Reading list · 8 books
Garry Tan's reading list
President and CEO of Y Combinator, co-founder of Initialized Capital, and early-stage investor (Coinbase, Instacart) and former designer/engineer at Posterous. He frequently shares formative books via YouTube, his blog, and Twitter.
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01
Steve Krug
In his essay for engineers learning design, he names this the simplest place to start on usability.
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02
Donald Norman
He highly recommends it for new designers as the foundational text on how design shapes behavior.
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03
Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It
Kamal Ravikant
He says this book "helped me massively," a personal favorite on founder mental health.
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04
Bessel van der Kolk
He highlights it as a groundbreaking book for anyone studying psychology and behavior.
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05
Niccolò Machiavelli
He recommends it noting the "methods [are] still valuable and can be used for good" by founders.
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06
George Soros
He recommends it to understand reflexivity, a concept he applies to markets and startups.
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07
Luke Burgis
He has championed René Girard's theory of mimetic desire "and how we can use it in our lives as founders."
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08
Alexis Ohanian
A startup recommendation aligned with his YC/founder ethos.
More on Garry Tan's picks
Tan's recommendations appear in his essays (e.g., "I'm an engineer, how do I learn design?"), his YouTube channel for founders, and tweets. His picks blend design fundamentals, founder psychology and self-help that he says personally helped him, and ideas like Girard's mimetic desire and Soros's reflexivity that he applies to startups. He often frames books in terms of practical use for founders.
