Read by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Jensen Huang and 9 others
What books does Andrew Ng recommend?
Someone who has shaped how the world learns machine learning, Andrew Ng, co-founder of Coursera and Google Brain and a Stanford adjunct professor whose courses have reached millions, offers book recommendations that split cleanly between the entrepreneur's shelf and the researcher's. His 15 picks set startup and innovation classics on one side against foundational AI texts on the other. The business picks are sourced largely from a Farnam Street reading list he assembled for "doing new things," while his AI essentials come from Blinkist curations and his own Stanford CS229 syllabus. His top recommendation is Peter Thiel's Zero to One, which he calls "a very good book that gives an overview of entrepreneurship and innovation." Together the list reflects a builder's pragmatism, weighted toward business strategy, science and technology, and the leadership questions that come with scaling an organization.
Last updated February 2026 · Every recommendation cited to its original source.
Zero to One
Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
byPeter Thiel, Blake Masters
2014224 Pages“The first is “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel, a very good book that gives an overview of entrepreneurship and innovation.”
— Andrew Ng
Source: Farnam Street: A Short List of Books for Doing New Things
Read by Sheryl Sandberg, Marc Andreessen, Andrew Ng and 1 others
The Lean Startup
How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
byEric Ries
2011336 Pages“For B2C, one of my favorite books is “The Lean Startup,” which takes a narrower view but it gives one specific tactic for innovating quickly.”
— Andrew Ng
Source: Farnam Street: A Short List of Books for Doing New Things
Crossing the Chasm
Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers
byGeoffrey A. Moore
2014272 Pages“For B2B, I recommend “Crossing the Chasm.””
— Andrew Ng
Source: Farnam Street: A Short List of Books for Doing New Things
Read by Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen and 4 others
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
byBen Horowitz
2014304 Pages“It's a bit dark but it does cover a lot of useful territory on what building an organization is like.”
— Andrew Ng
Source: Farnam Street: A Short List of Books for Doing New Things
Rocket Surgery Made Easy
The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems
bySteve Krug
2009168 Pages“If you want to build products that are important, that users care about, this teaches you different tactics for learning about users, either through user studies or by interviews.”
— Andrew Ng
Source: Farnam Street: A Short List of Books for Doing New Things
Talking to Humans
Success Starts with Understanding Your Customers
byGiff Constable
201488 Pages“A very short book that teaches you how to develop empathy for users you want to serve by talking to them.”
— Andrew Ng
Source: Farnam Street: A Short List of Books for Doing New Things
Read by Mark Manson, Andrew Ng
So Good They Can't Ignore You
Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
byCal Newport
2012304 Pages“Gives a valuable perspective on how to select a path for one's career.”
— Andrew Ng
Source: Farnam Street: A Short List of Books for Doing New Things
Read by Peter Thiel, Satya Nadella, Arianna Huffington and 4 others
AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
byKai-Fu Lee
2018272 Pages“Kai-Fu Lee's smart and insightful book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how AI will change the world.”
— Andrew Ng
Source: Book Foreword
Human Compatible
Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control
byStuart Russell
2019352 PagesSource: Blinkist: Andrew Ng's AI Essentials
Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
byMax Tegmark
2017384 PagesSource: Blinkist: Andrew Ng's AI Essentials
Read by Mark Cuban, Andrew Ng
The Master Algorithm
How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World
byPedro Domingos
2015352 PagesSource: Blinkist: Andrew Ng's AI Essentials
Read by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel and 3 others
Superintelligence
Paths, Dangers, Strategies
byNick Bostrom
2014352 PagesSource: Blinkist: Andrew Ng's AI Essentials
Read by Jensen Huang, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen and 8 others
byAndrew S. Grove
1995272 PagesSource: Official Blinkist Recommendation
byTom Mitchell
1997414 Pages“Recommended as optional reading.”
— Andrew Ng
Source: Stanford CS229 Syllabus
byRichard O. Duda, Peter E. Hart, David G. Stork
2000688 Pages“Recommended as optional reading.”
— Andrew Ng
Source: Stanford CS229 Syllabus
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Andrew Ng recommend?
His 15 recommendations include Zero to One by Peter Thiel, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore, and The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz, plus AI-focused titles like Life 3.0, Superintelligence, and Human Compatible.
What is Andrew Ng's top book recommendation?
He names Zero to One by Peter Thiel first, calling it "a very good book that gives an overview of entrepreneurship and innovation." For B2C founders he separately singles out The Lean Startup as one of his favorite books.
Where do Andrew Ng's book recommendations come from?
The startup and innovation titles come from a reading list he shared with Farnam Street for "doing new things." His AI recommendations are drawn from Blinkist curations, a book foreword he wrote, and the reading assigned in his Stanford CS229 machine learning course.
What AI books does Andrew Ng recommend?
He points to Kai-Fu Lee's AI Superpowers, calling it "a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how AI will change the world," alongside Stuart Russell's Human Compatible, Max Tegmark's Life 3.0, Pedro Domingos's The Master Algorithm, and Nick Bostrom's Superintelligence.
What genres does Andrew Ng read most?
His list centers on science and technology and business and strategy, with strong showings in psychology and human behavior and leadership and management. The mix mirrors his dual career as an AI researcher and a company builder.
All 15 Books Andrew Ng Has Recommended
- Zero to One · Peter Thiel
- The Lean Startup · Eric Ries
- Crossing the Chasm · Geoffrey A. Moore
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things · Ben Horowitz
- Rocket Surgery Made Easy · Steve Krug
- Talking to Humans · Giff Constable
- So Good They Can't Ignore You · Cal Newport
- AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order · Kai-Fu Lee
- Human Compatible · Stuart Russell
- Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence · Max Tegmark
- The Master Algorithm · Pedro Domingos
- Superintelligence · Nick Bostrom
- High Output Management · Andrew S. Grove
- Machine Learning · Tom Mitchell
- Pattern Classification · Richard O. Duda