best biography books for entrepreneurs

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The 25 Best Business Biographies For Entrepreneurs 2024

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Entrepreneurs and founders must constantly adapt and learn from every possible source, and books are no exception.

This is especially true for business biographies, as they tend to be personally written by the most powerful and game-changing people in the business world.

Below there’s a list of the best 25 business biographies, carefully picked to satisfy everyone’s taste.

25 Best Business Biographies

1) alibaba: the house that jack ma built.

Name of book : Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built

Description of the book : This excellent entrepreneur biography tells the ultimate story about the world-famous Chinese entrepreneur and founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma. 

The author, Duncan Clark, was an early advisor to Jack Ma in early 1999 when Alibaba was founded. You can read everything about Jack Ma, his breakthrough idea, and the impact it made in the e-commerce sector.

Entrepreneurs can also read about the humble beginnings of Alibaba, how Jack overcame his Silicon Valley rivals, and the story of Alibaba’s domination, with 80% of the market share. 

Author : Duncan Clark

Length : 304 pages

‍Notable quote : “Customers first, employees second, and shareholders third.”

2) Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

Name of book : Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

Description of the book : Onward is an excellent entrepreneur biography that presents the story of the popular coffee brand Starbucks and how they managed to stay on ‘top of their game’ during the 2008 crisis. 

The former CEO Howard Schultz describes his return after 8 years and the methods he implemented afterward. 

The biography offers a deep look at how Howard overcame all odds during the most challenging economic times in history and how Starbucks saved its soul and regained its profitability without sacrificing anything.

Author : Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon

Length : 350 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Beverages have to be created. And they’re created by looking at what trend is in, say, the fashion industry – what color’s hot right now.”

3) Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography

Name of book : Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography

Description of the book : Steve Jobs is a well-presented entrepreneur autobiography regarding one of the most influential founders ever. The book is based on over 40 interviews with Steve Jobs, his family members, and colleagues. 

You can see how Steve Jobs got his ideas and how he rose above the challenges throughout time. Walters shows how Jobs revolutionized multiple industries, including music, animated movies, phones, and tablet computers.

As an entrepreneur, you will undoubtedly find this book quite helpful as it shows Steve's methods and work ethic during his journey and how to maintain your sanity during extreme times.

Author : Walter Isaacson

Length : 627 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “You should never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and making a company that will last.”

4) Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE

Name of book : Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Description of the book : Nike’s CEO and founder Phil Knight decided to open up and tell his story behind one of the most iconic brands today, Nike. 

His idea to sell high-quality and cheap-priced shoes imported from Japan was born in 1962. Knight shares all details from his journey, including obstacles he overcame, risks he took, and the sacrifices made for Nike to become what it is today.

You can also read plenty about the first partners and relationships with his employees, proving to us that everything is possible through teamwork and loyalty.

Author : Phil Knight

Length : 400 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Let everyone else call your idea crazy... just keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where ‘there’ is. Whatever comes, just don’t stop.”

5) Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Name of book : Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Description of the book : Have you ever wondered how Rockefeller gained his reputation and wealth? Well, award-winning biographer Ron Chernow explored that subject and wrote a book about it, too. 

Titan shows the impressive story behind the most controversial family in the US and their place in history. Chernow tells us a detailed story about John D. Rockefeller, Sr, and his ruthless methods and ethics that made him the world’s first billionaire.

You can clearly see how Rockefeller founded the most powerful and feared monopoly in American history, Standard Oil , all the way to his demise at the behest of President Teddy Roosevelt.

Author : Ron Chernow

Length : 832 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Success comes from keeping the ears open and the mouth closed”

6) Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony

Name of book : Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony

Description of the book : Made in Japan takes you on a journey behind Sony Corporation , from its co-founder, Akio Morita. 

As one of the best entrepreneur biographies, you can take a deep look at Japan’s business techniques and methods and how the Japanese think, which can be priceless information for founders.

The story narrated by the authors is centered on how Sony was built, from its humble beginning after World War II to its meteoric post-war rise as the most influential company for music entertainment, and multimedia.

Author : Akio Morita , Edwin M. Reingold and Mitsuko Shimomura

Length : 352 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Curiosity is the key to creativity.”

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7) The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

Name of book : The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

Description of the book : The Everything Store is the definitive biography of Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos. Brad Stone narrates the story of Jeff Bezos’s corporate culture and the methods he implemented at Amazon . 

You will read what it took for Jeff to build this company and how he changed how we shop and read... Forever!

Author : Brad Stone

Length : 384 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Some of these investments will pay off, others will not, and we will have learned another valuable lesson in either case.”

8) Sam Walton: Made in America

Name of book : Sam Walton: Made in America

Description of the book : This is considered one of the greatest entrepreneur biographies because it describes the origin story of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart and Sam’s Club . You will read how Sam founded the biggest retail stores in history and the largest private employer in the world. 

The authors clearly state what it took for Sam to create Walmart and what techniques he used in that process. Also, you will read about all methods regarding the planning and hiring process that attracted many workers. Today, Walmart is the largest corporation in terms of revenue.

Author : Sam Walton and John Huey

Length : 346 pages

‍Notable quote : “Great ideas come from everywhere if you just listen and look for them. You never know who’s going to have a great idea.”

9) Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Name of book : Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Description of the book : Ashlee Vence presents the detailed life of Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX . It gives you a deep look into Musk’s ideas and innovations about the future he envisioned. Everything changed when Elon sold PayPal and shifted his focus on future investments, like clean automobiles and space programs.

Musk’s story is used to explore the question: can inventors still compete in today’s fierce global competition?

Author : Ashlee Vence

Length : 392 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Good ideas are always crazy until they’re not.”

10) The Snowball; Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

Name of book : The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

Description of the book : The Snowball presents the story of Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors in history and the founder of Berkshire Hathaway Holdings.  

Alice Schroeder narrates this well-read CEO biography about the life of Warren Buffett and the idea to create a holding company that owns stocks in multiple famous corporations like Coca-Cola, American Express, and Apple.

As an entrepreneur, you will find important information about Warren’s secrets despite living in privacy for most of his life.

Author : Alice Schroeder

Length : 960 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre.”

11) Morgan: American Financier

Name of book : Morgan: American Financier

Description of the book : One of the best business biographies, Morgan gives you a never-before-seen insight about J. Pierpont Morgan, one of the greatest investors in US history. 

In this book, you will read how Morgan reorganized the nation’s railroad and appointed himself as a one-man central bank. The author also guides the reader into Morgan’s life outside his business.

Author : Jean Strouse

Length : 816 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing of a vague difficulty into a specific, concrete form is a very essential element in thinking.”

12) Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles

Name of book : Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles

Description of the book : Here, There and Everywhere is one of the best business biographies regarding The Beatles chief engineer, the man responsible for their unique sound. 

Geoff Emerick describes his journey from the start of The Beatles in 1962, all the way to their meteoric rise to the top. In the book, you will find out how Geoff pioneered innovative recording techniques and how he achieved the sound of their most famous songs that changed rock music forever.

As an entrepreneur, you can learn that starting at a young age can be the best move you can make - just like Geoff did when he was 15 years old!

Author : Geoff Emerick

‍ ‍Notable quote : “It was down to me—not George Martin, not anyone else—to turn the Beatles’ new vision into a reality.”

13) Bloomberg by Bloomberg

Name of book : Bloomberg by Bloomberg

Description of the book : Bloomberg by Bloomberg is the origin story of Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg L.P. 

Written by Michael himself, this book takes us deep into Bloomberg’s life and his idea of creating his own company after he got fired at the age of 39.

Throughout the book, readers will learn more about his creative mind and the challenges he faced at Wall Street , all the way up to founding the fastest-growing media empire on Earth.

Author : Michael R. Bloomberg

Length : 272 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : If you're going to succeed, you need a vision, one that's affordable, practical, and fills a customer need. Then, go for it.”

14) Carnegie

Name of book : Carnegie

Description of the book : Carnegie takes us on a journey into the life of Andrew Carnegie, one of the major figures in American history. 

Peter Krass describes the origin story of the titan who made his fortune through the steel industry and how he used the wealth upon his retirement.

The readers can take a look at how Andrew influenced the world’s political stage and the way he founded the largest and the most profitable steel industry on the planet. As a founder, you will learn how Andrew became one of the biggest philanthropists in the world, despite his notorious reputation.

Author : Peter Krass

Length : 612 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “The poor enjoy what the rich could not before afford. What were the luxuries have become the necessities of life. The laborer has now more comforts than the landlord had a few generations ago.”

15) Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company

Name of book : Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company

Description of the book : Every manager must understand that eventually everything changes. This is the critical point in Only the Paranoid Survive by former Intel CEO Andrew Grove. 

The charismatic innovator narrates his story in Intel and how he helped the company to remain the largest chip producer. Readers will discover the strategic inflection points or SIPs Andrew faced in his career and how he beat the Japanese competition.

Only the Paranoid Survive can be the ultimate lesson about leadership skills, which you can benefit almost instantly.

Author : Andrew S. Grove

Length : 224 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Only the Paranoid Survive.”

16) iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It

Name of book : iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It

Description of the book : Take a deep look into the creation of Apple and the first personal computer, brought to you by the charismatic Steve Wozniak. 

In iWoz , you will read about the early starts for Wozniak and the idea behind Apple . Narrated by Steve himself, he presents details about his personal life like never before and describes his groundbreaking idea to combine the first real personal computer named Apple I . 

Authors : Steve Wozniak and Gina Smith

Length : 313 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “The world needs inventors--great ones. You can be one. If you love what you do and are willing to do what it really takes, it's within your reach. And it'll be worth every minute you spend alone at night, thinking and thinking about what it is you want to design or build. It'll be worth it, I promise.”

17) My Life and Work: Autobiography of Henry Ford

Name of book : My Life and Work; Autobiography of Henry Ford

Description of the book : Published in 1922, this entrepreneur autobiography gives you the slightest details regarding Ford’s beginnings, the strategies he used to revolutionize the automotive industry, and how he got into the business.

Henry Ford guides the reader through his history and his own business philosophy used to create Ford Motor Company. 

Author : Henry Ford

Length : 204 pages

‍Notable quote : “There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail

18) Commodore: The Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

Name of book : Commodore: The Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

Description of the book : This is the detailed story about Cornelius Vanderbilt, the forefather of modern American business. 

Readers will find out how Cornelius built his fortune and his vision to turn New York into the financial capital we see today. This book sheds light on Cornelius’s private life from previously unreleased articles.

Author : Edward J. Renehan Jr.

Length : 364 pages

‍Notable quote : “Never tell anyone what you are going to do till you have done it.”

19) Jack: Straight from the Gut

Name of book : Jack: Straight from the Gut

Description of the book : Many readers would agree that this book is one of the best business biographies. The authors will introduce you to the life of former General Electrics Chairman and CEO Jack Welch. 

You will find out how Jack managed to run one of the biggest corporations of our time in a robust economic era in the US.

Authors : Jack Welch , John A. Byrne , and Mike Barnicle

Length : 496 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : "There is no straight line to anyone's vision or dream."

20) Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

Name of book : Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

Description of the book : Written directly by former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, this entrepreneur biography contains detailed information and tips on how to manage your company. 

Entrepreneurs and founders will read about Tony’s early start and learn the creativity he used to run Zappos to the top of its industry.

Author : Tony Hsieh

Length : 246 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “I had decided to stop chasing the money, and start chasing the passion.”

21) Iacocca: An Autobiography

Name of book : Iacocca: An Autobiography

Description of the book : Let’s dive into the automotive world once again. Lee Iacocca, the former legendary President at Ford and Chairman at Chrysler, is the man behind this book . 

In this entrepreneur biography, Lee guides the reader from his humble beginnings and working at Ford and how he saved Chrysler Corporation from bankruptcy during the 1980s. 

Lee presents his vision and how he came up with the idea to create the Mustang , one of Ford’s famous models.

Authors : Lee Iacocca and William Novak

Length : 357 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Get all the education you can then go out and do something - do anything.”

22) American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company

Name of book : American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company

Description of the book : American Icon gives us a magnificent story about Ford Motors and its turnaround of the leadership from its CEO Alan Mulally. 

The book explains how Alan managed to save the company in the 2008 crisis, upon rejection of financial help from the government. 

Alan implemented the methods he used in Boeing , reorganized Ford’s management, and turned the corporation into the largest automotive producer during those difficult times.

Entrepreneurs can read this book and see what plans Alan used to prevent Ford’s collapse.

Author : Bryce G. Hoffman

Length : 432 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “You have to expect the unexpected, and you have to deal with it.”

23) The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Rev olution

Name of book : The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution

Description of the book : The Man Who Solved the Market is a best-selling book about mathematician Jim Simons and his pioneering algorithm-driven approach to investing. 

The book follows Simons’s path to success, starting with his early years, education at MIT and work at IBM, and finally, his late-life acclaim as the founder of Renaissance Technologies. 

The is a great entrepreneur biography for those wanting to learn more about finances, teamwork, and professional collaboration.

Author : Gregory Zuckerman

Length : 359 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Any time you hear financial experts talking about how the market went up because of such and such—remember it’s all nonsense.”

24) The Animated Man: A Life Of Walt Disney

Name of the book : The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney

Description of the book : Michael Barrier is the man behind one of the best business biographies, the origin story of Walt Disney. In this book, readers will discover important details from Walt’s life and how he got the idea to make cartoons.

Michael recorded countless interviews with Disney’s partner and friends to write this book.

You will see what challenges Walt overcame and how he battled out of the disaster that occurred in 1941.

Author : Michael Barrier

Length : 393 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : "I am not a literary person. As far as realism is concerned, you can find dirt anyplace you look for it. I'm one of those optimists. There's always a rainbow. The great masses like happy endings. If you can pull a tear out of them, they'll remember your picture.”

25) I’d Like the World to Buy a Coke: The Life and Leadership of Roberto Goizueta

Name of the book : I’d Like the World to Buy a Coke: The Life and Leadership of Roberto Goizueta

Description of the book : I’d Like the World to Buy a Coke takes us on a journey in the life of Roberto Goizueta, one of the longest-serving and highest-paid CEOs in history. 

The book explains Roberto’s arrival from Cuba in the 1960s and his rise while working in Coca-Cola. You will find out how Roberto reorganized Coca-Cola, the leader in the soft-drink industry, and his marketing strategies that made Coke the most popular beverage on Earth. 

Author : David Greising

Length : 334 pages

‍ ‍Notable quote : “Not to take risks is the biggest risk.”

What Business Biographies Did We Miss?

So there you have it!

25 of the best entrepreneur biographies out there that can undoubtedly give you some sort of inspiration as you prepare yourself for the next ‘big’ step. 

All of these biographies are written with the purpose of helping entrepreneurs, as many of them come from groundbreaking founders and investors that reshaped the business world. 

Just like always, if we missed any biography that deserves a spot on our pretty list , don’t forget to send us an email - we’re more than happy to update our list with more and more entrepreneur biographies.

Questions About Business Biographies

What are business biography books.

Business biography books tell the behind-the-scenes stories of the greatest minds in the business industry, including Walt Disney, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos.

What Are The Best Business Biographies?

The best business biographies are Alibaba, by Duncan Clark, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson, and Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight.

What Are The Best CEO Biographies?

CEO biographies are a segment of business biographies, which share the stories of the CEOs of the biggest companies. Only the Paranoid Survive, by Andrew Grove, Jack, by Jack Welch, and Delivering Happiness, by Tony Hsieh, are the best CEO biographies.

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100+ resources you need for building a successful startup, divided into 4 categories: Fundraising, People, Product, and Growth.

The 10 Best Entrepreneur Biographies of Millionaires

Want to read the best entrepreneur biographies?

Two years ago, I wasn’t really a book reader. I should have been though. The stories of successful entrepreneurs are always worth hearing about. Especially if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur looking to become a success in the business world.

There are only so many short videos you can watch in order to learn more about them. And there comes a point where nothing beats a book written on their stories.

Table of Contents

The 10 Best Entrepreneur Biographies

These books are filled with knowledge and the complete story behind their success in becoming truly great entrepreneurs.

I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t yet read all of these entrepreneur biographies,  but have heard nothing but great reviews on the ones I haven’t picked up and read just yet.

Many of the entrepreneurs in this list are successful billionaires, not just millionaires. But I thought I’d categorize the title as millionaires anyway.

These are the 10 best entrepreneur biographies of successful millionaires:

1. Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography

Steve Jobs truly revolutionized the electronics industry. The new IPhone 7 and Apple Watch have just been released, and it’s amazing to see just how far Apple’s technology has come.

The Steve Jobs Biography, one of the best entrepreneur biographies;  was written after the author had conducted over 3 years of interviews with Jobs as well as member of his family, his colleagues and even competitors.

A must read biography for anyone interested in Steve Jobs and his innovative mind that helped him to break barriers in the technology industry.

2. Thrive: The Third Metric to Success (Arianna Huffington)

Thrive is a book I’ve mentioned a couple of times on Wealthy Gorilla. You’re probably getting sick of me talking about it. It’s all about the story of Arianna Huffington , who is the founder of The Huffington Post, and her journey to success.

The reason why this book is such an important one to read, is because it touches on an essential issue to do with success. The fact that success is more than just money and power.

There’s a third metric to success which mainly involves our well-being. Instead of completely exhausting ourselves from working so hard, simply for more money and more power.

Arianna’s reason for writing the book came about from passing out one night due to over exhaustion, whilst still at her desk. She ended up breaking her cheekbone on the corner of her desk, and hence realized that this was not a healthy way to live.

3. Losing My Virginity (Richard Branson)

Richard Branson has become an incredibly successful billionaire, after taking the Virgin brand on a crazy roller coaster, from record stores to airlines.

Branson is the master of branding, and this book is the ultimate read in order to learn more about him and what he has achieved.

‘Losing My Virginity’ is an excellent biography that explains in great detail about how Sir Richard is committed to building not an empire, but simply a better world through many of the different Virgin brands such as Virgin Fuels, Virgin Unite & Virgin Health Bank .

All are dedicated to making the world a better and more sustainable place for others.

As well as this, you can find out how Branson became such a success and which mistakes he learned from along the way. A truly inspiring and motivating story for every entrepreneur.

4. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Lif e

Warren Buffett is one of the richest men in the world, and known as an incredible investor and businessman.

Buffett started out in the business world at a very young age, and was in fact only 11 years old when he bought his first stock. He’s come a long way since then and has achieved a lot within his life time.

Although, this book, arguably one of the best entrepreneur biographies, goes into more detail than just his achievements in the exciting world of business, but more about the man himself.

His opinions, his work, struggles, achievements and wisdom are all revealed in ‘The Snowball’. If you’re looking to find out more about Warren Buffet than just his achievements, have a read of this biography.

5. Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire

Bill Gates is now once again the richest man in the world , and it’s all because of his genius creation, Microsoft. But not many people actually know the whole story behind Bill Gates and how he built up Microsoft to the success it is today.

This Biography covers it all and is a great read if you want to learn more about Gates’ story and his amazing success that took him to the position of wealthiest man in the world.

6. The Facebook Effect: The Real Inside Story of Mark Zuckerberg and the World’s Fastest Growing Company

You’ve probably already watched the film ‘The Social Network’, but how about reading the book that gives you the real inside story of what Mark Zuckerberg is truly about and how he built Facebook, the world’s fastest growing company.

Zuckerberg was only 19 years old when himself and a couple of friends created Facebook in their Harvard dorm room.

The book goes into a lot more detail than a film ever could do. And it explains the personal lives of the Facebook founders whilst they were working together in order to build the social network.

This is definitely a book to read in order to completely build your knowledge of just how Mark Zuckerberg and the other co-founders of Facebook made it such a success.

7. Riding the Storm ( Duncan Bannatyne )

Duncan Bannatyne is a Scottish entrepreneur who is famous for his businesses and interest in the health club, hotel and spa industries. A few years ago life was great for Bannatyne. He had a great business empire, a lot of money and a happy marriage.

Recently, all this changed and Duncan had to cope with the stress and difficulties of divorce, as well as a fairly large recession to his proud business empire.

This biography of the successful millionaire covers his incredible journey from having a peaceful happy life, to being setback by divorce and business recession. To then how he overcame these setbacks, and managed to adapt and get himself back on track.

This book is definitely up there with the best entrepreneur autobiographies.

8. Start Something that Matters (Blake Mycoskie)

This is an incredibly important book to read as it’s not just about developing a high revenue business that is all about profit and nothing else.

Blake Mycoskie is an entrepreneur who created the shoe brand TOMs. TOMs are a canvas type unisex shoe. For every pair that sold, another pair would be given to a child in need.

TOMs have become incredibly popular and Blake has managed to build a profitable business that also helps children in need for every pair sold.

This isn’t an easy thing to achieve, since normally you’d expect a small amount from the sale to go to a charity. However, in this case it’s a pair for a pair and every sale means another child doesn’t have to walk around bare foot.

This inspiration all came about from when Blake was travelling in Africa and came across many children unable to afford shoes.

He’s on a mission to prove that you can build a profitable business whilst helping others around you. It’s all explained with his book “Start Something that Matters”.

9. Reallionaire (Farrah Gray)

Farrah Gray became a millionaire by the time he was 14 years old, and has since been named as one of the most influential black men in America, by the National Urban League. Impressive right?

The book ‘Reallionaire’ talks about the nine steps to becoming rich from the inside out. And how they all applied to Farrah and his success in becoming a millionaire at such a young age.

This book is incredibly inspiring and has received amazing reviews from people, saying that they couldn’t put the book down and that they were reading it for the 3rd time.

Farrah may not be as well known as some of the other entrepreneurs on this list, but his story is incredible and this book is definitely worth the read.

10. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

Jeff Bezos is another billionaire on this list that I’ve generically labelled ‘Successful Millionaires’. He started out incredibly small with Amazon.com, and began only selling books.

It wasn’t until around a year in that he managed to get his first sale. Which shows just how much dedication Bezos put in before he even got any results from the website.

Amazon has gone from operating in one small room, only selling books; to now having large warehouses, being known as ‘the everything store’ and owning several other companies.

This book goes through it all: Jeff’s story to making Amazon the success it is today, and how he was never content with just selling books.

Image Source: Trackur.com

Hope you enjoyed this list for the 10 best entrepreneur biographies of successful millionaires. Here’s a quick recap on the list:

• Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography
• Thrive: The Third Metric to Success By Arianna Huffington
• Losing My Virginity By Richard Branson
• The Snowball: Warren Buffett & The Business of Life
• Hard Drive: Bill Gates & The Making of Microsoft
• The Facebook Effect: The Real Inside Story of Mark Zuckerberg
• Riding The Storm By Duncan Bannatyne
• Start Something That Matters By Blake Mycoskie
• Reallionaire By Farrah Gray
• The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos & The Age of Amazon

From personal reading experience, and other reviews I’ve read on the internet, these are concluded to be some of the best entrepreneur autobiographies and biographies ever published.

