Introducing the Builder’s Bookshelf Newsletter

TL;DR: I've started a newsletter to share the books I gift and recommend the most to founders I advise, my professional network, and friends. If you're a lifelong learner and have a shelf of books that you find hard to get to, given your areas of responsibilities, both personally and professionally, this newsletter is for you.

My commitment to you is that each book recommendation will make it easy for you to decide whether it's worth checking out immediately or revisiting the book later when a relevant situation presents itself.

The newsletter format and what to expect:

1. Each newsletter will include who I typically recommend the book to so you know if it's right for you now, sometime in the future, or if it's better as a resource to be shared with someone in your network.
2. High-level context behind the book, what I found interesting about it, and when it's helpful.
3. Lastly, recommended next steps after reading the book and any supporting links such as podcasts with the author, etc.

If that sounds helpful, subscribe to get these situation-specific book recommendations right to your inbox.

LinkedIn has rolled out the ability to have multiple newsletters on our personal profiles, which gives me an opportunity to launch the newsletter I was trying to decide between when I launched my first newsletter, The Tenured CMO.

You can find out more about this feature in the article, Grow Your Audience with the Power of LinkedIn Newsletters by LinkedIn's Director of Product, Keren Baruch .

"The Tenured CMO" is for marketing leaders and leadership team members responsible for generating revenue. It specifically focuses on being an actionable resource they can turn to as they navigate the increasing complexity of marketing, align their efforts with revenue (sales), and ensure that the timing of their investments aligns with the cash flow realities of their business. In essence, it's about revenue operations.

If this sounds like your area of responsibility, or if you contribute to the success of someone on your team in that role, I encourage you to subscribe.

The Builder’s Bookshelf, on the other hand, is designed to be a more general resource for founders, entrepreneurs and busy professionals.

Why This Newsletter, and Why Now?

There are three reasons I've decided to launch this newsletter.

The first thing is that I'm an avid reader; I believe that exploring new ideas and perspectives is an important lifelong habit worth investing in. Books, both in written and audio form, are great ways to consume those ideas. I also enjoy diving deeper into ideas or an author's thinking by listening to podcasts they've been on and watching YouTube videos of interviews or talks they've given.

To be honest, not all the books I read are worth sharing. In fact, sometimes I look back at a book I've read, even if it is an audiobook, and think, "There are X hours of my life I'll never get back."

However, there are books that are so good, and the ideas they express are so powerful that after I read them, the first thing I do is figure out who I should share them with. My goal is to have this newsletter help busy professionals like you add another filter they can use to prioritize their next book.

Making the books that I gift and recommend to my network accessible to a wider audience; I have used the question, "Would I give this book as a gift?" as a filter for years. I first came across this idea in Tim Ferriss ' "Tools of Titans," and the question has stuck with me ever since. It became the filter I used to recommend books, but it has always been a one-on-one process. This newsletter gives me the ability to share them more broadly.

Create opportunities for asynchronous conversations about ideas; I believe it's important to engage with our network on the scale of the internet, giving us the opportunity to connect around ideas even when we're not in the same room. It also exposes the ideas being explored in the books to networks of networks. I expect that something may spark an idea that brings you back to the conversation thread immediately or a year from now. If you're interested in the theory behind how ideas spread online, I recommend that you check out the book "Grouped" by Paul Adams .

Bonus; The last and most important to me, if I'm being honest, is knowing my son will be able to look back at these newsletters and get an idea of how his dad thought about navigating the professional world. Wanting to do this was inspired by reading "Chasing Daylight" by Eugene O'Kelly.

The newsletter format and what to expect:

1. Each newsletter will include who I typically recommend the book to so you know if it's right for you now, sometime in the future, or if it's better as a resource to be shared with someone in your network.
2. High-level context behind the book, what I found interesting about it, and when it's helpful.
3. Lastly, recommended next steps after reading the book and any supporting links such as podcasts with the author, etc.

If that sounds like something you’ll find valuable, as the Gen Zs say, smash that subscribe button, and I’ll see you both in the next newsletter and in the comments.