Better Selling Through Storytelling. The essential roadmap to becoming a revenue rockstar. John Livesay. 2019. ISBN 9781642793734.  Called the Pitch Whisper, the author does lay out a smart method for making pitches and presentations. This fits very neatly into ABM and Value Selling methodologies, by reminding the reader to focus on value (impact) to the audience. Its not we but you.  Good case studies and relevant quotes, plus a very readable text makes this a valuable adding to your sales tool-belt.  A read it in one go – its that concise and good.

the four. The hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google. Scott Galloway. 2017. ISBN 9780735213661. The author has been around the tech block ,  building and selling companies ( with some failures too), consulting and teaching  This is one of the clearer analysis of what is driving the growth of these four companies, where it is going ( has gone) and what might the future bring, not always good.  The book will bring no joy to the fanboys of these particular companies ( Or will they, when facing ideas/facts that dispute their beliefs cause them to double down?). However if you wish to be enlightened/learn about the major “winners” in the tech world, you should read this book   Concise, well written and organized ( well until the very end when the author goes into ideas of what you could/might do) I stuck with the book in about two sittings.

Valley of Genius. An uncensored history of silicon valley as told by the hackers, founders and freaks who made it boom. Adam Fisher. 2018.  ISBN 9781455559022.  This is my most recent thirty years experienced in the PC technology industry in just about one book. From the magazines we read, through the video games, music, authors, PCs, events and all the stuff around the industry  this author does a terrific job of packing much of  it in.  The format draws you through as the discussion is led by quotes and conversations with exactly these hackers, freaks and founders. I found this very hard to put down as it fills in gaps as well helps explain where many of these people came from, what they did, are doing and went.  If you are at all curious as to how this whole industry grew to where it is, read this book.  Great for a cross country flight.

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Neil DeGrasse Tyson. 2017. ISBN 9780393609394.  Having never read Tyson before I was more than pleasantly surprised at his readable and friendly approach to this subject. You may or may not feel a bit overwhelmed with the flurry of new words ( or just recognizable names) used to give this brief overview, but stay with it and all will be revealed ( using part of the Bible).  I appreciate his humility and humanity that becomes evident in this book. It has whetted my appetite for more of his work.

Norse Mythology. Neil Gaiman. 2016.   Gaiman takes a break from writing very innovative otherworldly novels to put down his learning about Norse mythology.  He weaves the stories into a logical sequence which then becomes another story. I found this mythology very interesting and compelling. At times you will recognize part of the creation stories which are found in most religions.  And you may just get some insight into the past and future stories found in the Marvel comics universe.

The Inevitable. Understanding the 12 technological forces that will shape our future. Kevin Kelly. 2016. ISBN 9780525428084.  Kelly was an original editor of Wired and witnessed all the recent technology gains ( and losses) . He takes his experience, skepticism, and clarity of vision and puts it all here in this book. Very readable, believable and I feel that most of what he predicts will come true. Since 2016 already I see the trending along his ideas. Anyone who wonders what is coming or has seen lots of what has come to be will enjoy this book from one of the better technology writers of our time.

Crossing the Chasm. 3rd edition. Geoffrey Moore.   2014. ISBN 9780062292988.  We read the first edition (1991) when it came out and found it bang on and helpful.  It was time to reread it and the 3rd Edition reflects the work  Moore has done  ( and written about) with high tech companies in the last 25 years.  I was particularly interested in the subtle insights he gives wrto sales and marketing  jobs and personnel while moving along his time line. This reflects what we have learned about the types of people you need during the transition from Innovators/Visionaries ( Chasm)  through to mid majority ( The Tornado).  It is very useful for HR as well.  If you have not read it – and are in any way in a high tech company – do so immediately. If its been awhile since you read it – its well worth the reread. It remains a concise book to company success and although an easy read , it is full of deep insights.

Traversing the Traction Gap. Bruce Cleveland. 2019. ISBN 9781635765748.  With a forward and collaboration with Geoffrey Moore this promises to be a very important book in the tech sector. The author and his group Wildcat Ventures has analyzed the getting to and through the Chasm in more detail  than ever before.  In our gotomarket practice we have seen the truths that Cleveland puts forward in many iterations in too many companies. A startup and young company should have this book handy through the several years and rough times that they need to weather.  Much of the necessary hard stuff can be planned for and mitigated if you follow what this book has to say.  It goes beyond MVCategory, through MVProduct to MVrevenue, to category lead then traction and scaling. The insights on the right team at all stages  is worth the price of the book.  This may become the tech book of the year.

• The Forgotten Genius of Oliver Heaviside. A maverick of electrical science. Basil Mahon.  2017. ISBN 9781633883321. This book gave my college physics a work out, but in a good way as many of the underlying principles I learned ( not readily) were based on the prodigious output of Heaviside.  He was a true pioneer in telegraphy and telephony, translating Maxwells work into usable discoveries. We often forget that brilliance does not always equal readability . It takes hard workers like Heaviside to forge the links and do the heavy math lifting to allow for technological progress. Put this alongside Heaviside,s reclusive life, lack of business awareness and general approach as a curmudgeon  and you have a brilliant researcher who despite a prodigious output , lived a desperate poor life.  A useful read, and you can skip over the physics parts, ( which are fascinating to any engineer like to me).  Lots of insights into the early pioneers such as Faraday, Maxwell, Heinz and others.

Elon Musk. Biography of a Self-Made Visionary, Entrepreneur, and Billionaire. B. Storm. 2014.   I label this book disappointing. It is more a larger Wikipedia article than an insightful book on Elon Musk. It does not appear that th eauthor evere interviewed Musk or his employees, but rather put together public material in one place. If you want a quick synopsis of what Musk has done- yes you will get it. What is missing is a deep dive into who and what Musk is as a person. So we will need to wait.

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