Aaron Watson, CEO von PiperCreative, teilt sein „Warum“ zum Lesen

You might know Aaron Watson thanks to the podcast he hosts and produces, Going Deep with Aaron. He’s also an entrepreneur, CEO and Co-Founder of an agency called Piper Creative, where he helps businesses with their branding through podcast and visual media production.

When he’s not working or producing podcasts, he’s reading books and training. He frequently updates his Now page (inspired by Derek Sivers).

Discover the books that impressed Aaron the most and which company he thinks will soon take over the world. 🙂

Was ist dein Lieblingsbuch und warum? Geschäftlich und nicht geschäftlich, wenn möglich.

Antifragil by Nassim Taleb. There are so many foundational ideas and mental models in that book. I’ve never come across someone who read the whole book and argues that he’s not right about a lot of things.

The Triad (Fragile, Robust, Antifragil), Naive Intervention and Iatrogenics, The Barbell Strategy, Optionality, and the Lindy Effect. I could go on, but you get the idea.

Gab es einen bestimmten Moment, in dem Ihnen etwas, das Sie in einem Buch gelesen haben, geholfen hat? Kannst du mir davon erzählen?

I was not particularly conformist as a teenager (and beyond). Das Evangelium nach Larry by Janet Tashjian played a large role in helping me understand how to get comfortable being different.

Welche Bücher haben Sie am meisten beeindruckt? (vielleicht hat sich Ihre Sicht der Dinge verändert, Ihr Karriereweg dramatisch verändert)

Antifragil. Are questions #1 and #3 usually different?

What books would you recommend to youngsters interested in your professional path?

• Lila Kuh by Seth Godin
• End of Jobs by Taylor Pearson
• Nacharbeiten by Jason Fried & DHH
• Trust Me I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday
• The Complacent Class by Tyler Cowen
• The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
• Verlust meiner Jungfräulichkeit by Richard Branson

Ich bin daran interessiert, mehr über Ihre Lesegewohnheiten zu erfahren. Wie oft liest du? In welchem Format?

I hate ebooks. I love the physical book in my hands. It’s just better. When I’m reading on a screen, it’s too easy to get distracted.

Wie nehmen Sie sich Zeit zum Lesen?

Show up early to every meeting. Read books instead of Twitter. Try to read before bed.

Machen Sie sich Notizen oder haben Sie eine andere Technik, um die Informationsflut zu bewältigen?

I make a new book recommendation every month and collect everything I’ve read for an end-of-year summary.

Wie wählen Sie aus, welche Bücher Sie als nächstes lesen?

Look at my pile of books and pick the one(s) that calls to me. You have to be excited to read the content. Without a why, I’ve got no shot of really focusing.

Priorisieren Sie die Bücher, die von bestimmten Personen empfohlen werden? Gibt es jemanden, den Sie als Guru für Buchempfehlungen bezeichnen?

Zak Slayback reads good stuff. So does Mike Dariano. However, the real answer is usually pattern recognition.

I follow so many people who read and mention books they like that it’s hard to process all the recommendations. When 3-4 people all mention the same book, that’s usually a good clue to add it to my list of things to read. That list has 200+ titles and growing.

Letzte Frage: Welches Buch lesen Sie gerade und was versprechen Sie sich davon?

The Everything Store by Brad Stone

Amazon is going to rule the world unless governments decide to break them up. It just makes sense to understand the most powerful company on the planet. Also, there is a (small) chance that Amazon sets up HQ2 in my hometown (Pittsburgh).

Links where you can follow Aaron Watson or find out more about his projects:

• Piper Creative
• Going Deep with Aaron
• Going Deep Summit
• Follow Aaron on Twitter
• What’s Aaron doing Now
• Aaron’s LinkedIn account

All books mentioned by Aaron in this interview:

• Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian
• Lila Kuh von Seth Godin
• The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-To-5 by Taylor Pearson
• Rework by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
• Trust Me, I’m Lying – Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday
• The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream by Tyler Cowen
• The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk! By Al Ries, Jack Trout
• Verlust meiner Jungfräulichkeit von Richard Branson
• The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos und das Zeitalter von Amazon von Brad Stone