Today is January 15th, 2025. Yes, we have entered 2025, and 15 days have passed ALREADY, OMG! We are left with just 350 days. I have a lot of books to read this year, and I want to share some of them with all of you to recommend as well. This is a set of 5 books I recommend for Q1 2025 to read LOL. Read fast, my friend :p. OMG, I am also worried about my reading speed. I am a damn slow and distracted reader.
I hope to write one piece like this every quarter regarding book recommendations that help you and me see the world of investing, building, and impact compounding from a newer and refreshing lens and help connect the dots.
I hope you also take this year as a year to reboot, rebuild, and restart your life. I want to revisit my school days when I read theoretical physics and biotechnology to imagine the future and solve complex problems. This has been triggered by me finding a home, a family, and kids to share, learn, and experience. I am excited about how life unfolds this year for me. On top of that, I suppose this year might be as crazy as last year regarding travel & experience. My mind feels more prepared than last year for the challenges ahead, though I need to find my rhythm as when I travel, I lose my discipline to be consistent and balance many times.
The first book I highly recommend, which I have recently picked up, is by Robert Hagstrom, who has written several excellent books, but I recommend “Investing: The Last Liberal Art.” I recommend this book because I am borderline obsessed with mental models and see investing as art more than mere data & numbers. Robert is a great writer, and it is quite an easy read.
The second book I like to absolutely recommend to every damn investor and company creator/builder/entrepreneur to read is by Hermann Simon - “Hidden Champions of the 21st Century.” The book covers peculiar kinds of companies growing quite aggressively but with a long-term, global mindset, coming from smaller geographies - mainly Europe / Japan- and being focused on niches. My colleague and founder of Beyond Impact introduced me to Mittlestand1. I romanticize small to mid-size family-oriented businesses that have been compounding for decades.
The third book is a bit heavy read, but as I mentioned in an article on capital allocation, it is a less-discussed topic among executives and investors. I don’t see an investor mindset separate from an operator mindset and an operator mindset separate from an investor mindset. When both mindsets converge with an impact lens, I believe we can create a compounding machine that compounds financial returns and can create long-term impact. The book by Torbjorn Arenbo is “Capital Allocation and Value Creation - A Market-Based Framework for Executives.”
The fourth book I recommend is Dokkodo by Miyamoto Musashi. It is called The Way of Walking Alone. I highly recommend this book, as it contains several gems about morality, virtues, radical acceptance, detachment from desires, and one that values walking alone - an appreciation of introversion.
Lastly, I want you to read a book by a famous Japanese novelist, Haruki Murakami - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (not a novel, it is a memoir). It is a gem for someone trying to rediscover themselves and reflect on giving meaning to their life. One quote that has left me in awe is
“I’m the kind of person who likes to be by himself. To put a finer point on it, I’m the type of person who doesn’t find it painful to be alone.”
I hope you enjoy reading these books; please share your thoughts in the comments or email me at sagar@firstfollowers.co.
Word from IDEX Accelerator
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Please spread the word to create a long-lasting impact in this world.
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Sign-off for humanity,
ST
Mail me at » sagar@firstfollowers.co
Note: These are my personal opinion.
The Mittelstand is a term used to describe small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.