence cunningham all of buffett's letters
* hatstrom the warren buffett way
* peter condif there's always something to do
* peter lynch
* john neff
* jim rogers street smart
* michael stern investment checklist
* the outsiders
* william thornsten 8 unconventional managers
* market wizards
* new mkt wizards
* michael lewis the big short
* michael stern the most important thing / illuminate
* seth harmon margin of safety
* there's always something to do
* margin of safety seth Klarman, baupost
* bruce greewald, value investing,
* prem watasa, fairfax financial
* john templeton,
* the templeton plan
* howard marx/marks, the most important thing illuminated
* greenblat, you can be a stockmarket genius
I would get rid of Zero to One. Not really actionable IMO.
The rest are awesome. Will have to check some out. Thanks for the list!
Reading Distressed by Moyer ATM btw. Great book.
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I don't think they are applicable at all to anyone working outside of early stage venture. Not sure how much experience you have around venture btw, but anything Series A and on is far away from being just a term sheet.
That book is literally just a bunch of notes from his lectures someone took and then slightly organized. Reviews are mixed for good reason.
It's short too though, so IDK. maybe worth reading OP but I would throw it last on the list.
From a biased perspective w.r.t. Thiel and VC:
The book is a great intro for anyone entering the space, especially for people with biased dogmas from a banking/lawyer/PE background.
No it doesn't help with the actual execution work done, especially at a junior level. But it is applicable for anyone in the position to think at a high level about investment opportunities.
Above Series A: Actually, I think it is just as relevant. Investing Seed to Series A, you have more freedom to spray-and-pray, and exit at future rounds. If you are mid/late stage or growth equity, you have to be far more cognizant of exit opportunities, whether its IPO, M&A, etc. You have to assess the **sustainability **of the company, which I would say Thiel addresses (albeit shortly).
I added value investing books to the list
For both VC and PE, I'd recommend "The Masters of Private Equity and Venture Capital: Management Lessons from the Pioneers of Private Investing" by Robert Finkel. Reading now and has a lot of good anecdotes, advice, and principles of the founders of NEA, CD&R, Thoma Bravo, and others. https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Private-Equity-Venture-Capital/dp/007162…
Add finance for the good society in the mix, although the knowledge it brings you isn't amazing, it allows you to crush SJW when yo tell them you work in Finance.
Ha! Must be pretty dim SWJs. Probably makes for a good guide for fun verbal sparring.
thanks for the list !
John Doerrs mgmt books apply nicely to vc for obvious reasons
Added this to my trello list. +1 SB, thanks
venture deals is the GOAT of books on VC investing imo
My billionaire founder recommended me to read "Evolve Your Brain" by Joe Dispenza
He said you have to first understand how the brain works. It was quite an enlightening read. The middle section was really dense on how the brain is formed.
Great list, more than a lifetime reading (applied of course).
(Seth KLARMAN, Margin of Safety. It’s out of print and copies somewhat famously go for $2500+ but you can find PDFs online)
Thanks man. I have that book. I don't really see what the big fuss is about tho.
High-performing value guys always seem to have a cult following.
Great lists.
Howard Marks has a new book coming out this year, too (I've also got his Memos from past years),
And if you haven't read the https://www.amazon.com/Book-Underdog-Manual-Competition-Crush-ebook/dp/…</a">Book of The Underdog, you're behind.
Awesome. Thanks!
This isn't directly related PE/VC/IBD but I would suggest reading Competition Demystified. The book is pretty wordy but gives you a great rundown about the different competitive advantages/moats.
Thanks.
Great list, thanks
Please make a list for Corporate Banking!!!
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