So here we go – it has been another six months and even though I thought I would not have time to read books anymore…
… I just slept less I guess…
Over the last 6 months there were also countless academic papers that I had the pleasure of going through. Not sure if that is also something worth compiling here, for now I just stick to the more digestible book format and hope you enjoy looking through the list and perhaps pick up one or the other book yourself.
Without further due here is the list in no particular order:
1. The Prosperity Paradox by Clayton Christensen
A great book with focus on “non-consumption markets” and how Innovation can marry the (financial) inclusion of individuals in emerging economies and running a high yielding project:
2. Capitalism without Capital by Jonathan Haskel & Stian Westlake
We all know that we have moved on from the tangible to the intangible economy with lots of value being created in IP, brands, new digital products, etc. But if you want a deeper look at the intangibles economy from leading Economists this is a good book to pick.
3. AI Superpowers by Lee Kai-Fu
The book to explain to people who do not go to China often how China works. Essential reading for everyone to understand how technology has infiltrated everyday life and what is there to come. Main takeaway: We have (already!!!) moved on from the AI research era to the AI implementation era. Watch out for the twist towards the end of the book… an excellent read
4. Data Science by John Kelleher & Brendan Tierney
Everyone talks about who Data is the new Oil but are you familiar with the CRISP-DM process for data science? Or are you also talking about Machine Learning without really understanding what that is. A good introductory reading to address these questions and more.
5. Superminds by Thomas Malone
Thomas Malone takes us on a journey to explore how the future of collaborative AI could look like in the future. Rather than painting a doomsday scenario he explicates that there is a lot of value to be created through the use of AI in conjunction with our human capabilities.
6. Why we Sleep by Matthew Walker
You might say “This is not strictly a FinTech / Innovation in Finance book”. But perhaps it is Prof Walker shares his lifelong research results on sleep and how important it is. People who get enough rest every night are more creative for example. Essential read in my personal view.
7. Questions are the answer by Hal Gregersen
Innovation comes from understanding your target customer’s needs. We can only learn about those needs if we know how to ask powerful questions. Hal of MIT explains well how to do this based on his research using many successful examples.
8. Factfullness by Ola Rosling
Ola Rosling was a Global Health Professor that teaches us a lot about Statistics and the world in this book that even Bill Gates recommended.
9. Before Babylon, beyond Bitcoin by David Birch
Another book about the history of money you might think… maybe you’ve read a few of those already. David Birch, who has been involved in the Payments space for a long time shares his views on the future of money and you might be surprised by it.
10. Blockchain Economics by Melanie Swan, Jason Potts, Soichiro Takagi, Frank Witte and Paolo Tasca
This is a special book to me because my dear friend Arisa Siong wrote part of it. If you are interested in topics in between economics and blockchain technology you cannot not read this. Melanie Swan is a pioneer in the space and she has, together with her colleagues, assembled a great collection of chapters.
This article first appeared on Linkedin.com, Featured image credit: Unsplash
