Digital Industry Book: Digital Transformation and What it Means For Your Business (2/3)

At Momenta we're privileged to have access to some of the greatest thinkers, innovators and practitioners in Connected Industry.

During our Insight Vectors and Podcast interviews, we always ask for books recommendations. We've seen these recommendations falling into three broad themes: Futurism, Tools for Digital Transformation and Psychology of Self (and Humanity). To highlight these, we're releasing a series of three posts detailing notable recommendations. 

This is a three part series (PART 1,  PART 3). 

Our first installment covered Futurism (PART 1,  PART 3). In our second installment we cover business books. When you consider the time it takes to research, write, revise and ultimately publish a book to help people succeed in business, you really hope the author has something of value to say. It's far easier to write a blog post, deliver a keynote or be interviewed in a podcast. However, a book really offers the opportunity for story telling, to deep dive into the genesis of a company or technology, offer personal and first hand accounts and ultimately build a relationship with the reader. Here's some books that provide some great teachings and leave the readers with food for thought: 

The Hard Thing About Hard Things
by Ben Horowitz

While many people talk about how great it is to start a business, very few are honest about how difficult it is to run one. Ben Horowitz analyzes the problems that confront leaders every day, sharing the insights he’s gained developing, managing, selling, buying, investing in and supervising technology companies. A lifelong rap fanatic, he amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs, telling it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in.

- Recommended by Sam George, Director of Azure IoT

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
by Nir Eyal 

Why do some products capture widespread attention while others flop? What makes us engage with certain products out of sheer habit? Is there a pattern underlying how technologies hook us? Nir Eyal answers these questions and many more by explaining the Hook Model—a four-step process embedded into the products of many successful companies to subtly encourage customer behavior. Through consecutive “hook cycles,” these products reach their ultimate goal of bringing users back again and again without depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging.

- Recommended by Tom Gilley, Senior Partner and CTO, Momenta Partners

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World
by Adam Grant

Using surprising studies and stories spanning business, politics, sports, and entertainment, Grant explores how to recognize a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt. In addition, how parents and teachers can nurture originality in children and how leaders can build cultures that welcome dissent. Learn from an entrepreneur who pitches his start-ups by highlighting the reasons not to invest, a woman at Apple who challenged Steve Jobs from three levels below, an analyst who overturned the rule of secrecy at the CIA, a billionaire financial wizard who fires employees for failing to criticize him, and a TV executive who didn’t even work in comedy but saved Seinfeld from the cutting-room floor. The payoff is a set of groundbreaking insights about rejecting conformity and improving the status quo.

- Recommended by Nicholas Windpassinger, Author of "Digitize or Die"

The One Device: The Secret History of the IPhone
by Brian Merchant 

   - Recommended by Wim D'Hondt, Partner, Momenta Partners 

The Last Days of Night: A Novel
by Graham Moore

New York, 1888. The miracle of electric light is in its infancy, and a young untested lawyer named Paul Cravath, fresh out of Columbia Law School, takes a case that seems impossible to win. Paul’s client, George Westinghouse, has been sued by Thomas Edison over a billion-dollar question: Who invented the light bulb and holds the right to power the country?

- Recommended by  Dr. Chandu Visweswariah, CEO, Utopus Insights

Want to recommend a book to the Momenta community or talk to others about your literary impressions? Connect with us and our community on facebook, linkedin,  or twitter.