Be sure to share them with anyone who loves business, reading or both!

Do you have any entrepreneur biographies to add to the list? Leave a comment below.

The 10 Biggest Banks in the World

The 10 Most Evil People in History

Dan Western is the founder of Wealthy Gorilla . Dan has been running Wealthy Gorilla and studying self-development, personal finance, and investment for the last 7 years. To this day, Wealthy Gorilla has become one of the fastest growing wealth infotainment sites in the world; with over 300 million views worldwide. Dan doesn't use personal social media anymore, so you won't be able to find him on Instagram, or Twitter.

Dec 8, 2014 at 10:20 am

Really enjoyed reading the paragraphs you have added to each entrepreneur. I am starting my own business in the janitorial field. I am trying to land government contracts. We will see how it goes. I have 30 years experience in the industry/leadership. It’s time to stake my claim in this prosperous country.

Dan Western

Dec 8, 2014 at 8:43 pm

Thanks Aaron, I wish you the best of luck! Good on you!

Aug 22, 2017 at 4:43 pm

Aug 22, 2017 at 4:44 pm

I mean pls add jack maa’s biography too

May 8, 2018 at 3:13 am

Great inspirations for young entrepreneurs.

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The 10 Best Short Moral Stories With Valuable Lessons

Stories that have morals and messages behind them are always powerful. In fact, it’s crazy just how powerful a 200 word story can be.

Our last article of short stories became so popular, that we decided to create another list, in which every story has a simple moral behind it.

The 10 Best Short Moral Stories

Some of these stories are very short and basic. In fact some are so basic they’re most likely featured in children’s books somewhere. However, the strength of the message remains the same.

Here’s some more of the best short moral stories:

1. An Old Man Lived in the Village

An old man lived in the village. He was one of the most unfortunate people in the world. The whole village was tired of him; he was always gloomy, he constantly complained and was always in a bad mood.

The longer he lived, the more bile he was becoming and the more poisonous were his words. People avoided him, because his misfortune became contagious. It was even unnatural and insulting to be happy next to him.

He created the feeling of unhappiness in others.

But one day, when he turned eighty years old , an incredible thing happened. Instantly everyone started hearing the rumour:

“An Old Man is happy today, he doesn’t complain about anything, smiles, and even his face is freshened up.”

The whole village gathered together. The old man was asked:

Villager: What happened to you?

“Nothing special. Eighty years I’ve been chasing happiness, and it was useless. And then I decided to live without happiness and just enjoy life. That’s why I’m happy now.” – An Old Man

Moral of the story:

Don’t chase happiness. Enjoy your life.

2. The Wise Man

People have been coming to the wise man, complaining about the same problems every time. One day he told them a joke and everyone roared in laughter.

After a couple of minutes, he told them the same joke and only a few of them smiled.

When he told the same joke for the third time no one laughed anymore.

The wise man smiled and said:

“You can’t laugh at the same joke over and over. So why are you always crying about the same problem?”  

Worrying won’t solve your problems, it’ll just waste your time and energy.

3. The Foolish Donkey

A salt seller used to carry the salt bag on his donkey to the market every day.

On the way they had to cross a stream. One day the donkey suddenly tumbled down the stream and the salt bag also fell into the water. The salt dissolved in the water and hence the bag became very light to carry. The donkey was happy.

Then the donkey started to play the same trick every day.

The salt seller came to understand the trick and decided to teach a lesson to it. The next day he loaded a cotton bag on the donkey.

Again it played the same trick hoping that the cotton bag would be still become lighter.

But the dampened cotton became very heavy to carry and the donkey suffered. It learnt a lesson. It didn’t play the trick anymore after that day, and the seller was happy.

Luck won’t favor always.

4. Having A Best Friend

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand;

“Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone;

“Today my best friend saved my life.”

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him;

“After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”

The other friend replied;

“When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”  

Moral of the story: 

Don’t value the things you have in your life. But value who you have in your life.

5. The Four Smart Students

One night four college students were out partying late night and didn’t study for the test which was scheduled for the next day. In the morning, they thought of a plan.

They made themselves look dirty with grease and dirt.

Then they went to the Dean and said they had gone out to a wedding last night and on their way back the tire of their car burst and they had to push the car all the way back. So they were in no condition to take the test.

The Dean thought for a minute and said they can have the re-test after 3 days. They thanked him and said they will be ready by that time.

On the third day, they appeared before the Dean. The Dean said that as this was a Special Condition Test, all four were required to sit in separate classrooms for the test. They all agreed as they had prepared well in the last 3 days.

The Test consisted of only 2 questions with the total of 100 Points:

1) Your Name? __________ (1 Points)

2) Which tire burst? __________ (99 Points) Options – (a) Front Left (b) Front Right (c) Back Left (d) Back Right

Take responsibility or you will learn your lesson.

6. The Greedy Lion

It was an incredibly hot day, and a lion was feeling very hungry.

He came out of his den and searched here and there. He could find only a small hare. He caught the hare with some hesitation. “This hare can’t fill my stomach” thought the lion.

As the lion was about to kill the hare, a deer ran that way. The lion became greedy. He thought;

“Instead of eating this small hare, let me eat the big deer.”

He let the hare go and went behind the deer. But the deer had vanished into the forest. The lion now felt sorry for letting the hare off.

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

7. Two Friends & The Bear

Vijay and Raju were friends. On a holiday they went walking into a forest, enjoying the beauty of nature. Suddenly they saw a bear coming at them. They became frightened.

Raju, who knew all about climbing trees, ran up to a tree and climbed up quickly. He didn’t think of Vijay. Vijay had no idea how to climb the tree.

Vijay thought for a second. He’d heard animals don’t prefer dead bodies, so he fell to the ground and held his breath. The bear sniffed him and thought he was dead. So, it went on its way.

Raju asked Vijay;

“What did the bear whisper into your ears?”

Vijay replied, “The bear asked me to keep away from friends like you”  …and went on his way.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

8. The Struggles of Our Life

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it.

She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.

Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.

The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners.

He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.

Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”

“Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer”  he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.

He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter.

“When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about leaning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.

9. The Fox & The Grapes

One afternoon a fox was walking through the forest and spotted a bunch of grapes hanging from over a lofty branch.

“Just the thing to quench my thirst,” he thought.

Taking a few steps back, the fox jumped and just missed the hanging grapes. Again the fox took a few paces back and tried to reach them but still failed.

Finally, giving up, the fox turned up his nose and said, “They’re probably sour anyway,” and proceeded to walk away.

Moral of the story:  

It’s easy to despise what you can’t have.

10. The Lion & The Poor Slave

A slave, ill-treated by his master, runs away to the forest. There he comes across a lion in pain because of a thorn in his paw. The slave bravely goes forward and removes the thorn gently.

The lion without hurting him goes away.

Some days later, the slave’s master comes hunting to the forest and catches many animals and cages them. The slave is spotted by the masters’ men who catch him and bring him to the cruel master.

The master asks for the slave to be thrown into the lion’s cage.

The slave is awaiting his death in the cage when he realizes that it is the same lion that he had helped. The slave rescued the lion and all other caged animals.

One should help others in need, we get the rewards of our helpful acts in return.

Here’s a quick recap on the 10 best short moral stories:

• An old man lived in the village
• The wise man
• The foolish donkey
• Having a best friend
• The four smart students
• The greedy lion
• The two friends & the bear
• The struggles of our life
• The fox & the grapes
• The lion & the poor slave

If you haven’t seen our original article, with slightly more detailed inspirational short stories , check it out!

Do you have any other favorite short moral stories? Leave a comment below.

The 10 best motivational speakers in the world.

Who are the best motivational speakers of all time?

Motivational speakers have had an enormous impact on my life, and millions of others, no matter what their personal situation in life may be.

Their words are so powerful and inspirational, you just have to listen to their stuff on a daily basis. So it brings me to this post.

I’ve been enjoying a lot of motivational videos recently, have been creating my own, and have ended up listening to a lot of wonderful speeches.

Top 10 Best Motivational Speakers

But who are the best motivational speakers in the world?

Here’s my list of the top 10 motivational speakers in the world.

These are the people you need to be following, listening to and watching on YouTube. They have transformed many people’s lives including mine.

10. Nick Vujicic

Nick Vujicic was born on December 4th 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. Vujicic was born with Tetra-Amelia syndrome, a very rare disorder whereby someone is born with an absence of all four limbs.

This no doubt ably, made things incredibly tough for Nick growing up, as he struggled both mentally and physically.

It led to him founding his very own non-profit organization called ‘Life Without Limbs’ . Nick Vujicic is a true inspiration to us all, and if you’ve watched some of his motivational speeches on YouTube, you’ll realize just how much he’s been able to adapt to a life without limbs.

Many people with this disorder might not be willing to work hard in order to truly push their abilities.

He can type 43 words a minute on a computer. That’s right, you heard me correctly. This is a guy who has an absence of all four limbs, but can type 43 words per minute on a computer.

I encourage you to watch some of his videos on YouTube, and see exactly what I’m talking about.

“It’s a lie to think you’re not good enough. It’s a lie to think you’re not worth anything.” – nick Vujicic

9. Brian Tracy

Brian Tracy was born on January 5th 1944 in Vancouver, Canada, and is the CEO of Brian Tracy International , a company that specifically sets out to help individuals and organizations develop, train and grow.

Brian’s ultimate goal is to help other people achieve their goals more efficiently and be able to achieve their full potential.

That definitely sets the foundation for being one of the best motivational speakers in the world.

His lifetime achievements are phenomenal, consulting huge numbers of businesses, hosting huge numbers of seminars and conducting  years and years of research in Business, Economics, Psychology and Philosophy.

There’s no more to say other than the title given on his website: Professional Speaker, Best Selling Author, Entrepreneur and Success Expert. Check out some of the best Brian Tracy quotes .

“No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals.” – Brian Tracy

8. Robin Sharma

Robin Sharma was born in 1964 in Nepal, and straight out of the Dalhousie University School of Law, became a professional lawyer. But he went much further in his career than being a fully qualified and successful lawyer.

Sharma has written a total of 15 published books, from 1995 – 2011, on the subjects of self-help and leadership. One of his most popular books written; ‘The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari’ , has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

The book is all about a character called Julian, who decides to sell his home and Ferrari to go on a spiritual journey, after being the victim to a sudden heart attack.

Some may say that Robin Sharma’s more of a motivational author rather than speaker, but he deserves to be on this list. He’s written 12 global best sellers, and is an expert author in the world of leadership and self development.

“Dreamers are mocked as impractical. The truth is they are the most practical, as their innovations lead to progress and a better way of life for all of us.” –  Robin S. Sharma

7. Wayne Dyer

Dr. Wayne Dyer was born on May 10th 1940 in Detroit, and spent the majority of his childhood in an orphanage.

Dyer was in the U.S Navy after graduating high school, from 1958 to 1962. He then received his degree in counselling, a profession that he chose to work in for a while before taking it one step further.

Dyer left his teaching job and started pursuing a career in motivational speaking, holding various lectures across the states and becoming an incredibly popular author.

The first book that Dyer ever wrote has now had over 35 million copies sold and he’s proceeded to continue with his lecture tours, release various audio tapes and publish a regular stream of books .

“Passion is a feeling that tells you: this is the right thing to do. Nothing can stand in my way. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. This feeling is so good that it cannot be ignored. I’m going to follow my bliss and act upon this glorious sensation of joy.” –  Wayne Dyer

6. Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar was born on November 6th, 1926 in Alabama, and passed away on November 28th in 2012.

Ziglar has 11 siblings, and at the age of five years old, his father died of a stroke, and his sister passed away two days later. Zig actually served in the army from 1935 – 1946 during World War II.

Ziglar met his wife Jean when he was just 17 years old, and after the war began to work as a salesman for many different companies, eventually becoming the vice president for the Automotive Performance company .

He started taking part in motivational seminars, and also wrote his first book in 1975 titled: ‘See You at the Top’ . This was the first of at least 15 books he’d written during the period of 1975 and 2012.

A lot of wisdom has come from Zig Ziglar over the years and he is definitely one of the best motivational speakers in the world.

“You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.” – Zig Ziglar

5. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger was born on July 30th 1947, in Austria. We all know him as the world famous professional bodybuilding champion, and there’s a very inspirational story behind Arnie’s bodybuilding success.

Schwarzenegger served in the Austrian army at the age of 18 years old for 1 year, which at the time was compulsory for all 18-year-old males.

During this time, he would still manage to fit in his workouts between all the training and drills, whilst most people were resting. He snuck out of the camp to compete in the Junior Mr. Europe contest , which he ended up winning.

Arnold’s discipline towards his training was incredible, and the fact that he was willing to disobey the rules of the army and sneak out of the camp to compete in the contest, just goes to show how badly he wanted it.

Nowadays, he’s an inspiration to many bodybuilders and a great source of motivation for anyone wanting to be successful.

“For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

4. Jim Rohn

Jim Rohn was born September 17th, 1930 in Yakima, Washington, and passed away on December 5th, 2009. He was a very successful entrepreneur, at one time being a Vice President of a very successful sales company, Nutri-Bio.

However, after the company eventually went out of business, he was invited to speak at a meeting of one of his clubs.

After this meeting, he was invited to speak at many other events and began making a name for himself. Rohn was a wise businessman and managed to impart much of this wisdom to others.

He’s definitely earned the right to be on this list of the best motivational speakers in the world.

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” – Jim Rohn

3. Les Brown

Les Brown was born on February 17th, 1945 in Miami, Florida. He was adopted by Mamie Brown, and whilst in grade school, was declared “educably mentally retarded” .

Despite this and the emotional issues, it brought upon him; he was encouraged by others to continue to learn and be the best he could be. Leading him to unlock his full potential.

Les is another motivational speaker who is incredibly popular among the motivational video compilations that others create. Because his speeches are so deep and meaningful that they really get through to people.

His top-selling books: ‘It’s Not over until You Win!’  and ‘Live Your Dreams’ are truly inspirational and well worth the read.

“When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up. Let your reason get you back up.” – Les Brown

2. Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins was born on February 29th, 1960 in Los Angeles. His life at home when he was young was described by him as abusive and chaotic. It was because of this that he left home at the age of 17.

Originally when starting out in the world of motivational speaking, Robbins was promoting seminars for Jim Rohn. He later decided to begin his own journey by hosting his own seminars.

Tony has affected and changed so many people’s lives in a positive way through his seminars, motivational speeches, inspirational quotes and best-selling books.

Search for him on YouTube and several videos will pop up showing him change someone’s life.

The favorites of mine that I’ve watched, are where he cures a young man’s stutter in 7 minutes and saves another guy’s marriage in 8.

“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.” – Tony Robbins

1. Eric Thomas

Eric Thomas, born and raised in Detroit, was homeless at the age of 16 years old. But Eric decided that he wanted to make a better life for himself, to become someone with a life he could be proud of.

E.T did just that, and you can now check out powerful advice from Eric Thomas on YouTube. Including his “Thank God It’s Monday” series.

He also managed to get the education he missed out on whilst he was homeless and pushed himself further to achieve all the qualifications he dreamed of being able to achieve.

Eric Thomas has become one of the best motivational speakers in the world. His YouTube videos are legendary and his best-selling books have taken in millions of dollars in revenue.

E.T’s speeches are so popular, that you’ll find he’s featured in roughly 90% of the motivational videos that others create and upload to YouTube, using compilations of clips, speeches, and music.

“When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.” – Eric Thomas

I hope you enjoyed this list of the top 10 best motivational speakers in the world. Many of these speakers are featured within some of the videos we included in our new list of ultimate gym motivation . Take a look and see what you think.

Here’s a quick recap on the list of the best motivational speakers in the world::

• Eric Thomas
• Tony Robbins
• Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Dr. Wayne Dyer
• Robin Sharma
• Brian Tracy
• Nick Vujicic

Who’s your favorite of the 10 best motivational speakers? Do you still agree with the current order of this list? Leave a comment below.

The 10 Most Inspirational Short Stories I’ve Heard

Short Inspirational stories are powerful reads;

The great thing about them is that they’re so easy to digest, and there’s always a moral at the end of the story.

Whether they’re true stories or not is another thing, as many of them are legends supposedly hundreds of years old.

However, the stories that I’m talking about are so powerful and inspirational that many of them really do get you thinking and even leave you speechless at times.

The 10 Best Inspirational Short Stories

I’ve been reading plenty of these short stories in the past couple of weeks and found the lessons behind them truly wonderful. So I’ve decided to write out this article highlighting the 10 most inspirational short stories I’ve heard.

Next to the subheadings, in brackets, I’ve put what the story’s lesson is all about, with a short description of the moral of the story at the end of each section.

10. The Elephant Rope (Belief)

A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he spotted that the elephants weren’t being kept in cages or held by the use of chains.

All that was holding them back from escaping the camp, was a small piece of rope tied to one of their legs.

As the man gazed upon the elephants, he was completely confused as to why the elephants didn’t just use their strength to break the rope and escape the camp. They could easily have done so, but instead, they didn’t try to at all.

Curious and wanting to know the answer, he asked a trainer nearby why the elephants were just standing there and never tried to escape.

The trainer replied;

“when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp was that over time they adopted the belief that it just wasn’t possible.

No matter how much the world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you want to achieve is possible. Believing you can become successful is the most important step in actually achieving it.

9. Thinking Out of the Box (Creative Thinking)

In a small Italian town, hundreds of years ago, a small business owner owed a large sum of money to a loan-shark. The loan-shark was a very old, unattractive looking guy that just so happened to fancy the business owner’s daughter.

He decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the debt he owed him. However, the catch was that we would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the businessman’s daughter.

Needless to say, this proposal was met with a look of disgust.

The loan-shark said that he would place two pebbles into a bag, one white and one black.

The daughter would then have to reach into the bag and pick out a pebble. If it was black, the debt would be wiped, but the loan-shark would then marry her. If it was white, the debt would also be wiped, but the daughter wouldn’t have to marry the loan-shark.

Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan-shark bent over and picked up two pebbles.

Whilst he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he’d picked up two black pebbles and placed them both into the bag.

He then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and pick one.

The daughter naturally had three choices as to what she could have done:

• Refuse to pick a pebble from the bag.
• Take both pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan-shark for cheating.
• Pick a pebble from the bag fully well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her father’s freedom.

She drew out a pebble from the bag, and before looking at it ‘accidentally’ dropped it into the midst of the other pebbles. She said to the loan-shark;

“Oh, how clumsy of me. Never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

The pebble left in the bag is obviously black, and seeing as the loan-shark didn’t want to be exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped was white, and clear her father’s debt.

It’s always possible to overcome a tough situation throughout of the box thinking, and not give in to the only options you think you have to pick from.

8. The Group of Frogs (Encouragement)

As a group of frogs was traveling through the woods, two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs crowded around the pit and saw how deep it was, they told the two frogs that there was no hope left for them.

However, the two frogs decided to ignore what the others were saying and they proceeded to try and jump out of the pit . 

Despite their efforts, the group of frogs at the top of the pit were still saying that they should just give up. That they would never make it out.

Eventually, one of the frogs took heed to what the others were saying and he gave up, falling down to his death. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die.

He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?”

The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

People’s words can have a big effect on other’s lives. Think about what you say before it comes out of your mouth. It might just be the difference between life and death.

7. A Pound of Butter (Honesty)

There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to a baker. One day the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he was getting the right amount, which he wasn’t. Angry about this, he took the farmer to court.

The judge asked the farmer if he was using any measure to weight the butter. The farmer replied, “Honor, I am primitive. I don’t have a proper measure, but I do have a scale.”

The judge asked, “Then how do you weigh the butter?”

The farmer replied;

“Your Honor, long before the baker started buying butter from me, I have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when the baker brings the bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the baker.”

In life, you get what you give. Don’t try and cheat others.

6. The Obstacle In Our Path (Opportunity)

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. He then hid himself and watched to see if anyone would move the boulder out of the way. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.

Many people loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none of them did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

A peasant then came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to push the stone out of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.

After the peasant went back to pick up his vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been.

The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King explaining that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

Every obstacle we come across in life gives us an opportunity to improve our circumstances , and whilst the lazy complain, the others are creating opportunities through their kind hearts, generosity, and willingness to get things done.

5. The Butterfly (Struggles)

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.

One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.

Until it suddenly stopped making any progress and looked like it was stuck.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, although it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man didn’t think anything of it and sat there waiting for the wings to enlarge to support the butterfly. But that didn’t happen. The butterfly spent the rest of its life unable to fly, crawling around with tiny wings and a swollen body.

Despite the kind heart of the man , he didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle needed by the butterfly to get itself through the small opening; were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings. To prepare itself for flying once it was out of the cocoon.

Our struggles in life develop our strengths . Without struggles, we never grow and never get stronger, so it’s important for us to tackle challenges on our own, and not be relying on help from others.

4. Control Your Temper (Anger)

There once was a little boy who had a very bad temper. His father decided to hand him a bag of nails and said that every time the boy lost his temper, he had to hammer a nail into the fence.

On the first day, the boy hammered 37 nails into that fence.

The boy gradually began to control his temper over the next few weeks, and the number of nails he was hammering into the fence slowly decreased.

He discovered it was easier to control his temper than to hammer those nails into the fence.

Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father the news and the father suggested that the boy should now pull out a nail every day he kept his temper under control.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

“you have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”

Control your anger, and don’t say things to people in the heat of the moment, that you may later regret . Some things in life, you are unable to take back.

3. The Blind Girl (Change)

There was a blind girl who hated herself purely for the fact she was blind. The only person she didn’t hate was her loving boyfriend, as he was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry him.

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her – now she could see everything , including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, “now that you can see the world, will you marry me?”

The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying:

“Just take care of my eyes dear.”

When our circumstances change, so does our mind. Some people may not be able to see the way things were before, and might not be able to appreciate them . There are many things to take away from this story, not just one.

This is one of the inspirational short stories that left me speechless.

2. Puppies for Sale (Understanding)

A shop owner placed a sign above his door that said: “Puppies For Sale.”

Signs like this always have a way of attracting young children, and to no surprise, a boy saw the sign and approached the owner; 

“How much are you going to sell the puppies for?” he asked.  

The store owner replied, “Anywhere from $30 to $50.”

The little boy pulled out some change from his pocket. “I have $2.37,” he said. “Can I please look at them?”

The shop owner smiled and whistled. Out of the kennel came Lady, who ran down the aisle of his shop followed by five teeny, tiny balls of fur.

One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said, “What’s wrong with that little dog?”

The shop owner explained that the veterinarian had examined the little puppy and had discovered it didn’t have a hip socket. It would always limp. It would always be lame.

The little boy became excited. “That is the puppy that I want to buy.”

The shop owner said, “No, you don’t want to buy that little dog. If you really want him, I’ll just give him to you.”

