Only the paranoid survive
by Andrew S. Grove · first published 1996
41% recommend59% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Grove's account of leading Intel from memory chips to microprocessors, and of spotting strategic inflection points and staying alert to competition. A quick, readable pick for founders and executives.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Under Andy Grove's leadership, Intel has become the world's largest chipmaker, the fifth-most-admired company in America, and the seventh-most-profitable company among the Fortune 500. You don't achieve rankings like these unless you have mastered a rare understanding of the art of business and an unusual way with its practice. Few CEOs can claim this level of consistent record-breaking success. Grove attributes much of this success to the philosophy and strategy he reveals in Only the Paranoid Survive - a book that is unique in leadership annals for offering a bold new business measure, and
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This development of market dynamics & structure has been famously featured in the book "Only the Paranoid Survive" by Andy Grove, which I can only recommend (it's a quick and easy read). Anecdotally, it seems to me that today, the more successful companies are those that tend to be vertically integrated, such as…
on “Apple aims to sell Macs with its own chips starting in 2021” ↗…Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware - Andy Hunt The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at M.I.T. - Stewart Brand Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds - Charles Mackay Only the Paranoid Survive - Andy Grove
on “Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?” ↗…psychopathy. So maybe try to build some awareness into it like how it can be extinguished with a power outage, and/or other situations like component failure. I think Andrew Grove's book may be useful - Only the paranoid survive.
on “How should AI systems behave, and who should decide?” ↗- Awareness by Anthony DeMello - The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi - The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand - Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove --- More stuff here: http://www.ryanglover.net/library/ (not flagged specific to entrepreneurship but all have had an influence in one way or another).
on “Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?” ↗I start with five: 1. "Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company" by Andrew Grove. It is a real CEO experiencing critical moments in a top company. 2. "How Life Imitates Chess" by Garry Kasparov (don't…
on “Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?” ↗Hi, both "High Output Management" and "Only the Paranoid Survive" by Andrew S. Grove detail how he managed and succeeded through the radical changes in the industry. Highly recommended reads.
on “Ask HN: Best books to understand semiconductor business?” ↗…"business success" (whatever it means). There is a more organized and illustrated edition here [2]. BTW, I always return to some articles such as "Commission Plans" for Sales [3]. Regarding books: - Only the Paranoid Survive by Andrew Grove (Intel) [4]. It is always in my "pocket". It is real experience with pain points from a top CEO, not an academic exercise. - Other books that are not focused on business but are more…
on “DIY MBA: My Reading List (2019)” ↗…Entrepreneur’s Guide to Law and Strategy (Constance Bagley and Craig Dauchy) Company Strategy and Direction (post-product/market fit) - Crossing the Chasm (Geoff Moore) - Zone to Win (Geoff Moore) - Only the Paranoid Survive (Andy Grove) - Blitzscaling (Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh) - The Innovator's Dilemma (Clayton Christensen) - Good to Great (Jim Collins) - Playing to Win (A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin) - Tape Sucks (Frank…
on “Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?” ↗…macro economic change, market change, supply chain change, and so forth. The great wartime CEO Andy Grove marvelously describes the forces that can take a company from peacetime to wartime in his book Only The Paranoid Survive. https://a16z.com/2011/04/14/peacetime-ceowartime-ceo-2/
on “The Fall of Travis Kalanick” ↗…high end server parts at Global Foundaries, so they will no longer be constrained in process capability or supply as they were in the past. It seems that no one in upper management have read the book, "Only the Paranoid Survive." Maybe it should have been required reading.
on “Intel Tock-Ticks Chipsets Back to 22nm” ↗…Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability - The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition Organization / Business - Originals: How Non-conformists Change the World - Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company - Lovability: How to Build a Business That People Love and Be Happy Doing It - The Thank You Economy Personal - Presentation Zen:…
on “Ask HN: Is it normal to fall out of love with coding?” ↗…"Google acted out of some combination of fear, insecurity..." Smart companies should be afraid and insecure, to some degree, about potential competition. I highly recommend Andy Grove's excellent book "Only the Paranoid Survive." "...pressure from Wall Street..." Just the opposite. Wall Street wanted Google to keep milking the cash cow and trying to expand its market share overseas -- which is a pretty typical Wall Street-pleasing…
on “Why I left Google (2012)” ↗To understand this, you need to read Andy Grove, especially "Only the Paranoid Survive". It's fascinating: basically everything I, as a user, see as a boon, he perceives as a threat. From his point of view, everything that allows people to buy cheap machines, run fast software etc. is negative…
on “When did software go off the rails?” ↗It is always the time to read again the book "Only the Paranoid Survive" [1] where Andy Grove, CEO of Intel at the book time, has a specific chapter about RISC/CISC. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Grove#Only_the_Paranoid...
on “Cortex X2: ARM aims high” ↗Funny, from another post, In his classic book, Only the Paranoid Survive, Grove details the story of leading Intel through the dramatic transition from the memory business to the microprocessor business. There are also studies of rats where the paranoid rats who lurk in corners…
on “Developing new startup ideas” ↗