Every nine out of 10 startups fail in their first year.
Avoiding this fate may be hard, but not impossible. Certainly not when you are armed with the knowledge from these 30 best startup books for entrepreneurs.
As you might know from the countless lists of tips and tricks about startup survivability, reading is one of the easiest and fastest ways of learning from the experiences of others. The only problem is that too many books come out and you as a startup owner have limited time to decide which are the best startup books to read.
To make things easy for you, I decided to find the best books about startups and entrepreneurship. This is a growing list, so bookmark this article and come back in a couple of months to check out the new startup books on the list.
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Motivation and Leadership Books
The Fearless Organization
Author: Amy Edmondson – Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School
Category: Motivation and Leadership
Page count: 256
Key takeaway:
The Fearless Organization is, in the first place, about a psychologically safe workplace.
Amy Edmondson says that fear isn’t an effective motivator. On the contrary, the absence of fear to speak up with suggestions, concerns, or any work-relevant content can drive team collaboration and performance.
Entrepreneur’s review
Dmytro Okunyev, CEO and Founder of Chanty:
“The idea behind The Fearless Organization is topical as ever in today’s digital era, when businesses have switched to remote work mode and virtual communication tools.
Professor Edmondson explains that a safe and transparent environment for communication is a backbone of business success, because it defines the company’s power to spark creative ideas and innovate. She teaches you how to stimulate a sense of belonging, foster an inclusive workplace culture, humanize business processes, and enhance teams’ performance.”
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Author: Angela Duckworth – Professor of Psychology, Co-Founder of Character Lab
Category: Motivation and Leadership
Page count: 352
Key takeaway:
Does talent alone always guarantee successful business?
Nah-ah.
And Angela Duckworth proves it in her book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. In fact, all success stories have one characteristic feature she calls “grit” – a blend of passion and persistence.
Entrepreneur’s review
Kyle Clements, Founder and CEO of Quipli:
“As the Founder and CEO of a SaaS company, I have read my fair share of leadership and startup books for entrepreneurs that have helped me turn my business idea (all-in-one rental software) into reality.
The first attempts to build a startup are not always easy. But this guide gives you a clear understanding of how to use some minor hardships and failures as learning curves to remain strong and avoid major pitfalls in the future.”
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Start With Why
Author: Simon Sinek – Founder of The Optimism Company
Category: Motivation and Leadership
Page count: 256
Key takeaway:
Simon says: “Start with why” (pun intended).
No startup can stay afloat without the why-question.
How can you influence, inspire, and lead, if you don’t know why you do it?
In Start With Why, Simon Sinek describes The Golden Circle framework that can help you build a startup of your dream.
Entrepreneur’s review
Anthony Martin, Founder and CEO at Choice Mutual:
“This is the best motivational startup book for entrepreneurs planning to launch a business or currently putting the “first brick”. And it should be the why-you-do-it brick. Next come how-to-do-it and what-to-do bricks.
I read Simon Sinek’s book in 2012, just a year before my startup launch, and answered the main question: Why create my own final expense agency? Because I wanted to help families prepare for the future and ease financial burdens.
Inspired by such leaders as Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Ernest Shackleton, and others mentioned in the book, I put my vision into action.”
Startup Mistakes and Lessons Learned Books
Raising Eyebrows
Author: Dal LaMagna – Founder of Tweezerman
Category: Mistakes and Lessons Learned
Page count: 335
Key takeaway:
15 failed attempts led Dal LaMagna to a multi-million dollar company. You’ll read about all of them in Raising Eyebrows, one of the top books for entrepreneurs.
Mistakes and business failures are inevitable. But you should never leave room for despair and foster the fearlessness of expansion instead.
Entrepreneur’s review
Ron Apke, COO of Land Investing Online:
“Dal LaMagna, aka Tweezerman, is a guy who started his entrepreneurial career at the age of eight with raffle tickets, overcame numerous pitfalls, and built his cosmetics empire despite every challenge punching him in the face.
Wouldn’t you want to find out how he did that?
It’s a life story of mistakes and learned lessons from the entrepreneur who finally got it right. He largely concentrates on investing strategies and the idea that you should invest as much money as you can afford to lose.”