The little boy got quite upset. He looked straight into the store owner’s eyes, pointing his finger, and said;

“I don’t want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I’ll pay full price. In fact, I’ll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month until I have him paid for.”

The shop owner countered, “You really don’t want to buy this little dog. He is never going to be able to run and jump and play with you like the other puppies.”

To his surprise, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted, crippled left leg supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the shop owner and softly replied, “Well, I don’t run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who understands!”

1. Box Full of Kisses (Love)

Some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy.”

The man became embarrassed by his overreaction earlier, but his rage continue when he saw that the box was empty. He yelled at her; “Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?”

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried;

“Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, Daddy.”

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.

Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child.

Her father kept the gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

Love is the most precious gift in the world.

Summary of the 10 Best Inspirational Stories

Here’s a quick summary of the 10 best short inspirational stories:

• Box Full of Kisses (Love)
• Puppies for Sale (Understanding)
• The Blind Girl (Change)
• Control Your Temper (Anger)
• The Butterfly (Struggles)
• The Obstacle in Our Path (Opportunity)
• A Pound of Butter (Honesty)
• The Group of Frogs (Encouragement)
• Thinking Out of the Box (Creative Thinking)
• The Elephant Rope (Belief)

Thanks for reading these inspirational short stories. Some of them left me speechless for a minute or two, and it really does make us think.

If you know of any other inspirational short stories that you think should be featured on the list, then let me know in the comments below or drop me an email and I’ll feature them in part two later on in the year.

Which are your favorite inspirational short stories? Leave a comment below.

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Home — Collections — 13 Best Business Biographies That Will Show You the Struggles of World’s Biggest Entrepreneurs

13 Best Business Biographies That Will Show You the Struggles of World’s Biggest Entrepreneurs

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Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others – it’s what Otto von Bismarck used to say . And what other better way to do that than by reading the biographies of those you admire?

Some of the most popular entrepreneurs admitted that they attribute their success to reading memoirs of the people they admire. Here’s a list of the  best business biographies recommended by them (is there something missing, any book that we absolutely-definitely-must add to this list? let us know !). There’s also one entrepreneur biography – or more – sprinkled in there, as well, so have a blast!

Oh, but before that, did you know we have a really good weekly newsletter where we write about things that make us better business people, better entrepreneurs, better professionals. So go HERE and see an example and subscribe!

1. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Elon Musk mentioned in multiple interviews that he learned a lot from reading biographies. Well, same thing is true regarding his biography. Published by Ashlee Vance in 2015, it’s a must-read for everyone who wants to shoot for the stars the same way he does.

“ Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future ” serves a great lesson on the sacrifices you’ll need to make when you have ambitious, almost impossible plans, and nobody believes in you.

Richard Branson , the founder of Virgin Group, recommended this book, saying that “ Elon Musk is a man after my own heart: a risk taker undaunted by setbacks and ever driven to ensure a bright future for humanity. Ashlee Vance’s stellar biography captures Musk’s remarkable life story and irrepressible spirit. “.

2. The Everything Store

Another fascinating biography, if you want to read all about how Jeff Bezos and Amazon conquered the world. Even though Jeff’s wife gave it a 1-star review on Amazon, you can still draw lots of lessons from it, especially about management, leadership and inovation.

Written by Brad Stone after he conducted tens, perhaps even hundreds of interviews with Amazon employees, Jeff’s former colleagues and family members, this is the most comprehensive book you’ll find about how Amazon became the everything store.

3. Alibaba – The House That Jack Ma Built

And speaking of Amazon… If you want to know more about its main competitor, how Jack Ma built the giant empire we now know as Alibaba, read this biography published last year by Duncan Clark.

Jack managed to get past China’s political obstacles and turned Alibaba into one of the biggest companies in the world.

This is what Sir Martin Sorrell , CEO of WPP, had to say about this book: “ Anybody who thinks the Chinese just copy or steal technology from the West should read this book and think again. Jack Ma is part Bill Gates, part Steve Jobs, part Larry Page, part Sergey Brin, and part Mark Zuckerberg, all rolled into one “.

4. Steve Jobs

This book probably needs no introduction, as I’m confident it’s the most popular biography from this list. Based on more than 40 interviews conducted by Walter Isaacson over 2 years with Steve Jobs , as well as hundreds of interviews with his family members, friends, colleagues and so on.

Jobs cooperated for this book and encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly, saying that: “ I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of, such as getting my girlfriends pregnant when I was 23 and the way I handled that, but I don’t have any skeletons in my closet that can’t be allowed out. ”

5. Creativity, Inc

And since we mentioned Steve Jobs, here’s another book that might interest you: Creativity, Inc. is the story of Pixar Animation and its co-founder, Ed Catmull . If you want to learn great lessons on leadership and management, check it out.

Mark Zuckerberg is one of the CEOs who read and recommend this book.

6. Iacocca: An Autobiography

In his podcast with Tim Ferriss , Ramit Sethi mentioned that he read Iacocca: An Autobiography every few years for the last 20 years.

Lee Iacocca’s best selling autobiography was originally published in 1984 and follows his career in the auto industry, first with Ford, and afterward with the Chrysler Corporation. Iaccoca’s considered an American legend, a businessman who turned around Chrysler when the company was facing a crucial point.

7. Empire State of Mind: How Jay Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office

“I’m not a businessman – I’m a business, man.” – This book follows Jay Z and how he climbed from the ill famed streets of Brooklyn, where he spent his childhood, to the heights of the business world.

Ryan Holiday recommended this biography, saying that: “ This is a biography that also functions as a business book. It shows how Jay applied hustling techniques to the music business and eventually built his empire “.

8. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

This is probably one of the best biographies published in the recent years. Shoe Dog follows Phil Knight’s memories, from the times when he was just a young boy, lost and with no idea what to do with his life, until he built the giant sports brand that we know today as Nike.

Bill Gates wrote on his blog about this book: “ […] is a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like: messy, precarious, and riddled with mistakes. I’ve met Knight a few times over the years. He’s super nice, but he’s also quiet and difficult to get to know. Here Knight opens up in a way few CEOs are willing to do. I don’t think Knight sets out to teach the reader anything. Instead, he accomplishes something better. He tells his story as honestly as he can. It’s an amazing tale. ”

9. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller

This is one huge biography, with more than 800 pages filled with the life and story of John D. Rockefeller. Considered to be the Jekyll-and-Hyde of American capitalism, Rockefeller “ was known as both a rapacious robber baron, whose Standard Oil Company rode roughshod over an industry, and a philanthropist who donated money lavishly to universities and medical centers “.

10. Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

This book is recommended by Warren Buffett , who co-founded Berkshire Hathaway together with Charlie Munger. It’s a collection of his speeches and talks.

11. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!

I’ve been bumping into this book for a long time, as it’s one of the most recommended books by entrepreneurs. Filled with stories and memories of Richard Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize for physics, who was always questioning the status-quo and testing assumptions. In this book he recalls all the experiences he conducted, but also his pranks and adventures (even the ones he pulled in the years he was working on the Manhattan Project).

Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin , are among the fans of this book. Noah Kagan , founder of Sumo, even said that he if you ever meet him in person, he always has an extra copy, “ because it’s just that amazing “.

I have to agree – I finished it recently, after a few nights of reading Feynman’s adventures until 4 AM (yes, it’s just that addictive!).

12. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

We couldn’t mention Charlie Munger without bringing up his partner’s biography. Lots of books were written about Warren Buffett , the “Oracle of Omaha”, but this was written with his cooperation and is considered to be the best.

13. Losing My Virginity

And last but not least: the autobiography of the famous entrepreneur Richard Branson . If you want to find out more about how he built the business empire Virgin Group, this is a good place for you to start.

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Best Entrepreneur Biography Books (Learn from Legends)

POSTED ON Dec 27, 2023

Written by P.J McNulty

In the relentless pursuit of entrepreneurial excellence, the wisdom of those who've tread similar paths is invaluable. The biographies of successful entrepreneurs not only provide a blueprint of the highs and lows of business but also serve as a source of inspiration and education. The following curated list of biographies is more than just stories; they are lessons in resilience, innovation, leadership, and strategy from some of the most successful entrepreneurs in history.

Here are the 14 best entrepreneur biography books:

Steve jobs by walter isaacson (2011).

This biography offers an exhaustive journey through the life of Steve Jobs, from his early days in Silicon Valley to his return to Apple and the development of groundbreaking products. It's based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years.

Isaacson's narrative is a masterclass in biographical writing, weaving in themes of creativity, innovation, and personal struggle. Aspiring writers can learn from the way the author balances the darker aspects of Jobs's personality with his genius, crafting a complex, engaging portrait.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight (2016)

Phil Knight shares the inside story of building Nike from a startup to one of the world's most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands, starting with just $50 borrowed from his father.

Knight's candid and witty narrative captures the essence of entrepreneurial spirit. Writers can draw from Knight's honest and vivid storytelling approach, particularly how he addresses failure and success.

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder (2008)

This biography details the life and philosophy of Warren Buffett, offering insights into how his mind works and why he made the investment decisions that made him the “Oracle of Omaha.”

Schroeder's comprehensive research and access to Buffett himself provides a template for writers on the importance of detail and access in biographical writing. The book's analytical depth can inspire writers to delve deeply into their subject's psyche.

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance (2015)

The book chronicles the life of Elon Musk, one of the most unusual and impactful entrepreneurs of our time, covering his upbringing, ventures, and vision for the future.

Vance's biography is notable for its balanced portrayal and narrative pace. Writers can learn from how Vance deals with a living, controversial figure, presenting a nuanced view that includes both criticism and praise.

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone (2013)

This book offers an expansive look at the life of Jeff Bezos and the rise of Amazon, detailing its evolution from a book store to a everything store.

Stone's investigative narrative is an excellent example of how to construct a compelling business story. Writers should note the meticulous research and the way Stone brings complex business concepts to life.

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow (1998)

Chernow's biography details the complex life of America's first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller, Sr., from his early life to his role in shaping the U.S. economy.

This biography is a lesson in scale and detail. Writers can learn from Chernow's ability to humanize a historical figure while providing a comprehensive view of their life and times.

The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership by Richard Branson (2014)

This book is less a traditional biography and more a series of lessons from Richard Branson's personal and professional life, offering insights into his unique leadership style.

Branson's book is a model for how personal anecdotes can effectively convey business principles. Writers can draw from his conversational and engaging style.

Made in America by Sam Walton (1992)

Sam Walton shares his thoughts and experiences on building Walmart, one of the most powerful retailers in the world, from a single store in Arkansas.

Walton's autobiography is written with a straightforward, no-nonsense tone that reflects his business style. Writers can learn from the authenticity and clarity in his narrative.

Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc (1977)

This autobiography tells the story of Ray Kroc, who turned McDonald's into the biggest fast-food chain in the world, reflecting on his journey and the principles that led to his success.

Kroc's book is notable for its engaging storytelling and personal voice. Writers can take note of how effectively he shares business insights through personal stories.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz (2014)

This book offers essential advice on building and running a startup based on the author's own experiences and lessons learned from various other entrepreneurial ventures.

Horowitz's candid and often humorous approach can inspire writers to tackle difficult subjects with honesty and a bit of humor.

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz (2011)

Howard Schultz recounts the story of Starbucks' decline and resurgence, detailing the decisions and leadership strategies that revived the company.

Schultz's narrative is a primer on how to write about business strategy and leadership in a way that is both informative and deeply personal.

Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way by Richard Branson (1998)

This autobiography chronicles Richard Branson's journey in creating the Virgin brand, filled with his adventures and business escapades.

Branson's flamboyant narrative style and adventurous spirit can inspire writers to inject their own personality and flair into their work.

Bloomberg by Bloomberg by Michael Bloomberg (1997)

Michael Bloomberg shares his journey of creating Bloomberg L.P., detailing his business principles and the challenges he faced.

Bloomberg's book is a lesson in writing with authority and conviction, two qualities that can greatly enhance a business biography.

Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft by Paul Allen (2011)

This memoir reflects on Paul Allen's journey with Microsoft and his broader impact on technology, sharing insights into his partnership with Bill Gates and his own ventures.

Allen's introspective and thoughtful narrative style provides a model for writing reflective and engaging business stories.

Are you ready to write your own book?

These biographies illustrate the power of storytelling in business and the profound impact it can have. Let them be your guide and inspiration as you write and self-publish a business biography yourself.

Or let them inspire to share YOUR story.

Your journey in business is unique, and sharing it can inspire others and solidify your legacy. Rather than writing a business biography about another person's life and business, you may want to write a business memoir about your own journey (we explain the differences between a biography and a memoir here)

The world is eager to learn from your experiences, your challenges, and your victories.Don't deprive them of the lessons you've learned – preserve them in a book of your own.

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• The 20 Best Entrepreneurship Books to Start, Grow & Run a Successful Business

Following your passion while making a profit – that is the dream. Every year, millions of people become entrepreneurs in hopes of getting paid to do what they love.

Unfortunately, around half of all newly minted business owners fail within the first five years . What’s more, at least one in four must fail before eventually succeeding, which takes at least three years on average . How can you make sure you make it the first time around?

Starting a business  requires taking risk, staying grounded, and facing many challenges. It can be our biggest struggle, but seeing our products make the world a better place can also be our greatest reward.

At Four Minute Books, we’ve summarized over 1,000 books , hundreds of them about entrepreneurship. Along the way, we’ve learned a few lessons, and we’ve discovered which ones are most worth spending your precious time on.

Want a list of just the 5 very best entrepreneurship books ever to not waste time and learn only from the greatest? Download our free PDF, print it, and start your entrepreneurial journey right away. Or save it for later and read it whenever you want!

Being an entrepreneur is not the easiest job in the world, but if you want to learn the secrets of being a great founder or successful self-employed freelancer, this list of the 20 best entrepreneurship books is a good start.

Each book in this list contains our favorite quote, three takeaways, and a one-sentence summary. Scroll down a bit more, and you’ll find our main argument for why and when you might want to read the book. Use the handy table of contents below to jump to any section or book that seems particularly interesting to you.

Let’s hop right into the secrets of entrepreneurship!

Table of Contents

1. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

2. zero to one by peter thiel, 3. the hard thing about hard things by ben horowitz, 4. the $100 startup by chris guillebeau, 5. the e-myth revisited by michael e. gerber, 6. crush it by gary vaynerchuk, 7. the art of the start by guy kawasaki, 8. the power of broke by daymond john, 9. rework by jason fried, 10. crushing it by gary vaynerchuk, 11. business model generation by alexander osterwalder, yves pigneur, 12. the four steps to the epiphany by steve blank, 13. built to sell by john warrillow, 14. business adventures by john brooks, 15. entreleadership by dave ramsey, 16. winners take all by anand giridharadas, 17. founders at work by jessica livingston, 18. think and grow rich by napoleon hill, 19. arise, awake by rashmi bansal, 20. losing my virginity by richard branson, other book lists by topic, other book lists by author, best books on entrepreneurship overall, favorite quote.

“The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.” — Eric Ries

The Book in One Sentence

The Lean Startup offers both entrepreneurs and wantrepreneurs a semi-scientific, real-world approach to building a business by using validation, finding a profitable business model and creating a growth engine.

Why should you read it?

Are all start-ups prone to failure? Or are all the failures caused by some mistakes which can be easily prevented? According to Eric Ries, a startup deals with a wave of uncertainty, indeed, and business plans might not be the key to make things run smoothly. This book gives a scientific approach to the proper management of a startup, mostly by making use of innovation.

Key Takeaways

• Find a business model that works through validation.
• Use split-testing to tell value from waste.
• Never ever indulge in vanity metrics.

If you want to learn more, you can read our free four-minute summary or get a copy for yourself.

“Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply than genius.” — Peter Thiel

Zero To One is an inside look at Peter Thiel’s philosophy and strategy for making your startup a success by looking at the lessons he learned from founding and selling PayPal, investing in Facebook and becoming a billionaire in the process.< /em>

You might think that we know everything by now and that there isn’t much to create at this point. That all the greatest inventions have appeared by now. And this is where you might be wrong: entrepreneur Peter Thiel confirms that there are still countless ways for us to create something new. And all this can be done by making use of your power and asking the right questions in order to come up with the next innovation.

• The biggest leaps in progress are vertical, not horizontal.
• Monopolies are good, for both business and society.
• Founders need a vision to take their business from zero to one.

“The only thing that prepares you to run a company is running a company” — Ben Horowitz

The Hard Thing About Hard Things is an inside look at the tough decisions and lonely times all CEOs face, before showing you what it takes to build a great organization and become a world-class leader.

It’s great to have your own business, indeed. Truth be told, though, it is rather hard to have a business and run it properly. Ben Horowitz provides us with key anecdotes in this book, derived from his success – which was not as easy to obtain, as people might think. Getting straight to the point, this book will answer all the questions you might have, no matter if you already have a business of your own or if you are thinking about starting one.

• The CEO should be the first one to shout when shit hits the fan.
• There are 2 types of CEOs.
• Great CEOs must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” — Chris Guillebeau

The $100 Startup shows you how to break free from the shackles of 9 to 5 by combining your passion and skills into your own microbusiness, which you can start for $100 or less, yet still turn into a full time income, thanks to the power of the internet.

It’s important nowadays to live a life full of meaning and purpose, but what is also important is to earn a good living. This book is filled with key principles that will help you figure out exactly what it is that you have to do to live your life the way you want. And the best part about it is that it doesn’t get lost in generalities which might not give you the insight you need.

• Passion is only 1/3 of the equation, you also need skills and customers.
• If you want your passion to be more than a hobby, focus on income and costs.
• Keep your plans simple, because action beats them every time.

“If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business – you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic!” — Michael E. Gerber

The E-Myth Revisited explains why 80% of small businesses fail, and how to ensure yours isn’t among those by building a company that’s based on systems and not on the work of a single individual.

Do you want to know how to grow your business productively? Michael Gerber has the answer for you in this book and walks you through all the steps you need to take in a business. And it is all sharp insight from his own experience, which will help you deconstruct all the myths regarding the way one should work when it comes to business.

• Having great technical skills does not mean you know how to run a business.
• Imagine your business as a nationwide franchise from day one, then build the first store.
• The franchise approach makes sure you build a business based on systems, not people.

Best Books on Entrepreneurship for Beginners

“There no longer has to be a difference between who you are and what you do.” ― Gary Vaynerchuk

Crush It is the blueprint you need to turn your passion into your profession and will give you the tools to turn yourself into a brand, leverage social media, produce great content and reap the financial benefits of it.

What would you do if you could transform your dream or hobby into something that could earn you money? This book gives you valuable insight into how you can turn your interests into a successful business, just by making use of the power of the Internet. And all of this by taking it step by step, in a world where both the Internet and the technological aspects are a very important part of our lives.

• In order to profit from your passion, you have to turn yourself into a brand.
• Pick a medium that fits you to tell stories people want to hear.
• Always be authentic in your content.

“Positioning should be about what you do for your customers – not about what you want to become.” — Guy Kawasaki

The Art Of The Start is your guide to beginning a company and explains everything from getting the right people on board to writing a winning business plan and building your brand.

Sometimes, it just takes an idea to put together something new – and that requires having enough will to keep going, against all odds. If you feel like your idea might be hard to be transformed into action, this book will provide you with all the advice you need to keep going, all of it coming from nearly two decades of the author’s experience.

• Your first goal as an entrepreneur must be to create meaning, not make money.
• Prepare your Milestones, Assumptions, and Tasks to have direction and purpose right from the start.
• Set yourself up for success by creating a business plan.

Best Books on Entrepreneurship With Minimal Resources

“Being broke is temporary but poverty of mind is permanent.” — Daymond John

The Power Of Broke shows you how to leverage having no money into an advantage in business by compensating it with creativity, passion and authenticity.

If desperate minds mean desperate measures, then innovation should also be added – because this is exactly what Daymond John did. What started as being a simple idea, ended up becoming a global phenomenon, and all of this while he was broke. This book tells you that sometimes, you just need to have a little bit of hope and to do your best to achieve success – who knows when the perfect opportunity might come knocking.

• If you have no money, you’ll automatically find resources others don’t look for.
• The power of broke helps in all four stages of growing a business.
• Starting a business gets easier by the day, so start now.

“When you don’t know what you believe, everything becomes an argument. Everything is debatable. But when you stand for something, decisions are obvious.” — Jason Fried

Rework shows you that you need less than you think to start a business – way less – by explaining why plans are actually harmful, how productivity isn’t a result from working long hours and why hiring and seeking investors should be your absolute last resort.

Do you feel like all the old advice business books give you is not really what you need to kickstart your own business? What if there was an easier and better way to succeed in business, that didn’t involve writing down endless business plans, for example? This book makes use of an easy way to understand the approach and shows you the way towards not only productivity but also inspiration. Are you up for the challenge?

• Take a stand for something you believe in and then pick a fight with an incumbent.
• Screw big corporate marketing, stay honest, personal and nimble.
• Don’t let long hours and meetings prevail, they actually hurt productivity.

“If you’re not 100 percent happy with your life today, it is never a waste of time to try something that could get you there.” — Gary Vaynerchuk

Crushing It is Gary Vaynerchuk’s follow-up to his personal branding manifesto Crush It, in which he reiterates the importance of a personal brand and shows you the endless possibilities that come with building one today.

Your brand is important nowadays, and you have to make use of that to be successful. And you can do that by making use of social media – Gary introduces us to those secrets in this practical guide, where he put together several experiences of people who have followed their dream and got exactly where they wanted to be.

• You don’t need a product to monetize a personal brand.
• A solid social media presence is built on seven principles.
• Don’t overthink creating content, just document your journey.

Best Books on Entrepreneurship Strategy

“Companies should focus on one of three value disciplines: operational excellence, product leadership, or customer intimacy.” — by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur

Business Model Generation teaches you how to start your own company by explaining the details of matching your customer’s needs with your product’s capabilities, managing finances, and everything else involved in the planning stages of entrepreneurship.

How would you describe your thinking when it comes to how businesses should be handled? Are you more oriented towards the “traditional” way or are you seeking modern solutions? This book makes use of practical examples that will help anyone in terms of improving their business models, regardless of their approach.

• Market channels, value propositions, and customer groups are the basis for a good business model.
• You need to know your customer’s relationship with you, how money is coming in, and what physical things that you need to run your company.
• Plan for what you’ll do from day to day, who you’re going to work with, and what your cost structure will be.

“All new companies and new products begin with an almost mythological vision – a hope of what could be, with a goal few others can see.” — Steve Blank

The Four Steps To The Epiphany shows startups how to plan for and achieve success by giving examples of companies that failed and outlining the path they need to take to flourish.

Do you want a book that gives you simple, yet concrete examples in regards to how businesses work? Not all startups become successful immediately – and this book proves it. This simple, step-by-step guide could become essential to you, as it gives you useful insight into how you should organize all parts of your business for your startup to succeed, rather than fail.

