Bad Blood is a thrilling chronicle of injustices committed by a narcissistic entrepreneur who idolized Steve Jobs. (Image: istockphoto.)

Bad Blood and My Seven 5-star Books from 2018

John Belizaire
Published in
7 min readMar 4, 2019

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I often tell the new CEOs I advise to never fall in love with your product, keep your ego in check, and love your customers.

The story of Theranos, portrayed in the book Bad Blood, is what happens when this advice is completely ignored. It is a five-star page-turner that is a window into human nature. Once I started reading, I was hooked by its heart of darkness. (More on the book below.)

I also tell young entrepreneurs that “if you want to be a better CEO read a lot.”

Last year, I read more than 34 books — using a technique I developed that doubled my reading speed — coming in a bit shy of my one book a week goal.

Bill Gates devours 50 books a year. (That’s how I set my goal.)

In 2018, I focused on books about writing and better decision making. I dug into the art and science of marketing. And, because of my new role as CEO of Soluna, I read several books about the blockchain.

Here is the annual list of my favorite five-star reads…

(As a bonus, I am including links to other reviews of each book I enjoyed reading.)

“Intelligence is not only the ability to reason; it is also the ability to find relevant material in memory and to deploy attention when needed.” — Daniel Kahneman

Thinking, Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman) — I know many CEOs that say, “I always go with my gut.” I can relate. I often do a quick analysis of the data at hand and make a call. It’s because I have a bias for action. But, over the years I have found that my gut was often wrong. After reading this incredible book, I now know how dangerous this decision-making approach can be. We, humans, are incredibly vulnerable to cognitive biases. Kahneman, a winner of the Nobel prize, explains why. We have two brains, he explains. One brain, he calls “System 1.” It makes quick…

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CEO of Soluna. I am learning to be a better CEO — and getting 1% better every day. I share my stories from 20+ yrs experience on ceoplaybook.co.