One resolution I manage to keep each year is sticking to my reading list. Books are an important part of my family life. I just love relaxing with a good book, and good fiction is an integral part of my holiday.
I aim for 1 book a month. That is not to say I read everyday. It usually happens in bursts. Once I start a book I cannot wait to go back to it, so will spend hours each evening reading until early hours, often missing out on sleep. And when I am not reading it, I am talking about it with my partner, co founders, colleagues, friends. Making notes and feeling extremely motivated that yet another piece of a jigsaw falls nicely into place.
When it’s good I will sulk for a bit that I finished it and will often go straight to the next one from my list.
I read a lot about business, marketing and I love reading founder stories and biographies. Holidays are usually reserved for fiction, but not always.
Reflecting on 2018 I must admit I read 3 such books:
Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares. Recommended to me by SaaS Matt Webb, RGA IOT studio MD, a must read for anyone building high growth SaaS business
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore. Recommended to me by Intel Capital MD Abdul Guefor. Essential read for everyone preparing for series A.
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight Memoirs of the founder of the legendary Nike spanning half of a century of business deals that made Nike what it is today. Defining all the odds, cementing Nike as one of the centurion brands.
I was inspired to learn more about the story behind the brand, after joining R/GA Ventures, and having been so extremely lucky +to have the same incredible people work on re-branding Flow City.
All incredible books recommended to me by people who were generous enough to share their knowledge and experience. Reading a book is second best thing to actually being able to meet a person.
Once in a while you read a book or meet a person that changes everything. One that seems to be turning chaos into order and sheds light on all the shadowy places getting rid of flakiness once and for all.
I feel I don’t do it enough, so perhaps I will use this opportunity to thank our incredible advisers and my mentors who continue to commit their personal time to help make Flow City a success.