• Don’t fall into the trap of treating your startup like you would a big business.
• Find your market type first, then base your strategy around it.
• Early adopters are more important to consider when designing your product than the mainstream market.

“Don’t be afraid to say no to projects. Prove that you’re serious about specialization by turning down work that falls outside your area of expertise. The more people you say no to, the more referrals you’ll get to people who need your product or service.” — John Warrillow

Built To Sell shows you how to become a successful entrepreneur by explaining the steps necessary to grow a small service company and one day sell it.

Is there any mistake entrepreneurs make when they start their business? According to John Warrillow, there is one mistake that might cost them more than they could ever imagine, and he presents this mistake under the form of a fictional small business, which has to be sold. Are you curious to see what happens to the business? You should probably find the nearest library and check it out!

• You will be more successful in business if you specialize in one service.
• If you’d like to one day sell your company, you as a founder need to work to make sure that you’re replaceable.
• Don’t rely on one big client, it’s risky and makes your business less attractive to those that may buy it.

“I don’t think money makes much difference, as long as you have enough.” — John Brooks

Business Adventures will teach you how to run a company, invest in the stock market, change jobs, and many other things by sharing some of the most interesting experiences that big companies and their leaders have had over the last century.

How do you run a company? If all businesses are different, why are some things so similar? Making use of stories about Wall Street, John Brooks has put together a reportage that looks at the history of some of the biggest disasters that have taken place on the American market. Is history bound to repeat itself, if people don’t learn from their mistakes?

• The three-day stock market crash and recovery of 1962 showed the world how irrational and unpredictable it is.
• If you want to know how not to launch a product, look to the example of the Ford Edsel.
• Having trade secrets doesn’t make it impossible for you to get a new job thanks to Donald Wohlgemuth.

Best Books on Entrepreneurship Culture

“If you as a leader allow people to halfway do their jobs and don’t demand excellence as a prerequisite to keeping their job, you will create a culture of mediocrity.” — Dave Ramsey

EntreLeadership provides you with a path to becoming a great leader in your company by identifying the necessary management and entrepreneurial skills.

We have all heard of a successful business that started in a garage or in a rather normal place. This informative guide gives you access to exactly that kind of story: from just a card table to a multimillion-dollar company. The advice in this book will get you even through the toughest of times, for both businesses and their leaders.

• The most successful heads of new companies combine the skills of an entrepreneur and a leader.
• To create a lucrative business, work on your marketing strategy.
• You get hardworking and loyal employees when you give generous salaries and bonuses.

“There is no denying that today’s elite may be among the more socially concerned elites in the history. But it is also, by the cold logic of numbers, among the more predatory in history.” — Anand Giridharadas

Winners Take All helps you see the ultra-rich in a more accurate light by identifying their shady strategies, including using the idea of “making the world a better place” as a front that only serves as a way to solidify their wealth and power.

What does social justice have to do with entrepreneurs? Anand Giridharadas surprises us with this challenging book, by putting into perspective how improvements are not accessible to everyone. Small businesses end up fighting against monopolies and have to deal with a system where it might just be easier to deny certain benefits. So, how do we make the world a better place, for businesses and people?

• The elite control social progress, which we think is happening for our benefit but really only benefits them.
• Inequality is rampant because the “win-win” attitude of the ultra-rich is actually a lie to cover up their plans to only look out for themselves.
• Powerful people often deny their influence, which ironically just cements their status even further.

“I’d say determination is the single most important quality in a startup founder. If the founders I spoke with were superhuman in any way, it was in their perseverance.” — Jessica Livingston

Founders At Work shows you how to start a successful business based on the principles of the founders of some of the world’s most famous and accomplished startups.

If you are looking for a book that is not necessarily a guide, then this book might just be what you are looking for. Containing a collection of interviews with people who are currently living their dream, this book answers all the questions one might have: how it all started and how it is all going. Are you curious to see what makes a startup successful?

• Starting with an idea is good, but having a talented team is best.
• Too much investor money can actually hurt a startup initiative.
• Creating something of real value to others requires listening to your customers.

Best Books on Entrepreneurship Motivation

“The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.” — Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich is a curation of the 13 most common habits of wealthy and successful people, distilled from studying over 500 individuals over the course of 20 years.

A worldwide bestseller, this book is not just about ways in which you can become rich, as the title would suggest. It is about learning that each day is a new opportunity and both success and abundance come from how you think. If you want to learn about the ropes of success, this might just be the book for you.

• Use autosuggestion to build an unshakable belief in yourself.
• Be stubborn and always stick to your decisions.
• Join a Mastermind group to cut the learning curve.

“In any line of business, there is a steep learning curve. Like a pilgrim, you must climb that mountain with faith and fortitude – there is no ‘helicopter’ service.” — Rashmi Bansal

Arise, Awake will inspire you to move forward with your entrepreneurial dreams by sharing the inspirational stories of six Indian entrepreneurs and the lessons they learned on the path to success.

What would you say is the perfect age to start your own business? Should you be older, or younger? If you are still not convinced about your answer, then this book might give you a little bit of clarity, by presenting you with the stories of six entrepreneurs who have gone against the odds and started something of their own.

• Pay attention to serendipitous experiences, they are great sources for your entrepreneurial desires to flourish.
• If your first business idea fails, don’t give up, your experience is vital to making your next venture succeed.
• Determination combined with thinking outside of the box will help you start your business even when it seems impossible to do.

“Most “necessary evils” are far more evil than necessary.” — Richard Branson

Losing My Virginity details Richard Branson’s meteoric rise to success and digs into what made him the adventurous, fun-loving, daring entrepreneur he is today and what lessons you can learn about business from him.

If you are interested in an autobiography, then Richard Branson has written the perfect book for you. A very unusual approach to business has brought Richard a success that many might have doubted: whenever someone said “don’t do it”, he would do it. Filled with major lessons, this book will keep you going, even when things seem impossible to deal with.

• Don’t feel bad if you haven’t been born and bred as an entrepreneur.
• Always look out for the next thing, but take it one adventure at a time.
• The number one skill you should practice is creativity.

We believe that these 20 titles are the best books about entrepreneurship. Start by reading the one most relevant to you, then go from there. 

Most of us dream about living a life in which we make our own rules. But are we ready to take responsibility for the things that will go wrong along the way? When you’re an entrepreneur, the buck stops with you. Ultimately, you’re the one in charge. You’ll need commitment and perseverance to make things happen, but even if the road will be rocky in the beginning, that doesn’t mean you should give up.

Do you have what it takes? Whatever you feel might be missing, discover it in one of the books on our list. Learn how to be an entrepreneur, and make your dreams come true!

Looking for more of the best books on various topics? Here are all the book lists we’ve made for you so far:

• The 60 Best Business Books of All Time (Will Forever Change How You Think About Organizations)
• The 14 Best Finance Books of All Time
• The 21 Best Habit Books of All Time to Change Any Behavior
• The 33 Best Happiness Books of All Time That Everyone Should Read
• The 60 Best History Books of All Time (to Read at Any Age)
• The 7 Best Inspirational Books That Will Light Your Inner Fire
• The 40 Best Leadership Books of All Time to Help You Become a Truly Inspiring Person
• The 31 Best Motivational Books Ever Written
• The 12 Best Nonfiction Books Most People Have Never Heard Of
• The 35 Best Philosophy Books to Live Better and Become a Great Thinker
• The 34 Best Psychology Books That Will Make You Smarter and Happier
• The 25 Best Sales Books of All Time to Help You Close Any Deal
• The 33 Best Self-Help Books of All Time to Read at Any Age
• The 22 Best Books About Sex & Sexuality to Improve Your Love Life & Relationships
• The 30 Most Life-Changing Books That Will Shift Your Perspective & Stay With You Forever

Looking for more books by the world’s most celebrated authors? Here are all of the book lists by the author we’ve curated for you:

• All Brené Brown Books, Sorted Chronologically (and by Popularity)
• Jordan Peterson Books: All Titles in Order of Publication + The 5 Top Books He Recommends
• All Malcolm Gladwell Books, Sorted Chronologically (and by Popularity)
• All Michael Pollan Books, Sorted Chronologically (and by Popularity)
• Peter Thiel Books: A Comprehensive List of Books By, About & Recommended by Peter Thiel
• All Rachel Hollis Books: The Full List of Non-Fiction, Fiction & Cookbooks, Sorted by Popularity & the Best Reading Order
• All Ray Dalio Books, Sorted Chronologically (and by Popularity)
• All Robert Greene Books, Sorted Chronologically (and by Popularity)
• All Ryan Holiday Books, Sorted Chronologically (and by Popularity)
• All Simon Sinek Books, Sorted Chronologically (and by Popularity)
• All Tim Ferriss Books, Sorted Chronologically (and by Popularity)
• All Walter Isaacson Books, Sorted Chronologically (and by Popularity)

Last Updated on September 3, 2023

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100 Best Business Biography Books of All Time

We've researched and ranked the best business biography books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Learn more

A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE

Phil Knight | 5.00

Bill Gates This memoir, by the co-founder of Nike, is a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like: messy, precarious, and riddled with mistakes. I’ve met Knight a few times over the years. He’s super nice, but he’s also quiet and difficult to get to know. Here Knight opens up in a way few CEOs are willing to do. I don’t think Knight sets out to teach the reader... (Source)

Warren Buffett The best book I read last year. Phil is... a gifted storyteller. (Source)

Andre Agassi I've known Phil Knight since I was a kid, but I didn't really know him until I opened this beautiful, startling, intimate book. And the same goes for Nike. I've worn the gear with pride, but I didn't realize the remarkable saga of innovation and survival and triumph that stood behind every swoosh. Candid, funny, suspenseful, literary - this is a memoir for people who love sport, but above all... (Source)

See more recommendations for this book...

Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Ashlee Vance | 4.76

Richard Branson Elon Musk is a man after my own heart: a risk taker undaunted by setbacks and ever driven to ensure a bright future for humanity. Ashlee Vance's stellar biography captures Musk's remarkable life story and irrepressible spirit. (Source)

Casey Neistat I'm fascinated by Elon Musk, I own a Tesla, I read Ashlee Vance's biography on Elon Musk. I think he's a very interesting charachter. (Source)

Roxana Bitoleanu A business book I would definitely choose the biography of Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance, because of Elon's strong, even extreme ambition to radically change the world, which I find very inspiring. (Source)

Walter Isaacson | 4.73

Elon Musk Quite interesting. (Source)

Bill Gates [On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012.] (Source)

Gary Vaynerchuk I've read 3 business books in my life. If you call [this book] a business book. (Source)

The Everything Store

Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

Brad Stone | 4.70

Doug McMillon [I read and give this book because] you need to understand what you’re up against. (Source)

Santiago Basulto I love to read biographies and stories of companies. Hatching Twitter is a really good book, and if you’re into that sort of books, bios of Steve Jobs (by Isaacson) or Jeff Bezos are great too. (Source)

Tracy DiNunzio It's a great book and especially for people starting out. (Source)

Made in America

Sam Walton, John Huey | 4.59

"Here is an extraordinary success story about a man whose empire was built not with smoke and mirrors, but with good old-fashioned elbow grease." (Detroit Free Press)

Jeff Bezos Expounds on the principles of discount retailing and discusses his core values of frugality and a bias for action—a willingness to try a lot of things and make many mistakes. Bezos included both in Amazon’s corporate values. (Source)

Rob "Crypto Bobby" Paone @tmac604 Read it earlier this summer, a great book 👍 and also hilarious to compare to current corporate excess ala WeWork (Source)

Life and Work

Ray Dalio | 4.58

Mark Cuban The book I wish I had as a young entrepreneur. (Source)

Tony Robbins I found it to be truly extraordinary. Every page is full of so many principles of distinction and insights—and I love how Ray incorporates his history and his life in such an elegant way. (Source)

Bill Gates Ray Dalio has provided me with invaluable guidance and insights that are now available to you in Principles. (Source)

The Ride of a Lifetime

Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

Robert Iger | 4.56

Brian Chesky Bob's book is great and he's an excellent CEO. (Source)

Brené Brown I expected a book written by the person who has led Disney for decades to be defined by both gripping storytelling and deep leadership wisdom. [The author] delivers, and then some! [This book] is leadership gold—you won’t forget the stories or the lessons. (Source)

Karlie Kloss [Karlie Kloss] says [this book] really inspired her to become a better boss. (Source)

The Art of the Deal

Donald J. Trump, Tony Schwartz | 4.48

Jim Hanson You already had Trump officials testifythey disagreed w/ @realDonaldTrump Interesting thing about executive power The executive has the power Not the advisers Here's a good book on it https://t.co/KGlUpucCNI Time for the acquittal https://t.co/xICCPPuvM5 (Source)

Marc M. Lalonde The easiest way to Clean Up my Friends List is to post this... I love this book! | Let's get to know each other a little. I'll start... Here's MY Story: https://t.co/o8gIl1TxR7 #AskLalonde #marcmlalonde #wealthy #inspiration https://t.co/6ULSKHiIj3 (Source)

Secret Agent Number Six The failing George W. Washington and his dad George H.W. Washington were fake Presidents. They did not think of The Constitution before I did.They stole all of my ideas for it from "The Art of the Deal" which you should read right now because its the best book ever. No collution! (Source)

The Outsiders

Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success

William N. Thorndike | 4.47

Warren Buffett In his 2012 shareholder letter, Buffett praises The Outsiders as "an outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation." Berkshire Hathaway plays a major role in the book. One chapter is on director Tom Murphy, who Buffett says is "overall the best business manager I've ever met." (Source)

Michael Dell Thorndike explores the importance of thoughtful capital allocation through the stories of eight successful CEOs. A good read for any business leader but especially those willing to chart their own course (Source)

Mason Hawkins The Outsiders is a must-read for leaders—and aspiring leaders—striving to become exceptional CEOs, and for investors interested in partnering with exceptional stewards of corporate capital. (Source)

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

Ben Horowitz | 4.45

Larry Page Ben's book is a great read - with uncomfortable truths about entrepreneurship and how to lead to a company. It's also an inspiring story of a business rebirth through sheer willpower. (Source)

Mark Zuckerberg Ben's experience and expertise make him one of the most important leaders not just in Silicon Valley but also in the global knowledge economy. For anyone interested in building, growing or leading a great company, this book is an incredibly valuable resource - and a funny and insightful read. (Source)

Dustin Moskovitz [Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book during a Stanford lecture.] (Source)

Don't have time to read the top Business Biography books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

• Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
• Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
• Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.

The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Ron Chernow | 4.41

Ryan Holiday A biography has to be really good to make read you all 800 pages. To me, this was one of those books. Since reading it earlier this year, I’ve since found out it is the favorite book of a lot of people I respect. I think something about the quality of the writing and the empathic understanding of the writer that the main lessons you would take away from someone like Rockefeller would not be... (Source)

Adam Townsend @Sociopathlete Great book (Source)

Anas Alhajji @Morg2006 Yep, I already have it. great book. (Source)

The Millionaire Next Door

The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy

Ph.D. Stanley, Thomas J., Ph.D.; Danko, William D. | 4.39

Dave Collum @cullenroche You ever read "Millionaire Next Door"? You just described parts of it. Great book, IMO. (Source)

The Intelligent Investor

The Classic Text on Value Investing

Benjamin Graham | 4.39

Warren Buffett To invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What's needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework. This book precisely and clearly prescribes the proper framework. You must provide the emotional discipline. (Source)

Kevin Rose The foundation for investing. A lot of people have used this as their guide to getting into investment, basic strategies. Actually Warren Buffett cites this as the book that got him into investing and he says that principles he learned here helped him to become a great investor. Highly recommend this book. It’s a great way understand what’s going on and how to evaluate different companies out... (Source)

John Kay The idea is that you look at the underlying value of the company’s activities instead of relying on market gossip. (Source)

The Snowball

Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

Alice Schroeder | 4.37

Marvin Liao My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make... (Source)

John Kay It’s on the list, firstly, because Buffet is the most successful investor in history. (Source)

Chude Jideonwo It's been so long, and I've been so busy that I haven't been able to recommend a book. I am sorry! I have read so many fantastic ones though, no matter how busy I have been. And I am soooooo excited to recommend this one. I love Warren Buffett ... https://t.co/ML0pM3G29k https://t.co/6yhfhT8WF5 (Source)

Creativity, Inc.

Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace | 4.33

Mark Zuckerberg This book is written by the founder of Pixar and is about his experience building a culture that fosters creativity. His theory is that people are fundamentally creative, but many forces stand in the way of people being able to do their best work. I love reading first-hand accounts about how people build great companies like Pixar and nurture innovation and creativity. This should be inspiring to... (Source)

Timothy Ferriss No matter your circumstances, storytelling and creativity are two 'meta-skills' that can take your business and life to the next level. Ed is a master. (Source)

Ezra Klein An amazing, amazing book. (Source)

Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

Sheryl Sandberg | 4.33

Mark Zuckerberg For the past five years, I've sat at a desk next to Sheryl and I've learned something from her almost every day. She has a remarkable intelligence that can cut through complex processes and find solutions to the hardest problems. Lean In combines Sheryl's ability to synthesize information with her understanding of how to get the best out of people. The book is smart and honest and funny. Her... (Source)

Oprah Winfrey Honest and brave... The new manifesto for women in the workplace. (Source)

Richard Branson If you loved Sheryl Sandberg's incredible TED talk on why we have too few women leaders, or simply believe as I do that we need equality in the boardroom, then this book is for you. As Facebook's COO, Sheryl Sandberg has first-hand experience of why having more women in leadership roles is good for business as well as society. Lean In is essential reading for anyone interested in righting the... (Source)

High Output Management

Andrew S. Grove | 4.33

Mark Zuckerberg [Andy’s] book played a big role in shaping my management style. (Source)

Ben Horowitz Andy Grove, who built himself from nothing to run Intel, stopped what he was doing to teach us his magic. And not through some ghostwriter either — Andy wrote this book himself. What an incredible gift. (Source)

Drew Houston The best book on management ever written. (Source)

Poor Charlie's Almanack

The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

Peter D. Kaufman, Ed Wexler, Warren E. Buffett, Charles T. Munger | 4.32

Warren Buffett From 1733 to 1758, Ben Franklin dispensed useful and timeless advice through Poor Richard's Almanack. Among the virtues extolled were thrift, duty, hard work, and simplicity. Subsequently, two centuries went by during which Ben's thoughts on these subjects were regarded as the last word. Then Charlie Munger stepped forth. (Source)

Bill Gates [On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011.] (Source)

Naval Ravikant I always recommend [this book] as my top business book. (Source)

A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice

Bill Browder | 4.28

Eric Ries This reads like a thriller, but is an urgent and important story about the dangers of Putin’s Russia and the events leading to the Magnitsky Act. (Source)

Anand Sanwal @geoffreysbatt @patrick_oshag 2/ Reminded a bit of the story of @Billbrowder as told in the remarkable book Red Notice which chronicles his investments in Russia very early before everyone saw the opportunity (Source)

Jonathan Kay Am reading @Billbrowder's amazing book Red Notice. Did not know incredible story of Bill's dad, who got his @Princeton math PhD at age 20. Like many Jews of era, suffered massive discrimination, stigmatized because of his own dad's communism. Then Eleanor Roosevelt saves the day https://t.co/Bp5PFiIxm1 (Source)

Delivering Happiness

A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

Tony Hsieh | 4.27

Chip Conley [The author] is a wise guy. Sincerely. He’s one of the wisest and most thoughtful business leaders of the modern age. (Source)

Adam Johnston Inspiring case study into building brand and customer service. (Source)

Julie Rice [At SoulCycle] we’re all big fans of [this book]. (Source)

The Power Broker

Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

Robert A. Caro | 4.27

Barack Obama He may have the country’s finest experts at his fingertips, but it still doesn’t hurt to read up on environmental and economic issues. (Source)

Ryan Holiday It took me 15 days to read all 1,165 pages of this monstrosity that chronicles the rise of Robert Moses. I was 20 years old. It was one of the most magnificent books I’ve ever read. Moses built just about every other major modern construction project in New York City. The public couldn’t stop him, the mayor couldn’t stop him, the governor couldn’t stop him, and only once could the President of... (Source)

Ben Greenman Well, if you look at a picture of a place, you can normally get a sense of what it’s like. But hopefully what books do, or what thinking does, is to show you what that place is like underneath. The Power Broker is the definitive history of how, in modern America, cities get built, power gets thrown around, neighbourhoods are overpowered by developers and politicians. It’s gigantic and it’s a... (Source)

This is Going to Hurt

Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor

Adam Kay | 4.23

Quinn Cummings @lorapenza You might love @amateuradam's book. (Source)

The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power

Daniel Yergin | 4.21

Chris Goodall A wonderfully readable history of the development of the oil age. (Source)

Losing My Virginity

The Autobiography

Richard Branson | 4.20

Yaro Starak Richard Branson, another guy with his second bio came out just recently, sort of like the part II of his life, the next 20 years. I grabbed that because his bio… I should actually go back and answer your first and second question about biggest impact and “Losing My Virginity” by Richard Branson was a huge one back in the late 90s for me, more about big thinking. The guy is crazy and I would never... (Source)

Holger Seim When it comes to biographies I particularly like Losing My Virginity. (Source)

Robin Sharma I encourage you to read his autobiography “Losing My Virginity” as well as his book “Business Stripped Bare” if you haven’t gone through them yet. Uber-inspiring. For people who want to become Remarkable Entrepreneurs – and express their absolute best. (Source)

My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business

Dick Van Dyke | 4.20

The Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith | 4.19

Elon Musk Adam Smith FTW obv. (Source)

Barack Obama Obama, unsurprisingly, appears to be more drawn to stories sympathetic to the working classes than is McCain. Obama cites John Steinbeck’s “In Dubious Battle,” about a labor dispute; Robert Caro’s “Power Broker,” about Robert Moses; and Studs Terkel’s “Working.” But he also includes Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” and “Theory of Moral Sentiments” on his list. (Source)

Neil deGrasse Tyson Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on planet? [...] The Wealth of Nations (Smith) [to learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself]. If you read all of the above works you will glean profound insight into most of what has driven the history of the western world. (Source)

Hit Refresh

Satya Nadella, Greg Shaw, Jill Tracie Nichols | 4.18

Bill Gates With every new technology, there are challenges. How do we help people whose jobs are replaced by AI agents and robots? Will users trust their AI agent with all their information? If an agent could advise you on your work style, would you want it to? That is what makes books like Hit Refresh so valuable. Satya has charted a course for making the most of the opportunities created by technology... (Source)

Aviers Lim I would recommend biographies of Elon Musk and Satya Nadella. (Source)

The 1-Page Marketing Plan

Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd

Allan Dib | 4.16

The Elon Musk Blog Series

Wait But Why

Tim Urban | 4.15

Setting the Table

The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business

Danny Meyer | 4.15

Chip Conley One of the best books on hospitality ever written. (Source)

