Who doesn’t love the summer? People trying to schedule podcast interviews, that’s who. 😉
Sales for Nerds will be on a monthly schedule because it’s just too hard to coordinate schedules right now.
With that in mind, here’s a summer reading list, pulled from recommendations from past episodes, with a few added bonuses.
Books on Overall Productivity
- Getting Things Done by David Allen (recommended by Scott Ingram in Episode 10 and Maura Thomas in Episode 16)
- The One Thing, by Gary Keller (who here in Austin created the biggest real estate company in the world, recommended by Jill Konrath in Episode 15)
- The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg (recommended by Adam Boyd in Epsiode 3)
- More Sales, Less Time by Jill Konrath (she tried hard not to pitch it in her interview in Episode 15, but I’m pitching it for her)
- Work without Walls, by Maura Thomas
- Smart Thinking and Smart Change, both by Dr. Art Markman (recommended by Maura Thomas in Episode 16)
- The E-Myth, by Michael Gerber. Written in the 80s, this book has a lot of insight on people who start a business because they’re good at doing the “core” task of the business, often without appreciation for the other critical tasks like sales and marketing.
Sales and Marketing
- How to Talk to Practically Anybody about Practically Anything, by Barbara Walters (recommended by Joe Williamson in Episode 4)
- Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (recommended by John Livesay in Episode 6)
- The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries (recommended by Ash Maurya in Episode 7)
- Running Lean, by Ash
- The Challenger Sale, by Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon (recommended by Scott Ingram in Episode 10)
- Predictable Revenue by Marylou Tyler and Aaron Ross
- Predictable Prospecting by Marylou Tyler and Jeremy Donovan
- The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell (recommended by Marylou Tyler in Episode 14)
- SPIN Selling by Neal Packham (recommended by Marylou Tyler in Episode 14)
- The Successful Pitch: Conversations On Going From Invisible To Investable, by guest John Livesay from Episode 6. (Note that he focuses on helping owners get investments, but the storytelling techniques are similar for people trying to get money from customers.)
Organizational and Management Challenges
- Creativity Inc, by Ed Catmull on how Pixar works hard to maintain a creative, open culture. Sure, you may not be churning out Hollywood blockbusters, but there are a lot of lessons here on how to create and keep a healthy workplace.
Fun Beach Reads
- The Three Body Problem (book one of a trilogy), by Cixin Liu. Science fiction that will pull you in.
- Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight. The memoir of the Nike founder. Surprisingly gripping account.
Nerdier Beach Reads, but not about Business
- The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life, by Nick Lane will change the way you think about life on earth (and elsewhere). This is the only book I’ve read twice in recent memory.
- The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
Summer Wine
I usually prefer red, but when it gets into the triple digits in Texas, some Sauvignon Blanc starts to sound good, like the offerings from Kim Crawford in New Zealand.
