2023: the year in reading
books, newsletters and more
Friends - Happy holidays! This will be my last post of the year, so I’ll look back at readings that were particularly impactful over the course of the year.
Looking back, it’s been slightly over year since rotator cuff surgery, which necessitated spending the first month of the year in a sling.
On the bright side, being in a sling did create material for class (look, I’m basically doing this with one hand tied behind my back) and also proved an opportunity for learning and empathy in the field of “societal UI”. I quickly memorized which doors on campus had automatic assist, and which car handles were easier to open one-handed while also hefting a backpack and books. I also learned to ask for and accept help.
It’s raining as I type. A reminder that 2023 started off rainy and looks to end that way. The words “atmospheric river” became common parlance. Related: California emerged from drought.
It was a good year for reading. Within Substack, I now follow over 100 authors, from
to to to to to to . Outside of sports, the hypothesis that Substack would provide the niches of Twitter (e.g. Semiconductor Twitter, and so on) but with more welcome depth and less noise has generally borne true. I mainly read in the app, in part because I subscribe to so many, and because there are some Substack features - e.g. Notes, sharing - which are more intuitive within the app. (I note this because only 2% of readers read within the app, and that number has held steady over time.)Why follow 100+ authors? I find I am always looking for signal in a sea of noise. In my consulting practice I referred to this as analog intelligence - the insight shared in a room by a principal. In a world being steadily digitized, meaning anyone with Internet access can become at least conversant on a given topic, true signal gets more precious.
With that, below I’m sharing some worthwhile reads from the year that was.
Civic transitions and turnarounds
Detroit Resurrected: to Bankruptcy and Back; Nathan Bomey, 2017
Boomtown Columbus: Ohio’s Sunbelt City and How the Developers Got Their Way; Kevin Cox, 2021
The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism; Katz and Nowak, 2018
All three of these found a home in Clusters class.
The New Localism, by authors from the Brookings Institute, was referred by Conor at Heartland Ventures and provided an excellent case study on Pittsburgh, among others. Detroit Resurrected is the painstakingly reported chronicle of Detroit’s municipal bankruptcy and helped my understanding of the mechanics of Chapter 9 and the Grand Bargain that enabled exit from bankruptcy in a way that minimized the pain borne by Detroit city pensioners. Boomtown Columbus helped answer the question of why Columbus and Franklin County have grown while the rest of Ohio has continued a slow decline (recent green shoots in Cleveland notwithstanding). This was good reference for Week 4 of Clusters class, on Anchor Companies.
Innovation and policy
Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World; Dan Breznitz; 2021
Tiger Technology: the Creation of a Semiconductor Industry in East Asia; Cho and Mathews, 2000
The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public versus Private Sector Myths; Mariana Mazzucato, 2015
How Big Things Get Done; Bent Flyvbjerg, 2023
The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up on Free Markets; Thomas Phillipon, 2019
All of these found a home in the 2023 edition of Clusters class, and will show up in Strategy for the Networked Economy in 2024.
Philippon’s assessment of COGS-dense versus COGS-lite (my term, not his) companies (say, Intel versus Facebook) helped my thinking about the difference between different types of anchor companies, and helped confirm hypotheses about the impact of regulatory capture in the US market. Breznitz was referred by my faculty colleague Greg LaBlanc (Breznitz’ appearance in Unsiloed) and found a home in our discussion of Israel in Clusters class. Breznitz’ description of different innovation strategies helped facilitate discussion of the Silicon Hyphen problem, i.e., what types of innovation cities should focus on given that Silicon Valley already exists.
Tiger Technology is densely reported -
from called it “the most intense research paper I’ve ever read” and was helpful not just in preparing for Taiwan class in Clusters but also in hosting METI Minister Nishimura during APEC Week in November.I’d been seeing Mazzucato’s footprints for years (i.e., cited in other works) but finally picked up The Entrepreneurial State upon my faculty colleague Crystal Chang Cohen’s recommendation. Mazzucato’s message was a great complement to my own experience with DARPA solicitations and SBIRs.
Flyvbjerg’s How Big Things Get Done was recommended by the team at Principle Power. It’s an excellent read, for projects large and small. We referenced during our discussion of the floating offshore wind auction results here in California.
Information and Intelligence
Spies, Lies and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence; Amy Zegart, 2022
Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State; Barton Gellman, 2020
Zegart’s book was read to keep current and in preparation for next year’s Strategy for the Networked Economy. Gellman’s account of being one of three reporters Snowden chose for his disclosures had been on my shelf for a while - I finally binge-read it. We discuss Israel in Clusters class. In processing Israel’s response to events of October 7, I found it helpful to go back and look at our own response to 9/11, from the Patriot Act to Operation Stellar Wind.
Japan
The Contest for Japan’s Economic Future; Richard Katz, 2023
Line of Advantage: Japan’s Grand Strategy in the Era of Abe Shinzo; Michael J Green, 2022
I follow
here on Substack and thus was looking forward to The Contest, which I just completed. Katz’ third book is a thoroughly reported chronicle of the choices Japan faces as it tries to foster entrepreneurship and innovation, much as we saw here at Haas during APEC Week. Katz’ account is ultimately sobering - broadly it shows the importance of allowing some companies to fail through the process of creative destruction - that propping up companies in the interest of employment stability crowds out capital, people, and markets. Green’s book shows the perhaps surprising geopolitical impact of PM Abe in his second coming of PM. This lives on in the nomenclature Free and Open Indo-Pacific, and through structures like the Quad.But wait, there’s more!
The Intel Trinity; Michael Malone, 2014
Get Your Startup Story Straight; David Riemer, 2021
Lastly, some books that straddled categories: Michael Malone’s The Intel Trinity, and my faculty colleague David Riemer’s Get Your Startup Story Straight. We could have used Riemer’s book in my startup days - our story was always a bit too complicated! Malone’s book filled in some gaps for me, particularly around the role of Bob Noyce, who passed all too young.
With that, gentle readers, I wish you a restful holiday season.
Since it’s winter here in the northern hemisphere (and rainy season here in NorCal), I’ll close with a bit of rainy day jazz: the Marcin Wasilewski Trio’s version of Prince’s Diamond and Pearls.
Onward and upward in 2024!
Jon
Thanks for the list and another shout out about my book. Sorry to hear about your shoulder, but hope that the one-armed learning was useful! :) Happy New Year!