For EntrepreneursA curated list of the 30+ most powerful books for entrepreneurs. Yes, you. The innovator, the startup founder, the creative. All book suggestions are sourced directly from people like you on Reddit, forums, and the 'How to Start a Startup' Facebook group.All books have a bite-sized summary and some of them are ready to read as PDF's.
A Whole New Mind by Daniel PinkA Whole New Mind: 'Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future' is about right-brainers living in a world of alpha left-brainers. Pink argues that we're moving from an Information Age to a Conceptual (creative/inventive) Age, because of: abundance, (Asia; left-brained work is outsourced since it is commoditized/cheaper), and Automation (things that are solved by a strict set of rules are being crunched by microchips). He argues that in the coming age those with more inventive minds will be more valued. Dan describes what he calls the "Six Senses ." 1) Design--making things not only functional but engaging by design; 2) Story--developing a compelling narrative from the data; 3) Symphony--seeing the big picture and gathering seemingly desperate parts into a harmonious whole; 4) Empathy--fostering caring relationships with our family, friends and colleagues at work; 5) Play--the need to have fun at whatever you do; 6) Meaning--seeking purpose and the greater good seems to define us uniquely as humans.
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey MooreCrossing the Chasm: 'Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers' is an exploration of how technology adoption follows a normal distribution. Moore's shows you how to take a technology or idea from its early days to mainstream success. The key is in the attitudinal differences between members of the Early Adopters and the Early Majority. The early adopters are Technologists and Visionaries, and can see the possibilities of what a technology represents. They are more willing to play with new technologies (in the case of Technologists, it's a geek thing, in the case of visionaries, it's about pushing the limits). In order to continue to grow the business beyond this early set of customers you have to prove your value to the pragmatists that make up the Early Majority who want to go with a proven leader. This is the crossing of the chasm, the shift from the Early Adopters to the Early Majority. This is where a ton of companies fail.
Start with Why by Simon Sinek"Start With Why" is a must read for any entrepreneur or leader struggling to create a long-term vision and guiding principles for their company or cause. You'll learn that the most important thing you can do as a leader is to figure out why your company or organization exists and why that should be meaningful to people in society. Once the answer to this becomes clear and you believe it in your heart, the rest of the decisions about what to do and sell and how to do it become infinitely easier. Sinek explains that while your product's features may be replicated and commoditized, no one can copy the kinship and confidence that your customers feel when doing business with you. This is because those feelings come from intangible values and beliefs that only you share with your customers.The book explains the Golden Circle concept, which shows business leaders how to inspire instead of manipulating customers or employees to act. It all starts with WHY.
Work the System by Sam CarpenterWork the System: 'The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less' is about how our entire world operates based on systems, from nature to the human body to successful businesses. 99.9% of things go right when the system works. The problem is when you or a business are not on a system you spend your time running around putting out "fires" and dealing with small troubles instead of solving the root of the problem."The problems you encounter are really caused by system failure. Your job is to create systems that cause you to get the results you desire in life and at work. If you are a manager or business owner these systems must be documented on paper and be a working and changing tool that all employees agree on. When problems arise you determine what system failed and correct it.
Rework by Jason FriedRework is unlike most business books, both in its brevity and message. The biggest lessons include:- Don't take outside investment
- Don't try to grow indefinitely
- Don't always listen to your customers
- Scratch your own itchRework is a reality check for yourself and your business.
Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo EmersonSelf-Reliance is an essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. It has the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's recurrent themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas. It is the source of one of Emerson's most famous quotations: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." This book is definitely useful for entrepreneurs even if it was published in 1888.
The Founder's Dilemmas by Noam WassermanThe Founder's Dilemmas: 'Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup' is based on Noam Wasserman's class called "Founder's Dilemmas" at Harvard Business School. It has become a "must-take" session for founders & entrepreneurs. The book outlines a series of make-or-break decisions that founders make when embarking on their ventures. Noam analyzes the fundamental trade-offs such as when to found a company, who to found it with (if anyone), how to determine roles and responsibilities, equity splits and many more sensitive issues.This is a serious book for a serious endeavor: creating a company from scratch that can be a world-beater and life-changer. Featuring the founders of Twitter, Pandora and others.