Business Lessons
Author: Herby Fabius – Founder of Billion Success Media
Category: Mistakes and Lessons Learned
Page count: 115
Key takeaway:
At some point, everyone fails.
The author of Business Lessons proves that failure isn’t the end of the world.
Herby Fabius interviewed bloggers, podcasters, tech startup creators, food and junk removal business owners, etc. to summarize their lessons in one entrepreneurship book.
Entrepreneur’s review
Nate Tsang, Founder & CEO of WallStreetZen:
“I’d call it a 3-20-30 book. Because you learn the three biggest mistakes, the twenty factors that cause failure, and the thirty takeaways crucial for effective business management.
The rocky roads are always ahead, but you can’t achieve financial freedom without trying and analyzing what you’ve experienced and discovered.”
The Other “F” Word
Authors:
John Danner – Professor of Entrepreneurship at Haas Business School
Mark Coopersmith – serial entrepreneur, faculty member at Berlin School
Category: Mistakes and Lessons Learned
Page count: 288
Key takeaway:
Failure is today’s lesson for tomorrow (Page 3)
The authors explain the seven stages of the failure value cycle to leverage or flunk failures:
- Respect
- Rehearse
- Recognize
- React
- Reflect
- Rebound
- Remember
You can easily create a failure-savvy organization with tools, resources, and frameworks from The Other “F” Word.
Entrepreneur’s review
Jarret Austin, Owner of Bankruptcy Canada Inc.:
“I always recommend this book to business owners who happen to be our clients. Danner and Coopersmith emphasize that bankruptcy is a symptom, not a disease. It can be cured. And you can see the “treatment methods” in the case studies of companies that filed bankruptcy, then got back in the saddle, and achieved immense success.
There are also examples of no longer existing brands and explanations why they couldn’t manage to climb on again.”
Business Growth and Management Books
Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life
Authors:
Jeff Hoffman – Co-Founder and ex-CEO of Priceline
David Finkel – CEO of Maui Mastermind
Category: Business Growth and Management
Page count: 280
Key takeaway:
If you’re searching for a book on how to scale and grow business quickly and effectively, look no further. Scale details the seven key principles on how to do that.
It focuses heavily on obstacles to scaling and offers actionable techniques that will help you overcome them. Additionally, you’ll find the Scale Tool Kit at the end of the book.
Entrepreneur’s review
Peter Monkhouse, Founder at ICL SA:
“As hyperbolic as it may sound, this book was a lifebuoy for me not to get drowned in the backwaters of the same-and-again strategies and business methods in blind manufacturing. It nudged me to reconsider the company’s range of products on the peak of the home automation hunt.
It’s an entrepreneurship handbook with practical pieces of advice on how to transform a company from a startup to a high-growth organization and how to use innovative ideas for customer acquisition in the modern economy.”
Do Open: How A Simple Email Newsletter Can Transform Your Business
Author: David Hieatt – Co-Founder of The Do Lectures and Hiut Denim
Category: Business Growth and Management
Page count: 160
Key takeaway:
Email marketing remains the king.
No matter what, it’s still one of the winning startup growth strategies. David Hieatt tested email newsletters himself and described his insights in Do Open. It’s a first-hand experience of focusing entirely on an email newsletter in marketing. He applied it to his jeans brand, Hiut Denim, and rocked the audience.
Entrepreneur’s review
Michael Nemeroff, CEO & Co-Founder of Rush Order Tees:
“A little book called Do Open by David Hieatt has restored my faith in the art of the newsletter. It’s a superb read for those entrepreneurs who’re skeptical about email marketing.
When I first heard of this book, I was like: Email newsletter? You must be kidding me? Usually, I don’t fall for such titles.
But I decided to give it a chance. And you know what? It was an email newsletter that helped us promote our custom t-shirts in the sports sector and establish an official partnership with the renowned basketball team, the Philadelphia 76ers.
Read Do Open, it’s worth it. Trust me.”
Million Dollar Consulting
Author: Alan Weiss –author of above 60 books on business and consulting, Owner of Summit Consulting Group, Inc.