Noah Kagan A few months ago, I was drinking a Noah’s Mill whiskey (cute) with my good buddy Brian Balfour and talking about life... During the conversation, we got on the topic of books that changed our lives. I want to share them with you. I judge a book's success if a year later I'm still using at least 1 thing from the book. (Source)

Julie Rice We did a lot of reading [this book] at SoulCycle. (Source)

One Up On Wall Street

How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market

Peter Lynch, John Rothchild | 4.15

Patrick Swalls Read this if you want to learn more about the stock market. (Source)

Cable Cowboy

John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business

Mark Robichaux | 4.15

The Reckoning

David Halberstam | 4.14

David J Lynch This one sort of speaks to something I’ve long been interested in. We get this general education in schools that follows the basic themes of presidents and wars and that kind of thing and then there’s this alternative history of finance and economics, and Lords of Finance impressed me because it gives you that alternative history, particularly through the inter-war years from the end of World War... (Source)

How to Win at the Sport of Business

If I Can Do It, You Can Do It

Mark Cuban | 4.13

Jason Khalipa I like it because it gets me fired up. (Source)

An Autobiography

Lee Iacocca, William Novak | 4.13

Ramit Sethi Every few years for the last 20 years, Ramit has read Iacocca: An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca and William Novak. (Source)

Shankar Sharma Reading the Iacocca autobio at age 21, was absolutely transformational. Taught me more than an MBA degree. The second book that did something similar at that age for me, was "The Mind of The Strategist" by Kenichi Ohmae. Such great business wisdom in these books. RIP Lee https://t.co/PCpkRiKwUV (Source)

Grinding It Out

The Making of McDonald's

Ray Kroc, Robert Anderson | 4.13

Aj Joshi @brianadgey Great book 👍🏼 very inspiring (Source)

The First Tycoon

The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

T.J. Stiles | 4.12

Josh Sternberg @mhbergen @nitashatiku “If [Cornelius Vanderbilt] had been able to sell all his assets at full market value at the moment of his death he would have taken one out of every 20 dollars in circulation.” From great book on Vanderbilt https://t.co/7SljC6fmbG (Source)

Skunk Works

A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed

Ben R. Rich, Leo Janos | 4.12

Chris Anderson @elidourado @pmarcas_likes What broke was our risk tolerance. The "Skunkworks" book is a great insider story of that. The day that the financial auditors outnumbered the engineers was the day the innovation died: https://t.co/ncrsulEZyC (Source)

Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire

James Wallace and Jim Erickson | 4.12

Trillion Dollar Coach

The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell

Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle | 4.12

Sheryl Sandberg Bill shared his wisdom generously, expecting nothing back but the joy he got from teaching others. I was privileged to have him as my coach for several years. Many times since then, when asked for advice by others, I think of Bill and try to live up to the example he set. (Source)

Tim Cook Bill's passion for innovation and teamwork was a gift to Apple and the world. Trillion Dollar Coach has captured his tireless spirit so future generations can learn from one of our industry's greatest leaders. (Source)

Sundar Pichai Whenever I saw Bill, he gave me great perspective about what really matters. At the end of the day, it's the people in your life. Bill had such strong principles around community and how to bring people together. We used those principles - detailed in Trillion Dollar Coach - to form the foundation of Google's leadership training, so all of our leaders can continue to learn from Bill. (Source)

How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

Howard Schultz, Joanne Gordon | 4.12

Ron Conway Story of his return to Starbucks, and the success of the company in a tumlutuous economic time in history. (Source)

In the Plex

How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

Steven Levy | 4.11

Bill Slawski In The Plex is a great introduction to Google, and the many who work there. I knew many by the patents they file, so it was good to learn more about them as people. Some good insights to some algorithms in the book, too. https://t.co/TVz7GsD8nX (Source)

Alan Pierce I’m currently reading “In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Life" and am excited on gaining more insight into how google is changing the world and hopefully to get some valuable understanding I can use to maximize business decisions and read future trends while assessing investment opportunities for my company, ABM Investments. (Source)

Straight from the Gut

Jack Welch and John A. Byrn | 4.11

Warren Buffett In his 2001 shareholder letter, Buffett gleefully endorses Jack: Straight from the Gut, a business memoir of longtime GE executive Jack Welch, whom Buffett describes as (Source)

Tudor Mihailescu In every industry, there would be many relevant books but nothing would replace being in touch with the customers and people in own organisation. It’s a vast of space to recommend books, but I would suggest that learning how proven entrepreneurs or managers have done this as a good start (read about Jake Welch – Straight from the Gut, Steve Jobs, Shoe Dog – Phil Knight or Elon Musk) – admittedly,... (Source)

Annika Falkengren I read Jack Welch’s book back in 2003 and it was at the time a great source of inspiration. There were a couple of things that got stuck in my mind and in some cases changed my mind: that there are no shortcuts, that facts always must be faced no matter how brutal and that losing or failing had a value as long as your learn from them. His thoughts on how crucial the soft values are, inspired me a... (Source)

What It Takes

Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence

Stephen A. Schwarzman | 4.11

Eric Schmidt Reveals how [the author] has achieved the rarest kind of leverage in multiple fields. (Source)

Norman Ornstein What it Takes remains the best book written about American politics and politicians. i reread every few years. Want to know about Biden? Read it! https://t.co/ZlLwbRqADa (Source)

Trailblazer

The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change

Marc Benioff, Monica Langley | 4.11

Bill Gross I've been waiting "im"patiently for @Benioff 's new book to come out. It just came out on Kindle 10 minutes ago. It's terrific. Such a powerful, simple, but important lesson and message, "Values create Value!" I'll be sharing more highlights as I read further.. https://t.co/KAgrFs31fC (Source)

Jim Cramer I love this book and have already used it as the basis for several @MadMoneyOnCNBC segments and a talk to young entrepreneurs !!! https://t.co/fLYtdYAMxC (Source)

Natalie Petouhoff Trailblazer: @salesforce Founder and co-CEO Marc Benioff’s Inspiring New Book Shows How Business is the Greatest Platform for Change @Benioff https://t.co/lcIQbvG1Qo https://t.co/TKCiIpK6ZB (Source)

The House of Morgan

An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

Ron Chernow | 4.11

Made in Japan

Akio Morita and Sony

Akio Morita, Edwin M. Reingold, Mitsuko Shimomura | 4.11

Bill Graham Presents

My Life Inside Rock And Out

Bill Graham, Robert Greenfield | 4.11

James Murphy Bill Graham Presents My Life Inside Rock and Out because I think it’s very important for young people to understand the history of the concert business before trying to jump into it. You need to have a clear understanding of where it’s been to know where it’s going and how you can help take it there. (Source)

Built from Scratch

How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion

Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Bob Andelman | 4.10

When a friend told Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank that, "You've just been hit in the ass by a golden horseshoe," they thought he was crazy. After all, both had just been fired. What the friend, Ken Langone, meant was that they now had the opportunity to create the kind of wide-open warehouse store that would help spark a consumer revolution through low prices, excellent customer service, and wide availability of products.

Built from Scratch is the story of how two incredibly determined and creative people-and their associates-built a business from nothing to 761...

Built from Scratch is the story of how two incredibly determined and creative people-and their associates-built a business from nothing to 761 stores and $30 billion in sales in a mere twenty years.

Built from Scratch tells many colorful stories associated with The Home Depot's founding and meteoric rise; shows that a company can be a tough, growth-oriented competitor and still maintain a high sense of responsibility to the community; and provides great lessons useful to people in any business, from start-ups to the Fortune 500.

Great Stories

A Company with a Conscience

Great Lessons

Bernie Marcus is a cofounder of The Home Depot and currently serves as chairman of the board. From the company's inception until 1997, he served as CEO. With his wife, Billie Marcus, he founded the Marcus Developmental Resource Center, which provides support services for mentally impaired children and their parents. He sits on many boards of directors, including the New York Stock Exchange, and participates in many civic organizations, including the City of Hope, a cancer research center.

Arthur Blank is a cofounder of The Home Depot and is the company's president and CEO. He serves on the board of trustees of several organizations, including the North Carolina Outward Bound School, the Carter Center, Emory University, and the National Conference of Christians and Jews. He was inducted into the Babson College Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs and was honored by the City of Hope for his fund-raising leadership.

Bob Andelman lives with his wife and daughter in St. Petersburg, Florida, and has collaborated on many bestselling business books, including Mean Business and The Profit Zone .

Frank Blake Very meaningful to me, not only because it’s the story of the founding of the Home Depot, but also because of my start as the CEO of Home Depot. (Source)

Rich Dad Poor Dad

What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not!

Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter C.P.A | 4.10

Will Smith [Will Smith mentioned sharing this book with his son.] (Source)

The Man Who Solved the Market

How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution

Gregory Zuckerman | 4.10

Abhishek Kar @Singh7575 ~The man who solved the market Nice book and interesting insights from Jim's life. Read it last month. Happy reading👍 (Source)

Andy Sum I finished reading a book! Pretty interesting biography and background on some of the emotions involved in quantatative trading. Worth reading. https://t.co/doi843dcGN (Source)

Steve Burns The new book on Jim Simons is in my top 5 favorite trading books of all time ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It is already the #19 best seller in Amazon nonfiction The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution Kindle Edition by Gregory Zuckerman https://t.co/FAZFigNNXy https://t.co/Jjz38Qpdnu (Source)

Let My People Go Surfing

The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual

Yvon Chouinard, Naomi Klein | 4.10

Alastair Humphreys @SecondS37175185 A fantastic book. (Source)

Paul Kedrosky @dpfishman Yes, fantastic book by incredible human. (Source)

Holger Seim When it comes to biographies I particularly like Let My People Go Surfing. (Source)

Shark Tales

How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business

Barbara Corcoran, Bruce Littlefield | 4.09

Trust Me, I'm Lying

Confessions of a Media Manipulator

Ryan Holiday | 4.09

Timothy Ferriss Ryan is part Machiavelli, part Ogilvy, and all results. From American Apparel to the quiet campaigns he's run but not taken credit for, this whiz kid is the secret weapon you've never heard of. (Source)

Dov Charney Behind my reputation as a marketing genius there is Ryan Holiday, whom I consult often and who has done more for my business than just about anyone. (Source)

Tucker Max The strategies Ryan created to exploit blogs drove sales of millions of my books and made me an internationally known name. The reason I am standing here while other celebrities were destroyed or became parodies of themselves is because of his insider knowledge. (Source)

Jack Welch, Suzy Welch | 4.09

Living Proof

Onyx Moonshine's Journey to Revive the American Spirit

Adam von Gootkin | 4.09

Capital Gaines

Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff

Chip Gaines | 4.09

The Unbeatable Legend in Business World

All About Microsoft and How it Became The Most successful enterprise on The Earth!

Rahul Doshi | 4.09

Liar's Poker

Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street

Michael Lewis | 4.09

With the eye and ear of a born storyteller, Michael Lewis shows us how things really worked on Wall Street....

With the eye and ear of a born storyteller, Michael Lewis shows us how things really worked on Wall Street. In the Salomon training program a roomful of aspirants is stunned speechless by the vitriolic profanity of the Human Piranha; out on the trading floor, bond traders throw telephones at the heads of underlings and Salomon chairman Gutfreund challenges his chief trader to a hand of liar's poker for one million dollars; around the world in London, Tokyo, and New York, bright young men like Michael Lewis, connected by telephones and computer terminals, swap gross jokes and find retail buyers for the staggering debt of individual companies or whole countries.

The bond traders, wearing greed and ambition and badges of honor, might well have swaggered straight from the pages of Bonfire of the Vanities . But for all thier outrageous behavior, they were in fact presiding over enormous changes in the world economy. Lewis's job, simply described, was to transfer money, in the form of bonds, from those outside America who saved to those inside America who consumed. In doing so, he generated tens of millions of dollars for Salomon Brothers, and earned for himself a ringside seat on the greatest financial spectacle of the decade: the leveraging of America.

John Lanchester It’s still a wonderfully entertaining book: An absolutely hilarious, very, very dark, vivid account of how Michael Lewis came out of Princeton and, with basically no qualifications, got a job in the bond trading department of Salomon Brothers (Source)

Audrey Russo Question: What books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path? Answer: Anything by Peter Senge. The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz Once you are Lucky, Twice you are good – Sara Lacey Revolutionary Wealth – Alvin Toffler Black Swan – Taleb Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, by Ellen Pao. Creative Class – Richard Florida Creativity Inc. by Ed... (Source)

How the Internet Happened

From Netscape to the iPhone

Brian McCullough | 4.08

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

The Classic Novel Based on the Life of Legendary Stock Market Speculator Jesse Livermore

Lefevre Edwin, Price Tim | 4.08

Steve Burns "By far, the best investing book is Reminiscences Of A Stock Operator. Everything in that book is true about how markets work, how human nature works, the mistakes people make, the greed that they have, the ways they get themselves in trouble." - Gundlach https://t.co/asuBsN0BvM (Source)

Alykhan Satchu My all time favorite Book https://t.co/UxwPMlAcXU (Source)

Joshua M. Brown Each new generation of traders gets inspired by this book but I have come to love it as more of a cautionary tale. and FYI, this is the better book for that context: https://t.co/116lNciXCF https://t.co/mEYn2ZAqPI (Source)

The Big Payback

The History of the Business of Hip-Hop

Dan Charnas | 4.08

Lords of Finance

The Bankers Who Broke the World

Liaquat Ahamed | 4.07

Barry Ritholtz It covers a 50-year period from before World War I and leading up to World War II. Even if you’re not interested in finance, it’s a great read. (Source)

David J Lynch Lords of Finance gives you that alternative history, particularly through the inter-war years from the end of World War I into the Great Depression. (Source)

Pour Your Heart Into It

Highbridge | 4.07

Yaro Starak There were also more traditional books or businesses I read about, like the biography of Starbucks. It’s really more the biography of the CEO, Howard Schultz, a lot about him growing the Starbucks brand. Since I spent a lot of time writing in Starbucks cafés, that was an important company to me. (Source)

Jilliene Helman I really, really like company biographies. They're just kind of the style of book that I've gotten really into. [...] I've read the Starbucks CEO book. (Source)

The Unauthorized Autobiography

J.T. Owens | 4.07

Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out

Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch, and How Craft Beer Became Big Business

Josh Noel | 4.07

Heroes of the Computer Revolution

Steven Levy | 4.06

American Gun

A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms

Chris Kyle, William Doyle | 4.06

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Kind of the Story of My Life

Scott Adams | 4.06

Timothy Ferriss Scott has an incredible approach to 'career planning' that's as effective as it is unusual. He’s beaten all the odds and can help you do the same. (Source)

Gennady Batrakov [One of the] few books that made a great deal of impact on my life. (Source)

The Birth of Loud

Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll

Ian S. Port | 4.06

Confessions of an Advertising Man

David Ogilvy, Sir Alan Parker | 4.06

Rory Sutherland @GuruAnaerobic Love it. His best book. (Source)

Ronn Torossian Considering the overlap of similarities between PR and advertising, it is vital to learn from such legends as Ogilvy. His concepts, tactics, and techniques and are a must-read for not only those in marketing and PR but business in general. (Source)

Ola Olusoga For business, I've read Influence by Robert Cialdini 3 times, and Traction by Gabriel Weinberg twice, so if number of times read indicates favor, then those are it. There are a whole bunch of others, like The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman, Confession of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy, The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, and Running Lean by Ash Maurya, that I've also enjoyed and recommend to... (Source)

Andrew Carnegie

David Nasaw | 4.06

Charles T. Munger The definitive biography of an industrial genius, philanthropist, and enigma. At the meeting in May of this year, Munger also mentioned the Mellon Brothers as people to study. (Source)

Where Wizards Stay Up Late

The Origins Of The Internet

Katie Hafner | 4.05

At last, Hafner and Lyon have written a well-researched story of the origins of the Internet substantiated by extensive interviews with its creators who delve into many interesting details such as the controversy surrounding the adoption of our now beloved "@" sign as the separator of usernames and machine addresses. Essential reading for anyone interested in the past...

At last, Hafner and Lyon have written a well-researched story of the origins of the Internet substantiated by extensive interviews with its creators who delve into many interesting details such as the controversy surrounding the adoption of our now beloved "@" sign as the separator of usernames and machine addresses. Essential reading for anyone interested in the past -- and the future -- of the Net specifically, and telecommunications generally.

Lev Grossman If you want to go all the way back, Janet Abbate’s Inventing The Internet really takes it all the way back to the Eisenhower administration and the very beginnings of electronic computers. (Source)

Every Tool's a Hammer

Life is What You Make It

Adam Savage | 4.05

Scott Smith When @Alchemister5 and I decided to open @dnpeek, he gave me this book that @donttrythis wrote. I personally love hammers Jason. ;) https://t.co/ZabTx6JxGX (Source)

Learning to Breathe Fire

The Rise of CrossFit and the Primal Future of Fitness

J.C. Herz | 4.04

Lead from the Outside

How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change

Stacey Abrams | 4.04

Wild Company

The Untold Story of Banana Republic

Mel Ziegler, Patricia Ziegler | 4.04

Against the Odds

James Dyson | 4.04

Console Wars

Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation

Blake J. Harris | 4.04

The King of Oil

The Secret Lives of Marc Rich

Daniel Ammann | 4.03

This Is Not a T-Shirt

A Brand, a Culture, a Community--A Life in Streetwear

Bobby Hundreds | 4.03

Gary Vaynerchuk Simply put, Bobby Hundreds is a social beast. He knows how to tell a story, where to tell that story, and he's great at bringing people together. He's also crazy dedicated to his work and has the laser-focused attention to detail needed to not only build an everlasting globally relevant brand, but any successful business. (Source)

Jessica Alba Building a brand is about identifying and fulfilling a need in a way that no one else can. It takes vision, dedication, and attention to detail. The Hundreds is a prime example of what it looks like when you've combined all these elements along with tapping into a culture and community. This is Not a T-Shirt guides you through methods and tools you can apply to get you one step closer to... (Source)

Tony Hawk This is Not a T-Shirt tracks the history of surf and skate culture and their relationship to streetwear—from the Zephyr skate team of the 1970s to brands like Stüssy, Supreme, BAPE, and, of course, The Hundreds, which has managed to stay relevant for more than fifteen years in a fickle market. This book is an insider's guide to the prevailing trends in youth culture of the last few decades that... (Source)

Sell It Like Serhant

How to Sell More, Earn More, and Become the Ultimate Sales Machine

Ryan Serhant | 4.03

Climate of Hope

How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet

Michael Bloomberg, Carl Pope | 4.03

iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon

How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It

Steve Wozniak, Gina Smith | 4.03

The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products

Leander Kahney | 4.03

Bitcoin Billionaires

A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption

Ben Mezrich | 4.03

Kim Dotcom The Winklevoss brothers mailed me this awesome must-read book #bitcoinbillionaires with a really nice personal note. Thank you @winklevoss and @tylerwinklevoss. Facebook was stolen from you but what you’ve created since then is even more impressive. Crypto is the future. https://t.co/iAkfU1Dm65 (Source)

Bill Lee Thank you @tylerwinklevoss @winklevoss for sending me the must read @benmezrich book with the nice signed note. You guys are ushering in the crypto revolution and have captured lightning in a bottle again. #respect #BitcoinBillionaires https://t.co/QNaJLkQPJa (Source)

Negro with a Hat

The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey

Colin Grant | 4.03

The Facebook Effect

The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World

David Kirkpatrick | 4.03

Craig Pearce If you read to maintain motivation and be entertained, I recommend a few books that in addition to telling great stories, also contain lessons and learnings. You won’t gain many step-by-step type lessons from these books but you will come away realizing that not all startups, regardless of what stage they are in, are as well polished as they make you think. You will realize that they make... (Source)

Angela Pham The Facebook Effect by David Kirkpatrick made me a fan of Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg years ago. I didn’t hesitate to take my current role at Facebook because I feel so strongly about their integrity and leadership, no matter the negative sentiments and media narratives the company has endured recently. (Source)

The Attention Merchants

The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads

Tim Wu | 4.02

Yuval Noah Harari A very insightful book that surveys the history of modern information technology and its political implications, from the age of print and radio to the era of Google and Facebook. It gives the context of the current battle to control human attention. (Source)

Marvin Liao I tend to jump from book to book and may switch if I am interested in some new topic. This is a pleasure for me (which I also do benefit work wise from too). It’s quite a random list because I have eclectic interests (or just scatterbrained most likely) on tech business, AI, general global economy, geopolitics, rising Biotech economy & history. I'm basically 15% to 50% into all these books. (Source)

Rafat Ali Have to say @superwuster is best business writer there is. Just finished Master Switch , now reading “Attention Merchants”, the best history-in-context-with-rigor-and-intellectual-analysis writer/explainer there is. If I ever write a book, want to write it like Tim Wu. (Source)

Kevin Freiberg | 4.02

The House That Jack Ma Built

Duncan Clark | 4.02

Tim Draper Duncan Clark gets into the heart and soul of Alibaba and its founder, Jack Ma, who deftly maneuvered through the discontinuities and barriers in China to create one of the greatest companies in the world. China has thrived under the leadership of Jack Ma. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the present China and the heartbeat of a great entrepreneur. (Source)

Ken Wilcox This book provides excellent insight into the world of Jack Ma, perhaps the most famous of the leaders of the new economy in China. Duncan Clark is a real China 'Old Hand', unique in his knowledge of the Jack Ma generation. This book is definitely on the short list for those who wish to understand the Chinese economy today. (Source)

Erik Cheong I am a big fan of Jack Ma, I have 4 different books talking about Jack. He is a top entrepreneur & visionaire, who started out as a modest English teacher and built Alibaba into one of the world’s largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend on. I am impressed about how he overcame his humble origins and early failures to achieve massive... (Source)

Paul Allen | 4.02

An Invisible Thread

The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny

Laura Schroff | 4.01

LeBron, Inc.

The Making of a Billion-Dollar Athlete

Brian Windhorst | 4.01

My Years with General Motors

Alfred Sloan | 4.01

Ben Horowitz My Years at GM by Alfred Sloan was very interesting particularly on scale issues. (Source)

Bogdan Iordache If you have to read just one business book to understand the global corporate world we live in today, I think this is it. And I think Bill Gates said this first. Alfred P. Sloan was the CEO of General Motors in its early beginnings, and he went through all the stages of the growth, going bust, growth and then consolidation of the beginning (when some companies were creating mechanical horses - no... (Source)

The Virgin Way

Everything I Know About Leadership

Richard Branson | 4.01

Madalina Uceanu I would recommend any biographies of business people, but definitely I would have on the list any of Richard Branson's books. That should cover a better business and mentality understanding. (Source)

Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit

William Knoedelseder | 4.00

The Maverick and His Machine

Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM

Kevin Maney | 4.00

Just for Fun

The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary

Linus Torvalds, David Diamond | 4.00

Death of the Territories

Expansion, Betrayal and the War that Changed Pro Wrestling Forever

Tim Hornbaker | 4.00

Top 10 Entrepreneur Biographies You Should Read

Sarika Anand

Books are a wonderful source of inspiration, a condensed collection of years' worth of knowledge, a dependable companion, an escape into fantasy, and a manual for taking action. Books are no exception when it comes to the constant need for entrepreneurs and founders to adapt and learn from all available sources.

This is particularly true with business biographies, which are frequently authored by the most influential and ground-breaking figures in the industry.

Experience is the best teacher for people. Otto von Bismarck once said, "I prefer to learn from the experience of others." Reading the biographies of individuals whom you admire is a great method to do the same.

The top 10 business biographies are listed here, carefully chosen to suit all tastes.

Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life Sam Walton: Made In America Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

• Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography

Author: Walter Isaacson Goodreads Rating: 4.16

An entrepreneur's autobiography about one of the most significant founders ever, Steve Jobs, is portrayed beautifully in this biography by Walter Issacson . Over 40 interviews with Steve Jobs , his family, and coworkers served as the basis for this biography. You understand through his journey where he received his ideas from and exactly how he overcame difficulties throughout the years. Walters demonstrates how Jobs transformed several sectors, including music, animated films, smartphones, and tablet computers.

In the twenty-first century, he saw that fusing creativity with technology was the perfect approach to generating value. He established a business that combines incredible technological marvels with imaginative breakthroughs.

Although Jobs worked with the author, he requested no say over what was published. Nothing was off bounds, he said. He urged everyone he knew to be open-minded. He was open and honest about the individuals he collaborated with and faced. The emotions, obsessions, foulness, creativity, perfectionism, and drive for dominance that defined his business style and the inventive goods that came as a result are candidly described by his friends, competitors, and coworkers. His story is both educational and warning, and it contains many valuable lessons about creativity, morality, leadership, and principles.

• Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Author: Ashlee Vance Goodreads Rating: 4.21

Elon Musk, the businessman and developer behind Tesla, SolarCity, and SpaceX, sold PayPal, one of his online businesses, for $1.5 billion. From his turbulent beginnings in South Africa and escape to the United States to his stunning technical inventions and economic endeavours, Ashlee Vance portrays the complete grandeur and trajectory of the genius's career and life. One of the most important issues of our day is explored by Vance using Musk's story: Can the country of innovators and creators that dominated modern society for a century continue to thrive in the face of intense international competition?

He contends that Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, and Howard Hughes, constitute Musk, who he compares to all of them. Musk has devoted more of his time and resources than any other businessman alive today to envision a tomorrow that is as expansive as the innovators of the Great Era of Science-Fiction and Fantasy.

• Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built

Author: Duncan Clark Goodreads Rating: 3.86

Duncan Clark, who was given unimaginable access to a wealth of new information and exclusive personal interviews, brings on his first-hand knowledge of key players crucial to Alibaba's rise to craft a credible, persuasive descriptive account of how Alibaba and its charismatic founder have changed the way that Chinese practise their newly found financial stability, encouraging businessmen all over the world and turning the tables on the Silicon Valley giants.

Jack Ma, a man who came from impoverished circumstances and began his career as an English teacher, developed and grew Alibaba into the second-largest Internet firm in the world in just ten years.  The firm was valued more than Facebook or Coca-Cola after its $25 billion IPO in 2014, which was the highest ever. Hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers rely on Alibaba's eCommerce operations every day, and it also employs and pays millions of individuals.

Duncan covers important issues about the company's history, development, and prospects. How did Jack Ma create Alibaba from such humble beginnings? What accounts for his unwavering motivation and cunning advantage over his rivals? How long can the business expect to hold its position of dominance with over 80% of China's eCommerce market? Are Alibaba's goals constrained, or will the Chinese government take action to restrain them, as the business sets its eyes on the financial and media industries of the nation? And how will Alibaba expand its influence and operations in the US and other international markets as it opens offices in cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and LA?

Clark situates Alibaba's story within the broader narrative of China's economic boom—the growth of corporate companies and the advancement of web usage has propelled the nation to become the second-largest economy in the world and home to the largest Internet population, which is double the size of the US. He also looks at the social and political backdrop to these significant shifts. Clark is a seasoned insider with unmatched contacts who has a profound knowledge of Chinese business philosophy. As never before, he sheds light on an improbable business giant and analyses the crucial role his company played in changing China while also strengthening its position and influence globally.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Author: phil knight goodreads rating: 4.47.

For the first time, Nike CEO and founder, Phil Knight, tells the inner tale of the firm's beginnings as an adventurous startup and how Nike developed to become one of the most recognisable, game-changing, and lucrative companies in the world in this honest and engaging biography.

After graduating from business school in 1962, Phil Knight loaned $50 from his father and started a company with the straightforward goal of importing high-end, reasonably priced sports shoes from Japan. Knight made $8,000 his first year by selling the shoes out of the backseat of his lime green Plymouth Valiant. Nike now has yearly sales of almost $30 billion. In the startup era, the swoosh (Nike's logo) has developed into a groundbreaking, global icon, being one of the most pervasive and well-known symbols in existence right now.

But Knight, the person responsible for the swoosh, has always been away from the public's eyes. Here, for the very first time, he shares his narrative, starting with his crossroads experience, in a book that is open, honest, brave, and humorous. After travelling the world on a rucksack at the age of 24, he made the unorthodox choice to launch his own company, one that would be lively and distinctive.

Alongside his early successes, Knight describes the numerous risks and intimidating failures that came his way to realise his objective. Above everything else, he remembers the early connections and very first partnerships and workers, a motley crew of outcasts and explorers who grew to be a close-knit family. Collectively, they developed a company that transformed it all by utilising the tremendous force of a common objective and a strong faith in the divinity of sports.

• The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

Author: Brad Stone Goodreads Rating: 4.14

Historically, Amazon.com began by sending books to customers by mail. But Jeff Bezos, the company's imaginative creator, wasn't happy to only sell books. He envisioned Amazon as the one-stop shop with an unrestricted assortment, alluring accessibility, and game-changing cheap costs. To do this, he created a business culture of unyielding determination and confidentiality that has never been broken. Brad Stone with the help of both current and past Amazon workers as well as members of the Bezos family, provides readers with their first, extensive, bystander vision of how everything worked in the journey of Amazon.

Bezos is a private person in contrast to other top pioneers in technology like Jobs, Gates, and Zuckerberg. He distinguishes out, though, for his relentless search for new markets that have seen him steer Amazon into high-risk projects like the Kindle and cloud computing while also revolutionising shopping in the same way Henry Ford did with manufacturing. The Everything Store is a riveting, comprehensive account of the business that made one of the initial and most significant stands on the world wide web and fundamentally altered how we browse and purchase.

• The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

Author: Alice Schroeder Goodreads Rating: 4.13

The definitive biography of Warren Buffett, amongst the most admired individuals in the world, is available here. The renowned Omaha investor has never published a book, but he gave one writer, Alice Schroeder , an unparalleled opportunity to interview him and others who were most important to him about his career, beliefs, problems, victories, mistakes, and insights. As a consequence, the person known as "The Oracle of Omaha" has a comprehensive and emotionally engaging biography.

Buffett has never revealed his entire life narrative, even though the mainstream media follows him regularly. Warren Buffett is full of contradictions. He set out to demonstrate that a good person can come in first. He promoted honesty as an investor, CEO, board member, writer, and speaker over the years, treating his investors as partners and serving as their stewards. From the humble Omaha headquarters of his firm Berkshire Hathaway , he simultaneously rose to the position of the richest man in the world. Nothing about this is "basic".

When Alice Schroeder first met Warren Buffett, she was a skilled writer with a good eye for detail and financial acumen. She also worked as an analyst for the financial industry. He was impressed by her financial articles, and as she got to know him, she discovered that while much had been published about his investment approach, no one had gone further to examine his bigger ideology, which is intertwined with a complicated persona and the specifics of his experience. This led to his deciding to work with her on the autobiography he wouldn't ever pen down.

Buffett, before this publication, never spent endless hours conversing with a writer, answering questions, allowing them to complete visibility to his family, children, friends, acquaintances, and business partners, unlocking his archives, and remembering his early years. It was a brave thing to do, as The Snowball makes very evident. Being a mortal, his journey has had both pluses and minuses, as most journeys do. Buffett's principles and beliefs that have improved people's lives will be remembered instead of his position on the wealth scoreboard, even though his fortune is still remarkable. This story depicts why Warren Buffett is today's most remarkable example of American business success.

Sam Walton: Made In America

Author: sam walton, john huey (contributor) goodreads rating: 4.11.

Here is a remarkable success tale of a man whose empire was established by hard work rather than deception.

In Sam Walton's own words, this is "a tale of risk-taking, work and effort, and business; of understanding where you wish to go and getting prepared to do whatever it requires to achieve that goal. It's also a tale about adhering to your principles and trusting in your ideas even when others might not."

It tells the tale of how Sam Walton transformed Walmart, the biggest retailer in the world, from a single discount store in a struggling textile town. He never lacked the common touch while reigning as the unquestioned merchant monarch of the late 20th century. Here, Walton shares his remarkable tale in his unique terms. Genuinely modest yet always confident in his goals and successes, Walton expresses his ideas in a straightforward, plain manner.

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

Author: howard schultz, joanne gordon goodreads rating: 3.85.

Starbucks' president and chairman, Howard Schultz (now interim CEO), decided to resume his role as CEO in 2008, 8 years after he had backed away from the regular management of the business and taken on the role of chairman. Schultz was committed to assisting Starbucks in getting back on track, reestablishing its essential principles, and regaining its economic health since he believed the company had wandered off course.

In Onward, he and fellow writer, Joanne Gordon, tells the incredible story of Howard's comeback and the company's sustainable change under his management, demonstrating how Starbucks once more successfully achieved sustainability and profitability without losing compassion amid one of the most turbulent economic periods in history.

The book zooms in to reveal, in engrossing detail, how one firm battled and remade itself in the midst of everything. providing readers with a glimpse of a period of history that left no organisation unaffected. The fast-moving story gives readers an insight into Schultz's mind as he learns to accept his limits and his changing management style while being pushed by the pressure that arises on a daily basis as disputes. The fascinating, honest tale Onward charts the development of both a business and a businessman.

Schultz's core leadership principle, Onward, is that success is not just about winning, but also about winning the right way. In the end, he gives readers what he works so hard to convey every day: a sense of optimism that, no matter how difficult things become, the future may still be just as successful as the past, or perhaps more successful, depending on how success is defined.

That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea

Author: marc randolph goodreads rating: 4.21.

The amazing unseen tale of how Netflix evolved from a vision to a business is recounted in the style of Phil Knight's Shoe Dog, and it is all narrated by co-founder and former CEO, Marc Randolph.

Brick-and-mortar video storefronts previously reigned supreme. Late fines were commonplace, video streaming was unknown, and the mass acceptance of DVDs appeared to be about as far off as flying automobiles. In fact, when Marc Randolph had an idea in 1997, these were the generally recognised rules of the nation. It was a straightforward idea—using the internet to rent movies—but it was one of several, much worse recommendations that Randolph would make to Reed Hastings on their daily journey to work, including those for customised baseball bats and a shampoo delivery company.

But Hastings was fascinated, so the two created a business, with Hastings serving as the main financier and Randolph as the CEO. Netflix's success now that it has more than 150 million users seems predestined, yet the most revolutionary start-up of the twenty-first century started with very few supporters and disaster at every step. Marc Randolph's impactful journey illustrates how anyone who possesses toughness, sound intuitions, and persistence can transform the world, even with a suggestion that many folks assume will never function. From having to persuade his own mom to become an investor to the guest house conference hall that functioned as the initial office, to server crashes on launch day, to the now-legendary meeting when Netflix proposed Blockbuster Inc. to acquire them.

But more than simply the insider account of one of the most recognisable corporations in the world is revealed. It offers solutions to a number of our most essential inquiries about taking chances in the company or in life. It is chock-full of counterintuitive topics and written in writing that makes you want to binge. Where do you start? How do you handle failures and dissatisfaction? What is your approach to success? What is success, exactly?

That Will Never Work is not just the quintessential follow-your-dreams tale but also one of the greatest illuminating business tales of modern times, covering topics like idea development, team building, and understanding when to let go.

The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

Author: robert iger goodreads rating: 4.42.

In this book, the former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Robert Iger, discusses the principles and concepts that have helped him redevelop one of the most adored companies around the world and motivate those who work there, with the help of fellow writer Joel Lovell.

Amid a challenging period, Robert Iger was appointed CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005. The company's morale had declined, the market was more fierce, and technologies were evolving more quickly than they ever had. Iger says, "I realised there was nothing to be achieved from fighting over the old days." "The future was all that mattered, and I thought I knew exactly where Disney needed to go," he said.

Three concepts stood up clearly:

• Produce the best content Disney is capable of.
• Instead of resisting innovation, welcome it and employ it
• Think larger, think globally, and strengthen the brand recognition of Disney in other countries.

Twelve years later, Disney is the biggest and most reputable media business in the world, with 21st Century Fox, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm among its brands. Iger is regarded as one of the most creative and successful CEOs of his time, and the company is now worth about five times what it was when he joined it.

Many entrepreneurs believe that reading and understanding the stories of the people they look up to has helped them in their journey to success. The above list includes some of the best business biographies of top entrepreneurs, which are sure to help you learn different mantras for your success.

What are business biographies?

Business biographies refer to the portrayal of the stories of entrepreneurs as well as the formation and growth of powerful corporations.

Which are the best business biographies to read?

The best business biographies of top entrepreneurs are:

Is there a biography of Elon Musk?

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance is a popular biography of Elon Musk, published in 2015. Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century by Tim Higgins is another biography of Elon Musk.

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Dream11 Story - Setting Down the Success of India's Best Fantasy Gaming Application!

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boAt: Mastering the Audio Wave, Thriving Business, Insights Beyond Numbers, and Future Prospects

The Indian audio brand boAt has become a household name in the country within a short period. Founded in 2016 by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta, boAt has captured a significant market share in the wearables and personal audio segment, particularly with its stylish and affordable products. But how exactly

Operating Virtual Offices in India: A Guide for Businesses on Rules, Regulations, and Utilization

This Article has been contributed by Harsh Kumra and Sanjana Kumar, Associates with Spice Route Legal's Corporate Practice Group. In recent times, the boom in the startup industry has given rise to another parallel ecosystem that shares a symbiotic relationship with early-stage startups — this ecosystem being the ecosystem of ‘virtual

GST Shockwave Hits IPL 2024 Marketing Fund for Fantasy Gaming Apps

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17 Best Books for Entrepreneurs (Must-Read Books for 2024)

Updated Post January 2, 2024

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our  disclosure  for more information.

Launching a business is both exciting and terrifying. It takes a wild leap of faith, strategic planning, and dedication, and even if you have those things, 20% of businesses fail in the first year. To help you avoid common entrepreneurial pitfalls, we’ve put together a list of the best books for entrepreneurs to read in 2024.

This list of highly recommended books will motivate and inspire you to build the business of your dreams while keeping your wits.

Table of Contents

1. The Lean Startup

3. zero to one, 4. traction, 5. the e-myth revisited, 6. the $100 startup, 7. company of one, 8. the hard thing about hard things, 9. start with why, 10. the startup of you, 11. crushing it , 12. your next five moves, 13. steve jobs, 14. radical candor, 15. the virgin way, 16. year of yes, final word on must-read books for entrepreneurs.

By Eric Ries

The Lean Startup focuses on helping startup entrepreneurs avoid common pitfalls as they launch their companies. It teaches an approach that focuses on effectively fostering creativity, experimentation, and measuring success using metrics that actually count. This is one of the best books for entrepreneurs who want to take a no-fuss approach to starting their business. 

“ All innovation begins with vision. It’s what happens next that is critical. “ -Eric Ries

Find The Lean Startup here.

By Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson 

The problem many entrepreneurs face is that they focus on talking rather than doing, and Rework helps you focus on productivity from the beginning. The authors cut through all of the most common excuses newbie entrepreneurs have when they start and help you get to work. Rework helps you avoid burnout, and reminds you that working and building a company doesn’t have to crush your spirit. 

“Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they just use it up. The real hero is home because she figured out a faster way. “ – Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Find Rework here.

By Peter Thiel and Blake Masters

While this New York Times bestselling book is mainly focused on building and investing in innovative companies, it’s an excellent resource for small business entrepreneurs who want to create a profitable niche for themselves. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, founder, or investor, you will gain something from this future-focused book that explains how tomorrow’s winners are those thinking up and building unique businesses.

“ The best projects are likely to be overlooked, not trumpeted by a crowd; the best problems to work on are often the ones nobody else even tries to solve. “ – Peter Thiel and Blake Masters

Find Zero to One here.

By Gino Wickman

In Traction, Gino Wickman helps entrepreneurs implement what he calls the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to gain traction and grow with businesses. Wickman’s system helps heads of new companies avoid common frustrations, such as a lack of control, people, lack of profits, the ceiling, and the feeling that nothing is working.

“ Most people are sitting on their own diamond mines. The surest ways to lose your diamond mine are to get bored, become overambitious, or start thinking that the grass is greener on the other side. Find your core focus, stick to it, and devote your time and resources to excelling at it. “ – Gino Wickman

Find Traction here.

By Michael E. Gerber

Michael E. Geber explains that starting a business takes a lot of work, and what new entrepreneurs fail to do is work on their business more than working in their business. And he explains the three personality types you need to have in order for success: The Entrepreneur, The Manager, and The Technician.

“ The difference between great people and everyone else is that great people create their lives actively, while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next. The difference between the two is living fully and just existing.” – Michael E. Gerber

Find The E-Myth Revisited on Amazon.

By Chris Guillebeau

There are many challenges when starting a business, and The $100 Startup is meant to be a guide to overcoming challenges like finding a marketable idea, keeping your costs low, knowing the difference between what customers say they want and what they really want, and more.

“ If you make your business about helping others, you’ll always have plenty of work.” -Chris Guillebeau

Find The $100 Startup here.

By Paul Jarvis

This is one of the best books for entrepreneurs who want to prioritize a rich life. Jarvis explains how staying small offers more freedom, and the power in making a commitment to being better instead of bigger.

“The gist is this: you can pursue any passion you want, but you shouldn’t feel entitled to make money off it. Passion in work comes from first crafting a valuable skill set and mastering your work. This is great news, because it means you no longer have to beat yourself up for not finding your true, hidden passions. Instead, you can simply get to work.” -Paul Jarvis

​ Find Company of One here.

By Ben Horowitz

Ben Horowitz knows that starting a business is great and has learned a lot selling, investing, managing, and supervising. But in his book, he uses his experience to analyze the problems entrepreneurs face on a daily basis. Horowitz is a funny, straightforward author who shares personal stories as he inspires and educates future entrepreneurs.

“Hard things are hard because there are no easy answers or recipes. They are hard because your emotions are at odds with your logic. They are hard because you don’t know the answer and you cannot ask for help without showing weakness.” -Ben Horowitz

​ Find The Hard Thing About Hard Things here.

By Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek inspires us to ask the question “Why?” He looks at why some companies are more innovative, why some people are more influential than others, and why some are more profitable. Sinek discusses why people like Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers all began with the same question: why.

“ Great companies don’t hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them. People are either motivated or they are not. Unless you give motivated people something to believe in, something bigger than their job to work toward, they will motivate themselves to find a new job and you’ll be stuck with whoever’s left. “ -Simon Sinek

​ Find Start with Why here .

By Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha

This book is less about becoming an entrepreneur and more about becoming the most successful version of yourself, whether that’s starting your own business or upping your career. The authors explain how to treat your career like a startup — staying nimble, dynamic, and willing to take risks.

“ If you want to build a strong network that will help you move ahead in your career, it’s vital to first take stock of the connections you already have. “ -Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha

​ Find The Startup of You here.

By Gary Vaynerchuk

Crushing It! is one of the best books for entrepreneurs who want a practical and inspiring perspective on building a business. Vaynerchuk gives actionable advice about how to leverage social media, shares stories from successful entrepreneurs, and talks about building your personal brand.

“Know yourself. Choose the right medium, choose the right topic, create awesome content, and you can make a lot of money being happy.” – Gary Vaynerchuk

​ Find Crushing It! here.

By Patrick Bet-David 

Your Next Five Moves is an excellent book for entrepreneurs who want to strategize for long-term business success. The idea comes from master chess players who always plan five steps ahead. Bet-David suggests adopting this strategy in every aspect of your life and business. 

“ You want to choose a path that puts the odds of winning in your favor; in poker, it’s called game selection. What determines if you win in any game (or business) isn’t how good you are; it’s how good you are relative to your competition. That’s why it’s so important to know your own strengths and weaknesses and find a market in which you have an inherent advantage. “ – Patrick Bet-David

​ Find Your Next Five Moves here.

By Walter Isaacson

This best-selling biography is one of the best books for entrepreneurs who want to learn from a 21st century icon, Steve Jobs. You will learn about the life of Steve Jobs, from his early experiences to his time at Apple. Isaacson interviewed Jobs more than 40 times and more than hundreds of people who knew Jobs well. 

“People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.” -Walter Isaacson

​ Find Steve Jobs here.

By Kim Scott

Radical Candor is less about being an entrepreneur and more about how to become the best and most effective boss possible. Author Kim Scott was a successful leader at Google and Apple, which led to the writing of her book, which explains that, as a leader, you don’t need to be a pushover or a jerk.

“ A better start to a healthy relationship is to leave the unwanted things in their way and make a fresh start. “ – Kim Scott

You can find Radical Candor here.

By Richard Branson

Richard Branson lives a wild, adventurous life, and spent over forty years building the Virgin Group and never shying away from personal and professional challenges. Branson leads differently than most high-level executives, and his unique leadership style is what’s known as “the Virgin Way.”

“ Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand. “ -Richard Branson

Find The Virgin Way here.

By Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes is responsible for creating some of the most popular TV shows of the past decade, like Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. But you might not realize that Rhimes is a self-proclaimed introvert who absolutely hates putting herself out there. In Year of Yes, Rhimes shares how agreeing to everything that scared her for an entire year changed her relationship with herself. It’s one of the best books for entrepreneurs who are afraid of moving forward with their business.

“I am not lucky. You know what I am? I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way and I work really, really hard. Don’t call me lucky. Call me a badass.” – Shonda Rhimes

You can find Year of Yes here.

By Angela Duckworth

Grit was an instant New York Times bestseller, and it’s become a go-to read for anyone who wants to understand and leverage what author Angel Duckworth refers to as “grit.” Duckworth believes that it isn’t IQ or circumstances that lead to success — it’s your ability to persist in the face of adversity. This is a must-read if you’ve been looking for the motivation to push forward into the next phase of your life.

“Without effort, your talent is nothing more than unmet potential. Without effort, your skill is nothing more than what you could have done but didn’t.” -Angela Duckworth

Find Grit here.

Learning from the successes and failures of others is one step toward starting your own business, but you still need to make the leap. We’re here to help you on your journey, and here are several articles with practical information for different stages of your business:

• Best Business Bank Accounts
• Small Business Bookkeeping Software
• Best Self-Employed Retirement Plans
• How to Handle Taxes for Your Side Hustle

There are so many excellent books for entrepreneurs, and one of our favorites is  Company of One . It explains the benefits of starting small — you can build a dynamic and nimble business that gives you a sense of pride. Even if you decide to scale, this is a must-read for solopreneurs or newbie entrepreneurs.

CEOs are constantly reaching for more knowledge, and reading books is one of the best ways to gain that knowledge. They offer insider tips to strategizing and scaling your business so it stays profitable and dynamic.

The 30 Best Startup Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read in 2024

• Startup Resources
• Best Startup Books

Last Updated: March 12, 2024 By Madison Holt

Some of the most impactful insight for entrepreneurs is found in the pages of a well-written business book. But, as an aspiring or existing startup founder, you might not have the time to find the most valuable entrepreneur books for your goals. We are here to help with this guide to the best startup books every founder should read in 2024 .

You can also use our free  search tool  to find the best business books tailored to your unique entrepreneurial journey!

Best Business Startup Books for Founders

As an entrepreneur, one of the best ways to learn from others' mistakes, challenges, and experiences is to grab a good book or two and get reading!

Books are a treasure trove of knowledge and will let you into the minds of great business owners, founders, and inventors throughout history. If you could sit down and get some of the best bits of wisdom from the great minds of the last century, wouldn’t you do so?

Books can help you stay motivated, learn from leaders, and even help you get funding for your startup if you’re in the beginning stages of growth and product development.

So, grab your reading glasses — we’ve compiled a list of the best startup books for founders and aspiring entrepreneurs. Whether you’re looking for marketing strategies, inspiration, or practical advice for launching your startup — you’re in the right place.

We also asked a variety of founders to recommend their favorite books on entrepreneurship . Check out the video below!

1. ‘The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses’ by Eric Ries

Considered by many to be an essential read for entrepreneurs, “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries details the author’s approach to building a successful startup that is financially efficient and allows for optimal innovation and creativity.

The tactic itself is based on lean manufacturing practices that encourage quick learning, adaptability, and shorter production cycles while still emphasizing the importance of customer feedback.

Discover more of the best lean startup books .

2. ‘Zero to One’ by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters

Next on our list of the best startup books is “Zero to One.” The foundational argument of “Zero to One” is that not only is technological innovation stagnant but that it can be developed beyond computers and Silicon Valley.

The crucial lesson and Thiel’s solution for his proposed problem is that entrepreneurs and founders must learn to think for themselves to create something truly impactful. A positive nod to the future, “Zero to One” offers an outline to becoming a true innovator in the startup world and beyond.

3. ‘Steve Jobs’ by Walter Isaacson

This startup book was written by Walter Isaacson at the request of Steve Jobs himself, in an attempt to capture his entire life’s story and journey while he built up Apple as a co-founder. If you want to know how one of the greatest companies in the world was built and the struggles Steve Jobs faced to get there, this biography is an excellent addition to your startup books collection.

Explore more business biographies for entrepreneurs .

4. ‘Purple Cow’ by Seth Godin

A "Purple Cow" is something that is unbelievable, counterintuitive, or phenomenal about a product or service, something that Seth Godin argues should be in everything a startup founder puts out into the marketplace. Learn about how to distinguish your products and services from the competition by adding an element that most don’t have.

Check out our interview with Seth Godin !

5. ‘Start With Why’ by Simon Sinek

“Start With Why” begins by doing exactly what the name suggests, starting with why some startups and founders are more successful than others and what they have in common. Sinek argues, the fundamental trait influential people share is that they start with asking “why” to better understand the problem, the ones experiencing it, and the correct solution.

6. ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’ by Timothy Ferriss

Most of us can say we have daydreamed about ditching the nine to five while still making money. Timothy Ferriss, however, made that a reality. In his book “The 4-Hour Workweek,” Ferriss details his journey from making $40,000 in a year to $40,000 in a day and working only 4 hours a week.

In addition, the book, now updated and extended, provides helpful insights and real tools that entrepreneurs can use to build their dream startup life.

Explore more top productivity books for entrepreneurs .

7. ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen Covey

“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is one of the best business books out there. If you believe that operating a successful startup starts with building strong personal and professional habits, this may be the perfect book to support your entrepreneurial journey.

A holistic approach to developing strong personal and professional skills, this book outlines the ways anyone can become more effective at instigating change through fairness, humanity, and integrity.

8. ‘The Hard Thing About Hard Things’ by Ben Horowitz

Many know Ben Horowitz as cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and as an entrepreneurial icon. His book, “The Hard Thing About Hard Things,” provides readers with an inside look into the successful entrepreneur’s tricks of the trade, making it one of the best startup business books out there. Written with honesty and humor, this book provides insight into everything from navigating competition to building a successful entrepreneur mindset.

Discover more of the best leadership books for entrepreneurs .

9. ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins

“Good to Great” details an extensive study of companies that are either doing poorly, simply mediocre, or without a solid foundation. Collins covers the ones that achieve greatness and the ones that don’t. Then, the book dives into what makes each company different and what business owners can learn about taking a company from good to great, no matter what state the business is in.

Looking for more book recommendations? We asked startup founders to share their favorite books on entrepreneurship, and here's what they said .

10. ‘Rework’ by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

“Rework” isn’t your typical startup book. Authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson challenge the status quo of what is expected from entrepreneurs starting a business. From scrapping your business plan to forgoing investors — forget what you know about starting a company the traditional way. “Rework” will show you how to do it differently and, potentially, better than before. 

11. ‘Creativity, Inc.’ by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace

"Creativity, Inc." was written to describe the business decisions and journey Pixar and Disney took to dominate the animation industry and creative industries simultaneously. If you want to learn how some of the biggest animation studios grew their brands, this may be a great read for you.

12. ‘Founders at Work’ by Jessica Livingston

"Founders at Work"  is a book that looks at the beginning days of 30 influential startups in the United States and the journeys they took to succeed. If you want to read about the twists and turns of entrepreneurship and how famous founders navigated the ups and downs, there can be an educational nugget of wisdom in this book just for you.

13. ‘The Startup Owner’s Manual’ by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf

A step-by-step guide to everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching, managing, and growing a startup — according to authors Steve Blank and Bob Dorf. From identifying your target market (and how to reach them) to creating a scalable startup model that is poised for rapid growth.

“The Startup Owner’s Manual” provides insight into each step of startup ownership and is used by entrepreneurs and business schools across the country, solidifying its spot as one of the best startup books to add to your shelf.

14. ‘The $100 Startup’ by Chris Guillebeau

Chris Guillebeau, author of “The $100 Startup,” was still in his early thirties when he completed a tour of every country in the world — without ever having worked a “real job.” This book is a look into several cases researched by Guillebeau of entrepreneurs who built a successful business with a modest investment, typically less than $100.

An easy-to-read guide to building a startup out of nothing, “The $100 Startup” is a testament to the power of a great idea and the willingness to just go for it.

15. ‘Mastering the VC Game’ by Jeff Bussgang

In "Mastering the VC Game," Jeff Bussgang dives into the secrets of the venture capital world and how you can create the perfect pitch, get noticed, and negotiate a deal or partnership that makes you and the venture capitalists happy.

Explore more venture capital books for startup founders .

16. ‘The Mom Test’ by Rob Fitzpatrick

"The Mom Test" is a book that identifies several simple rules for asking good questions – questions that even your mom wouldn’t be able to lie to you about! When you ask good questions about your business idea, you’ll be able to learn more about your customers and, in turn, grow your company.

Discover more of the best books on startup ideas .

17. ‘Leading at the Speed of Growth’ by Katherine Catlin and Jana Matthews

“Leading at the Speed of Growth” is another one of the best entrepreneur books to add to your reading list. Developed by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, “Leading at the Speed of Growth” is a collection of over 500 impactful stories from successful entrepreneurs.

The focus of this book is to give entrepreneurs a deeper understanding of how to grow and scale their startup through insights on everything from spotting red flags to being an effective leader during critical stages of startup ownership. This is an excellent startup book to learn from actual entrepreneurs the necessary tactics for rapid growth.

18. ‘How to Win Friends & Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie

"How to Win Friends and Influence People" is a book about networking your way to success and getting along with others in your personal and professional relationships. You’ll learn about how to become friends with anyone and everyone and how to change other people’s behavior by first changing your own.

19. ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill

One of the most invaluable startup books, "Think and Grow Rich" was book published in 1937 and written by Napoleon Hill about the power of the brain and our thoughts. Whatever we think on a consistent basis is what we end up creating in our own lives, and examining our thought process in order to further grow your business is an interesting prospect.

20. ‘Radical Candor’ by Kim Scott

"Radical Candor" is a book dedicated to helping people become great managers, bosses, and leaders as a whole. As a company founder, you’ll be in charge of other employees and frequently deal with business partners. This means that your leadership skills should be on point, which is what this book aims to help with.

Running short on time?  Try Blinkist to gain key insights from the startup books on this list.

21. ‘Hacking Growth: How Today’s Fast-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success’ by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown

“Hacking Growth” is next on our curated list of the best startup books to read. For many founders, building a growth-oriented startup is at the core of their business planning. For many founders, building a growth-oriented startup is at the core of their business planning.

“Hacking Growth” helps readers understand the elements to drive growth using real-life examples of companies that have experienced success of this kind. Additionally, the authors walk you through a hypothetical scenario of the results of their growth strategy to provide a clear example of the process from start to finish.

22. ‘Startupland’ by Mikkel Svane

From the founder of Zendesk , Mikkel Svane’s helpful startup guide “Startupland” walks the reader through his experience as founder and CEO of a successful startup, providing beneficial insights along the way. Startupland is a great resource for entrepreneurs from all walks of life to learn how to hire the right team and launch a thriving company despite potential risks.

23. ‘Unapologetically Ambitious’ by Shellye Archambeau

"Unapologetically Ambitious" is a story about an African American female CEO who was able to rise to the top in Silicon Valley. If you want to learn about the startup journey, valuable lessons, strategies, and other techniques that she used to achieve her goals, this book is for you.

Listen to our interview with Shellye Archambeau below!

24. ‘Lean In’ by Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell

"Lean In" is a book written for women as an encouragement to assert themselves in their professional lives and at home. If you’re a female entrepreneur who wants to be a leader and take control of your own life to push yourself towards success, this is a great read.

Discover more inspiring books for women entrepreneurs .

25. ‘Building an Elite Organization’ by Don Wenner

"Building an Elite Organization" is a book that’s all about scaling high-profit, high-growth companies successfully. You’ll learn all about the Elite Execution System Wenner’s companies use in order to drive growth and increase their profitability.

26. ‘Who’ by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

"Who," written by Geoff Smart, is a book about hiring. If you work in a startup, especially in a leadership role, you’ll likely be tasked with finding and interviewing candidates to fill positions within your company. This book provides a four-step approach that lets you hire top talent for all levels of your organization.

27. ‘Why Startups Fail’ by Tom Eisenmann

You’ve often heard that a large percentage of startups fail within just the first few years of their operation but have you ever wondered why? “Why Startups Fail” is a book that identifies six distinct failure patterns in startups and helps you avoid making the same mistakes in your own company.

Check out our interview with Tom Eisenmann !

28. ‘Thrive’ by Arianna Huffington

If you’re driven and willing to do what it takes to succeed in the startup world, perhaps you’re missing a key ingredient in your perception of what true success looks like. In "Thrive," Arianna Huffington attempts to shine a light on what’s missing in our modern definitions of success and how you can implement the missing ingredient into your life in order to avoid burnout and unhappiness.

29. ‘Start Something That Matters’ by Blake Mycoskie

"Start Something That Matters"  is a book written about TOMS which is considered to be one of the fastest-growing shoe companies worldwide. Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS, tells the story of how he started the company and the challenges he faced along the way.

30. ‘The Startup Checklist’ by David S. Rose

"The Startup Checklist" is a simple book that’s meant to be a step-by-step plan for starting a successful business. In this book, David Rose describes how you can develop a lean startup plan and begin creating value and solving problems in the world.

What to Look for in Business Startup Books

When looking at books, you can read to help you build your own business from the ground up, there are several helpful aspects found in great startup books that you should be on the lookout for.

Author Experience and Expertise

Every book you read about entrepreneurship, business, and getting funding and capital for your startup should be written by an author who has experienced what they teach in their own lives. If you aren’t sure, take a moment to research the author and make sure they have the experience required to be an expert on the topic.

Nuggets of Wisdom

While reading, be on the lookout for nuggets of wisdom that you should write down and reread every once in a while. When you read a book initially, you’ll likely forget a big chunk of the book’s content immediately after you put it down. To mitigate this, take notes and keep track of those nuggets of wisdom in order to keep them fresh in your mind.

A New Perspective

Be on the lookout for new perspectives and ways to look at business and entrepreneurship. You have your own life experiences, and the authors you’re learning from will have their own. It’s important to reflect on how these authors interpret and react to different aspects of life and business and see if you can adopt their best perspectives to your own day-to-day life.

What's your favorite startup book? Let us know in the comments!

About the Author

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Founders pick the 12 best books on entrepreneurship that every business owner should read in 2023

• Books are a great way for aspiring and early founders to learn from successful business owners.
• Founders said they'd learned business theories and financial advice from books by entrepreneurs.
• Here are 12 of the best books to read to prepare for the new year as a founder.

There's a continued interest in becoming a founder: 418,905 businesses launched in November , and more than 10 million business applications have been filed since the start of 2020.

For entrepreneurs, including those who started businesses in the past three years, books can be a valuable resource for advice and guidance from some of the most successful founders. What's more, books on business, team building, or founder stories can offer invaluable insight and knowledge.

Insider asked founders to recommend the one book they'd suggest all aspiring or early entrepreneurs read in the new year. Everything from financial advice to various business theories are explored in the pages of the following 12 books.

'Who Says Elephants Can't Dance' by Louis V. Gerstner Jr.

"Who Says Elephants Can't Dance" was written by Louis V. Gerstner Jr., a businessperson best known for his time as the chair of the board and CEO of IBM from 1993 to 2002.

His story covers his time at IBM, including how he transformed its company culture and turned around the firm's finances.

"It's about organizational theory and how IBM changed who they were as a company," Gina Luari, a 31-year-old a restaurant-group owner in Hartford, Connecticut , said, adding that the book had resonated with her since she was in college.

"It spoke a lot about culture, how companies and departments talked to one another, and what really makes the inner workings of a company," she said 

Buy the book here .

'The One Thing' by Gary Keller

"The One Thing" is by Gary Keller, an author and the founder of the real-estate company Keller Williams Realty Inc., and Jay Papasan, an author and the vice president and executive editor at Keller Williams.

It covers productivity through the lenses of clutter, distractions, stress, energy, and success, as well as how entrepreneurs can cut through the noise.

For Luari, the book's message aligns with how she runs her business.

"We're just focused on brunch — we don't do anything else," she said, adding that she believed in the theory that sticking to one thing and doing it well was the route to success.

"I really recommend reading it, especially if somebody's just trying to be an entrepreneur, launch a product or a service," she said. "It really explains how being hyperfocused on one thing is going to give you exponential results." 

'We Should All Be Millionaires' by Rachel Rodgers

"We Should All Be Millionaires" was written by Rachel Rodgers, an attorney, business owner, and self-made millionaire. She founded Hello Seven, a membership and coaching community that helps women and underrepresented people build wealth through businesses. 

The book shares a step-by-step approach to support, confidence, and financial success in business.

"Reading from other people who have been in my shoes, and using some of their advice coupled with what I've learned, is really helping me," Deidre Mathis, the founder of the hostel company Wanderstay , said. "It's going to continue to help me through this whole process."

'The Millionaire Next Door' by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko

"The Millionaire Next Door" was written by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. Stanley was a business theorist and author who covered wealthy Americans. Danko is an author covering consumer behavior and wealth and a professor of marketing at the State University of New York in Albany.

The book covers seven traits of people who have accumulated wealth. 

"Planning for your financial future is something that our society doesn't really teach enough," Seth Fowler, a cofounder of Apthcry, a sock company, said.

Fowler was not good with his money in his 20s, he said.

"As I finally got to the end of my 20s into my 30s, I'm focusing on a lot more," he added. "I think having a foundation for retirement is really important."

'Shoe Dog' by Phil Knight

"Shoe Dog" was written by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. The book is a memoir of Knight's journey running the brand through its launch and evolution. 

"Now you see this amazing finished brand that's worth billions of dollars, but you don't see him selling shoes out of the back of his car or working with manufacturers in China," Fowler said, adding that the book included aspects of Nike's humble beginnings that readers may not know or remember. 

'Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant' by Robert T. Kiyosaki

"Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant" was written by Robert T. Kiyosaki, the founder of Rich Global LLC and the Rich Dad Co., a financial-education company.

In the book, Kiyosaki teaches readers methods for gaining wealth and describes four types of people: solopreneurs, employees, business owners and investors. He then explains the differences between these people and how some can work less but earn more.

The personal-finance book helped Kenny Young , the founder and CEO of the glamorous-camping-event company Pitched Glamping, as he determined where he wanted to take his business next.

"It really comes down to what you want to build," he said. "There are times I wish I was a solopreneur, but I know that what I want to build, it can't exist with just a solopreneur model."

'The Mystery of You' by Emilio Diez Barroso

"The Mystery of You" was written by the entrepreneur and investor Emilio Diez Barroso, the owner of the private-equity firm Nala Investments. The book is about finding inner peace while being successful.

Lauren Bush Lauren, the founder of the accessories brand Feed Projects, called it a "beautiful" book and told Insider she planned on bringing it with her to her company's annual retreat. 

"So much of how we show up at work relates to how we show up in life," she said, adding that Diez Barroso was a friend of hers. "He relates it back to work and his own journey," she said.

'Shortcut Your Startup' by Courtney Reum and Carter Reum

Brothers Courtney and Carter Reum are former Goldman Sachs investment bankers who became entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. They founded and sold the liquor brand VEEV Spirits, then started an investing platform called M13. "Shortcut Your Startup" is a guidebook based on their experience running their businesses and investing in more than 130 companies, including Lyft, Warby Parker, and Pinterest.  

Jonathan Zacharias, a cofounder and the president of the marketing agency GR0, recommended the book for its breadth of insight, from tactical operational advice to how to run a marketing campaign.  

"It gives you a ton of tricks on how to start and grow a business fast from two impressive guys who have funded over 10 unicorns and know exactly how to start and exist businesses," he wrote in Insider's founder survey. 

Buy the book here. 

'The Billionaire Who Wasn't' by Conor O'Clery

The biography "The Billionaire Who Wasn't" details the life of Chuck Feeney, who founded Duty Free Shoppers, credited as the world's largest duty-free retail chain. His fortune landed him on Forbes' richest list in 1988. Meanwhile, he donated his wealth to his foundation Atlantic Philanthropies and inspired a movement of billionaires who dedicate a majority of their wealth to charity.

Alpay Koralturk, the founder and CEO of the furniture-resale platform Kaiyo, recommended this book in Insider's founder survey. 

"It's a page-turner about the life of one of the most natural born entrepreneurs ever to live, who also happens to be one of the most giving people on the planet," he wrote. "I think every entrepreneur should know about Chuck Feeney and consider adding him to their list of role models." 

Buy the book here.  

'The Power of Now,' by Eckhart Tolle

"The Power of Now" is a spiritual self-help book in which author Eckhart Tolle teaches readers to live in the present and find their true selves. 

Brian Meiggs , the founder of the media company My Millennial Guide, recommended this book for founders because it shows them how to be present and focused when starting a new business. 

"One of the biggest mistakes founders make is trying to improve their ideas rather than explore new ones," he wrote in Insider's survey. "If you can learn to focus on the tasks at hand instead of getting distracted by your thoughts and trying to change them, you will be much more successful in life and business."

Buy the book here.

‘Scaling Up’ by Verne Harnish

"Scaling Up" is a business book written by entrepreneur Verne Harnish, who owns an executive education and coaching company by the same name. He shares his tips for scaling a company based on what he calls the "Rockefeller habits" which organizes company decisions into four categories: people, strategy, execution, and cash.

Dee C. Marshall, founder and CEO of training and development company Diverse & Engaged, recommended this book in Insider's survey as a resource for founders who are growing their businesses. 

"This book is helpful for any founder who wants to scale their business because of the proven steps known as the Rockefeller Habits," she wrote, adding that it pairs well with the author's online course.

'Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity' by David Allen

"Getting Things Done" is a business book written by management consultant and executive coach David Allen. He breaks down how to define productivity and what it looks like, then gives his methodology for time management. 

Valerie Seid, a cofounder of home healthcare service Pardigm, read the book after attending one of the author's productivity seminars, she wrote in Insider's survey. 

"Allen teaches that you must capture, clarify, and organize absolutely everything, even the seemingly insignificant tasks," she wrote. "My favorite rule: if you can do it in two minutes, do it now, otherwise delegate it or defer it."

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10 Great Autobiographies From the Brightest Minds in Business The best way to get ahead in business? Learn from others with these personal looks into their motivations, successes, failures and lessons learned.

By Sujan Patel • Mar 9, 2015

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The best way to learn about business is to listen to those who have achieved the same types of goals you've set for yourself. But you don't have to have a direct connection to Bill Gates, Warren Buffett or any other mogul to get this insider insight. Autobiographies give a personal look at these successful people's motivations, successes, failures and lessons learned.

Here are 10 of the best autobiographies from the brightest minds in business:

1. Miracles Happen

In her autobiography , Mary Kay Ash describes the principles that helped her build one of the largest cosmetics retailers operating today. Her book covers everything from the importance of expecting great things to dreaming big to paying close attention to her target market.

Related : 3 Short Books to Read to Maximize Your Productivity and Marketing

A champion of women, a savvy business executive and a first-rate marketer, Mary Kay Ash's company is a legacy of her life and vision.

2. Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman

Not every highly successful entrepreneur set out to conquer the business world. Yvon Chouinard, for example, began his business career as a highly skilled outdoorsman whose passions included mountain climbing and environmental causes.

Let My People Go Surfing is the incredible story of how he leveraged these passions to design innovative sports equipment and found one of the most environmentally-responsible companies in the world.

