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19 Books Recommended by Shopify Founder Tobi Lütke
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items The books Shopify founder Tobi Lütke has named in interviews with Tim Ferriss and Tyler Cowen, on Shopify's own reading list, and in his posts, from the first business books he read to the sci-fi he loves. Each pick links to its source. I may earn a ...
Sections
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The first business books he ever read
How he runs Shopify
Learning, talent and growth
Systems, power and how the world works
Stoicism and science fiction
The first business books he ever read
Lütke was a programmer with no business training when Shopify started. These are the books he says taught him how companies and people actually work.
Robert Cialdini's classic on the six principles that make people say yes. Lütke says it was one of the first business books he ever read and still ranks in his all-time top five.
Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion
Carol Dweck's research on fixed versus growth mindsets and why believing you can improve changes how you perform. Lütke has called it probably still the best book on the subject.
Mindset - Updated Edition
How he runs Shopify
Management and leadership books Lütke has put on Shopify's own reading list for founders and teams.
Former Google and Apple manager Kim Scott's framework for caring personally while challenging people directly. Lütke put it on Shopify's list of books he picked for founders.
Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss without Losing Your Humanity (Fully Revised & Updated Edition)
Two Navy SEAL officers explain why leaders must own every result, good or bad. Lütke included it in his hand-picked Shopify reading list.
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
Daniel Pink argues that autonomy, mastery and purpose motivate people far more than carrots and sticks. It is one of the books Lütke chose for Shopify's founder reading list.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
The short, famous rulebook for clear, concise writing. Lütke has said it is the book he gives away most often because he likes good writing.
The Elements of Style - Illustrated
Wall Street Journal columnist Christopher Mims follows one package from a factory in Asia to a doorstep. Lütke picked it for Shopify's reading list, a natural fit for anyone selling online.
Arriving Today: From Factory to Front Door -- Why Everything Has Changed About How and What We Buy
Learning, talent and growth
Books on how people get better at things, and how to spot people who will.
Economist Tyler Cowen and investor Daniel Gross on how to find creative, high-energy people that interviews usually miss. Lütke listed it among his picks for Shopify founders.
Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World
Chess prodigy and martial-arts champion Josh Waitzkin breaks down how he learned to perform at the top of two very different fields. Lütke put it on his Shopify reading list.
The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance
David Epstein makes the case that generalists who sample widely often beat early specialists. It is one of the books Lütke selected for Shopify's founder list.
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Systems, power and how the world works
Lütke loves books that explain the hidden machinery of economies and institutions.
How the humble shipping container rebuilt global trade and made modern e-commerce possible. Lütke talked about it with Tim Ferriss as a book worth reading.
The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger - Second Edition with a new chapter by the author
James C. Scott shows how big top-down plans fail when they ignore local, practical knowledge. Lütke told Tyler Cowen it is ‘just a fantastic book.’
Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed
James Burnham's 1941 argument that managers, not owners, were becoming the real ruling class. Lütke has said Burnham's books are fantastic and still extremely relevant.
The Managerial Revolution: What is Happening in the World
Burnham's study of thinkers who described how power really works, beneath the official story. Lütke has called it unbelievably good.
The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom
Nassim Taleb on things that get stronger from shocks and stress. Lütke has said Shopify is practically built on this book.
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
Donella Meadows's clear primer on feedback loops, stocks and flows, and why systems behave the way they do. It appears among the books Lütke has recommended.
Thinking in Systems: International Bestseller
Stoicism and science fiction
The books he reads for himself: a Stoic guide he keeps coming back to and the sci-fi he loves.
William Irvine's modern, practical guide to Stoic philosophy and staying calm. Lütke, a lifelong Stoic, has called it one of the best books he has read.
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
Neal Stephenson's huge novel jumping between World War II codebreakers and their dot-com-era descendants building a data haven. It is reported to be Lütke's favorite of Stephenson's books.
Cryptonomicon
Greg Egan's hard sci-fi novel about people who copy their minds into computer simulations. Lütke has praised the quality of its science.
Permutation City: A Novel