Fomo Academy: 8 book recommendations from the Fomo community

Looking for a book to read or listen to on your next vacation? Or need something keep you company on your work trips, or simply to inspire or educate you during a quiet moment?

Fomo Academy is putting together a reading list of recommended books from our startup community. Read on for a few to add to your reading list...

I’ve been asking some people from the Fomo community to give me the title of a book (business or other) that has either changed their life or impacted them in some way, and to tell us why. 

Triin Hertmann

Trauma is a big word, so I picked up The Body Keeps the Score by famous psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, thinking I'd learn a bit more about the actual brain mechanisms behind how it affects our feelings, triggers and behaviours.

I got so much more, as the book proceeded to explain half of my own and other people’s lives around me. It completely changed how I interpret reactions, relationships, and those moments when your brain says, "Everything's fine," while the body is clearly reacting the opposite.

Since reading it, I've become less judgmental of others, a little kinder to myself, and considerably more suspicious of anyone claiming we should all just "move on." It's one of those books I think every founder, manager, investor, and honestly, every adult, should read.

Kärt Siilats

I have two books I keep coming back to and recommending constantly. Educated by Tara Westover is about how you can make yourself from absolutely nothing or even less than nothing, despite active obstacles from your surroundings. 

And a business book, Fundraising Field Guide by Carlos Espinal. Not only a super practical guide from someone who has been doing it at a high level for a long time, but it also taught me a lot of what I know about startups and how investors look at them, and how he distributes it. Carlos allows founders to download it for free, but encourages everyone to donate to his recommended charities if they find value in the book. Which I think is truly admirable.

Liina Laas

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is really sweet, sad, at times enraging, but also a very well-written story about a scientist (a woman) in the 50s…and all the kinds of stupid shit women had to go through and how she became a star on TV, staying true to her values. Heartwarming love story that turned into a grieving story, then survival, and winning against all that life threw at her.

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is a super actionable book that explains why you need a framework to build habits. It has interesting anecdotes and research. I vibecoded a habits app for myself and family after that, so it seems to have worked!

Karmen Jürisoo 

I’d recommend reading Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. The reason why it changed my life was that I was the type of person who thought doing more meant achieving more. So my attention was split everywhere between many different business ideas, many different projects, etc., and the book talks about how to do fewer things but better, with better quality, which takes you further.

Tarmo Virki

During high school, while studying in Finland, I read Garry Kasparov’s Maailmanmestari in Finnish, a book about winning and chess that left a profound mark on me. In English, I would pick up his How Life Imitates Chess.

When I got into news reporting, I was completely captivated by the other side of journalism - Hunter S. Thompson and his wild, unapologetic gonzo stories. I would recommend not only Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but also The Great Shark Hunt, a collection of some of his best articles, true examples from a master in storytelling.

Have you got a book that you would like to recommend for our Fomo Academy book series? Get in touch and tell us all about it.

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