EP215 - What to read during a pandemic

EP215 - What to read during a pandemic

This episode is a list of suggested resources to read for those looking to do some professional development in the commerce space.  (all book links are amazon affiliate links)

The episode also features an interview with Rishad Tobaccowala (@Rishad) Rishad’s is the author of “Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data” published by Harper Collins. Additional writings can be found on the Re-Inventing blog. The interview starts at 15:50 of the podcast. Rishad also has an amazing photography feed on Instagram @RishadT.

Another book mentioned on this list is Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption – Stephen Dennis. Stephen is hosting a virtual book launch party (including @retailgeek and some e-commerce celebrities) on Tues April 14 at 4:15pm ET, that will include myself and some commerce guest stars. Pre-register here.

Here are some always updated resources:

• A complete list of recommended books for commerce Pros (including a superset of the list provided here, is always available here: Recommended Books.
• A list of 250 commerce influencers to follow on twitter. That list includes 50 commerce journalists.
• A list of recommended commerce podcasts.
• A list of recommended commerce websites and newsletters.
• Finally, when the pandemic is over, here is a list of commerce events.

Here are all the specific resources mentioned on todays show:

Personal Development

• How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life – Scott Adams
• Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter – Scott Adams
• Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America – Scott Adams
• The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind – Jonah Berger 
• Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data, Rishad Tobaccowala 

Startup / Entrepreneurship

• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t – Jim Collins
• Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great – Jim Collins
• The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail – Jim Collins
• Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers – Geoffrey A. Moore
• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future – Peter Thiel
• Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz
• What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture – Ben Horowitz
• The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses – Eric Ries
• The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right – Atul Gawande
• Think Like Amazon: 50 1/2 Ideas to Become a Digital Leader – John Rossman (John was a guest on Episode 181)
• Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win – Jocko Willink
• Future Is Faster Than You Think – Peter Diamandis

E-Commerce / Retail / Case Studies

• Sam Walton: Made in America: My Story – Sam Walton
• I Love Capitalism!: An American Story – Ken Langone
• The Perfect Store: Inside eBay – Adam Cohen
• In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives – Steven Levy
• The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World – David Kirkpatrick
• The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon – Brad Stone
• Reengineering Retail: The Future of Selling in a Post-Digital World –
• Doug Stephens
• Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption – Stephen Dennis
• Billion Dollar Brand Club: How Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, and Other Disruptors Are Remaking What We Buy – Lawrence Ingrassia (Larry was on Episode 207)

Movies

• Glengarry Glenross
• Boiler Room
• The social network
• Girlboss –  Based on Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso’s autobiography #Girlboss
• Office Space
• Startup.com

TV shows

• Undercover Boss
• Shark Tank
• The Profit
• SiliconValley
• Halt & Catch Fire
• Mr Selfridge
• Succession
• Mr Robot
• Black Mirror

Non Conventional

• S1s – Casper, Chewy  (Retail Roadshow)
• Shareholder Letters (Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway)
• Company conference calls – (Amazon/eBay/Shopify/Etsy/Alibaba)
• Investor Relations

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Episode 215 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded live on Wednesday, April 8th, 2020.

http://jasonandscot.com

Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing.