This year I’ve read (or listened to) several books that make good candidates for a summer reading list.
Chip War by Chris Miller. A must-read on the semiconductor industry. The semiconductor industry might seem boring, but is critical for everything around AI and geopolitics (especially U.S.-China relations). You don’t need to be an engineer to enjoy it.
House of Huawei by Eva Dou. A look into the best of ‘the other side’ from a western point of view. Insights into modern Chinese history, sanctions, as well as an impressive entrepreneurial story.
Underground Empire by Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman. Good read on how US started using (and is using) control of informational and financial networks and chokepoints to impose sanctions against its enemies and competitors.
Breakneck by Dan Wang. Very interesting book on China and the difference between China and the U.S.
The Idea Factory by Jon Gertner. On the history of Bell Labs which was the home of many groundbreaking innovations (including the solid-state transistor). Also a story on how world-changing innovation was done inside a company instead of being venture capital funded. Great combination with Chip War.
1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin. We live in volatile times and I think it is valuable to study history to understand the present (“history doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes”). This was a very good book on the years before, during and after the crash of 1929. I haven’t read any of the classic books on the crash, but I really enjoyed this one.
Streetwise by Lloyd Blankfein. The autobiography of the former CEO of Goldman Sachs. It was a good listen (on Spotify!) covering Lloyd’s career and the development of Goldman Sachs and the financial industry from being smaller (relatively speaking) financial institutions to very large international banks.
Runnin’ Down a Dream by Bill Gurley. The former Benchmark general partner on how to build a career. I’m only a third of the way through the book, but I’ve enjoyed it enough to recommend it. A somewhat lighter read than the others, which might be a good thing for a summer read.
The combination of Breakneck, Underground Empire, Chip War and House of Huawei gave me much more context and better understanding of the semiconductor industry (Chip War is a must read), China-U.S. relations and how U.S. sanctions are being used (Underground Empire for the broader understanding and House of Huawei as an example of how implemented). Breakneck and House of Huawei gave insights on post-World War 2 China and especially technology development since the 1980’s. The Idea Factory was not my favorite read, but as a companion to Chip War I think it added a lot to the early history of semiconductors. It also described an example of innovation and R&D funded by a large enterprise as a contrast to venture capital funded innovation.
A takeaway from the books is that Europe is lagging significantly in advanced technology and manufacturing. And that is a big problem. We don’t have the capitalistic drive of the U.S. nor the state+capitalistic system of China. We really are risking becoming a continent that will be renting American AI and be dependent on Chinese factories unless we invest seriously into capabilities and capacity across energy, technology and manufacturing.
