Why GOATs read more books?

Read time: 5 minutes

Welcome to David Beats Goliath, a weekly newsletter where I provide actionable ideas to help you build a GREAT BUSINESS—which is a key to unlocking FREEDOM, LEGACY & JOY in your life.

At a Glance:

• American adults, mirroring a worldwide trend, are reading fewer books each year, according to a recent Gallup poll. This is bad news for investors, like me, because there's a correlation between heavy reading and great leadership.

• The declining trend in book reading threatens to diminish the emergence of such GREAT leaders, potentially reducing the number of transformative businesses in the future.

• Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein, both revered for their timeless leadership and intellect, underscored the importance of broad and historical reading beyond contemporary trends to shape visionary thinking. Books offer a portal to the past and future, fostering the kind of timeless perspective essential for GREAT leadership and innovation

 This issue is brought to you by Gifted And Talented Institute ("GATI")—a bridge to advanced research and future career opportunities for precocious high school students from around the world.

Why GOATs read more books?

It's as if all Korean moms graduated from a Tiger Mom Tae Kwon Do boot camp, where they learn to shoot Hadokens (fireballs)

Growing up, I was dead scared of pissing off my mom.

She set these rules—some ridiculous, some reasonable—but all were potential health hazards for me and my brothers. Breaking any of them could mean death!

One of the rules was to NOT spend money.

ALL the money my little hands ever received from my grandparents, relatives, and family friends on Christmas or New Year ended up in some “future college fund,” which to this day, I’ve NEVER seen.

In short, money-in, but NEVER money-out.

One day, I broke this rule. So today, I'm going to tell you about how to survive any Korean mom’s roundhouse kick.

Just kidding. Well, sorta kidding. You’ll see what I mean…

Loophole against Korean moms

Books.

The one thing I could buy without incurring my sweet mom’s wrath.

I was in the 7th grade, I believe. There was this Kpop CD album that I REALLY, so badly wanted. To my good fortune, the CD came with a booklet.

“A BOOKlet is a kind of a book,” I justified in my head.

“Also, this is helping my Korean language education!” No question about it. My logic was air-tight.

But everything, my confidence and logic, instantly dissipated, when I bumped into my mom.

She held the CD album in her hands, eyes cocked.

“What is this?” She inquired.

….TO BE CONTINUED.

Disappearing act of American readers

A recent Gallup poll reveals a troubling trend: American adults, reflective of a global pattern, are reading fewer books each year.

This is bad news, both generally and personally. As an investor in search of exceptional entrepreneurs and businesses, I find it alarming.

Why alarming?

Consider this…

Some entrepreneurs build businesses not just for money, but to follow their dreams and make a unique mark on the world.

They aspire to be GREAT, not just “big,” and their vision and conviction have the power to transform not only the economy but also the very fabric of our lives.

I refer to these individuals as GREAT leaders. Icons like:

• Steve Jobs,

• Phil Knight,

• Warren Buffett, and

• Elon Musk

epitomizes this ethos

Not only did they achieve greatness themselves, but the companies they founded also rose to greatness, leaving an undeniable + lasting impact.

A common thread among these visionaries?

The love of reading books.

Despite their collective disdain for frivolous spending, they all invested heavily in personal development and were avid readers.

Much like my mom, who never hesitated to buy books for me, these GOATs (i.e., Greatest Of All Time) understood the transformative power of reading.

But if the current trend towards reading fewer books continues, we risk a future with fewer GREAT leaders—and consequently, fewer outstanding businesses to invest in.

Why books? Ask Abe & Albert

Abraham Lincoln is hands down my favorite US president. Back in college, I was so into him that I based my senior paper on his career.

Lincoln was a voracious reader. He devoured any book he could lay his hands on.

Legend has it that young Abe had only two books in his log cabin—Shakespeare's Macbeth and the King James Bible. And he read them over and over. This relentless re-reading sharpened his mind and his way with words.

There's this quote that keeps buzzing in my head:

Guess who said that? Albert Einstein. Yep, another GOAT.

It makes you wonder, doesn't it? How can you be a standout leader or build an amazing business if you're just parroting the latest trends?

Great leaders have to think beyond fads and be immune to mob prejudice.

Great leaders are TIMELESS.

Like time travelers they aren’t just participants in their era but navigators who connect epochs—drawing from the past, shaping the present, and inspiring the future.

Books make you hit the pause button and time travel. You walk in someone else's shoes, see the world through their eyes, and follow their reasoning. It's a slow and patient journey worth taking.

Building a One-Person Unicorn

Over the next five years, I predict we will witness the rise of at least ten One-Person Unicorns—startups valued over $1 billion, each owned and operated by a single individual.

These One-Person Unicorns will emerge globally, driven by the democratization of content creation in the creator economy, the automation capabilities of AI, and the decentralized finance models of crypto.

It will all stem from a distinct way of thinking—from a mind profoundly shaped by diverse and extensive reading.

Here's my logic:

• To be a unicorn, you must impact billions of lives.

• To impact billions of lives, you must think differently

• To think differently, you must time travel via book reading.

​Kai-Fu Lee, the Chinese VC and entrepreneur, has already built a One-Person Unicorn!

And guess what?

Yes, he's a heavy reader and prolific writer.

Great leaders are great readers

When I'm not investing or creating content, I am building my own business.

Currently, it’s in stealth mode serving only a handful of clients. Within the next few editions, I’ll surely be sharing with you more details about it.

But for now, I’m smiling as I imagine the headlines:

• David Yi, the American VC and entrepreneur, is the latest One-Person Unicorn!

We can all dream! Hahaha!

But if I’m to have an ounce of a chance of pulling off what Kai-Fu Lee did, then I also want to be an avid reader.

Let's level up one book at a time

My simple yet effective plan for winning and building a GREAT One-Person Unicorn is to read my way up and up.

In the past month, I’ve revisited:

• Good to Great by Jim Collins,

• Zero to One by Peter Thiel,

• Small Giants by Bo Burlingame, and

• Nudge by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler.

• Bible (the New Standard Revised Version & Common English Bible)

I see why Abraham Lincoln re-read the same books again and again. The second or third time through I am making stronger and more novel connections across different epochs/books.

It’s powerful stuff.

Until next time, keep turning the page and dreaming big.

...Kpop CD Saga (Continued)

"Mom this is gonna help me improve my Korean." I tried to be confident. "And see, it even came with a book...uh...booklet."

"How much was this?"

I knew it—I was gonna die.

"It was $5?" I lied.

"Think I'm stupid?" Her eyes were fired up. "You just gave up your integrity over, what, a dumb CD?!"

I wish I could tell you that I had some clever comeback. But I didn't.

My mom broke the CD in half and tossed the pieces into a trash can.

Throughout dinner, she was scary silent.

But HERE'S the silver lining: right after dinner, I intentionally picked up the thickest book in the house (War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy), made sure my mom noticed, went over to my desk, sat down, and started to read.

I sat there for hours. Never even got up to drink or pee.

"David, take a breather." My mother placed a glass of orange juice next to me. "Let's go buy you that CD tomorrow."

Books.

Powerful stuff. :)