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Looking for people to interview [Entrepreneurial mindset x Black Swan]

Hi, guys,

Short version: I'm looking for people with an entrepreneurial mindset (business founders, solopreneurs, freelancers, product makers, intrapreneurs - whole suite :P ) who read Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "Black Swan" and want to talk about how it helped them grow on a professional & personal level.

Now for the longer version: I'm trying to build a website called The CEO Library.

It started as a project with books recommended by successful entrepreneurs - a form of curation based on the illusion that by reading the same books as the Elon Musks and Warren Buffetts of the world, you increase the odds of reaching the same level of success.

Problem #1: too many books - especially business & self development ones - that are bullsh*t. Even if they're recommended by trustworthy people, most of them are still bloated (should have been long articles instead), biased, media-hyped, etc.
Problem #2: even if a book's great and filled with valuable, practical advice, it might not be great for your entrepreneurial context & needs (or you read it too late / too early).
Problem #3: too many choices, impossible to read and apply them all.
Problem #4: how will you differentiate if you read what everyone else is reading?

Two concrete & opposite examples:

  1. Dale Carnegie's How to win friends - highly recommended by entrepreneurs, BUT... it was a great book in 1936, when it was released. It might still be a great book to read if you're a teenager. Filled with expired examples and useless information for someone who already has experience working with people (not to mention there are better books on this topic).
  2. Ben Horowitz - Hard Thing about Hard Things - awesome book, also highly recommended by entrepreneurs, BUT... useless if you read it too early and don't have where to apply it, you'll need to re-read it in the later stages of your business.

So now we're trying a different approach. We want to put all those books into context and show who should read them, when to read them, and what they'll learn. And we're focusing on books for future entrepreneurs (wantrepreneurs & early stage level).

And, finally, here enters the Black Swan...

I'm a big fan of Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Reading his words feels like a brain upgrade - even if I need to reread 5 times, cause at the same time he makes me feel dumb and I'm not always sure I understand what he's trying to say. I only discovered him a couple of years ago, thanks to Antifragile, and recently I started reading his new book, Skin in the Game, and his previous one, Black Swan (yes, at the same time. yes, I'm chaotic. yes, I regret not reading him earlier).

This random Sunday morning I woke up with this idea in mind: I want to talk to entrepreneurs who read Black Swan, about how Taleb's ideas impacted their work and helped them throughout their journey.

So, if that's your case, please email me. Or tweet. Or leave a comment below. Any way you prefer. I'll use the material for The CEO Library, add links to your projects (of course), and promise to find a way to offer you books and coffee in exchange.

Gracias! :)

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    This sounds like a pretty rad project. Reading is such a key to success and there are so many datapoints to suggest that too.

    I haven't read the book unfortunately though I know the idea of the black swan and antifragile and they both colour my thinking. Especially with regards to risk management. We expect the future will be like the past and I constantly remind myself that the past is not a perfect indicator of the future. So black swans are always on my mind.

    I totally agree about How To Win Friends And Influence People. I walked past the bookstore today and it's my compulsive habit to walk in there and walk out with more books and less money. I picked up a copy of Harvard Business Review: Emotional Intelligence - Influence + Persuasion. That sweet little 133pg book is a treasure trove of the most impactful articles to appear in the HBR on those topics. I couldn't put it down. 100x more valuable than How To Win Friends.

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    I'm a big fan of all things Taleb and highly recommend his books to anyone looking for a gritty no-nonsense approach to business. In essence he proposes that the most critical future events are unpredictable (black swans), but you can anticipate and exploit them nonetheless. Risk is uncertainty and uncertainty can be measured. He should have been awarded a Nobel prize for his work except that he tends to be unPC and often pisses off guardians of the status-quo. Essential reading for serious entrepreneurs willing to rock the boat.