21 Best Books for Entrepreneurs to Read

According to Eric Ries, the game has changed. Building a business is no longer about updating business plans.

In The Lean Startup, you will learn about the various techniques an entrepreneur can use to create a business that will go against all odds to succeed.

Ries takes a scientific and intuitive approach to writing about how you can become a successful entrepreneur with a lasting business.

It’s about learning what the customer wants, and testing what keeps them happy.

Ries used the principles described in this book to grow his company from a startup business to a business with a $50 million annual turnover.

Zero to One is an inside look at Peter Thiel’s philosophy and strategy for making your startup business successful.

He dives into the lessons he learned from founding PayPal, investing in Facebook, and becoming a billionaire in the process.

This book gives a uniquely impressive perspective on the future and the future of startup businesses.

Thiel has continually proven that he can perform successfully when executing a new objective. His engineering approach to running a business allows him to efficiently and effectively execute a strategy.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a self-improvement book that is written on Covey’s belief that how we see the world is based on our perceptions.

To change a given situation, we must change ourselves, and to change ourselves, we must be able to change our perceptions.

Having worked with successful individuals in businesses, universities, and relationship settings, Covey discovered that high achievers were often plagued with a sense of emptiness.

He argues that character needs to be cultivated. When you value the right principles, you can see reality as it truly is.

Nowadays people are looking for an easy fix to work less.

Becoming a modern-day entrepreneur is all about enjoying the wonders of running a successful business, without having to work +40 hours a week.

Timothy Ferris knows how you feel and draws attention to how you can create the perfect 4-Hour Workweek.

By creating the right mindset, you can start building a business that will allow you to work only 4 hours a week and still make a fortune.

The Innovator’s Dilemma is a book that explains why successful companies fail when they are confronted with technological and/or market structure changes.

Christensen explains why some of the best business practices can become stumbling blocks.

He provides a framework for businesses to use to avoid becoming outdated in a world where technological changes occur at lightning speed.

Thinking, Fast and Slow can lend some inspiring insight to aspiring entrepreneurs.

We all know that entrepreneurs have to make multiple decisions daily. This book breaks down the psychology behind decision-making and judgment.

Kahneman also explains the differences between fast and slow thinking and how it impacts the decisions you make.

He discusses two main psychological systems that drive us forward in life:

The fast and emotional and the more logical and slow processes.

“Thinking for yourself” seems simple enough, but Guillebeau argues that most people conform as a way to avoid rejection.

The Art of Non-Conformity is a perfect book for those entrepreneurs that are looking to break away from the crowd.

Guillebeau wants you to stop believing the assumptions we are told about life and start living differently.

From following your own rules to setting goals, this is an inspiring book for entrepreneurs looking to break away from the flock and make a run toward their success.

Ben Horowitz gives you advice on how to build and run a startup in his book The Hard Thing About Hard Things.

Horowitz gives advice on things that schools seem to glance over, like how difficult running a business actually is, and how to analyze problems to find solutions.

Writing from a CEO perspective, Horowitz shares his own entrepreneurial story of how he overcame competition and cultivated success.

The first novel on this list, Behold the Dreamers, is an inspiring story of the timeless plea for courage.

The novel is set in 2008 during a massive financial crisis and is told through the eyes of a young Cameroonian woman.

Her story shines a light on the immigrant experience - a conversation that is lacking in today’s political environment.

This story speaks of what it is like to be an immigrant living in the United States and how the American Dream is individually defined.

Producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, Shonda Rhimes, gives readers an insight into her experiences within the industry in her book Year of Yes.

Rhimes shares her journey from being an introvert who turned down life-changing opportunities, to a confident speaker who said yes to everything that came her way.

This is a must-read if you are someone who wants to make their voice heard and embrace new opportunities.

Female Innovators at Work speaks of the experiences and successes of female entrepreneurs overshadowed in a largely male-dominant industry.

Newnham highlights various life and career stories that lead women to top positions in the tech industry.

She gives insights, strategies, and advice shared by women, and shares obstacles that these businesswomen encountered and overcame.

The premise of Purple Cow?

Be remarkable.

Seth Godin discusses outdated ways of building and running a business - the old advertising techniques of buying an ad, distributing it, selling a product, and repeating the cycle.

Instead, he proposes that you need to build a brand that has a remarkable product and service.

A simple premise, but a must-read if you are looking to find new and innovative ways of marketing.

Daymond John discusses how being broke and on a tight budget can motivate you to achieve great things.

The Power of Broke is a book about how being broke and hungry for success can be motivating to build a business from the ground up.

The book profiles a number of successful entrepreneurs who built their businesses with the little they had.

An inspiring, and helpful read if you are looking to do a lot with a little.

Good to Great profiles major companies (like Intel, Coca-Cola, and Merck) to discover how they beat their competitors.

Jim Collins wants to show you how a good company can change into a great one.

With 21 researchers, 6000 articles, and 2000 pages worth of interview transcripts, the findings are published in this intriguing business book.

Anyone involved in the business world has heard about the founder of Apple, Steve Jobs.

This is a biography of Steve Jobs’ life. Isaacson presents over 40 interviews with Steve Jobs, as well as +100 interviews with people who knew Jobs well.

An inspiring read if you want to build and create products that people want, test the boundaries of human innovation, and become a successful entrepreneur with a killer business plan.

Eddie Brown walks you through how he built and maintained his business - Brown Capital Management - through hard times.

He shows how he was able to beat financial downfalls like 9/11 and the 2008 recession.

This autobiography, Beating the Odds, gives an interesting insight into the life of Eddie Brown and how he overcame all odds and hardships life threw at him.

An inspiring read if you are facing your own hardships, and hopefully some key messages to apply in your own life.

“There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.”

This is the basic premise of Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why.

If you are itching to see what happens in the minds of successful business leaders then look no further!

Simon Sinek draws from real-life experiences and delves into the psychology of how business leaders think, act, and communicate in their work environments.

A great read if you want to learn how to become a great leader, inspire your employees, and generate customer loyalty.

All this, by asking one word: Why?

There is a lot to say about Rework by Jason Fried, but it comes down to creating a system that will make you act on your goals, faster.

This motivational book is for the go-getters who prefer to learn by doing.

Fried explains how “simple obstacles” - like hiring staff, doing paperwork, and renting an office - are simply excuses to not get started on your dreams.

This get-up-and-go book will make you wish that you got up and left a lot sooner!

Michael Gerber breaks down the myths of running a business and takes you through real situations with accompanying steps to run a successful business in his book, The E-Myth Revisited.

He wants you to know the difference between working on your business and working in your business.

If you are in need of some myth-busting and straightforward advice on how to run your business right from the start, then this is a book you definitely want to check out!

Even the most successful entrepreneurs have to make tough calls.

But how do you know if you are making the right choice?

What makes one option better than the other?

Blink answers these questions for you and looks at how business owners should approach decision-making situations.

Say goodbye to the days of snap judgments and questionable split-second decisions.

Gladwell will take you through the pivotal decisions that determine the success of your company.

Measure What Matters looks into the objectives and key Results (OKRs) of a business.

Doerr brought this concept to companies like Google after learning about the measurement paradigm at Intel in the 70s.

OKRs help companies to define, identify, and focus on their goals.

Through various case studies, you will see how OKRs can affect your business productivity, employee satisfaction, and retention.

You deserve to reap the benefits of learning from the industry giants who wrote the books we listed above, and systeme.io can help you do just that!

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