Books have the power to transform lives and businesses. With our section “The favorite books of…” we tell you about the favourite books of some of the most successful internet entrepreneurs. Today we’re looking at the bookshelf of Peter Thiel and Dave McClure:
Peter Thiel, PayPal Co-founder, VC, and early investor in Facebook
In 2012, Peter was asked by the Wall Street Journal which books he enjoyed most in the recent past. His answer included: 1) Sonia Arrison’s “100 Plus”, which is a book about how scientists are directly attacking the problem of aging and death and why we should fight for life instead of accepting decay as inevitable; 2) Timothy Snyder’s “Bloodlands“, which tells the story of how the Nazis and the Soviets drove each other to ever more murderous atrocities as they fought to dominate Eastern Europe; 3) “Resurrection from the Underground” the classic study of Fyodor Dostoevsky by the French thinker René Girard. Peter Thiel stated: “There is no better way to think about human irrationality than to read Dostoevsky, and there is no better reader of Dostoevsky than Mr. Girard”.
Dave McClure, angel investor and founder of 500 Startups
Dave McClure, a famous San Francisco-based angel investor and founder of 500 Startups, mentioned “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies” as probably the best book he has ever read and gave it 5 stars on goodreads.com. For his favourite science fiction book, he listed “Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)” and stated: “My #1 favourite science fiction book; either this or Ender’s Game. Galactic intrigue, religious fanaticism, royal dynasties and political coups, time travel, sword fighting, sex, drugs, shape changers, critical/scarce resources, science, magic, war, terrorism, fantastic creatures… it’s got everything”.
Looking for more reading recommendations? Check out our article about 10 books every internet entrepreneur would love to find under the Christmas tree.
