History of computing and semiconductors

The Soul of a New Machine

“Must-read for anyone in a product development or a startup environment.”Mohnish Pabrai

Hackers

“Steven Levy's 1984 history of the first hacker generation shaped Andreessen's self-conception of what software builders are. He has recommended it as the founding myth of the culture he operates inside — the origin story of why information wants to be free and why the best builders ignore institutional authority.”Marc Andreessen

Where Wizards Stay Up Late

“He recommends it for its focus on the early pioneers (1950s-1980s) who built the modern internet.”Chris Dixon

The Dream Machine

“Waldrop's biography of Licklider is a recurring Andreessen recommendation for understanding the ARPA-funded origin of interactive computing and the internet. It shows how visionary government research patronage — distinct from industrial policy — can seed genuinely transformative platforms decades later.”Marc Andreessen

The Innovators

“Gates reviewed Walter Isaacson's history of computing pioneers on GatesNotes and noted the accuracy of the portraits of people he knew personally. He praised the book's central argument—that collaboration, not lone genius, built the digital age—as a correction to the mythology that surrounds the field.”Bill Gates

The Information

“Gleick's history of how humans learned to store and transmit information — from African drums to Claude Shannon's theorems — is the kind of deep-time framing Andreessen gravitates toward. He has cited it as essential for understanding why software is categorically more powerful than prior general-purpose technologies.”Marc Andreessen