Different by Youngme MoonDifferent: 'Escaping the Competitive Herd' is about the way you see the world, markets, and companies. It will teach you how the market is likely to see you, how to position yourself in the market, and It will teach you how to play to your strengths. Different is appealing to absolutely anyone who has ever walked down a cereal aisle and pondered why and how we make purchase decisions.
Getting Real by Jason Fried, 37SignalsGetting Real is a must read for all marketing professionals - especially those in product management. The essence of the 37 Signals design principles can be summed up nicely in a quotation by Steve Jobs' who stated about iTunes - "We don't want a thousand features. That would be ugly. Innovation is not about saying yes to everything. It's about saying NO to all but the most crucial features." The book is full of great advice about how to optimize productivity in the software design and development process. Examples include avoid meetings; don't write functional specs; public betas are no good; and use real words in design prototypes instead of the typical lorem ipsum.
The Hard thing about Hard Things by Ben HorowitzEntrepreneur and venture capitalist Ben Horowitz has written a 21st century management manual. It's derived from his personal experiences. He refined his thinking and expression from blogging. The result is a book that can be a useful companion, in his words: "providing clues and inspiration for others who find themselves in the struggle to build something out of nothing." It's a reminder of a reality that can be easy to overlook when facing a "hard thing" that only you can fix: you are not alone.
The Lean Startup by Eric RiesThe Lean Startup: 'How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses' is about a variety of entrepreneurial situations from traditional, physical businesses to those only existent on the web. It focuses on getting a minimum viable product to the market, then receiving customer feedback along the way to improve the product and pivot (take a new approach) if necessary. This is in contrast to the old way of doing business where a product is fully launched backed by extensive market research. This method can be successful, but it costs a lot of money, pivoting is difficult, and failure can harm the bottom line.
The Art of The Start by Guy KawasakiThe Art of the Start: 'The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything' focuses on entrepreneurship and key points about starting a business, bootstrapping, and pitching new ideas to potential investors. It is honest in telling how it is starting a business and the rough road of dealing with VCs (venture capitalists). Every chapter begins with the GIST of it, an overview of what's to come. Each ends with FAQ, frequently AVOIDED questions, to review the chapter's content.
Purple Cow by Seth GodinPurple Cow: 'Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable' is spot on. If your business is not unique, it will be invisible. Marketing an invisible business is tough. Godin manages to clarify a simple, very important idea that most business owners overlook. It gets you to really start thinking creatively, to really start thinking out of the box. Also very helpful are the numerous actual case studies of businesses who have in their own way found a Purple Cow.
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Running Lean by Ash MauryaRunning Lean: 'Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works', is a concise guide that helps you take immediate action in using lean startup and customer development principles. The book opens with a brief chapter on the principles behind Lean Startup and Customer Development. Ash shows when and how to use methods for activities like: business model planning, interviewing customers, setting up tests for hypotheses, pricing, determining your Minimum Viable Product (MVP), forming hypotheses and conducting tests.
Meditations by Marcus AureliusMeditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161–180 CE, setting forth his ideas on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the Meditations in Koine Greek as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. These writings take the form of quotations varying in length from one sentence to long paragraphs.
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A Guide to the Good Life by William B. IrvineA Guide to the Good Life: 'The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy' briefly discusses the history of Stoic philosophy and its relationship to other philosophies in ancient Greece and Rome. It goes over the practical aspects of Stoicism, including negative visualization (visualizing how your life could be worse), dichotomy of control (what we can/cannot control), fatalism (past/present, not the future), self-denial (putting off pleasure to appreciate it more), duty (what we owe others), social relations (how we relate to others), insults (how to react), grief (how to deal), anger (how to turn it to humor), personal values (how to deal with fame/fortune, or lack thereof), old age (how to deal with), and dying (how to prepare for this certainty).
