Curated by the a16z crypto team, this list blends technical depth, founder insights, and visionary thinking to fuel innovation in Web3 and beyond.
I. Building Companies & Scaling Organizations
📚 The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn
By Richard Hamming
A masterclass in problem-solving from a Bell Labs pioneer. Essential for systems thinkers.
📚 Designing Data-Intensive Applications
By Martin Kleppmann
👉 Sam Broner, Engineer: "The clearest guide to distributed systems – foundational for blockchain builders."
📚 Scaling People
By Claire Hughes Johnson
Operational tactics from a Google/Stripe exec on managing hypergrowth teams.
II. Founder Stories & Innovation Journeys
🚀 Chip War
By Chris Miller
👉 Eddy Lazzarin, CTO: "A gripping semiconductor history that will make you question what’s next in compute."
🚀 The Making of the Atomic Bomb
By Richard Rhodes
Tim Sullivan (Editorial Partner): "Oppenheimer’s story meets deep science – a blueprint for world-changing projects."
🚀 Skunk Works
By Ben Rich & Leo Janos
Lockheed’s stealth tech playbook for shipping impossible projects.
III. Tech Trends & Web3 Philosophy
🌐 Seeing Like a State
By James Scott
How top-down systems fail – critical for decentralized design.
🌐 The Sovereign Individual
By Davidson & Rees-Mogg
1997’s eerily accurate prediction of crypto-powered autonomy.
🌐 The Cathedral & the Bazaar
By Eric Raymond
Open source manifestos that shaped Linux (and crypto).
IV. Speculative Fiction for Builders
🛸 The Invincible
By Stanislaw Lem
Valeria Nikolaenko (Researcher): "Nano-machine ‘smart dust’ foreshadowed blockchain’s swarm intelligence."
🛸 Cryptonomicon
By Neal Stephenson
Cypherpunk lore meets WWII codebreaking.
V. Creative Fuel
🎨 The Creative Act
By Rick Rubin
Producer’s mindset for shipping bold ideas.
🎨 The Nolan Variations
By Tom Shone
Decoding the director’s recursive storytelling.
FAQ: Builders’ Edition
Q: Which book best explains distributed systems?
A: "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" breaks down scalability tradeoffs that blockchain engineers face daily.
Q: Any recommendations for founder resilience?
A: "Can’t Hurt Me" by David Goggins – Jason Rosenthal (Ops Partner) calls it "required reading for CEOs."
Q: What sci-fi influenced crypto thinkers?
A: Lem’s "The Invincible" and Stephenson’s "Cryptonomicon" are Web3 canon.
Featured selections from a16z crypto’s 2023 Winter List. Explore more at a16z crypto.
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