Ho Nam

Co-Founder and Managing Director of Altos Ventures, a VC and RIA with more than $10 Billion in regulatory assets under management.

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Book Recommendations:

HN

Recommended by Ho Nam

@mastersinvest Love the book “Reminiscences of a Stock Operator” which was inspired by the legend of Jesse Livermore. Book has been around since 1923. Classic. Timeless. (from X)

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator book cover
Edwin Lefèvre, William J. O'Neil

Unknown to most modern-day investors and traders who cherish Reminiscences of a Stock Operator as one of the most important investment books ever written, the material first appeared in the 1920s as a series of articles and illustrations in the Saturday Evening Post. Now, for the first time ever, this beloved classic is being made available in its original, illustrated format. You'll track the exploits of Jesse Livermore as he won and lost tens of millions of dollars playing the stock and commodities markets during the early 1900s. At one point, he made the then astronomical sum of 10 million dollars in just one month of trading! Originally published as a fictionalized account, the Illustrated Edition combines the Saturday Evening Post's memorable illustrations with Edwin LeFevre's timeless investment advice, recreating the look, feel, and message that was first published more than 80 years ago. Among the most compelling and enduring pieces ever written on trading, the new Illustrated Edition brings this story to life like never before. Order your copy today.

HN

Recommended by Ho Nam

@marketplunger1 @FoundersPodcast Agreed. I liked that book so much, I also tracked down the original from 1996. The book that got me to think about and admire the overlooked great founders was “Small Giants” by @BoBurlingham. Recently bought the 10th anniversary edition for new chapters on how those can fail. (from X)

Build an iconic shopping experience that your customers love—and a work environment that your employees love being a part of—using this blueprint from Trader Joe’s visionary founder, Joe Coulombe. Infuse your organization with a distinct personality and culture that draws customers in a way that simply competing on price cannot. Joe Coulombe founded what would become Trader Joe’s in the late 1960s and helped shape it into the beloved, quirky food chain it is today. Realizing early on that he could not compete and win by playing the same game his bigger competitors were playing, he decided to build a store for educated people of somewhat modest means. He brought in unusual products from around the world and promoted them in the Fearless Flyer, providing customers with background on how they were sourced and their nutritional value. He also gave the stores a tiki theme to reinforce the exotic trader ship concept with employees wearing Hawaiian shirts. In this way, Joe laid down a blueprint for other business owners to follow to build their own unique shopping experience that customers love, and a work environment that employees love being a part of. In Becoming Trader Joe, Joe shares the lessons he learned by challenging the status quo and rethinking the way a business operates. He shows readers of all types: How moving from a pure analytical approach to a more creative, problem-solving approach can drive innovation.How finding an affluent niche of passionate customers can be a better strategy than competing on price and volume.How questioning all aspects of the way you do business leads to powerful results.How to build a business around your values and identity.

HN

Recommended by Ho Nam

@FoundersPodcast @marketplunger1 You’ll love that book. Don’t need to only learn from people who created massive companies. Any successful entrepreneur should be a curaosity. Wrote this after reading it. Focus on the controllables. https://t.co/LsRnRxhZFJ (from X)

Sol Retail Revolutionary and Social Innovator, recounts the extraordinary life of a man who profoundly impacted the shopping habits of consumers in the United States and throughout much of the world. Written by Sol's son Robert Price, this narrative - part biography and part memoir - provides a unique insight into his father's life. Sol's retail success was grounded in an absolute commitment to bringing the best value to his customers. Just as importantly, he insisted on paying high wages and good benefits, including health care, to his employees. He had a real conscience satisfied only by giving the best deal he could to just about everyone. As a retail revolutionary, Sol's creative brilliance changed the way we shop, first with FedMart in 1954, the retail format copied by Walmart, Kmart, and Target in 1962, and then, with the Price Club, the warehouse club format adopted by Costco and Sam's Club in 1983. Self-service shopping in large florescent-lit buildings has become part of the American culture and is now the predominant mode of shopping though most of the world.

HN

Recommended by Ho Nam

@InvestmentBook1 Perhaps not an investing book but Fooled by Randomness belongs in the investor’s library (and end with Antifragile, which I think he said was his best work. But the journey should start with his first book). (from X)

Fooled by Randomness is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand. The other books in the series are The Black Swan, Antifragile, Skin in the Game, and The Bed of Procrustes. Now in a striking new hardcover edition, Fooled by Randomness is the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world. Nassim Nicholas Taleb–veteran trader, renowned risk expert, polymathic scholar, erudite raconteur, and New York Times bestselling author of The Black Swan–has written a modern classic that turns on its head what we believe about luck and skill. This book is about luck–or more precisely, about how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of trading–Fooled by Randomness provides captivating insight into one of the least understood factors in all our lives. Writing in an entertaining narrative style, the author tackles major intellectual issues related to the underestimation of the influence of happenstance on our lives. The book is populated with an array of characters, some of whom have grasped, in their own way, the significance of chance: the baseball legend Yogi Berra; the philosopher of knowledge Karl Popper; the ancient world’s wisest man, Solon; the modern financier George Soros; and the Greek voyager Odysseus. We also meet the fictional Nero, who seems to understand the role of randomness in his professional life but falls victim to his own superstitious foolishness. However, the most recognizable character of all remains unnamed–the lucky fool who happens to be in the right place at the right time–he embodies the “survival of the least fit.” Such individuals attract devoted followers who believe in their guru’s insights and methods. But no one can replicate what is obtained by chance. Are we capable of distinguishing the fortunate charlatan from the genuine visionary? Must we always try to uncover nonexistent messages in random events? It may be impossible to guard ourselves against the vagaries of the goddess Fortuna, but after reading Fooled by Randomness we can be a little better prepared. PRAISE FOR FOOLED BY RANDOMNESS: Named by Fortune One of the Smartest Books of All Time A Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year “[Fooled by Randomness] is to conventional Wall Street wisdom approximately what Martin Luther’s ninety-five theses were to the Catholic Church.” –Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink “The book that rolled down Wall Street like a hand grenade.” –Maggie Mahar, author of Bull! A History of the Boom, 1982—1999 “Fascinating . . . Taleb will grab you.” –Peter L. Bernstein, author of Capital Ideas Evolving “Recalls the best of scientist/essayists like Richard Dawkins . . . and Stephen Jay Gould.” –Michael Schrage, author of Serious Play: How the World’s Best Companies Simulate to Innovate “We need a book like this. . . . Fun to read, refreshingly independent-minded.” –Robert J. Shiller, author of Irrational Exuberance “Powerful . . . loaded with crackling little insights [and] extreme brilliance.” –National Review

HN

Recommended by Ho Nam

@dforootan The great founders, bootstrapped or not, are learning machines. They learn from everyone. Study Sam Walton and read his book Made in America. That’s the mind of a great entrepreneur. Also totally bootstrapped and family still owns big % decades after his death. (from X)

In an autobiographical account of his rise to the pinnacle of the American retail business, the personal reminiscences of the late billionaire retailer are combined with dozens of interviews with Sam Walton's family and friends. Large first printing. Major ad/promo.