Category: Business Growth and Management
Page count: 304
Key takeaway:
Houston, let’s not have the problem (Page 109)
And not to have one in business, you should bring the three essential things into focus:
- Passion (love what you do)
- Competency (be perfect at what you do)
- Need (identify the needs of clients)
Million Dollar Consulting is a great one-stop resource for everything you need to know about starting a business. It explains how to create a marketing strategy, build a strong clientele, raise finance, etc.
Entrepreneur’s review
Ben Michael, Practicing Lawyer and Founder of Michael & Associates:
“We are all consultants. That’s the truth of the twenty-first century that Alan Weiss reveals in his book, Million Dollar Consulting.
He lays out the relevant details you need in order to build a thriving company. Weiss also gives business owners all the information they require to prevail over the competition. Not being able to beat competitors effectively is one of the main causes startups often close down.
The author’s witty banter and informal style of explaining some serious concepts gets under your skin and you can’t help but read further on.”
New-age Startup Entrepreneurship Books (Published in 2022)
Straight Law Talk THE BOOK
Author: Daimeon Cotton – Managing Attorney at Cotton Law Center
Category: New-age Startup Entrepreneurship
Page count: 119
Key takeaway:
The COVID-19 outbreak provoked nearly everyone to turn into an entrepreneur. The problem is that some “newborn” entrepreneurs often face the legal pitfalls of launching an online startup (registration, licenses, permits, etc.), majorly because they don’t have the slightest idea of how to approach business from a legal standpoint.
Straight Law Talk THE BOOK breaks this unawareness wall. It also shows you a clear path to confidence, creativity, and passion in what you do.
Entrepreneur’s review
David Aylor, Founder & CEO at David Aylor:
“In his book for business founders, Daimeon Cotton emphasizes that if you want to be confident in the legitimacy of your business, you need to grasp certain laws and regulations first: licenses, liability insurance, taxes, etc. Business lawyers are always at your disposal, so no need to dive deep into those, but some fundamental knowledge is obligatory for a smooth start.
The author provides cases for both offline and online businesses. He tells you what you should do exactly, when your company gets sued, for example.”
The 7 Secret Keys to Startup Success
Author: David J. Muchow – Managing Partner at Muchowlaw
Category: New-age Startup Entrepreneurship
Page count: 368
Key takeaway:
How to legally shake the money tree, choose the smarter road to market your business, and reduce overall startup chaos?
Read The 7 Secret Keys to Startup Success and you’ll get all the challenges tackled under the guidance of an award-winning corporate lawyer, David J. Muchow. He speaks about the following aspects:
- Step-by-step startup plan
- Intellectual property protection
- Risk management
- Funding cycles
- Personnel management
- Marketing and sales strategy, and more
Manager’s review
Todd Saunders, General Manager at BIG Safety:
“It’s one of the new books on entrepreneurship for startup owners and leaders, specifically designed for those who want to learn how to set up a business from scratch in the modern era.
David Muchow walks you through every single detail in business management: from creating a board of directors to trademarks and patents to workplace safety and beyond. He also mentions legal documents needed for each stage. For example, Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules, or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.”
Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
Author: Tony Fadell – Principal at Future Shape, Founder of Nest Labs
Category: New-age Startup Entrepreneurship
Page count: 416
Key takeaway:
The NYT and USA Today bestseller, Build is an almanac and a reference-book of knowledge about unexplored realms of product management, web design, organizational culture cultivation, product promotion, and so on.
Entrepreneur’s review
Tomáš Ondrejka, Co-Founder & CMO of Kickresume:
“Working as a Senior VP of the iPod division at Apple, Tony Fadell learned the tastes and tendencies of Silicon Valley and shared his hard-won knowledge in his book Build.
I especially like the idea of radical reinvention that he brings to the entrepreneurial masses. Following Fadell’s real-life examples and experiences, we were inspired to try and implement resume and cover letter makers powered by artificial intelligence.
In a word, it’s a well-researched and data-driven guide slash autobiography that’ll give you an inspiration spark to fire up creativity and introduce great things to the world.”
