The family office space is filled with interesting people who have access to many facets of the world because of the nature of the business. These renaissance men and women like to stay curious about a range of subjects spanning the arts and sciences. In this column, we ask three simple questions to industry heavyweights: What are you reading, watching and listening to?
Tommy Mayes is the managing director and executive adviser at SunGate Capital, a single-family private equity and investment office. He focuses on investment and governance matters and works with executives and management teams for their portfolio companies.
What are you reading?
I have a few things I read daily or weekly:
Morning Brew – Great news review, no editorial! And funny sometimes.
As for books, I’m currently reading The Making of a Generalist by Vikram Mansharamani. I met him in a small group Zoom and was fascinated by his story.
I’m currently listening to an audiobook The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. It’s a really interesting concept — we pursue comfort, but in fact we perform better when challenged!
Next up for me is The Fourth Turning Is Here by Neil Howe.
Also, Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. It’s amazing, truly! Listen to it on Audible as he is the reader/narrator. It will surprise you.
Musk by Walter Isaacson gives perspective on the external persona we hear about through the media.
The Long Game by Dorie Clark is a reread for the second time. This one will make you think about how you spend your time and who you spend it with!
I love military fiction. I just finished the Red Storm Series (six books) by James Rosone and Miranda Watson. It is like they predicted the future of global affairs!
My all-time top 10, both fiction and otherwise:
- Atomic Habits by James Clear. I read three times.
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek. Almost all of Sinek’s work could be on the list.
- Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
- One Second After by William R. Forstchen. The series is good, but scary.
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
- Good to Great by Jim Collins.
- Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
- Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim.
- There is No Plan B for Your A Game by Bo Eason.
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel.
What are you watching?
"The Crown". Katie, my wife, talked me into it, and now I am hooked. Really well-done and historically interesting. There is too much content out there! Hard to watch it all.
What podcasts are you listening to regularly?
"Capital Allocators" with Ted Seides
"Lex Friedman Podcast". His Bezos interview is great!
"How I Built This with Guy Raz".
Investors First Podcast — Orlando CFA Society. A friend of mine started this a few years ago, and they get great interviews.