An MBA is predominately a networking or career change exercise. Across the board, the curriculum is weak and outdated, which follows from most of academia (except cutting-edge criticism). The following Contrarian MBA curriculum introduces business principles, the economy, finance, political ramifications, and more through books by or about practitioners.
Principles
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets (Incerto)
Finance people aren't as smart as they tell you they are.
BUYThe Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
BUYAntifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto)
You could get 100% of the core principles of investing and business from these Taleb books.
BUYSkin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life (Incerto)
One of the best principles in investing and building businesses. You can look at any economic transaction with this lense and quickly see the pitfalls.
BUYHow to Lie with Statistics
Business typically comes down to numbers, so you should be versed in how they're used or often misused.
BUYInfluence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion
Behind most areas of business is persuasion. Sales, marketing, recruiting, etc. Charlie Munger loves this book.
BUYInvesting Principles
Productivity
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Book 1 for anyone looking to accomplish anything in any field.
BUYDigital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
Book 2 on being hyper productive while working less.
BUYThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Lean startup and digital minimalism principles for your self.
BUYStartup Principles
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't
Commonly referenced business book.
BUYThe Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
Modern startup principles.
BUYCrossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers
Product development for technology.
BUYBehind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company-and Revolutionized an Industry
The founder of SaaS tells his story.
BUYThe Design of Everyday Things
Design is an overlooked and essential piece of business success. Norman was an early engineer at the greatest product design company, Apple.
BUYNo Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
Contrarian principles for building an enduring company.
BUYMeasure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
One of the greatest venture capitalists tells how to functionally build an amazing company.
BUYBlitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies
An interesting book on how to grow quickly from the LinkedIn founder, member of the PayPal mafia, and friend of Jeffrey Epstein.
BUYAsk Your Developer: How to Harness the Power of Software Developers and Win in the 21st Century
The API-driven business by the founder of one of the most successful API companies.
BUYThe Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
Startup tales from the least cool investor ever.
BUYStartup History
Return to the Little Kingdom: How Apple and Steve Jobs Changed the World
Apple's tale told by one of the greatest venture capitalists.
BUYThe PayPal Wars: Battles with Ebay, the Media, the Mafia, and the Rest of Planet Earth
The story of PayPal.
BUYBillion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork
The ways in which even the best ideas can be destroyed by unethical behavior and eager investors.
BUYPower Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century
The story of the greatest living entrepreneur.
BUYBusiness Figures
The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
Tales of the greatest American financier.
BUYHoward: The Amazing Mr. Hughes
One of the greatest American entrepreneurs told by his right hand man.
BUYSons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America's Most Powerful and Private Dynasty
The story of the greatest modern American business (not startup).
BUYFinance and Economic History
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
How the government (caused?) worsened the great depression and human suffering.
BUYLiar's Poker
The book that put Michael Lewis on the map. His wild tale of Wall Street greed. Made me want to go into finance.
BUYWhen Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management
Tale of math brilliance making finance folly.
BUYThe Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution
The greatest hedge fund ever.
BUYOil
Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas--Not Less
Fossil fuel facts.
BUYPolitics
American Greatness
The Accidental Superpower: The Next Generation of American Preeminence and the Coming Global Disorder
The first of four books laying out the specific causes of American greatness.
BUYThe Absent Superpower: The Shale Revolution and a World Without America
How the shale revolution changed the energy (and economic) map for America.
BUYThe End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization
Contrarian foreign policy, part 2.
BUYWhy America Is Not a New Rome
Fact based arguments for American greatness. The rational counter to media and political assumptions of American decline. Bill Gates loves Smil.
BUYNever Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love
The how and why of American lead anti-American foreign policy.
BUYThe Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate
Hint: inequality is actually 1/4th what most claim, according to US Government data.
BUYWe Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative
Cutting through the emotions around immigration.
BUYGlobe
The Russia Conundrum: How the West Fell for Putin's Power Gambit--and How to Fix It
Russia's once richest man tells the story of his rise and fall, and along with it Russia's missed opportunity.
BUYThe Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping's China
The best foreign policy book on China by Australia's former Prime Minister and China scholar.
BUYDealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower
The best book on China by an former Secretary of the Treasury tasked with 'Dealing' with China.
BUYThe Hundred-Year Marathon: China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower
Great book on Chinese foreign policy aims.
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