Conference Reading List
This most recent post is about something that has been bugging me lately: the lack of quality in “weekend conference” books. In this post, I use two books to contrast the merits of reading over 200 pages for the main ideas. Enjoy :)
Some of you may be aware of mylesmarino.com/books. The idea behind this page is that most books can be simplified into a few big ideas.
Two large exceptions:
Entertaining Books should not be relegated to a single page. Don Quixote would be very boring if it were summarized on a single page.
Some non-fiction: Ben Franklin’s autobiography cannot and should not be put onto one page. That would be a grave injustice!
However, there are some books that can absolutely be put onto one page. Mostly because there is only one or two ideas, and the rest of the book is just fluff. Here is one example of such a book:
§The Innovator’s Hypothesis
§What’s the Big Idea?
The Innovator’s Hypothesis: How Cheap Experiments Are Worth More Than Good Ideas has some fantastic marketing ideas. The overarching idea is that you do not need to plan for years just to make a simple, yet profound, change to your business. Instead, it is more effective to throw as many cheap experiments on the wall as you can to see what sticks. When you find something that works- run with it!
The author proposes an actionable framework for companies to adopt- the 5X5 Framework. You give 5 people 5 days to make 5 experiments with a $5K budget that can be tested and rejected/validated in 5 weeks.
§I love this idea
If a company completes the framework once a month, they will have spent $60,000 in a year. What will they have gained? 60 different actionable ideas to grow the business while unleashing their team’s creative abilities! That is 60 “shots on goal”. With so many ideas being thrown around, finding 3 to invest further in is not difficult (Sergio Ramos is more likely to get a red card)!
Using the framework can spur innovation, increase morale, and have significant financial awards. And the best part is- the experiments are cheap!
However, I have a problem with this book. It is 254 pages. That is 253 more than necessary. The idea is introduced a few pages in, and the rest of the book is pure fluff. Here is an outline of the rest of the book:
Why innovation ideas suck
Repeat framework
Warren Buffett uses this framework!!
Jeff Bezos uses this framework!!
Other great people use this idea
Case study
Repeat framework
Case study x3
Repeat framework
Manufacturing innovation
A guide to using the framework
Hypotheses are hard
Q&A
This framework will impact the future
Justify the framework with math
The first 2 chapters of the book are fine. They introduce the author, the problem of innovation, and the framework. But the rest of the book is just a pure slog. When reading, it felt like I was wading through mud and had sand in my mouth.
§What’s the Big Idea?
The other book I read recently was Aiming High: Masayoshi Son, SoftBank, and Disrupting Silicon Valley.
Now this book is totally different from the Innovator’s Hypothesis. Instead of putting the meat of the book in the first few pages and wasting my time with the next 250 pages, this book is 95% pure, uncut meat.
If you rip out 3 random pages in this book, then the next reader will likely miss out on 1 or 2 fantastic ideas that this book presents. There are a few recurring big ideas, but the biggest is probably in the title: aim high.
For example: Masa wanted to earn some money quickly, but did not have enough time to stop and think about a business. So he spent 5 minutes a day thinking creatively to try and build something (which ultimately netted him $1M after a few months/hours). Talk about ambition!
Overview of Book
Childhood
Early entrepreneurial adventures in America
Japan entrepreneurial ventures & building SoftBank
Today
That is the best I can do for an outline. This book is pretty tight, with few words wasted. I recommend this book, as Masa is a truly interesting character who is constantly in the news for blowing up and rebuilding!
For the uninitiated: Masa Son is a serial entrepreneur out of Japan. He is the CEO of SoftBank , a holding company that invests in technology companies. Masa was the first to invest in the internet at scale, a true visionary. He is mired in controversy (WeWork, Vision Fund, and more). This book does not give a good overview of his investments, but does show how SoftBank was built from a tiny office in Japan to a worldwide conglomerate holding some of tomorrow’s most important companies.
§Conclusion
The thing is- The Innovator’s Hypothesis has some useful information in it. So does Aiming High. However, one needs 250 pages while the other wants 250 pages. Why?
My theory is that The Innovator’s Hypothesis is meant for traveling businesspeople. IE, if you have a marketing conference that lasts 2 days, then this book can be read on the flight, at the hotel, and then on the flight back. This is a very specific demographic (“weekend conference readers”), where readers are supposed to read, digest, and contact the writer for a speaking event all within 48 hours.
Aiming High, on the other hand, does not have the same demographic. It is just a biography, not meant to lead to speaking roles, actionable advice, or anything else of that nature.
The Innovator’s Hypothesis has a totally understandable structure. This is a business, after all. However- it is still annoying to me. I have found that if I ever accidently get ahold of a “weekend conference” book like the Innovator’s Hypothesis - I read up until I get to the framework. That usually takes ~20 minutes, all in all. Then I move on and complain in my Substack.