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The $100 Startup by Chris GuillebeauThe $100 Startup: 'Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future' is about "microbusinesses": tiny, one- or two-person operations that maximize freedom and generate roughly $50,000 per year. Much of the advice will benefit solo creatives who rely on strong online presences. (Chris himself makes a living from writing, blogging, and selling digital guides.) This book demonstrates that you do not need to go into debt to start a profitable and meaningful business.
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Four-Hour Work Week by Tim FerrissThe 4-Hour Workweek: 'Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich' has very important lessons for entrepreneurs:
1. Don't accept large or costly favors from strangers
2. You don't have to recoup losses the same way you lose them
3. One of the most universal causes of self-doubt and depression: Trying to impress people you don't like
4. Slow meals = life
5. Money doesn't change you; it reveals who you are when you no longer have to be nice.
6. It doesn't matter how many people don't get it. What matters is how many people do.
7. Do not invest in public stocks where I cannot influence outcome
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The 10X Rule by Grant CardoneThe 10X Rule: 'The Only Difference Between Success and Failure' has some very valuable lessons:
1. Instead of blaming the economy for down sales, blame your activity level for being too low
2. Become omnipresent
3. Seek to dominate your market instead of being competitive (similar to what Peter Thiel says about creating a Monopoly).
4. We underestimate the activity level required to get results
5. 10x thinking + 10x action
6. Set your goal to be 10x greater than you think you need
7. Plan to take 10x the actions you think you need
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The Hidden Persuaders by Vance PackardThe Hidden Persuaders explores the dark world of advertising and the effects it has upon our minds. Written originally in 1957, most of its material is still relevant today. Everyone should read this book, at least to become familiar with its theme, and to increase personal awareness of the underlying messages our minds are exposed to every day. Packard will help you understand virtually hundreds of ways corporations get you to give away your hard earned money readily. He explains not only how companies make you tick, but why they make you tick.
What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 by Tina SeeligWhat I Wish I Knew When I Was 20: 'A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World' is a strong reality check to the "Follow your Bliss" mentality. Tina says, "It's important to know whether you're putting energy into something that has the potential to pay off. This is one of life's biggest challenges...it's always a mammoth challenge to separate your desire to make something work from the reality of the probability that it will work." The book helps you look at what isn't working in your career and turn it around to your benefit. If you are going to take the high-risk/high reward road, only do so if you're willing to live with all the potential consequences. You should fully prepare for the downside.
Without Their Permission by Alexis OhanianWithout Their Permission: 'How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed' is written by about Alexis Ohanian (co-founder of Reddit). It is the story of internet freedom through his personal projects and observations. This book is primarily for those who are just thinking to create a start-up and need someone prominent to tap them on the shoulder and say: you can do it boy! It has tons of start-up tips and inside advice from Y Combinator, Reddit and Hipmunk.
Hooked by Nir Eyal w/ Ryan HooverHooked: 'How to Build Habit-Forming Products' is about products which have the global population "hooked". If we look at these products from the lens of the Hooked framework, a common pattern is apparent. Many who use these products can list out some of the ways in which user engagement loops have been constructed. But to think about such mechanisms from a common framework requires finding patterns and validating them.Further, the framework is not just useful for post-facto analysis but also for designing new products. Since this is a generic framework, it cannot list out specifics - user motivations, psychology - for all possible problem domains. But it can help arrive quickly at how to approach the design for the problem domain you are attacking.
Good to Great by Jim CollinsGood to Great: 'Why Some Companies Make the Leap... And Others Don't' is about the difference between good companies and great companies. This study can be applied to Startups and to corporate America. Some key points:1) Growth in most companies only came after many years of trying to adapt a concept into something the company truly believed in.
2) Great managers worry more about getting the right people on board and the wrong people off board BEFORE they establish a corporate strategy.
3) Most great CEOs came from within their own ranks.
4) Executive compensation didn't appear to be a key driver of corporate performance
5) The respective great companies exceeded the overall stock market in creating shareholder value by at least 3x during their 15 year run measured.
