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Sarah Friar

Technology finance and operating leader

Former Nextdoor CEO and Square CFO, appointed OpenAI CFO in 2024. Her annual reading selection is separate from an interview’s contextual book discussion.

Operator Technology

3Books recommended

1Book mentioned

Books Sarah Friar recommends

3 books, each linked to the source where Sarah Friar recommended it.

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Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

by Adam Higginbotham · 2019

Selected for planned or revisited reading in her annual list.

Recommended · Wording not verified Source: McKinsey

Evidence details

What executives are reading in 2019

Original annual selection for planned or revisited reading, not a claim that she finished it or personally praised it.

This text documents what the source says, but it is not verified as a word-for-word quote.

McKinsey · 2019-08-13 · accessed 2026-10-01

Article · Original contributed reading list

Named contributor and book selection in original annual article; upcoming/revisiting qualification retained.

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

by Simon Sinek · 2009

Selected in her recent favorite-books update.

Recommended · Wording not verified Source: Sarah Friar / Medium

Evidence details

Recent favorite books reading update

Friar’s own January 2023 post presents recent favorite books. This authored list is separate from her 2019 McKinsey planned-reading selection and 2023 Stanford contextual Range discussion.

This text documents what the source says, but it is not verified as a word-for-word quote.

Sarah Friar / Medium · 2023-01-29 · accessed 2026-10-02

Article · Original written source

Friar’s own January 2023 post presents recent favorite books. This authored list is separate from her 2019 McKinsey planned-reading selection and 2023 Stanford contextual Range discussion.

Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology

by Chris Miller · 2022

Selected as a positive technology-history read.

Recommended · Wording not verified Source: Sarah Friar / Medium

Evidence details

Recent favorite books reading update

Friar’s own January 2023 post presents recent favorite books. This authored list is separate from her 2019 McKinsey planned-reading selection and 2023 Stanford contextual Range discussion.

This text documents what the source says, but it is not verified as a word-for-word quote.

Sarah Friar / Medium · 2023-01-29 · accessed 2026-10-02

Article · Original written source

Friar’s own January 2023 post presents recent favorite books. This authored list is separate from her 2019 McKinsey planned-reading selection and 2023 Stanford contextual Range discussion.

Bookshop.org

Also mentioned

Sarah Friar mentioned or cited these books. They are not counted as direct recommendations.

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

by David Epstein · 2019

Discussed positively in the context of broad reading and career experience.

Mentioned · Wording not verified Source: Stanford Graduate School of Business

Evidence details

Sarah Friar on strategic career risks

Substantive contextual reading discussion, kept as mentioned because no reader instruction is given. Original institutional transcript; no independently verified spoken excerpt or validation of its thesis.

This text documents what the source says, but it is not verified as a word-for-word quote.

Stanford Graduate School of Business · 2023-12-12 · accessed 2026-10-01

Interview · Original institutional interview transcript

Named Friar reading discussion in the original institutional transcript, alongside Isaacson’s biography of da Vinci. Positive contextual reading, without a reader directive.