Austen Allred is the founder and CEO of Bloom Institute (formerly Lambda School), an online coding bootcamp that has trained thousands of developers. He's known for advocating income-share agreements as an alternative to traditional tuition models and building education technology at scale.
30 Books Recommended by Austen Allred
Ranked by popularity across all reading lists on this site
Principles
27 people recommendedSo good.
Also recommended by: Gary Vaynerchuk, Naval Ravikant, Eric Jorgenson, Mark Cuban, Bill Gates, Drew Houston, Dustin Moskovitz, Howard Marks, Jack Dorsey, Kevin Systrom, Marc Benioff, Michael Bloomberg, Reed Hastings, Arianna Huffington, Ben Greenfield, Bryan Johnson, Diddy, Doug Mcmillon, James Clear, Lex Fridman, Marty Cagan, Patrick Oshaughnessy, Tim Ferriss, Tom Bilyeu, Tony Robbins, Derek Sivers
Atlas Shrugged
23 people recommendedI really liked it.
Also recommended by: Elon Musk, Mark Cuban, Peter Thiel, Steve Jobs, Brian Armstrong, Ev Williams, Ray Dalio, Travis Kalanick, Amelia Boone, Bob Metcalfe, Blake Scholl, Patrick Bet David, Fred Wilson, Gabby Reece, Joe De Sena, John Carmack, Paul Krugman, Peter Diamandis, Phil Jackson, Rand Paul, Russell Brunson, Shah Rukh Khan
Meditations
22 people recommendedAusten Allred recommended this book on his website.
Also recommended by: Naval Ravikant, Eric Jorgenson, Jack Dorsey, Sam Altman, Tobi Lutke, Adam Robinson, Anna Kendrick, Arianna Huffington, Chip Conley, Patrick Bet David, James Clear, Jason Ferruggia, Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, Mark Manson, Neil Strauss, Robin Sharma, Ryan Holiday, Shane Parrish, Stewart Brand, Derek Sivers
Shoe Dog
21 people recommendedLoved [this book].
Also recommended by: Ankur Warikoo, Gary Vaynerchuk, Eric Jorgenson, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Brian Armstrong, Tim Cook, Tobi Lutke, Vlad Tenev, Alexis Ohanian, Bill Gurley, Anthony Pompliano, Ben Thompson, Blake Randall, Jason Calacanis, Kathryn Minshew, Patrick Oshaughnessy, Ryan Shea, Trung Phan, Derek Sivers
Snow Crash
15 people recommendedOne of my favorite books of all-time.
Also recommended by: Naval Ravikant, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Cameron Winklevoss, Ev Williams, Tobi Lutke, Adam Savage, Brandon Stanton, Fred Wilson, Nolan Bushnell, Ryan Shea, Seth Godin
Anna Karenina
12 people recommendedAusten Allred recommended this book on Twitter.
Also recommended by: Osho, Peter Thiel, Oprah Winfrey, Sam Altman, Chelsea Handler, Bret Easton Ellis, Ernest Hemingway, Jen Wilkin, Jennifer Lawrence, Jordan Peterson, Laura R Walker
A Guide to the Good Life
10 people recommendedAusten Allred recommended this book on his website.
Also recommended by: Ankur Warikoo, Marc Andreessen, Tobi Lutke, David Heinemeier Hansson, Derek Sivers, Jason Fried, Jodie Cook, Mr Money Mustache, Phil Libin
Essentialism
10 people recommendedAusten Allred recommended this book on his website.
Also recommended by: Sam Ovens, Ankur Warikoo, Reid Hoffman, Jason Ferruggia, Jodie Cook, Kevin Rose, Michael Hyatt, Noah Kagan, Steve Harvey
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
9 people recommendedDidnβt get it first time.
Also recommended by: Drew Houston, Ev Williams, Bryan Johnson, Fred Wilson, Jordan Peterson, Josh Waitzkin, Paul Graham, Phil Jackson
Ready Player One
9 people recommendedOk writing but a page turner.
Also recommended by: Mark Zuckerberg, Brian Armstrong, Astro Teller, Bill Gurley, Barry Ritholtz, George R R Martin, Jenn Im, Steve Jurvetson
Some of the craziest stuff Iβve ever read.
Also recommended by: Marc Andreessen, Anthony Pompliano, Jodie Cook, Joe Rogan, Justin Kan, Tom Bilyeu
Titan
7 people recommendedThe mindset required to do well in businesses when everything is in flux, competition is intense and setbacks are frequent.
Also recommended by: Ray Dalio, Charlie Munger, Anthony Pompliano, David Friedberg, Jason Calacanis, Ryan Holiday
Masters of Doom
7 people recommendedAmazing book.
Also recommended by: Elon Musk, Patrick Collison, Tobi Lutke, Alexis Ohanian, Jeff Atwood, Trung Phan
The slow, iterative process to breakthrough invention.
Also recommended by: Brian Armstrong, Lloyd Blankfein, Bob Iger, Ali Abdaal, Ed Zschau
Was written in 2015 and already feels like you could have another full book as an update.
Also recommended by: John Collison, Casey Neistat, Anthony Pompliano, Mr Money Mustache, Tim Urban
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
5 people recommendedProbably in my top five all-time.
Also recommended by: Ankur Warikoo, Ben Horowitz, Lisa Ling, Tim Ferriss
[One of] my favorite books for understanding the history of Silicon Valley.
Also recommended by: Ev Williams, Donald Knuth, John Carmack, Zooko Wilcox
[One of] my favorite books for understanding the history of Silicon Valley.
Also recommended by: Patrick Collison, Sam Altman, Ryan Shea
[One of] my favorite books for understanding the history of Silicon Valley.
Also recommended by: Kevin Systrom, Keith Rabois, Ryan Holiday
Leonardo da Vinci
4 people recommendedWhat genius is really made up of, and how to recreate some semblance of it.
Also recommended by: Bill Gates, Mukesh Ambani, Kanye West
Working Backwards
4 people recommendedThe best book I have read in a long time.
Also recommended by: Marty Cagan, Tim Oreilly, Tyler Cowen
Most American book of all time.
Also recommended by: Richard Branson, Tim Ferriss
[One of] my favorite books for understanding the history of Silicon Valley.
Also recommended by: Vinod Khosla, Keith Rabois
The Snowball
3 people recommendedAusten Allred recommended this book on Twitter.
Also recommended by: Dj Vlad, Mr Money Mustache
Empires of Light
3 people recommendedAbout Edison, Tesla and Westinghouse.
Also recommended by: Chris Dixon, Trung Phan
The Upside of Stress
2 people recommendedAusten Allred recommended this book on his website.
Also recommended by: Keith Rabois
A First-Rate Madness
2 people recommendedAusten Allred recommended this book on Twitter.
Also recommended by: Patrick Bet David
The Storm of Steel
2 people recommendedIf youβre ever feeling sorry for yourself pick up [this book].
Also recommended by: Dan Carlin