Books We Loved in 2022
To close out the year, we asked New York tech leaders in our network: What’s one book you read in 2022 that had an impact on you?
There were no other qualifiers — their recommendations could come from any genre and could apply to either their professional or personal lives (or both!) — so long as they were titles they loved so much that they’d gift copies to others.
Here’s what they told us:
Edward Chiu, co-founder and CEO, Catalyst: Start with Why by Simon Sinek
“The past three years have been some of the toughest times for our generation — COVID, economic downturn, global political turmoil. Knowing a person's ‘why’ slows everything down and really brings meaning in what we do. To me there's nothing more important than waking up everyday knowing your ‘why’!”
Jenny Fielding, co-founder and managing partner, The Fund: Lifespan by David A. Sinclair
“Lifespan proposes a new way to think about longevity in a world where living to 100 is standard. Thinking about aging as a disease to solve rather than an inevitability was a refreshing framing for me as a mid-life person. Turns out we can learn a lot from mice!”
Rachel Jarrett, co-CEO, Zola: The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan
“This is a fascinating book about the role that women played in building the atomic bomb during World War II – specifically at the uranium enrichment facilities at Site X in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. None of these women knew what they were working on or its purpose but they were instrumental in its creation. By 1945, over 75,000 people lived within Site X, yet none of it appeared on a map. Their work was secret and somewhat dangerous. The author tells the story beautifully (it would make an amazing docu-series!) and herself does not make judgments about the morality of dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (although this sensitive topic is not glossed over). Rather, she tells this all from the viewpoint of the amazing women who fought to end the war.”
Tiffany Luck, partner, GGV Capital: The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal
“It’s an amazing book that changes how you view and relate to stress, and ultimately helps you harness the power of it. Highly recommend!”
Susan Lyne, co-founder and managing partner, BBG Ventures: Horse by Geraldine Brooks
“I read a lot of wonderful books this year, but the one that stayed with me is Horse. Brooks' novel is steeped in research and follows multiple characters across two centuries, all of whom have a connection with the extraordinary (and very real) Lexington, a race horse raised by enslaved horse trainers in 1850s Kentucky. I've never been a fan of books about animals – even as a kid – but this novel is really about the evolution of racism in the US, seen through a rich and engaging cast of characters. I read the last 50 pages very slowly, as I always do when I don't want a story to end.“
Eli Polanco, founder and CEO, Nivelo: Founding Sales by Peter Kazanjy
“I'm a founder taking up sales significantly for the first time, and this book was a great go-to-market handbook for my early stage company.”
Kevin Ryan, founder and CEO, AlleyCorp: Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott
“A brilliantly written, moving book about what it is like to grow up very poor in NYC.”
Su Sanni, co-founder and CEO, Dollaride: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
“I liked this short book because it gave practical advice on how to achieve happiness and remarkable success in business. Some of the advice was counterintuitive, albeit thought-provoking. As a collection of Naval’s wisdom and experience, this book can be used as a new framework or revisited for inspiration along one's entrepreneurial journey.”
Julie Samuels, founder, Tech:NYC: This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
“This Time Tomorrow tells a great story of growing up in NYC, much of it occurring on the Upper West Side, where I live. The story crosses decades and digs into friendships and family relationships that could only happen in a place like New York. I couldn’t put it down. It would make a great holiday read.”
Mike Seckler, CEO, Justworks: The Overstory by Richard Powers
“The best book I read this year was The Overstory. It was recommended to me by Janice Nimura whose book The Doctors Blackwell (which I will be reading soon) was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. I loved the book because I am a lover of trees. It gave me a lot to think about around our relationships with trees and the forests, as well as about how trees express themselves and communicate with each other and with us.”
Stuart Sopp, founder and CEO, Current: Capital Wars by Michael J. Howell
“The tension between the strength of the Chinese economy and the evermore inadequate supplies of US Treasuries, for ‘safe’ savings assets, incentivizes more and more dangerously complex forms of financial engineering. The Global Liquidity cycle vents these tensions. Our mantras are — don’t ignore liquidity and don’t underestimate China. These subliminal messages of the past two decades have now become the explicit warnings for the future.”
