Reid Hoffman

Co-founder of LinkedIn; partner at Greylock Partners

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
Obvious I give out my own books fairly often: The Startup View , The Alliance . Recently I’ve been giving out another book of friend of mine, Joshua Cooper Ramos, The Seventh Sense .

Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 1 June 2018 source ↗

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Daniel Pink American non-fiction writer
Yeah. Oh, yeah. So, they’re probably books that you’ve – I mean, it might have been books that you’ve covered in your show here. So, one of them is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, one of the greatest things ever. I come back to that advice so many different times, it’s the same even in the Pink household, where we’ll just say – like one member of my family would say to the other who’s struggling, “Okay, bird by bird. Bird by bird.” And so, I am a huge – and I stumbled into this book – I remember where I got this next book, I got it in the airport in San Francisco, in the bookstore in the SFO. And for some reason, I picked it up because it had this really weird cover. But one of the first editions of The War of Art by Steven Pressfield had this kind of silvery cover to it. And I bought that book in – I think it was a campus bookstore in SFO, just because it’s – I went, “Oh, it’s silver cover, and it’s really short.” I got it and it was like, “Oh, my god. I can’t believe how good this book is.” And so, I have even have a little sign on my desk here that says, “Beat the resistance.” So, I’ve given that book a out a lot too. So Pressfield and Lamott. And then – man, I have to say, Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning is up there too. Less – I’ve given that out less, but that’s a hugely important book for me.
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 26 June 2018 source ↗
Tu Youyou Pharmaceutical chemist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2015
In Ge Hong's A Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies (肘后备急方), I noticed one sentence "A handful of Qinghao immersed in two liters of water, wring out the juice and drink it all" (青蒿一握, 以水二升渍, 绞取汁, 尽服之) when Qinghao was mentioned for alleviating malaria fevers. Most herbs were typically boiled in water and made into a decoction before taken by the patients. This unique way of using Qinghao gave me the idea that heating during extraction might have destroyed the active components and the high temperature might need to be avoided in order to preserve the herb's activity.
Recorded Laureate-written autobiography for Les Prix Nobel, Nobel Prize Outreach, 1 December 2015 source ↗
Bob Metcalfe American engineer
There is one in particular. It’s called Atlas Shrugged , which is my favorite book.
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 7 February 2018 source ↗
Graham Duncan Investor; co-founder of East Rock Capital
Yeah. So in financial markets, I really like this somewhat obscure book called The Aspirational Investor by this guy, Ashvin Chhabra, who runs Jim Simons’ family office. Jim Simons started Renaissance Technologies, which is the dominant quant fund.
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 1 March 2019 source ↗

More from Reid Hoffman

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Question When you need counsel, who is the first person you call? Relationships
Well, that all comes from your network. And so even today with, well over 300 million people on LinkedIn, most people have yet to learn how to use their network, in order to ally with their network, in order to find the right economic opportunities. And that’s one of the things that I’m still working on.
Recorded Academy of Achievement, Academy of Achievement interview, Mountain View, California, 1 April 2012 source ↗
Question What counsel would you give your twenty-year-old self — and what should they ignore? Time & hindsight
The challenge of a big, over-arching vision is that it's hard to know where to start. And your biggest opportunity will change from year to year. Technology changes. Competition changes. You change. My advice: Just start. Find a single unmet need that nudges the world closer to where you believe it's going. And if you hit a dead end, pivot.
Recorded Hoffman's own Medium publication, Reid Hoffman on Medium source ↗
Question What bad recommendations do people in your field repeat too often? Craft & work
Our culture lionizes entrepreneurs who navigate daring switchbacks in their career. Steve Jobs was admired not just for Apple, but also his detour to found Pixar. Elon Musk is revered for helming Tesla AND SpaceX. But don't be distracted by other people's winding paths. I believe you should celebrate your single-mindedness, and stick to your own overarching idea — for as long as it holds your own fascination. In my experience, that could last your entire career.
Recorded Hoffman's own Medium publication, Reid Hoffman on Medium source ↗
Question What purchase of $100 or less has most improved your life in the last six months? Money & investment
This is going to sound a little strange, but my trainer started recommending that I add moringa leaf powder to my tea. That’s actually added a rich antioxidant, anti inflammatory and a little bit more substance such that drinking tea now feels a little bit like a snack and is super healthy.
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 1 June 2018 source ↗

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