recommended reading (..)

i'm in a CTO pod that reads a lot. these are our favorites. excelsior!

management

• Manager Tools (podcast)
• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
• High Output Management by Andy Grove
• Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager by Michael Lopp
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
• What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
• The Mythical Man Month by Fred Brooks
• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
• Bridgewater Principles (pdf)

negotiation

• Getting More: How You Can Negotiate to Succeed in Work and Life by Stuart Diamond
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss

product development

• The Principles of Product Development Flow
• Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations

transitions

• The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up To Speed Faster and Smarter by Michael Watkins

life

• The Enchridion by Epictetus

software

• Code Complete
• The Pragmatic Programmer

being a CTO

• The CTO to VP of Engineering Fork
• VP Engineering vs CTO
• Ultimate Guide to the CTO

last updated: 2025-11-06