6) Technology accelerated a transformation but was regarded as a tool. It didn't define the company.
7) M&A activity played virtually no role in going from good to great.
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
This is a fascinating journey into the life of the amazing Apple founder. We get a real sense for what it must have been like to be Steve, or to work with him. Born out of wedlock, he was an American icon and born of a Syrian Muslim. Adopted at birth by working class parents, he became skeptical of the Church and alternated between being a believer and a non-believer. He was, at different times, a vegan and a fruitarian (hint: the name Apple). Jobs was influenced by the counter cultural ideas of the 60's and the 70's (yet became one of the most revered corporate figures of all time). He was a multi-billionaire who lived on a regular street with no high fenced compound, security or live-in servants; a Zen Buddhist who was obsessed with Zen-like simplicity; a son who tried to abandon his child like the way he had thought he was abandoned; a leader who was highly demanding of his colleagues and coworkers; a vastly influential figure in computing. Jobs gave Isaacson complete freedom to write the book and Jobs didn't demand editorial control. He didn't even want to see the book before it was published. And it shows. You see Jobs as he was. This is Jobs' last gift to those of us who admired his vision of the world, but wondered about the essence of the man behind it all.
Paul Graham's EssaysPaul Graham is an English programmer, venture capitalist, essayist and the founder of Y Combinator, a top seed capital firm /seed accelerator in the United States. Y Combinator provides an investment of $120,000 seed money, advice, and connections at two three-month programs per year. In exchange, they take 7% of the company's equity. As of 2013, Y Combinator has funded over 500 companies in over 30 different markets. Paul's collection of essays (via his site) are an important resource for entrepreneurs. One thing he does very well is provide a framework for considering an issue. Often, this is the structure needed to think more deeply about an issue and come up with better-formed, more coherent arguments and positions.
The Power of Habit by Charles DuhiggThe Power of Habit: 'Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business' is about how people succeed when they identify patterns that shape their lives--and learn how to change them. This idea--that you can indeed change your habits--draws on recent research in experimental psychology, neurology, and applied psychology.Duhigg looks at the habits of individuals, how habits operate in the brain, how companies use them, and how retailers use habits to manipulate buying habits. This provides fascinating research and stories, such as the fact that grocery stores put fruits and vegetables at the front of the store because people who put these healthy items in their carts are more apt to buy junk food as well before they leave the store. Duhigg says "you have the freedom and responsibility" to remake your habits. "The most addicted alcoholics can become sober. The most dysfunctional companies can transform themselves. A high school dropout can become a successful manager."
Made to Stick by Chip HeathMade to Stick: 'Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die' is about creating sticky ideas. It is chock full of case studies and startling research. The Heath brothers lay out the critical elements of a sticky idea which are: 1. Simplicity 2. Unexpectedness 3. Concreteness 4. Credibility 5. Emotions and 6. StoriesAlthough these six elements seem like common sense, they are under-applied in business communication. The authors state it well-- "Business managers seem to believe that, once they've clicked through a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their conclusions, they've successfully communicated their ideas. What they've done is share data."
inGenius by Tina SeeliginGenius: 'A Crash Course on Creativity' is about finding creativity. Tina's model of the 'Innovation Engine' has six components: culture, attitude, imagination, resources, knowledge, and habitat. In a proper engine, each part is necessary but not sufficient - take one small valve or bearing out and the engine grinds to a halt. But in most environments that want to foster innovation and creativity, we often see several components that are inadequate or missing altogether. Tina says that it is important to focus on creativity and to Focus on workspace design (creating a workplace habitat to foster imagination)
Hackers & Painters by Paul GrahamHackers & Painters: 'Big Ideas from the Computer Age' is about a range of topics centered on computers. Why nerds are unpopular at school, and what this demonstrates about our eduction system; why program in Lisp; the importance of "startups", programming languages and web development are all touched on. Even wealth creation and unequal income distribution. The title essay is the second in the collection and provides an interesting look at hacking and some lessons we can learn by analogy to the work and life of Renaissance painters, particularly in how it is done and how it can be funded. The third, "What You Can't Say" is social commentary on heretical thinking. Four, "Good Bad Attitude" is on the benefits of breaking rules, both in life and hacking. Five, "The Other Road Ahead", is an excellent look at web based software and why it offers benefits to both user and developer with Graham examining some lessons he learnt while building ViaWeb. Six, "How To Make Wealth", is a look at becoming wealthy and how a 'startup' might be the best way to do it. The seventh, "Mind The Gap", is an argument that we should not worry so much about 'unequal wealth distribution' and why it might actually be a good thing.
