19 Surprising Books for Builders

In the spirit of sharing what we’re reading — a regular tradition around here! — below are some of the books we recently curated for the giveaway library at our a16z crypto Founders Summit 2025. (Founders Summit is our event bringing together the top leaders in crypto — along with other builders, domain experts, and creatives — to help founders connect with each other and share insights on navigating company building and the latest tech trends in an ever-evolving industry.)

But the books in this list are not just for crypto founders! The list spans not just companies as systems but cities, finance, and memes as systems; strategy games and strategy in competition; to histories of explorers, athletes, and soldiers. Plus some philosophy and sci-fi, too!

…company building, how-to, systems thinking, and tech trends

Antimemetics: Why Some Ideas Resist Spreadingby Nadia Asparouhova [listen to/read our podcast conversation here]

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn 

Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy by Joan Magretta [see also this piece and listen to this podcast conversation]

Nearly Perfect by Thomas Drach 

The Computer Always Wins: A Playful Introduction to Algorithms through Puzzles and Strategy Games by Elliott Lichtman

…related disciplines, domains, and histories of interest

The Origins of Efficiency by Brian Potter

Modern Principles of Economics by Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok

Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell

Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit by Charles Calomiris and Stephen Haber

The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester

…builder biographies, innovation process

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro

There’s Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift by Kevin Evers

Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life by Agnes Callard

The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay by Christopher Clarey

…stories of resilience and health

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard 

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

The Explorer’s Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map by Alex Hutchinson [speaker book]

…fiction

There Is No antimimetics Division, a novel by qntm

The Café at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please [included in our podcast discussion as well] 

curated by Sonal Chokshi and a16z crypto team