Innovation Books
Testing Business Ideas
Authors:
David Bland – Founder of Precoil,
Alexander Osterwalder Co-Founder & CEO at Strategyzer
Category: Innovation
Page count: 368
Key Takeaway:
Did you know that seven out of ten new products/services don’t meet expectations of customers and that’s why they fail to succeed on the market?
In order to cut failure risk and harness your innovative potential, experimenting with an idea/product and testing in production becomes vital. You may select a proper test out of the 44 examples provided by the authors in Testing Business Ideas.
Entrepreneur’s review:
Demi Yilmaz, Co-Founder at Colonist.io:
“If you’re a founder-innovator, this book is a must-have for your bookshelf. Got it stuffed with other innovation startup books for entrepreneurs? Then you will need to move them a bit and find a place for Testing Business Ideas, because it can provide the most precise instructions you need to test, test, and test once again.
It’s a graphics-powered manual with cataloged tests and guidelines on how to execute them. Our team uses those systematically to test new game ideas and decide whether it’s worth moving forward and spending resources on them.”
Innovation Capital
Authors:
Co-Founders of Innovator’s DNA
Jeff Dyer – Professor of Strategy
Nathan Furr – Strategist at INSEAD
Curtis Lefrandt – CEO of Innovator’s DNA
Category: Innovation
Page count: 272
Key Takeaway:
What is innovation capital, why do you need one, and how to accumulate it?
The authors of Innovation Capital address each question in an in-depth manner.
They also reveal the seven persuasive tactics that drive impressions, lure investors for startup funding, and make people look at your innovation like at their so-much-wanted Christmas present:
- Broadcasting
- Storytelling
- Signaling
- Materializing
- Comparing
- Committing
- Fear of missing out (FOMO)
Manager’s review:
Agnes Brown, Content Strategist at BOILER WORK:
“Lefrandt, Dyer, and Furr are the greatest teachers who can help you develop and uplift your innovation capital – a sum of human, social, and reputation capitals. But for their suggested scheme to work, you need impression amplifiers. One of which is storytelling. Tell a powerful story and impress the audience with it.
You can learn from the top innovators who know how to do it properly. A part of the book is dedicated to interviewing the 25 superstar-leaders: Tesla’s CEO – Elon Musk, Adobe’s CEO – Shantanu Narayen, Salesforce’s Co-CEO and Co-Founder – Marc Benioff, and others.”
High Velocity Innovation
Author: Katherine Radeka – Founder of Rapid Learning Cycles Institute
Category: Innovation
Page count: 256
Key takeaway:
High Velocity Innovation is an extensive explanatory note on how to use agility in product development to your benefit and achieve product-market fit faster. Katherine Radeka also lists some systems and tools for startups to implement the high velocity innovation method more effectively.
Entrepreneur’s review
George Tsagas, Owner & Founder of eMathZone:
“The book is a must-read for hardware and software entrepreneurs. It features a paradigmatic method for product creation and illustrates how to adapt the Agile practices to the environments with high cost-of-change.
The Rapid Learning Cycles framework breaks innovation work into fast and short experimentation cycles. It may be applied to any mockups, prototyping, and build-test-fix loops.”
Zero to One
Author: Peter Thiel with Blake Masters
Category: Innovation
Key takeaway:
Peter Thiel takes an unconventional approach to building startups. The common approach is to iterate the same idea and launch it to a different market segment. The usual ideas tend to be about the next WhatsApp, Facebook, or a “new and better” Microsoft.
In his book Zero to One, Peter says these clones already exist in the market and making a new clone won’t take you further up the innovation ladder. When people repeat the ideas, they take the innovation level from one to ‘N’. But doing something that isn’t done before takes the world from zero to one.
The Innovator’s Dilemma
Author: Clayton M. Christensen
Category: Innovation
Key takeaway:
The Innovator’s Dilemma is one of the best books for entrepreneurs as it changed the state of corporate America. Surprising, isn’t that? It simply asked:
‘Why do businesses fail even after doing everything right?’
And explains the answer…
It has remained a best seller for over a decade and is written especially for entrepreneurs, managers, and CEOs, sharing wisdom and warnings for businesses.
