What Billionaires Read: Google Founder Larry Page’s Five Favorite Books

Google co-founder Larry Page worked not only on the codes, but also on the business strategy of the search engine. In this selection of Trends, we tell you what books inspired Page when creating the Internet giant

Nikola Tesla, «My inventions. Autobiography»

Tesla is often referred to as the man who invented the XNUMXth century. He first described a rotating magnetic field, invented the transformer and fluorescent lamps, worked on broadcasting and X-rays before they were officially discovered. In his autobiography, the scientist explains why he decided to go into science and reflects on how inventions can affect world politics.

The book inspired Larry Page to change his mindset and start thinking about business, development and science as an indivisible whole: “When I was 12, I decided that I wanted to be an inventor. And someone gave me the autobiography of Tesla, the great inventor of many things related to electricity, to read. I read it and cried at the end: he was a failure. He couldn’t define his research field and people don’t know about most of the things he invented. He always had difficulty commercializing his inventions. I said to myself, “I don’t want to be like Tesla. I want to easily release my inventions into the world and change it.”

John Dorr, “Measure what matters most. How Google, Intel and Others Drive Growth with OKRs

In 1999, venture capitalist John Dorr invested nearly $12 million in the ambitious tech startup Google and introduced its founders to his OKR project management system, Objectives and Key Results. OKR formed the basis of the company’s management. By 2021, Google has become the world’s IT leader with a capitalization of $1,820 trillion.

In the book, Dorr explains how, using the OKR system he invented, to stimulate the growth of an organization and track progress, using the example of giant companies Google, Intel, Uber and Amazon. Page liked the book so much that he wrote a foreword for it: “I wish I had this book 19 years ago, when we founded Google. Or even before, when I was just understanding myself. As much as I hate the process, good ideas, well executed, do the magic. This is where OKR comes in.”

Ben Horowitz, It won’t be easy. How to build a business when there are more questions than answers

Ben Horowitz, businessman, co-founder and general partner of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, describes his experience of developing startups and talks about complex business issues. Including moral ones: how to behave when a friend is fired, how to lure an employee from an acquaintance’s company so as not to spoil relations, and how to understand that the time has come to sell the company.

In a book review, Page said, “Ben’s book is beautiful literature with uncomfortable business truths. It’s also a great story of rebuilding a business through sheer willpower.”

Richard Feynman, The Joy of Knowing

Richard Feynman is an American theoretical physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. He was considered the most influential figure of the post-war era in his field. The scientist invented his own teaching technique – he was convinced that even the most complex things could be explained to any person.

The Joy of Knowledge is a collection of Feynman’s writings, from interviews and speeches to lectures and printed articles, in which the scientist reflects with humor on future computers, atomic bombs, and the responsibility of scientists to society.

Richard Feynman, “Of course you’re joking, Mr. Feynman!”

Feynman was a versatile person: in addition to science, he was interested in playing bongos, cracking safes, and often playing tricks on acquaintances. In the best-selling autobiographical book, Feynman speaks ironically and openly about his exploits in science and in life: about exchanging ideas with Einstein and Bohr, deciphering codes, participating in experiments on sensory deprivation in a salt water chamber and experiencing hallucinations there.