Books both Naval Ravikant and Sam Altman recommend

goodreads.com

Named in Altman's 2015 Twitter AMA reading list for young startup founders, alongside Plato's Republic and Newton's Principia.

twitter.com

“I loved reading it as a kid”

The page cites a Naval tweet about loving it as a kid.

web.archive.org · 24 good books to read heres what sam altman of y combinator is reading

The page cites an archived Shelfie article listing Altman's bookshelf.

navalmanack.com · navals recommended reading

“Not the easiest read, but it made me smarter.”

Naval recommends it as the deepest available account of why good explanations—not data—are the engine of all human progress.

twitter.com

“[David Deutsch's] books have inspired me more than anyone else's, and i think hold a big clue about how we get from here to agi.”

December 2022 tweet from @sama. Altman has repeatedly named The Beginning of Infinity as his favorite book in interviews, most prominently in a 2025 conversation with Mathias Doepfner.

twitter.com

“Love that book.”

The page cites a Naval tweet about the book.

web.archive.org · 24 good books to read heres what sam altman of y combinator is reading

The page cites an archived Shelfie article listing Altman's bookshelf.

twitter.com

Twitter mention.

web.archive.org · 24 good books to read heres what sam altman of y combinator is reading

The page cites an archived Shelfie article listing Altman's bookshelf.

twitter.com

“Great read.”

The page cites a Sam Altman tweet about the book.

tim.blog · naval ravikant on the tim ferriss show transcript

Mentioned on Tim Ferriss Show.

web.archive.org · 24 good books to read heres what sam altman of y combinator is reading

The page cites an archived Shelfie article listing Altman's bookshelf.