Founders at Work
Author: Jessica Livingston
Category: Innovation
Key takeaway:
The game runners at Apple, Microsoft, Google, and even Whatsapp were just a bunch of folks like you. Today, they are founders of multi-billion dollar companies.
What led to this change? How did they manage to convince investors to back their ideas? Did they make any mistakes? If so, how did they recover? Founders At Work is a collection of interviews with the founders of top tech companies that answer these questions.
Crossing the Chasm
Author: Geoffrey A. Moore and
Category: Innovation
Key takeaway:
Want to read the bible for bringing tech products to progressively larger markets? Crossing the Chasm is the book for you. It provides new insights into the realities of high-tech marketing with special emphasis on the internet. The book is a must-read for anyone with a stake in the world’s most exciting marketplaces.
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Screw it, Let’s do it
Author: Richard Branson
Category: Innovation
Key takeaway:
Sir Richard Branson is the CEO of Virgin group of companies. He heads more than 400 companies and in this book, he reveals his secrets, of life and business. If there is one lesson that he wants you to learn by reading Screw it Let’s do it, it is: If you believe it can be done, try and try again until you can do it. It is undoubtedly, one of the best books about startup and entrepreneurship.
Start Something That Matters
Author: Joan Salge Blake
Category: Innovation
Key takeaway:
Learn from a man who never worn shoes but started the fastest-growing footwear company. Blake Mycoskie shares his story of how he build a multi-billion company in less than ten years and brought a new business model of success in his book: Start Something That Matters.
Never Too Late to Startup
Author: Rob Kornblum
Category: Innovation
Key takeaway:
Is it even possible to break free from the corporate race? – Most employees in the middle of the career often think this $100M question.
Never Too Late to Startup by venture capitalist Rob Kornblum is one of the best books for entrepreneurs as it answers the above question by interviewing a dozen mid-life founders. It is a great business book for an entrepreneur that tells how you can find a great idea, how to lower the risk of starting a business, and how to get ideal co-founders for your business.
Team Management Books
Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
Author: Ed Catmull
Category: Team management
Key takeaway:
Ed Catmull has been associated with Pixar throughout his career. He knows firsthand how to grow a newly launched animation studio into an instantly-recognized global brand by embedding creativity within the company’s culture. During his tenure, Pixar launched some of the most popular movies including Toy Story, Incredibles, Monsters Inc. and many others.
In the book Creativity, Inc, Catmull writes about creative strategies that you can add to your organizational structure through simple changes and create goals that bring all the employees on a unified path to success.
Good to Great
Author: James C. Collins
Category: Team Management
Key takeaway:
Good to Great reveals why are some companies achieve greatness in the long-term while others don’t. Are there any special characteristics that lead to this kind of growth? Jim Collins answers these questions in a compelling way by connecting the successes of previous companies and analyzing their traits.
Start with Why
Author: Simon Sinek
Category: Team Management
Key takeaway:
Why some organizations are more innovative than others? What is common among their managers? The book ‘Start with Why’ answers these and other questions through examples from the past. It analyzes the personality of Steve Jobs, Martin Luther, and Wright Brothers, highlighting the similarities in the personalities that eventually lead to success.
SuperBosses
Author: Sydney Finkelstein
Category: Team Management
Key takeaway:
What do football coach Bill Walsh, restaurateur Alice Walter, and tech CEO Larry Ellison have in common? How were they consistently successful in their respective industries?
The answer is… by finding, nurturing, and leading great people.
Superbosses explores the personalities of the world’s most effective bosses and how they motivate and inspire others. Their talent doesn’t just make them successful, or robust organization builders, but what Finkelstein calls ‘Super bosses.’
Product Management Books
The Lean Startup
Author: Eric Ries
Category: Product Management
Key takeaway:
Most startups fail when they focus more on the ‘other stuff’ rather than the company profits. The other stuff includes flash marketing strategies like too much customer care, team fortification and market-competitive employee compensation (even with little money in the bank).
Eric Ries gives examples of how to avoid all the common mistakes that wipe the startup’s budget and start the downward spiral of the business in his book The Lean Startup.
