5 Must-Read Books for Strategic Engineering: Recommendations from Damian Naglak

At Appliscale, we believe that being a great engineer or leader isn’t just about mastering a specific programming language but about understanding the systems, incentives, and frameworks that drive the entire industry.

Damian Naglak, a key voice in our engineering leadership, shares a curated list of books that have shaped his approach to decision-making, product development, and the complex world of AdTech (btw check out our recent interview with Damian and 12 questions on AdTech). From the mechanics of the advertising ecosystem to the "paranoid" discipline required to scale a startup, these five titles offer a masterclass in strategic thinking.

1. Principles: Life and Work – Ray Dalio

"This is a fantastic book and probably one of the most influential ones for me," says Damian. While Dalio comes from the world of high-stakes finance, his approach is deeply algorithmic. He views life and business as a series of machines and outcomes that can be studied and optimized.

Damian highlights the book’s focus on systematic thinking, radical transparency, and building decision-making frameworks that improve over time. For engineers and leaders, this book is a guide on how to operate based on structured reasoning rather than impulse. It’s about "debugging" your own logic to ensure that when you face a problem for the second or third time, your "operating system" handles it better than before.

2. Yield: The Story of AdTech – Ari Paparo

For anyone working in high-performance distributed systems, the AdTech industry is often the ultimate proving ground. However, the technical "how" is only half the story. Yield provides the "why."

Damian considers this a must-read for everyone serious about advertising technology (our CEO Michał Nieć also recommended this book). "It’s a wealth of industry knowledge told through the story of how AdTech evolved," he explains. By tracing the history of the ecosystem, the book explains why the current market structure exists and how technology intersects with complex financial incentives. It provides the necessary context to understand why certain protocols (like RTB) or shifts (like the move away from cookies) are so disruptive.

3. The Startup Owner’s Manual – Steve Blank

It is a common trap for engineers: spending months building a "perfect" system only to find out that nobody wants it. Steve Blank’s classic is the antidote to that mistake.

Damian recommends this as a practical guide for engineers who want to shape products, not just write code. The book focuses on "Customer Development"—the process of validating user feedback before a single line of code is committed to a permanent roadmap. "It’s about avoiding wasting time and building fast based on validated feedback rather than assumptions," Damian notes. It encourages disciplined experimentation and iteration, ensuring that technical effort always translates into user value.

4. Zero to One – Peter Thiel

In a world of "copy-paste" startups and incremental improvements, Zero to One challenges readers to think about vertical progress.

Damian appreciates the book’s focus on building something fundamentally new rather than competing in crowded, commoditized markets. Thiel argues that the greatest value is created by "monopolies"—companies that do something so uniquely well that no one else can offer a substitute. "It is a strong reminder that innovation is not just about making things 10% better; it’s about doing something fundamentally different," Damian says. It’s a call for engineers to think about long-term competitive advantage and the unique value their technical choices can create.

5. The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz

Most management books focus on how to do things right when everything is going well. Ben Horowitz focuses on what to do when everything is falling apart.

Damian highlights this book for its honest, "no-nonsense" look at leadership during crises, tough decisions, and the messy reality of scaling teams. "It highlights the reality behind building companies and why execution and resilience matter far more than theory," he says. Whether you are managing a production outage or a pivot in company strategy, Horowitz’s experiences provide a raw look at the "wartime" mindset required to lead through uncertainty.