Naiyya Saggi on what she learned from these books

Naiyya Saggi is co-founder and board member of Good Glamm Group and also founder of parenting platform BabyChakra. The Harvard Business School (Fulbright and Tata Scholar) graduate was previously a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. and The Bridgespan Group (Boston) and is also a qualified lawyer from the National Law School in Bangalore. She launched Baby Chakra in 2015. It merged with MyGlamm in July 2021, with Saggi joining MyGlamm as co-founder, president and board member. Saggi tells us about her three favorite books, why she loved reading them and what she learned from them, in her own words.

Photo credit: Instagram of Naiyya Saggi

Winning Middle India by Bala Srinivasa and TN Hari

Staying in our air-conditioned offices, we don’t know how people live. The book gives a very sharp and insightful look and is also an excellent study of how the 500 million people of central India work, shop, purchase decisions and lifestyle. It also contains a chapter on trust and how when central India faced a trust deficit, some entrepreneurs were able to bridge this gap.

Founders at work by Jessica Livingston

This is one of the first books I read at the start of my entrepreneurial journey. It gives you insight into the early days of founders who built epic companies. So whether it’s PayPal, Hotmail, AirBnb and so many others, the book is full of fascinating details and information, as well as the personal and professional challenges they’ve been through. It’s a great look behind the scenes.

No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

Reed is a legend. The book tells us how Netflix was built, through a culture of innovation and their approach to creating talent density and how people thrive in an open atmosphere. An important point covered in the book is how Netflix reduced controls because they supported an environment of innovation. What Netflix has been able to build is very inspiring.