Hooked
Author: Nir Eyal
Category: Product Management
Key takeaway:
Why some products skyrocket while others fail? What habits make people successful and what drown them? Nir Eyal answers these and many other questions in Hooked. The book is an explanation of Hook Model, a four-step process that simplifies the recipes of retaining customers.
The E-Myth Revisited
Author: Michael E. Gerber
Category: Product Management
Key takeaway:
Michael Gerber is considered the number one guru for small businesses. In this book, he teaches how to dispel the myths that surround a small business and ways to make them profitable. The book: The E-Myth Revisited further sheds light on why franchising will be a better option and why you need to avail it.
Finally, it explains one overlooked difference between working in the business and working on the business.
The $100 Startup
Author: Chris Guillebeau
Category: Product Management
Key takeaway:
Want to lead a life full of adventure, meaning, and purpose while earning a good living? The $100 Startup is for you. It shows how to travel around the world while earning a consistent living and supporting your life and journey.
There are many people like Chris Guillebeau who have found ways to opt out of the traditional web of employment that surrounds us. They pursue a meaningful life after finding a perfect blend of passion and consistent income. And, it isn’t dependent on the work you do on regular basis. He describes how to start small with your venture and take the real plunge when you are sure it will be successful.
The Power of Broke
Author: Daymond John and Daniel Paisner
Category: Product Management
Key takeaway:
Daymon John started from a $40 budget selling home-sewn shirts on the streets. Today he is one of the most prominent investors and the founder of Shark Tank, real-life American investment show. John shares his own story of how he had to think of an out-of-the-box idea to create a campaign that will eventually lead to the sale of his shirts and how that same thinking made him a successful entrepreneur of the 21st century. His inspiring story is in this book called The Power of Broke
How to Transform Your Ideas into Software Products
Author: Poornima Vijayashanker
Category: Product Management
Key takeaway:
How to make people pay for the products even before they are built? This book tells people how to build sellable products by turning their passion into a living. Poornima Vijayashanker shows the right roadmap for launching a winning software product.
The Startup Owner’s Manual
Author: Steve Blank
Category: Product Management
Key takeaway:
If you ever wanted a toolkit for launching a startup, The Startup Owner’s Manual is the go-to book for you. The book features proven processes of business modeling and customer development to build scalable companies.
It further sheds light on creative strategies that can help find the product-market fit and grow customer-base using any possible means.
Running Lean
Author: Ash Maurya
Category: Product Management
Key takeaway:
We are building more products than ever and most of them fail. This doesn’t happen because we can’t compete but because we waste money on the wrong products. Running Lean tells us about a systematic process for quickly vetting the product ideas and working on those that truly matter.
Growth Hacking Books
Explosive Growth: A Few Things I Learned While Growing My Startup To 100 Million Users & Losing $78 Million Kindle Edition
Author: Cliff Lerner
Category: Growth Hacking
Key takeaway:
Have you ever invested $75 million on your startup and then lost most of it while trying to grow and scale your business? And, then suddenly your startup’s stock prices soared and then you sold it for a HUGE profit? For Cliff, life has been a roller coaster ride. And he has explained about it all in his startup book ‘Explosive growth’.
This startup book is a real gem for all store owners who would like to know the life of an entrepreneur. Cliff advises that the startup journey is filled with ups and downs and one startup founder should be prepared for all that before he/she walks that path.
Undoubtedly, Explosive Growth is a best-seller on Amazon. It combines storytelling with genius growth tactics that a startup founder would need to overcome whatever may come in this path. It wouldn’t be wrong to call it an entrepreneur’s guide book for anyone who would want to step-up their game and take their growth to the next level.
What you will learn in this startup ebook:
– How to get EXPLOSIVE GROWTH
– What is a REMARKABLE PRODUCT and how to create one?
– Only THREE METRICS that can be a game-changer for your business
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
Author: Atul Gawande
Category: Growth Hacking
Key takeaway:
We always strive for betterment. Better education, better skill-set, better job, better income… and we still fail. Atul Gawande makes a compelling argument stating that we can do better using the simplest methods, and simplest skill sets.
