Great Books Distilled: Summaries of Bestselling Business and Investing Books

"Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean, to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains." — Steve Jobs Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqjzmm-wkoo Read the newsletter version: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/p/insanely-simple-book-breakdown-part-2 Show notes: https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/175 Buy the book: https://amzn.to/47HC36Q To Steve Jobs, simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Revolution after revolution, Jobs proved that Simplicity is the most powerful force in business. It guides the way Apple is organized, how it designs products, and how it connects with customers. As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple's resurrection after Steve Jobs returned. He helped create such marketing campaigns as Think Different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come. Now Segall puts you inside a conference room with Jobs and on the receiving end of his midnight phone cals. You'll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster, sometimes saving millions in the process. You'll also learn the ten elements of Simplicity that have driven Apple's historic success — which you can use to propel your own organization. Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy Learn more about Steve Jobs: https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean, to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains." — Steve Jobs Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/d3IRe7CVkA0 Read the newsletter version: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/p/insanely-simple-book-breakdown Show notes: https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/174 Buy the book: https://amzn.to/47HC36Q To Steve Jobs, simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Revolution after revolution, Jobs proved that Simplicity is the most powerful force in business. It guides the way Apple is organized, how it designs products, and how it connects with customers. As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple's resurrection after Steve Jobs returned. He helped create such marketing campaigns as Think Different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come. Now Segall puts you inside a conference room with Jobs and on the receiving end of his midnight phone cals. You'll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster, sometimes saving millions in the process. You'll also learn the ten elements of Simplicity that have driven Apple's historic success — which you can use to propel your own organization. Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy Learn more about Steve Jobs: https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean, to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains." — Steve Jobs Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/d3IRe7CVkA0 Read the newsletter version: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/p/insanely-simple-book-breakdown Show notes: https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/174 Buy the book: https://amzn.to/47HC36Q To Steve Jobs, simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Revolution after revolution, Jobs proved that Simplicity is the most powerful force in business. It guides the way Apple is organized, how it designs products, and how it connects with customers. As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple's resurrection after Steve Jobs returned. He helped create such marketing campaigns as Think Different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come. Now Segall puts you inside a conference room with Jobs and on the receiving end of his midnight phone cals. You'll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster, sometimes saving millions in the process. You'll also learn the ten elements of Simplicity that have driven Apple's historic success — which you can use to propel your own organization. Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy Learn more about Steve Jobs: https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"It is easy to forget that, when he was a student, the man who brought us the Macintosh, iPhone and iPad (and, with his little finger, Pixar) collected bottle caps to make ends meet. The need to stretch every nickel informed the way Apple was run during the early days." In 2015, Mike Moritz wrote an opinion piece for The Financial Times called "Imitators take note — Steve Jobs was more than a showman." It's a great reminder that the best businesses — including Apple — are the most capital efficient businesses. That what matters isn't how much you raise, but the business you build with what you raise. And that even Apple, started out life being incredibly cheap and capital efficient. Being frugal and stretching every nickel ensures that your business is as durable as possible. While revenue will always ebb and flow, expenses are typically subject to inertia. Expenses tend to build up invisibly, almost imperceptibly, and can require heroic acts to shrink. While is why it's so important to build a culture of frugality from Day One — ensuring that as many dollars spent as possible go toward strategic expenses that sustain and grow your business. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aoDwtbLW71I Show notes: https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/173 Read the newsletter for this episode: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/p/essay-breakdown-imitators-take-note Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy Learn more about Steve Jobs: https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"It is easy to forget that, when he was a student, the man who brought us the Macintosh, iPhone and iPad (and, with his little finger, Pixar) collected bottle caps to make ends meet. The need to stretch every nickel informed the way Apple was run during the early days." In 2015, Mike Moritz wrote an opinion piece for The Financial Times called "Imitators take note — Steve Jobs was more than a showman." It's a great reminder that the best businesses — including Apple — are the most capital efficient businesses. That what matters isn't how much you raise, but the business you build with what you raise. And that even Apple, started out life being incredibly cheap and capital efficient. Being frugal and stretching every nickel ensures that your business is as durable as possible. While revenue will always ebb and flow, expenses are typically subject to inertia. Expenses tend to build up invisibly, almost imperceptibly, and can require heroic acts to shrink. While is why it's so important to build a culture of frugality from Day One — ensuring that as many dollars spent as possible go toward strategic expenses that sustain and grow your business. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aoDwtbLW71I Show notes: https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/173 Read the newsletter for this episode: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/p/essay-breakdown-imitators-take-note Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy Learn more about Steve Jobs: https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Jobs made an incredible impact on the world by creating two of today's most important companies in Apple and Pixar. Both companies created world-changing products while Steve Jobs was alive in the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, and Oscar winning animated films such as Toy Story. More importantly, both companies developed the right team, vision, and culture to continue producing world-shaping products decades later — long after Steve's departure. As we learn in this book, Steve's values and ethos live on in both of these incredible companies. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gIhYf0BEM2s Read the full book breakdown: https://www.danielscrivner.com/best-books/i-steve-steve-jobs-in-his-own-words Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-His-Words-Their/dp/1932841660?&linkCode=ll1&tag=lv0d-20&linkId=0301698a38980a7199e5bca48944c001&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Jobs made an incredible impact on the world by creating two of today's most important companies in Apple and Pixar. Both companies created world-changing products while Steve Jobs was alive in the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, and Oscar winning animated films such as Toy Story. More importantly, both companies developed the right team, vision, and culture to continue producing world-shaping products decades later — long after Steve's departure. As we learn in this book, Steve's values and ethos live on in both of these incredible companies. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gIhYf0BEM2s Read the full book breakdown: https://www.danielscrivner.com/best-books/i-steve-steve-jobs-in-his-own-words Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-His-Words-Their/dp/1932841660?&linkCode=ll1&tag=lv0d-20&linkId=0301698a38980a7199e5bca48944c001&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus episode, we explore becoming a better writer. We’re joined by Verlyn Klinkenborg, author and Yale professor. We cover learning from farm life and work, finding rhythm in writing, and debunking writing cliches.  “So what I do now is essentially help students escape from their education. That's my enterprise every year. And it's always fun, because they escape quite readily. They all know that what they're making in their classes is an artificial product that doesn't actually have any particular interest for anyone except them.” – Verlyn Klinkenborg  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) & TRANSCRIPT https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/18 CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to becoming a better writer. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:00:35) – Rural life and the “home place” (00:03:56) – Raising animals and eating meat (00:09:20) – Learnings from farm life and work (00:13.48) – Verlyn’s reading habits (00:19:51) – Physical vs. digital books (00:26:53) – Verlyn’s book Several Short Sentences About Writing (00:33:01) – What is academic prose? (00:38:21) – Why people should use shorter sentences in writing (00:42:56) – Finding rhythm in writing (00:47:01) – Self authorization and noticing the world around you (00:53:38) – Writing cliches that are untrue (00:58:16) – What to expect from a class with Verlyn (01:04:56) – Writing is rooted in experience more than language Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

YouTube & Substack Watch this episode on YouTube or get new episodes in your inbox with Substack. Join Outliers Club Listen to episodes a week before they're released publicly. Remove all ads. And get access to exclusive Ask Me Anything sessions, hand-written transcripts, bonus articles, and more. All for just $149/year or $19/month. Join now → Extra Stuff Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → Browse every book featured on Outliers → Get in Touch Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielscrivner/ Email: https://www.danielscrivner.com/contact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Essays of Warren Buffett by Lawrence Cunningham For over 50 years, Warren Buffett has written an annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders. Many people set it as a goal to read all of Warren’s shareholder letters chronologically. Which is certainly a fascinating way to see how Berkshire Hathaway evolved year after year. This book is different. It breaks from this chronological order to instead group things Warren has said over the years by topic. So, for instance, you can see his ideas on the importance of culture or the power of incentives holistically — as a single body of work. What I love about this book is the focus on Warren’s ideas. Warren Buffett has built one of the largest conglomerates in history — full I’d incredible companies from See’s Candies to GEICO — from a standing start in 1965. I would argue that if you only have time to study one entrepreneur and investor, that you should study Warren Buffett. There’s no better way to do that than with this book. I know it’s one I’ll be rereading for the rest of my life. YouTube & Substack Watch this episode on YouTube or get new episodes in your inbox with Substack. Notes & Transcript Find my full notes and transcript for this episode at outlieracademy.com/warrens-essays. Chapters (0:00) Chapters coming… Join Outliers Club Listen to episodes a week before they're released publicly. Remove all ads. And get access to exclusive Ask Me Anything sessions, hand-written transcripts, bonus articles, and more. All for just $19/month or $149/year. Join now → Get in Touch Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielscrivner/ Email: https://www.danielscrivner.com/contact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices