What We Read in 2020
To say that 2020 was a bit of a struggle would be an understatement. The pandemic transformed everything we did, literally everything. But we at the Products by Women, powered through. Whether it was hosting webinars, mentoring aspiring PMs in study circles, connecting with peers all over the globe, or just hyping-up other women. We grew and grew, and currently, we have over 8000 members in 70 countries all over the world.
We also found our rhythm during these stressful times by reading. It helped us escape the dystopian reality that was 2020 and comforted us when we were exhausted by the social injustice that erupted all over the globe. And we are not alone. The Lit Hub reported that more than 35% of the world is reading more during the pandemic. So we wanted to share with you the books we read and loved in 2020.
- “Zero to One”, by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters
The thing that Naimeesha enjoyed the most about ‘Zero to One’ was it’s writing style. “Thiel weaves analogies and images together to make a point that is incredibly artistic”, says Naimeesha.
Zero to One came to fruition when Blake Masters, a student at Stanford University, got together with Thiel to publish the detailed notes he had been taking for years during Thiel’s class. Thiel, co-founder of Paypal and Palantir Technologies, redefines what is ‘competition’ and ‘monopoly’ while also advocating for ‘Proprietary Tech’.
This book is meant not only for entrepreneurs or people who want to work in a start-up but for anyone who wants to know how to create a business that has a real value proposition.
“The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. And the next Mark Zuckerberg won’t create a social network. If you are copying these guys, you aren’t learning from them.”
2. “The Black Swan” by Nassim Taleb
Deepti’s favorite book of the year was “The Black Swan” by Nassim Taleb, the Lebanese author, philosopher, and mathematician.
Deepti says, “sometimes you’d read a book, that completely shatters you, your thoughts and beliefs. At the core, the book invariably changed what I believed in all my life. The book describes how and why our predictions are skewed. Why correlation does not equal causation, and how various external factors can impact our predictions. The author also explains statistical principles in a very interesting approach with intuitive examples.”
An MBA graduate from the Wharton School of business, Taleb used to work as a hedge-fund manager in New York and heavily criticized the statistical models used by financial firms to mitigate risks.
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Taleb questions our way of thinking and logical intuitions and coined the term ‘Ludic Fallacy’ — the misuse of games to model real-life situations.
“Humans will believe anything you say provided you do not exhibit the smallest shadow of diffidence.”
3. “Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight
Doni’s reading list had a lot of books this year, but she discovered (and fell in love with) Phil Knight’s memoir when it was picked as the ‘book of the month’ in her MBA alumni book club.
“Phil knight is not only a successful entrepreneur but a great storyteller too. Shoe Dog tells us the story of entrepreneurship in a refreshingly candid way. Back in the day when I used to work in advertising, I was always inspired by Nike’s ads and how they challenged the status quo, whether by hiring Weiden and Kennedy, a small independent PNW advertising agency, or by publishing controversial ads featuring Kaepernick kneeling during the American national anthem. More than a guidebook for business, I think it is more like a guidebook for life”, says Doni.
Phil Knight, an alum of Stanford, tells you his story in simple yet impactful words about how he hires a ragtag team of misfits and builds one of the most loved (also sometimes hated) brand in the world.
“So that morning in 1962 I told myself: Let everyone else call your idea crazy . . . just keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where “there” is. Whatever comes, just don’t stop.”
4. “The Starless Sea” by Erin Morgenstren
Jen chose ‘The Starless Sea’ as her favorite book of the year. It follows the life of a graduate student, Zachary Ezra Rawlins, who chances upon a secret book and ends up finding a story from his own childhood in the pages.
“It’s an examination of different forms of storytelling told in a fully-realized dreamlike world. It’s the type of book that you want to reread as soon as you finish it, and every time you do, you discover something new. It’s beautifully written, yet the language doesn’t get in the way of the story”, says Jen.
Erin Morgenstern’s debut novel was ‘The Night Circus’ and is based on a similar theme of tales intertwined in fantasy. She studied studio art and theatre at Smith Colleg and loves to knit as long as they “don’t involve too much math.”
There is a pirate in the basement. (The pirate is a metaphor, but also still a person.) (The basement could rightly be considered a dungeon.)
5. “Jonathan Unleashed” by Meg Rosoff
This tale of a millennial copywriter in Manhattan working at a dead-end job writing for office supplies and worrying about his dogs’ existential crisis (dogs that are not even his own) cannot get more funny.
“Jonathan’s life is a mess, but in a deeply humorous way. He daydreams a lot, just like me. The dogs are the only ones who seem to care about him. Sprinkled with witty dialogues and vibrant storytelling, the book captures the dynamics of Jonathan's relationships (some imagined and some he is trying to run away from). Meg Rosoff is a brilliant writer and does not portray dogs in an unrealistic way. I realized that a bit of Jonathan exists in all of us, whether it is dealing with an idiot boss or being infatuated with the french baker just around the block”, says Doni.
“How had he got here? Only a few minutes ago he’d been a kid, riding his bike to school, collecting comics, doing homework, and watching TV. Over the years, a few trappings of adulthood had insinuated themselves into his life without making significant inroads. Real adult life seemed to exist over there, somewhere as distant and unreachable as Uranus. He had no idea how people crossed over to this place, or why — the demands of being grown-up seemed exhausting. Look how I work all the time. See my silky girlfriend. Watch me exchange money for food. Admire my blood pressure.”
It’s been an exhausting year and books provide us that portal where we can experience something new, something that renews us. We hope you enjoy our curated list of books that helped us navigate 2020 and look forward to a brighter 2021.