Zero to One by Peter ThielIn all of my travels and conversations with business minded people I have gotten a feeling that startups are all dependent on the market, on current trends, and on the success of others. Entrepreneurs all over throw around jargon like 'pivots' and 'MVPs' (Minimum Viable Products). What everyone forgets is how many of the greatest entrepreneurs out there had a huge disregard for these "rules".These entrepreneurs believed that they could change the world by creating spectacular new products or services through careful planning as opposed to listening to focus groups or copying what others are already doing. They went from zero to one instead of going from one to nth.This is what Peter Thiel argues in this book. You should focus on creating something so revolutionary that is it is a quantum leap for society. There will be no other Steve Jobs with a new Apple, no Bill Gates with a new Microsoft, no Larry Page with a new Google. These are all monopolies and that is what you want to create. Something new and innovative.
Think Like a Freak by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner.Thinking like a child is not so bad after all. The whole backbone of the book is built on ‘Thinking Like a Freak’ (obviously alluding to the frame of thought inspired by their first book, 'Freakonomics'). They suggest breaking down problems to the core concepts and asking bizarre and often childlike questions to come up with what they claim to be extraordinary results. Easy right? Turns out that we sometimes get so caught up with our ego, titles, and experience that we fail to see the fundamental (guilty as charged). This keeps us from asking the most basic questions or suggesting crazy and out-of-this-world solutions like a child would. No titles? Crazy ideas? Strange questions? Who in their right mind would do this? Turns out there are plenty of people out there doing this.Big Innovation lives right on the edge of ridiculous.
One chapter is dedicated to analyzing how ‘experts’ are no better at making predictions than a blind horse but everyone claims to know what lies in the future of business, finance, or more. Dubner and Levitt go over the benefits and negative aspects of claiming to be all knowing. Admitting you ‘don’t know’ more often is best.
This is a mix of thought provoking business lessons similar to The Lean Start-up by Eric Ries and the powerful storytelling found in David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell. Storytelling is a powerful tool to use. Full summary here.
The Facebook Effect by David KirkpatrickThis is the story of how Facebook really began. Kirkpatrick, a scrupulous journalist, who was encouraged to write the book by Facebook's controversial founder, gives a detailed play-by-play of how Facebook amassed half a billion users. He provides a fascinating history of how the company was built, and manages to touch upon most of the controversies surrounding it. But, perhaps because of the access given to him by Zuckerberg, the founder and not-so-benevolent dictator running the company, he avoids any substantial critique of the actions and motivations of the facebook management team. Possibly because of the book's timing - it must have been completed in April or so - he doesn't address the company's most recent issues and, most importantly, he provides little insight to help the reader understand Zuckerberg and why and how he manages to get himself into so much trouble, particulary around the topic of user privacy, though we get plenty of anecdotes about his behavior and maturation. There is also very little reflection about where Internet advances, as exemplified by facebook, will take our economy or society.
Work Rules! byWork Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead is about the little nudges that you can set-up in your life that can push you in the right direction. Laszlo, who is SVP of People Operations at Google, goes in depth into the tactics they apply at Google to have their people live longer and healthier lives. One tactic they started testing in their cafeterias and break rooms was to place unhealthy food such as candy in opaque containers and placed fruits and healthier snacks in clear glass containers. This led to the decrease in consumption of unhealthy calories. This looks like it will be a very interesting read for those entrepreneurs looking to improve their work culture or find life hacks for themselves.
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