Books Recommendations on Investing by School of Intrinsic Compounding (SOIC) - Intermediate

SOIC (School of Intrinsic Compounding) is a leading Indian education platform founded by Ishmohit Arora and a team of dedicated analysts. Their mission is to empower retail investors through in-depth investing education, financial research, and practical resources, with a special focus on fundamental analysis and value investing. 

I have been a subscriber to their channel for the last 3 years. Part 1 of Books Recommendations on Investing by School of Intrinsic Compounding (SOIC) is already published on the blog. SOIC frequently shares top book recommendations to build a strong foundation in investing and personal growth. 

Here is the list of SOIC-recommended books for experienced investors:

Decision Making and Behavioral Finance

1. Thinking in Bets – Annie Duke – Decision making under uncertainty using betting frameworks.
2. Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin To Munger – Peter Bevelin – Behavioral and evolutionary insights into investing.
3. Poor Charlie's Almanack – Edited by Peter D. Kaufman – Wisdom and mental models from Charlie Munger.
4. Damn Right!: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger – Janet Lowe – Investment journey insights from Charlie Munger.
5. The Most Important Thing – Howard Marks – Investment philosophy emphasizing risk and psychology.

Value Investing and Stock Selection

1. The Tao of Warren Buffett – Mary Buffett and David Clark – Buffett's philosophies and value investing principles.
2. The Warren Buffett Way – Robert Hagstrom – Buffett's investment strategies and principles.
3. 100 Baggers – Christopher Mayer – Identifying stocks with massive long-term growth potential.
4. Margin of Safety – Seth Klarman – Investing with safety buffers to minimize risk.
5. Beating the Street – Peter Lynch – Tactics for stock picking and beating the market.

Financial Analysis and Accounting

1. Financial Shenanigans – Howard Schilit – Detecting accounting fraud and irregularities.
2. Romancing The Balance Sheet – Anil Lamba – Understanding financial statements with fresh perspectives.
3. Best Practices for Equity Research Analysts – James J. Valentine – Conducting high-quality research.
4. Bad Money: Inside the NPA Mess and How it Threatens the Indian Banking System – Vivek Kaul  – Overview of banking sector risks in India.

Growth and Compounding

1. The Joys of Compounding – Gautam Baid – The exponential growth power of compounding.
2. You Can Compound – Vivek Mashrani – Practical strategies for compounding money.
3. Investing for Growth – Terry Smith – Strategies focused on growth stocks and capital appreciation.
4. Of Long Term Value And Wealth Creation – Bharat Shah – Principles for sustainable wealth generation.

Investment Theory and Market Principles

1. What I Learnt About Investing From Darwin – Pulak Prasad – Evolutionary principles applied to investing.
2. A Random Walk Down Wall Street – Burton Malkiel – Stock market investing basics and efficient market hypothesis.
3. The Little Book of Valuation – Aswath Damodaran – Simplified valuation methods for investments.

Books Recommendations on Investing by School of Intrinsic Compounding (SOIC) - Basic

SOIC (School of Intrinsic Compounding) is a leading Indian education platform founded by Ishmohit Arora and a team of dedicated analysts. Their mission is to empower retail investors through in-depth investing education, financial research, and practical resources, with a special focus on fundamental analysis and value investing.

I have been a subscriber to their channel for the last 3 years. SOIC frequently shares top book recommendations to build a strong foundation in investing and personal growth. Here are some books endorsed and discussed by the SOIC team:

Behavioral Finance and Psychology

1. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini – Explore the psychology behind influence and persuasion.
2. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg – Understanding habit formation and change.
3. Atomic Habits — James Clear – Building effective habits for success.
4. The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova – Exploration of probability and psychology in poker and life.
5. The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel – Behavioral influences on financial decisions and money mindset
6. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman – How intuitive and deliberate thinking shape decisions.

Creativity, Productivity, and Growth

1. Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense by Rory Sutherland – Creative thinking and the unexpected power of ideas.
2. Deep Work by Cal Newport -  Techniques to enhance focus and productivity.
3. 10x is Easier than 2X by Dan Sullivan  – Strategies for exponential growth in business and life.
4. Principles by Ray Dalio – Key principles for economic success and personal growth.
5. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson – Wisdom and advice from entrepreneur Naval Ravikant.

Economic, Historical, and Scientific Perspectives

1. Factfulness by Hans Rosling – A data-driven view on global development and health.
2. The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver – Making sense of complex data and predictions.
3. How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region by Joe Studwell – Economic insights into Asia's development model.
4. Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization by [Author] – The critical role of raw materials in the modern world.
5. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari – Human history is shaped by revolutions in cognition and society

Philosophy and Mindset

1. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl – Reflections on finding meaning in life.
2. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius – Stoic wisdom on resilience, discipline, and personal leadership growth

The Takshashila Institution’s Booklist You Can’t Afford to Miss!

The Takshashila Institution is an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit centre specialized in research and education in public policy, based in Bangalore, India. The institution stands out because it bridges expert knowledge and influential networks, producing independent policy research and fostering rich public discourse to strengthen India’s intellectual engagement.

Why do their book recommendations matter? Simply put, following Takshashila Institution’s book recommendations is important because they are curated by leading scholars and policy practitioners deeply engaged in India’s socio-economic and strategic challenges. 

Books authored by the Takshashila Institution faculty 

1. Missing In Action: Why You Should Care About Public Policy — Pranay Kotasthane & Raghu S. Jaitley (2023)
2. When the Chips Are Down: A Deep Dive into a Global Crisis — Pranay Kotasthane & Abhiram Manchi (2023)
3. We, The Citizens: Strengthening the Indian Republic — Khyati Pathak, Anupam Manur, Pranay Kotasthane (2024)
4. A Visible Hand: Essays on the Intersection of Economics, Politics, and Society — Anupam Manu

Book recommendations by the Takshashila Institution faculty

1. From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation: The Challenge for India  —  Rishikesha Krishnan
2. The Strategy Trap: India And Pakistan Under the Nuclear Shadow — Lt. Gen. Prakash Menon
3. If Then: How One Data Company Invented the Future — Jill Lepore
4. Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies — Michael Signer 
5. The Republic of Beliefs: A Radical Approach to Economics — Kaushik Basu
6. Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny — Edward J. Watts
7. The War That Ended Peace — Margaret MacMillan
8. Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud — Peter Watson
9. Maxwell’s Demon: Why Warmth Disperses and Time Passes — Harvey S. Leff & Andrew F. Rex
10. They Made What? They Found What? by Shweta Taneja
11. Space. Life. Matter.: The Coming of Age of Indian Space Research — Various Authors 

Additional  Resource: Discussion Documents & Working Papers

• The Geopolitics of Indian Talent — Satya Sahu, Vanshika Saraf, Adya Madhavan, Rijesh Panicker & Arindam Goswami (2025)
• Recent Trends and Future Trajectories in Geo-Economics — Anisree Suresh, Arindam Goswami, and Rakshith Shetty (2025)
• The Techno-Economic Impact of the Israel-Hamas War — Aditya Ramanathan, Pranay Kotasthane, Sarthak Pradhan, and Satya Sahu (2024)
• A Framework for Governing Emerging Technologies — Bharath Reddy and Shambhavi Naik (2025)

Effective Capacity Building for Agri-institution Personnel: Tools and Techniques

The training titled "Effective Capacity Building for Agri-institution Personnel: Tools and Techniques," organized by MANAGE (National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management), was aimed at enhancing the competencies of agricultural extension personnel. Dr. Srinivasacharyulu Attaluri, Deputy Director (Knowledge Management) at MANAGE, is a key resource person involved in such capacity-building initiatives.

Brief: The agricultural landscape is undergoing rapid transformation due to the rise of agri-startups that introduce novel approaches for capacity building by Training Institutions while working with farmers in India. MANAGE, EEIs, SAMETIs, SAUs, ICAR Institutes, and KVKs all conduct capacity building, skill development, and technology transfer activities for extension personnel and farmers. They deliver similar content independently, leading to duplication and overlapping of the efforts too.

Book Recommendation: The recommended book, titled "What Every Extension Worker Should Know: Core Competency Handbook" is a comprehensive reference manual created by USAID, Michigan State University, and MEAS (Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services)

Learnings

Innovation requires interactions and information flows among a wide range of actors within the innovation systems through digital technologies. Skill development is a short-term effort focused on improving specific abilities at the individual level, while capacity building is broader and more comprehensive. Capacity building develops people, organizations, and systems for long-term success through skills, governance, partnerships, and resource management. 

Techniques for Capacity Building 

World Café: A participatory group process modeled on butterfly movement and pollination. Participants rotate between small-group tables, sharing and cross-pollinating ideas. This helps generate creative insights, collective intelligence, and actionable outcomes in extension training, simulating the natural pollination processes for spreading and enriching discussions

Visual Facilitation: Engagement strategy using diagrams, mind maps, and visual storytelling during training sessions to simplify complex ideas, promote group learning, and stimulate creative thinking

Design Thinking: Design thinking infuses extension training with creative problem-solving by focusing on user needs, rapid prototyping, and testing. It encourages innovative approaches to addressing farmer challenges, service delivery, and system improvement

Tools for Capacity Building 

1. New Extension Learning Kit - GFRAS

This toolkit contains digital resources and modules for agricultural extension workers. Topics include gender in advisory services, risk mitigation, climate adaptation, rural evaluation, youth mentoring, nutrition-sensitive extension, e-extension, and entrepreneurship. 

2. Micro-Learning / Mobile Learning

Micro-learning delivers short, focused lessons (typically 3–10 minutes) via mobile or digital platforms. These modules are easily accessible, often use videos, infographics, and quizzes, and allow for self-paced, on-demand learning. 

3. MOOCs (agMOOCs and NAARC)

MOOC platforms like agMOOCs by MANAGE and NAARC offer free, open, and flexible courses for lifelong agricultural education. 

4. iGOT KarmaYogi 

This government platform provides online training content and courses for extension professionals. The iGOT KarmaYogi platform is exclusively meant for government officials and civil servants. Access requires registration using an official government email ID or other credentials linked to government employment. 

5. National Skills Qualification Framework - ASCI

ASCI’s skills framework supports modular courses in dairy, fisheries, animal husbandry, farm modernization, and commodity management. ASCI e-Learning Zone is a gateway to agricultural skill development.

*Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) portal offers a variety of free online courses and skill development programs across multiple sectors, including agriculture. 

6. Agri Games

Agri games offer interactive, gamified modules for learning agricultural concepts like nutrient management. They boost engagement and help users gain practical knowledge through play and simulation

7. Blended Learning – ICAR-IASRI

This platform centralizes digital learning resources, including LMS (Learning Management System), AR/VR studios, video conferencing, online assessments, interactive whiteboards, and learning courses. It aims to increase knowledge retention and learner engagement across agricultural universities.

8. ECHO Platform

The ECHO platform, originally designed for health extension, is indeed being adapted for agriculture and other sectors by integrating resource persons, resource materials, trainers, and creating analytics in a virtual learning environment. 

9.VR/AR-Based Learning

Virtual reality modules such as fish dissection, hydroponics, seed lifecycle, and irrigation are used for immersive, hands-on training at specialized experience centers.