Bill Gurley

Bill Gurley

Bill Gurley

Venture Capitalist & Technology Investor

Benchmark Capital partner known for early bets on Uber, GrubHub, and Instagram. Reads widely on innovation, complexity, and economic systems.

Investors & Finance

Bill Gurley is a general partner at Benchmark Capital, one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture firms. He's known for prescient investments in transformative companies including Uber, GrubHub, and Instagram, and for thought leadership on technology markets and business strategy through his public writing and analysis.

44 Books Recommended by Bill Gurley

Ranked by popularity across all reading lists on this site

The Rational Optimist book cover
#4

The Rational Optimist

by Matt Ridley

11 people recommended

[The author] has the ability to combine thinking from many fields - most notably science, technology, psychology, & a heavy dose of microeconomics.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Naval Ravikant, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, John Arnold, Marc Andreessen, Rupert Murdoch, Anthony Pompliano, Jordan Peterson, Mr Money Mustache, Nick Szabo

Crossing the Chasm book cover
#5

Crossing the Chasm

by Geoffrey A. Moore

10 people recommended

All entrepreneurs should read.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Changpeng Zhao, Drew Houston, Ev Williams, Ron Conway, Aaron Levie, Andrew Ng, Chris Dixon, Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin

Ready Player One book cover
#6

Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

9 people recommended

Spectacular.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Mark Zuckerberg, Brian Armstrong, Astro Teller, Austen Allred, Barry Ritholtz, George R R Martin, Jenn Im, Steve Jurvetson

The Wealth of Nations book cover
#7

The Wealth of Nations

by Adam Smith

8 people recommended

[The author]'s magnum opus.

Also recommended by: Elon Musk, Naval Ravikant, Brandon Stanton, Patrick Bet David, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Nick Szabo, Noam Chomsky

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#8

Setting the Table

by Danny Meyer

7 people recommended

I'm a huge fan of [this author].

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Chip Conley, Fred Wilson, Julie Rice, Noah Kagan, Patrick Oshaughnessy, Trung Phan

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#9

by

6 people recommended

Historically important book that will hopefully stand as a critical catalyst to change in our industry.

Also recommended by: Melinda Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Aaron Levie, Arianna Huffington, Tom Peters

The Most Important Thing book cover
#10

The Most Important Thing

by Howard Marks

5 people recommended

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Warren Buffett, Lyn Alden, Patrick Oshaughnessy, Peter Attia

Built to Last book cover
#11

Built to Last

by Jim Collins

5 people recommended

[Suggests] that the very best companies set an audacious, very long-term goal that shines a light towards 'an envisioned future.'

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Jeff Bezos, Ev Williams, Jamie Dimon, Patrick Bet David

Bad Blood book cover
#12

Bad Blood

by John Carreyrou

5 people recommended

An incredible book that should be read by each and every player in the startup/Silicon Valley ecosystem.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Ankur Warikoo, Bill Gates, Andrew Wilkinson, Michael Mauboussin

Complexity book cover
#13

Complexity

by M. Mitchell Waldrop

4 people recommended

Read this book, it changes everything.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Jamie Dimon, Michael Mauboussin, Vlad Zamfir

Security Analysis book cover
#14

Security Analysis

by Benjamin Graham

4 people recommended

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, Bill Ackman

The Success Equation book cover
#15

The Success Equation

by Michael Mauboussin

3 people recommended

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Vinod Khosla, Keith Rabois

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#16

by

3 people recommended

If you want to be a world class big deal negotiator, make sure you pick up [this book].

Also recommended by: Vinod Khosla, Patrick Oshaughnessy

The Sixth Man book cover
#17

The Sixth Man

by Andre Iguodala

3 people recommended

If you love basketball, the @warriors, intense tenacity, or understanding how a great team executes as one, you will love [this book].

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Barack Obama, Arianna Huffington

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#18

The Soul of A New Machine

by Tracy Kidder

3 people recommended

A really old book, but it's a famous book.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Fred Wilson, Paul Graham

How Innovation Works book cover
#19

How Innovation Works

by Matt Ridley

2 people recommended

I really, really loved [this book].

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Naval Ravikant

Competitive Strategy book cover
#20

Competitive Strategy

by Michael E. Porter

2 people recommended

All entrepreneurs should read.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Jamie Dimon

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#21

Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders

by Warren Buffett

2 people recommended

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

Also recommended by: Eric Jorgenson

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#22

by

2 people recommended

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

Also recommended by: Michael Bloomberg

The Most Important Thing Illuminated book cover
#23

The Most Important Thing Illuminated

by Howard Marks

2 people recommended

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Warren Buffett

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#24

Monetizing Innovation

by Madhavan Ramanujam

2 people recommended

[This author] is to monetization strategy what Bob Marley is to reggae music. You must read this book.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Ramit Sethi

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#25

Why We Get Fat

by Gary Taubes

2 people recommended

A toned down, more reader friendly, less technical version of [the author's] 2008 New York Times best seller.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Gretchen Rubin

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#26

Valuation

by McKinsey & Company Inc.

2 people recommended

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Michael Mauboussin

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#27

Think Twice

by Michael Mauboussin

2 people recommended

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Shane Parrish

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#28

The Storytelling Animal

by Jonathan Gottschall

2 people recommended

Nice compliment to Sapiens.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Michael Mauboussin

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#29

A Random Walk Down Wall Street

by Burton G. Malkiel

2 people recommended

Offers the most pragmatic advice for the long-term saver.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Mr Money Mustache

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#30

Build

by Tony Fadell

2 people recommended

Benefit from [the author]'s amazing journey and the advice he received from iconic mentors like Steve Jobs and Bill Campbell.

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Ben Horowitz

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#31

One Up On Wall Street

by Peter Lynch

2 people recommended

Any investor starts with just building bedrock and that comes from reading. [For example,] you can read [this book].

Buy on Amazon →

Also recommended by: Bill Ackman

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#32

Lean Solutions

by James P. Womack

A great book on that topic, applying lean manufacturing principles to services.

Buy on Amazon →
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#33

Startup

by Jerry Kaplan

All entrepreneurs should read.

Buy on Amazon →
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#34

More Than You Know

by Michael Mauboussin

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

Buy on Amazon →
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#35

Expectations Investing

by Michael Mauboussin

Bill Gurley recommended this book on Quora.

Buy on Amazon →
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#36

Catastrophic Care

by David Goldhill

Enlightening.

Buy on Amazon →
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#37

The Billionaire Shell Game

by L.J. Davis

Great book.

Buy on Amazon →
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#38

The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation

by David Ricardo

Expanded upon [Adam Smith]'s work in developing the theory of Comparative Advantage.

Buy on Amazon →
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#39

Seeker

by Arwen Elys Dayton

If you like epic, futuristic teen fantasy, check [this book] out!

Buy on Amazon →
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#40

Virus of the Mind

by Richard Brodie

Tim Cook is practicing 'meme warfare'. Microsoft used to be awesome at this. [This is a] great book on topic.

Buy on Amazon →
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#41

Sharkproof

by Harvey MacKay

Had a whole section on your dream job and how to think about it over the long term.

Buy on Amazon →
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#42

eBoys

by Randall E. Stross

[The author] got sucked into writing more of a Hollywood gossip story.

Buy on Amazon →
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#43

Mr. China

by Tim Clissold

Great book [about] a British gentleman who went to China in '96 with a $400M PE fund to privatize businesses [and] returned $0.

Buy on Amazon →
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#44

Play Their Hearts Out

by George Dohrmann

About AAU basketball.

Buy on Amazon →