The Big Short
Michael Lewis
Summary
How a few outsiders bet against the global financial system and won. Watched the movie many times but the book is fantastic, so much insight into how Wall Street really works
Rating: 4/5
Notes
Wall Street doesn’t give a shit about what it sells - it’s all to make money no matter who they’re screwing over
The CDO was a credit laundering service for lower middle class America
Only a few bet against the entire global financial system. The catastrophe was foreseeable yet no one noticed
NEVER watch CNBC. It clouds your judgemtn because all news to them is positive
When an executive at a bank says he has liquidity, it means he doesn’t
The whole book is about incentives and how Wall Street’s are and continue to be totally fucked
300 billion was guaranteed by the treasury for Citi’s assets. Fuck Wall Street!
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Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
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Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