3. Iacocca: An Autobiography

Named the 18th greatest CEO of all time , Lee Iacocca was a man who changed the automobile industry for the better and brought Chrysler back from the brink of destruction. Born to Italian immigrants, his career started at Ford -- until he clashed with Henry Ford II and was fired in 1978. Despite this conflict, he was quickly courted by Chrysler, which he rebuilt from the ground up.

Iacocca is his story in his own words -- from his childhood in Pennsylvania to his celebrity status as a business icon.

4. Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry

Dell founder Michael Dell started his PC company in the same way that many other technology companies begin -- in his dorm room at college. With less than $1,000, he built his fledgling company into a powerhouse that transformed the way PCs were manufactured, purchased and delivered.

In Direct from Dell , he tells both the story of the company's growth and his own management strategies.

5. The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company

The HP Way describes how Hewlett and Packard met at college and decided after graduation to found a company together in the one-car garage workshop that's now known as the birthplace of Silicon Valley. From tossing a coin to determine the company name to defining their own management strategies, this autobiography is an inside look at a company that chose to do things its own way.

Related : Rather Than Trying to Reinvent the Wheel, Be Inspired by These 5 Books

6. Pour Your Heart into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time

Starbucks is known for its ubiquity, but its "shop on every street corner" success didn't come out of the blue. In Pour Your Heart Into It , CEO Howard Schultz discusses the customer-service principles that made Starbucks a household name. In addition, he shares the wisdom he's learned and the techniques he's used to keep Starbucks focused on customer and employee satisfaction, despite its staggering growth.

7. Sam Walton: Made In America

Love it or hate it, Walmart is one of the most successful retail businesses in American history. In Made in America , the chain's founder details his company's growth from a single dime store in Arkansas to the retail giant it is today, describing his successes and mistakes in an approachable, down-home writing style.

8. Jack: Straight from the Gut

Jack Welch is the man responsible for building General Electric into a multinational conglomerate that touches everything from lightbulbs to commercial lending and leasing. Straight from the Gut is Welch's engaging first-hand story, starting with his childhood and moving through his meteoric rise through GE's ranks. His autobiography discusses his career, business mistakes and successes, all in his trademark, no-nonsense style.

9. Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way

The playfully naughty title of this autobiography perfectly captures the personality of its author, billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson. Losing My Virginity continues in the same vein, a unique and sometimes outrageous look inside the life and business of Branson and his cofounders. A perfect example of how an ambitious company can disrupt established but complacent industries, Branson's autobiography is both entertaining and inspirational.

10. Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew the Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion

From being fired to building a multi-billion dollar business, Built From Scratch gives a first-hand look at the story of Home Depot founders, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank. An excellent example of grit and determination, the story of Home Depot is one that will inspire all entrepreneurs to keep going -- no matter what.

Have another autobiography that should be added to this list? Share your recommendations in the comments section below!

Related : The 5 Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read, or Read Again, in 2015

Entrepreneur and Marketer, Co-founder of Web Profits

In his 14-plus years as a marketer and entrepreneur, Sujan Patel has helped hundreds of companies boost online traffic and sales and strengthen their online brand reputation. Patel is the co-founder of Web Profits and Mailshake.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

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Business Books » Books for Entrepreneurs

The best books on entrepreneurship, recommended by thomas hellmann.

What are the best books to read if you want to be an entrepreneur? Oxford Saïd Business School's Thomas Hellmann , DP World Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, shares his top five books—and explains what entrepreneurs can learn from them.

Interview by Sophie Roell , Editor

The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself by Daniel Boorstin

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries

The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup by Noam Wasserman

Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Why Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Have Failed by Josh Lerner

1 The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself by Daniel Boorstin

2 steve jobs by walter isaacson, 3 the lean startup: how today's entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses by eric ries, 4 the founder's dilemmas: anticipating and avoiding the pitfalls that can sink a startup by noam wasserman, 5 boulevard of broken dreams: why public efforts to boost entrepreneurship and venture capital have failed by josh lerner.

C an an entrepreneur learn from books and the academic study of entrepreneurship?

There are two questions. One is, can entrepreneurs learn? The other one is, where do they learn the most? Some people argue that entrepreneurship is something that you’re born with, so entrepreneurs are born and cannot be taught. I think that is fundamentally wrong.

We have increasing proof that entrepreneurship is a learnt behaviour. We know it from certain studies, which show that having entrepreneurial parents gives you an edge in becoming an entrepreneur yourself. We’ve seen a huge rise in institutions that help people to refine their entrepreneurial skills both in university and increasingly in the private sector—such as the accelerator programmes that are in fashion today.

Then, there is all sorts of other evidence. Venture capitalists prefer entrepreneurs that have done it before: serial entrepreneurs. And entrepreneurs, themselves, say that they get better at it. So, clearly, there is a lot of learning that happens.

“Rather than starting with entrepreneurship itself, I want people to get the really big picture of why we are doing this and why entrepreneurship is important for the world”

The question then is, can academic study or, more broadly, scholarship add to that? I would say both yes and no. It is, in some sense, a trade where a lot of the skills are acquired through experience, just in the way that you cannot become a good tennis player unless you play tennis. But, at the same time, in that learning process, there is an enormous amount of waste, wasteful time and wasteful efforts, that can be prevented by having the right frameworks and concepts in place.

That’s where people interested in entrepreneurship can learn a lot from books, courses, and personal conversations with mentors—all of which are trying to point them in the most promising direction.

Tell me about the books about entrepreneurship you’ve picked. Is there a story you had in mind with these particular choices?

Let’s find out a bit more as we go through the books, the first of which isn’t obviously about entrepreneurship. It’s called The Discoverers (1983) and it’s by Daniel J. Boorstin. I haven’t read it, but it’s supposed to be amazing.

This is probably the least obvious pick of the five, but it is the book that I often recommend to students who come to me with a true curiosity. It’s arguably more about innovation than about entrepreneurship per se. (Here we already have a question about whether entrepreneurs are innovators. Yes, a lot of them are, but not all of them. Are all innovators entrepreneurs? Absolutely not!)

The Discoverers is about the origin of a lot of entrepreneurial activity, which is human curiosity. It’s an amazing book that covers several thousands of years in human history.

It looks at human history through the angle of innovation and how much people struggled to identify new ideas and concepts—ideas and concepts that we take for granted. It’s that process of struggle and going down the wrong lane and having all sorts of surprises along the path that is so intrinsic to the entrepreneurial process.

Rather than starting with entrepreneurship itself, I want people to start there and get the really big picture of why we are doing this and why entrepreneurship is important for the world.

“My favourite part is about Christopher Columbus. That really is an entrepreneurial story”

I’ll give two or three examples from the book and chapters that are particularly interesting. One part of the book I really like is called “Time” and it describes the history of how mankind discovered the concept of time and started measuring time. And this is very unobvious—and it clearly has nothing to do with entrepreneurship—but it is incredibly relevant because it is about discovering the ambiguity and difficulty that a human has to make sense of something. But once you have it, it becomes so clear.

Today, for us, a clock is the simplest thing in the world. We teach five-year-olds how to read them—but for thousands of years people didn’t have clocks and they didn’t have this sense. There were so many aspects that were required for people to understand and then measure time. This is an eye-opener for the kind of challenge that we, as humans, can face and solve. It’s amazing how we can measure time today.

The part of the book I love the best is the story of the explorers. It’s really fun, but the book does an exceptional job in explaining how difficult the major discoveries were. My favourite part is about Christopher Columbus. That really is an entrepreneurial story. Here is an entrepreneur who spends a lot of time trying to find the money to do an exploration. He’s looking for the western route to the Indies. The notion of discovering a new continent never occurred to anyone in the entire process until they found land and in fact mistakenly took it for India.

That is a beautiful analogy of the entrepreneurial process. First, you have to put a lot of effort in to get something going. And then when you get something going, something else can happen and it can turn into something completely different to what you expected.

So, those were some of the things that really opened my mind about innovation and this process of going from not understanding and not knowing to something that we understand and take almost for granted.

So, with your students, do you tell them that, rather than looking at spreadsheets, you’re all going to take a big step back and think about the huge scope of history and think about ideas to open their minds? Is that part of your work?

Yes, we do some of that. We certainly teach them and try to alert them to the immense part of things that we don’t know. In fact, we sometimes give them practical tools for figuring out what they don’t know, and for generating listening and observational skills that will open them up to the things that are not being said.

And then, when they are studying the entrepreneurial process, it’s all about looking for the gaps. It’s all about looking for the things that are not there.

Like what? What might be not there?

Let me give you a practical example. There’s a group of students who were thinking about starting some kind of medical device company. Instead of saying, ‘Here’s a solution to a problem where we don’t understand the problem and we’re not sure if our solution works’—which is the bad way of doing entrepreneurship—they started by being very careful about trying to understand what the underlying practice is.

They spent some time being a fly-on-the-wall in an operating room and observing surgeons doing surgery for a couple days. They discovered that certain movements of the surgeons were taking a lot of time, delaying the operation and were probably unnecessary. The surgeon kept facing the patient but then having to look at pictures that were located somewhere else in the operating room.

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They then came up with a solution because they understood a problem that nobody was aware of. Surgeons who had been doing this procedure for years were never aware of the problem. They figured out that by projecting the image that the surgeon was looking at onto the body of the patient, they could improve the efficiency of the operation.

The next book on your list is Steve Jobs  (2011) by Walter Isaacson . I have to admit I’ve never been particularly interested in Steve Jobs but I started reading this book and now I am. It’s completely engrossing.

I must say, I love this book. I have incredibly ambivalent feelings about Steve Jobs the person but the book is fascinating for anyone. Steve Jobs has become a cult figure and a lot of things are projected onto him—both good and bad—that probably don’t really apply. Walter Isaacson really makes a sincere effort to get to the truth but, at the same time, highlights all the interesting parts of his life.

He focuses on why Steve Jobs was such an unusual character but also to what extent he represents the spirit of Silicon Valley and modern entrepreneurship. I think Steve Jobs is, for all his flaws, almost a symbol—and certainly a role model—for a whole generation of young people who want to be entrepreneurs.

What’s so interesting about Steve Jobs is that there’s a lot of going against the grain. He defies all the classic definitions about what you would expect from an entrepreneur—certainly for a businessman—so that is beautiful. This is the hippy who comes to business meetings without shoes.

“Every entrepreneur faces severe frictions, and I think what Jobs shows is that he is willing to tackle those frictions”

It certainly brings out the personal side of entrepreneurship. One of the things about entrepreneurship that I put a lot of emphasis into teaching is that it’s not a thing, it’s a process. It’s not one act; it’s often a career.

And here you see, basically, a person’s life work. And it doesn’t go in a straight line—it’s an incredibly crooked path. For every thousand people, one is Steve Jobs and the other 999 have similarly crooked paths but without the success that Steve Jobs had.

I think Walter Isaacson is very good because he’s very open about bringing out all the human flaws in Jobs. In fact, some of the people were not happy about the way he portrayed Jobs. He basically got an agreement from Jobs to write what he saw and what he knew, and he did so. I think that, as a journalistic effort, it’s also quite remarkable.

It’s quite funny as well.

It’s extremely well-written. It’s a page-turner. You actually want to know how the story ends. And funnily enough, at the end, you like Steve Jobs. You feel guilty about liking him, but you do like him.

He’s impossible. He cries a lot and has temper tantrums to get his way. To be a successful entrepreneur, do you need a very forceful personality? In talking about Jobs, there seems to be a lot about his perfectionism and his willingness to say, ‘That is just not good enough, you’ve got to do better.’ I guess what I’m asking is—is part of what’s unlikable about him also part of the reason he succeeded?

There is an element of that. I don’t endorse some of the practices that Jobs had. He was at times mean and disrespectful in ways that are quite unnecessary.

The other thing to say is that there is no one style of entrepreneurship. Having had the luxury of meeting thousands of entrepreneurs over my career, I have seen people who are a bit like Steve Jobs and also people who are incredibly different— maybe incredibly dull or incredibly polite…It’s very hard to generalise.

“One of the things about entrepreneurship that I put a lot of emphasis into teaching is that it’s not a thing, it’s a process. It’s not one act; it’s often a career”

But every entrepreneur faces severe frictions, and I think what Jobs shows is that he is willing to tackle those frictions. That’s why he says, ‘It’s not good enough’ or ‘Let’s do the impossible’—they talk about this ‘reality distortion field’ that he had. I think entrepreneurs all need something of that kind. It doesn’t have to be the way Jobs does it, but they need something of that kind to get them through, because innovation is about breaking through barriers.

Let’s move on to your next choice, which is The Lean Startup  (2011) by Eric Ries.

I call The Lean Startup the Bible of the modern entrepreneur. And I say that tongue-in-cheek because I’m sure five years from now we’ll have a new Bible. But I think it’s a very good book—a very useful book—and it tells you how to start a company using this ‘lean startup’ methodology.

Eric Ries wrote it up very well. There were several people around him who were developing this methodology as well. This is not rocket science. It’s very straightforward: build-measure-learn. Basically, it says do something, try it out, and learn from it.

That process is incredibly powerful, but it turns out that a lot of entrepreneurs don’t do it, or at least don’t do it properly. Eric Ries makes a very simple case for why you should do it and how you should do it. So I give this book to every entrepreneurship student. Most of them are familiar with it—there’s a whole industry around the ‘lean startup’. You can find tons of webpages, books, courses and all sorts of other things.

“I call  The Lean Startup  the Bible of the modern entrepreneur”

It has got some limitations, and that’s why I’m sure five years from now we’ll have a new Bible. Eric Ries comes out of the software world, where some of these methods work particularly well. I think the lean startup works well for the vast majority of companies that have very identifiable targets that can be achieved in a reasonable amount of time.

But there’s a big question about whether it works for the really long-shots. A lot of science-driven and long-term innovation companies will find the details of the Lean Startup difficult.

An exercise I give to my class involves familiarising the students with the concept of the lean startup and then going back to Steve Jobs and asking them whether he used the lean startup. And the conclusion is generally, no, he didn’t. He didn’t use the methodology that Eric Ries did, although you can have an interesting debate about that. Steve Jobs also did some things that Eric Ries says you shouldn’t do. So, I think there remains some healthy controversy about which 80 per cent of this book is true.

The lean startup method is ultimately about constant experimentation to see what works, is that right?

Exactly. Eric Ries doesn’t point this out but—and as a university professor I cannot help saying this—actually, he rediscovered the scientific method for entrepreneurs. The scientific method is: make a hypothesis, test it, validate it, and then figure out why it works the way it works and when it works and when it doesn’t. It’s actually very consistent with the way we teach people to think in a university. I think the beauty of Eric Ries is also that it’s not just about thinking, it’s about doing—as a scientist and, to some extent, as an entrepreneur.

Another point he seems to emphasise is that entrepreneurship is management. Is that of interest to you?

Yes, that’s music to my ears because I work in a business school! I think some people have a narrow interpretation of management and think of line management or general management and say that entrepreneurs themselves are not managing. But if you don’t have that specific notion of management then, yes, entrepreneurship is about managing a whole set of activities.

“Think of entrepreneurs as generalists. They sometimes call them jack-of-all-trades. As an entrepreneur, you’re responsible for everything”

Now we have The Founder’s Dilemmas (2012) by Noam Wasserman , tell me how this fits into your choices of best entrepreneurship books. 

First, full disclosure: Noam Wasserman is a co-author of mine. He wrote this book while we were working together, so a little bit of our material made it into the book.

The Founder’s Dilemmas is a nice complement to Eric Ries’s book. It looks at the human or personal aspect of entrepreneurship. He’s using a modern and fairly fresh perspective that will speak to all generations.

The Founder’s Dilemmas is based on Noam’s research which is qualitative: a substantial number of in-depth case studies of entrepreneurs and what they went through when they started their companies.

He looks at all these human problems that come up, from career decisions about whether to become an entrepreneur, to numerous decisions about how you’re going to manage a team, all the way to how you deal with failure and success and transitions, towards the end of the entrepreneurial process.

“You have to realise that, as an entrepreneur, there is no distance between business and personal life. That’s the beauty of this book and some of the stories”

It’s got lots of these little stories that make it very personal and very easy and fun to read but, at the same time, it tries to extract some of these core questions that an entrepreneur has to ask him or herself about, why I am doing this and how do I deal with that side of the business?

So, Eric Ries basically is talking all about the business side but he doesn’t touch on the human aspect of it. And Noam doesn’t really touch much on anything that Eric Ries talks about—how you start a business in terms of business model and customers and finance and all of that. He is really looking at that human side. And so, for me they complement each other very nicely.

Tell me something that’s in it. I read the bit about somebody starting a company with his girlfriend, where Wasserman discusses whether it’s better to start a business with friends or strangers.

You should see Noam in class. He can dramatise these things and put people on the spot. You have to realise that, as an entrepreneur, there is no distance between business and personal life. That’s the beauty of this book and some of the stories. You cannot separate business decisions from personal decisions because the business is two people and a dog. And if they’re married to each other, then a bunch of marriage problems are going to enter the business, and a bunch of business problems are going to enter the marriage, like it or not.

Noam himself had worked for a venture capital fund that basically said, ‘we will never invest in a company where the founders are married to each other.’ That’s an interesting indication, that those investors believe that companies with married founders are doomed.

There is a sequel that could be written to Noam’s book; Noam’s book is very focused on a western—and, in fact, a US-centric—world and I think some of these issues play out very differently in other cultures. That’s something I’ve experienced with my teaching. Some of these family issues would be viewed extremely differently in an Asian or African context. So, there’s more to be said about this topic. But Noam does a very nice job of bringing alive the human conflicts.

Give me a good example of a conclusion he reaches that is quite surprising.

One of the things that Noam looks at is the decision in a team of whether they’re going to split the ownership equally or not. He has several stories and we have our research that looks at the issue more deeply. Basically, while it may seem very intuitive and natural to go for a quick handshake that says we’re all the same, it turns out that that decision is very problematic.

The stories and our data evidence point to equal splits being tempting as a strategy for sweeping issues underneath the carpet that will come back to haunt you later. And so, what we find is that teams that face this very difficult question of who should get more or less early on overcome a very important first hurdle and actually have a better chance of building a strong team. So, basically, his advice is, ‘Don’t just take the equal split. Don’t just shake hands and say we’re all equal. Spend some time working through it and building a plan that acknowledges differences within a team, even though that conversation can be very difficult.’

I’m not sure how you do decide.

Well, you have to make sure these aspects are considered.

One of the beautiful examples that Noam has is a well-known one from Zipcar where the two founders shook hands and split the business 50/50. It turns out that one of them did 95 per cent of all the work and the other did five per cent of the work. And, clearly, the one who did 95 per cent of the work felt terrible about this.

Part of it was that life brought surprises. The one who didn’t do any work became a mother. They didn’t think about that when they were doing it. On the other hand, it also seems that the one who didn’t do any work could have done a lot more work and just didn’t want to. She knew she had 50 per cent of the business and didn’t have to work for it.

I’m not familiar with the intimate details of it, but Noam just shows you: ‘Look, these are human problems that come about and you should spend some time thinking about them before you agree to something.’

I love the quote he has at the beginning where he says, “if entrepreneurship is a battle, most casualties stem from friendly fire.”

I don’t have a scientific way of measuring this but I’ve seen my share of it too. It is a huge issue.

He collected and analysed data from 10,000 founders—so, presumably, it’s really a serious, analytical study.

Your last of your entrepreneurship books is Boulevard of Broken Dreams  (2009) by Josh Lerner. This is about how governments can help or hinder entrepreneurship.

If you think of the first two books I chose as providing broad inspiration and the second two books as targeted at entrepreneurship and how to deal with the process, my fifth choice takes an economic and societal perspective and asks, ‘Is entrepreneurship something good? And, if so, should the government do something about it?’ So, it asks the bigger societal questions.

Again, in the interest of full disclosure, I know the author very well. We have been colleagues for over 20 years and I think Josh did a wonderful job in putting this together and verbalising a really important topic and giving it some coverage. At the same time, being 20-year colleagues, we have our healthy disagreements and continue to debate some of the details and conclusions of the book with which I beg to differ a little bit.

I think the important contribution—and why I think this is a great book—is that it covers a broad range of policies and government efforts in many countries. Josh is a well-travelled man who has seen a lot of these efforts to promote entrepreneurship across the world.

“There is a myth in Silicon Valley that it was all done in the private sector. That is plainly wrong and other authors have started to debunk that myth”

He tries to draw lessons at a point in time where it’s quite difficult to evaluate these programs on a scientific basis. I think he draws a wealth of conclusions from it about the pitfalls of governments being well-intended, but causing more damage than benefit by supporting these programs. On balance, Josh thinks governments are bad and his message is quite clearly to limit the amount of government intervention.

I come down slightly more positively on governments and have done some research, that came out after this book, that supports the notion that it’s not quite as bad as Josh makes it. That there are many nuances to the costs and benefits.

Isn’t one of the points he makes that even with Silicon Valley, the role of government was key to its success?

Yes. Going beyond the book, I think there is a myth in Silicon Valley that it was all done in the private sector. That is plainly wrong and other authors have started to debunk that myth. Silicon Valley has benefited enormously from government programmes and funding support, especially in the early post-war years, and through having the military as a customer. Also, in setting a good institutional framework. The popular notion that is sometimes portrayed about Silicon Valley, that this is all without the help of the government, is just wrong.

What the book does as well—and I think this is very important—is that it talks about how these government programmes can go wrong. In Malaysia, enormous investments were made without thinking about what was really going to happen and how entrepreneurial policy works. There Josh has some very positive messages that I like a lot.

He says, think of the government as setting the table, the boundary conditions and the institutional environment—especially things like rule of law, clarity, low taxation—that allow entrepreneurs to do what they want to do and then move back.

That is a very important message and I think Josh has helped to get it into policymakers’ minds. Today, the way that most policymakers look at the role of government for promoting entrepreneurship has matured considerably, relative to where it was 20 years ago.

What about the difference between Europe/UK and America in terms of entrepreneurship? Is the US much more entrepreneurial, from a data point of view, and is that because of government policy?

There is a difference between the US and Europe, for sure. Research continuously finds that. I think it is true that the government plays a larger role in Europe than it does in the US today. Some people say that’s why Europe is less entrepreneurial—because of the large role of government—but I’m not convinced. I think that Europe is less developed and that is why the government has stepped in. So, I see the causality going the other way.

There continues to be inspiration that comes from the US, but I think there is intelligent use of government policy in Europe that can help and has helped. In fact, the UK is one of the most entrepreneurial European countries. All policies have their problems, but the alternative of withdrawing a lot of government support could be quite disastrous for the future of Europe. I think, on balance, some of these government policies really did help. And nurturing an entrepreneurial economy remains a top priority in these turbulent times!

July 10, 2017

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Thomas Hellmann

Thomas Hellmann is a professor at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, where he is the Academic Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre. His areas of expertise are entrepreneurship, venture capital, innovation, contract theory, strategic management and public policy.

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