He calls it the ‘checklist.’
Through analogies, inspirational stories, and thought-provoking incidences in his book he narrates how checklists can help us improve, bring about a striking change in our mindset, life, and the field of work. And that going for ‘better’ isn’t always necessary.
The Four Steps to the Epiphany
Author: Steve Blank
Category: Growth Hacking
Key takeaway:
The Four Steps to the Epiphany offers a practical four-step solution for streamlining customer development process for startups. It is the first book that launched the Lean Startup approach for new ventures. The startups CEOs should realize that they are not smaller versions of large companies. Rather, they operate under a very different business model. The book presents concrete examples on how to take your startup to the next level, and what approaches should be taken for that purpose.
Traction
Auhtor: Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
Category: Growth Hacking
Key takeaway:
Indeed one of the best books for entrepreneurs!
Most startups don’t fail because they can’t build a successful product. They fail because they can’t get traction. Traction isn’t about how well marketed a startup is, but how many customers it is acquiring on a regular basis, or if free, how many users.
Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares share their experiences of building a successful company. They say it isn’t about how cleverly you market or how much money you raise, but how much you can grow. Traction ensures that you are on the right path.
The 7 Day Startup
Author: Dan Norris
Category: Growth Hacking
Key takeaway:
Ever heard of sustainable cash flowing business that was just made in seven days? Dan Norris did and he reveals his secrets in the 7-Day Startup book.
Dan’s business is now worth $400,000 and bringing recurring revenue.
The Third Wave
Author: Steve Case
Category: Growth Hacking
Key takeaway:
The Third Wave is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller that provides a compelling roadmap for understanding the technological changes in our economy. It also provides ways in which businesses can successfully tap into these strategies to become more profitable.
Steve Case is the co-founder of AOL, the first internet company to go public in early 1990s. He provides insights on the importance of entrepreneurship and charts a path for future innovators. It is considered as one of the best books on entrepreneurship.
The Art of the Start
Author: Guy Kawasaki
Category: Growth Hacking
Key takeaway:
Starting a business, or starting a new branch of the same business? The Art of the Start is your guide to starting things right. Guy Kawasaki documents the whole journey in a simple way while highlighting the important aspects of business
Fund Management Books
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Author: Ben Horowitz
Category: Fund Management
Key takeaway:
Ben Horowitz, the co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz shares the insights gained from developing, managing, and selling tech companies. The book The Hard Things About Hard Things is based on his blog where he advices leaders through the insights he gained during his career. In the book, Horowitz discusses the right time to take decisions like job slashing, selling a company, making big changes in the structure, and provides answers to other managerial problems.
Will it Fly?
Author: Thomas K. McKnight
Category: Fund Management
Key takeaway:
Before investing a single dime ask ‘will it fly?’
Find out the 44 key elements required for a business to become successful. These 44 key elements were studied from 200 businesses at the time of their launch and provided to you in the shape of a well-written book called Will it Fly. This is a must-read book for investors, VC firms, and stakeholders who invest in new startups.
Venture Deals
Author: Brad Feld
Category: Fund Management
Key takeaway:
Each new generation of entrepreneurs is keenly interested in knowing how venture deals work so that they can gather more investments for their startups by pitching it the right way. But no one can understand it better than the people who are already involved in it.
In all the versions of Venture Deals, Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson share essential elements of the venture capitalism. Both have more than 20 years of experience in the field and have been involved in hundreds of venture capital financing.
Mastering the VC Game
Author: Jeffrey Bussgang
Category: Fund Management
Key takeaway:
Pitching your startup to the investors for the first time? Learn how to prepare the perfect pitch and stay confident during your pitching session. The book, Mastering the VC Game provides practical advice gathered from interviews with a dozen of successful entrepreneurs and VCs.
The Power of Habit
Author: Charles Duhigg
Category: Productivity
Key takeaway:
One amongst the many best entrepreneurship books “The Power of Habit” reveals how we can transform our businesses and our lives by changing a few behavior patterns in our lives. Business experts call it the ‘essential manual for business and success.’ It takes the reader from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to the middle of Civil Rights movement to the sidelines of NFL.
Business Books
Warren Buffet – a man who requires no introduction once said, “The best investment you can make is an investment in yourself. The more you learn, the more you earn.” There are many ways to learn and enlarge your world. Love of books is the best of all.
The best business books train your imagination to think big. Reading is to mind what exercise is to the body. The more you read, the more you’ll know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go. There are 4 business books I believe every entrepreneur must read in order to expand their horizons and scale their business effectively. They are:
The 4-Hour Workweek
Author: Tim Ferris
Category: Business
Key takeaway:
The best way to describe the author Tim Ferris is that he’s a digital Indiana Jones. The 4-hour workweek was the book which put him in the limelight. His book is a documentation of how Tim removed himself from his own organization in order to learn and travel the world.
The 80/20 rule or the Pareto principle is given quite an importance in this book. Most people measure productivity by the time they spend working. However, that’s not a good indicator. Tim suggests we should be more effective rather than being efficient. To do so, we must focus and execute 20% of our tasks that can get 80% of the results.
It is one of the best business books for entrepreneurs and you must get your hands on it as soon as possible.
2. Success Is in Your Sphere: Leverage the Power of Relationships to Achieve Your Business Goals
Author: Zvi Band
Category: Business
Key takeaway:
This book for businesses is written by Zvi Band is a step-by-step guide on how you can leverage the power of relationships to your business’ best advantage.
In his book, the author states that the most cost-effective and high-return strategy to new, recurring, or referral business is via the existing professional network which doesn’t comprise your social media “friends” or “connections”.
The best value this book provides is the Capital strategy of relationship-building tactics. The Capital strategy refers to:
Consistency: Develop healthy habits to build stronger relationships
Aggregate: Build a database of your professional circle
Prioritize: Order based on who can help
Investigate: Collect information on the most important ones
Timely Engagement: Design a steady outreach flow
Adding Value: Offer more than simple follow-ups
Leverage: Execute more effectively
3. Game-Time Decision Making: High-Scoring Business Strategies from the Biggest Names in Sports
Author: David Meltzer
Category: Business
Key takeaway:
This book by David Meltzer will help you make your business decisions with the same confidence as one of the world’s best sports coaches. During pressure, great coaches remain focused, confident, and completely in charge of their roster. They always win because they have a strong command over their decision-making process. This business book will help you through the process of:
- Compiling a pro team with diverse skillsets
- Building a positive mindset that holds the power to overwhelm your competition
- Developing a strong sense of awareness of “the playing field”
- Not making the same mistake twice by learning from failures
- Strategizing your business for both offensive and defensive approaches
4. Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
Author: Donald Miller
Category: Business
Key takeaway:
Donald Miller – New York Times best-selling author shares the seven universal elements of powerful stories in his book to teach how you can improve your methods to connect with your customers and grow your businesses.
His process is a proven solution to the struggle many businessmen face. His revolutionary method of connecting with customers offers the ultimate competitive advantage. It reveals the secret of helping customers comprehend the compelling benefits of using your products.
Despite whether you’re a director of a multibillion-dollar company or the owner of a fresh startup, this business book will change the way how you portray yourself and the unique value you can offer to your customers.
Escape Pitfalls With the Best Startup Books
If you have scrolled this far, till the end of the list, you’re a toughie. And it’s time for you to pick at least one of the best business startup books. They’ll help you learn how to avoid barriers and difficulties and lead your company to success.
Would you dare to read all of them and grow your business beyond limits?
Or perhaps you have already read some of these books on entrepreneurship. Tell us about your reading experience in the comments section below.
If you want to read books about ‘startup marketing’ specifically, then we have also compiled a list of best startup marketing books
We hope you liked this list of best startup books. If you did, then share it with your friends who are struggling with their startups.
Or perhaps you have already read some of these books on entrepreneurship. Tell us about your reading experience in the comments section below.
Arsalan Sajid
Arsalan, a Digital Marketer by profession, works as a Startups and Digital Agencies Community Manager at Cloudways. He loves all things entrepreneurial and wakes up every day with the desire to enable the dreams of aspiring entrepreneurs through his work!
