Books Recommended by Neal O’Gorman

Dale Carnegie's, How to Win Friends and Influence People is an old book from the 1930's but its simplicity on an important topic will always be relevant. It was nice to read that subconsciously I was applying many of the recommended techniques but certainly made me more aware being sure to apply them. In particular, I do try to help people first and when networking at an event, listen more about them than talking about myself.

Although not written by Elon, it's a fascinating read that makes you realise the risks Elon Musk has taken both in his business and personal life. Be warned though, after reading this you will want to buy a Tesla. Also interesting for anyone who has been involved with the Founder Institute, as Adeo Ressi (the founder of The Founder Institute) is referenced a few times particularly when they head to Russia looking for rockets.

As I now meet with many aspiring entrepreneurs I find most of them failing on this front. They're also so eager to talk about what they are building. I've very consciously adopted the start with why approach. I'm keen to understand the Why them? - why are they are the right people to execute this idea - Why Now? - why is now the right time to make this idea work and indeed, why will their customer really want to buy their offering.

Malcom Gladwell's Outliers was a real eye-opener early on in my entrepreneurial journey. The concept of ten thousand hours before becoming an expert in a field has stuck with me. He makes fair arguments that while to the outside world, certain people like Bill Gates are purely self-made but the reality was his unique environment and circumstances gave him very early access to computers, at such a young age that he was starting out with a distinct advantage over essentially everyone else. I do assess myself and others with regards to the time they've committed to something.

I'm not someone that chooses favourites, however, the most recent book that I got a lot out of and which, for me, spans both business and non-business is 'Ready Player One' by Ernest Cline.

It was recommended by the VP of Labs at Unity as a book to help appreciate the potential of how virtual reality can impact our future. It certainly achieved that. There's no doubt that it helped my mind delve into the potential opportunities that VR will provide both for Artomatix (an AI for art creation company I helped co-found) and many other startups.

It also is a fun read that references a lot of classic games from the 1980's and I'm looking forward to the movie that's coming out. Hopefully, the movie will be as good as the book.

I found when reading a book from my friend David Nihill called "Do You Talk Funny?:7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker" there were lots of learnings. Not just learnings, but actually simple things I've been able to put into practice when presenting. For example, I'm even more conscious of the rule of three, using stories and reconstructing sentences to leave the final word in a sentence as the real punchline. Along with opening your eyes to some invaluable insights into how comedians work, there are some excellent stories intertwined with gems of wisdom. I do highly recommend it.