10 books every entrepreneur must read

10 books every entrepreneur must read


Written by Shresth Jindal June 1, 2020

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If you have an entrepreneurial spirit and you are working on a startup or wish to work on a startup, then these 10 books should be on your “must-read” list. I have made the list after reading each and every one of them and from the recommendation of great entrepreneurs like from their interview on Youtube and review on twitter and have ranked them according to their importance and impact they create on your Mindset.


Zero to One

Zero To One

Doing what someone else already knows how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar. But when you do something new, you go from 0 to 1.

The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine.

Tomorrow’s champions will not win by competing ruthlessly in today’s marketplace. They will escape competition altogether because their businesses will be unique.

This book will make you think where you are solving an important problem or not? Or are you doing things differently or not?

Get a copy from Amazon.

Lean Startup

Lean Startup

Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom. What they have in common is a mission to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business.

Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on "validated learning," rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want.

It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute.

Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs - in companies of all sizes - a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it's too late.

Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in an age when companies need to innovate more than ever.

Get a copy from Amazon.

Personal MBA

Personal MBA

Here is an Opinion - MBA programs are a waste of time and money.

Even the elite schools offer outdated assembly-line educations about profit-and-loss statements and PowerPoint presentations. After two years of poring over sanitized case studies, students are shuffled off into middle management to find out how business really works.

Josh Kaufman has made a business out of distilling the core principles of business and delivering them quickly and concisely to people at all stages of their careers. His blog has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers to the best business books and most powerful business concepts of all time.

In The Personal MBA, he shares the essentials of sales, marketing, negotiation, strategy, and much more.

True leaders aren't made by business schools-they make themselves, seeking out the knowledge, skills, and experiences they need to succeed. Read this book and in one week you will learn the principles it takes most people a lifetime to master

Get a copy from Amazon.

How To Win Friends And Influence People

Win Friends And Influence People

This book is not just for an entrepreneur but also for people who find a hard time making friends or poor at having a good conversation.

Honestly, I was one of them and this book has certainly helped me in forming and maintaining great new relationships.

Entrepreneurship is about managing the people around you and this book will tell you how to do it. The book has been a best seller for a long period of time and for all the right reasons

As relevant as ever before, Dale Carnegie's principles endure and will help you achieve your maximum potential in the complex and competitive modern age.

Learn the 6 ways to make people like you, the 12 ways to win people to your way of thinking, and the 9 ways to change people without arousing resentment.

Get a copy from Amazon.

$100 Startups

$100 Startups

Still, in his early thirties, Chris is on the verge of completing a tour of every country on earth – he’s already visited more than 175 nations – and yet he’s never held a “real job” or earned a regular paycheck. Rather, he has a special genius for turning ideas into income, and he uses what he earns both to support his life of adventure and to give back.

There are many others like Chris – those who’ve found ways to opt-out of traditional employment and create the time and income to pursue what they find meaningful. Sometimes, achieving that perfect blend of passion and income doesn’t depend on shelving what you currently do. You can start small with your venture, committing little time or money, and wait to take the real plunge when you're sure it's successful.

Get a copy from Amazon.

Zero to Sold

Zero to Sold

Got to know about this book from twitter as the author is an active twitter user and talks about startups all the time and gives valuable insights. You can catch his tweets at @arvidkahl

Zero to Sold is a very practical guideline for bootstrapping a SaaS business. Arvid shares his learnings and experiences very openly to the reader.

He writes about

  • How to select an idea
  • How to find the audience
  • Low-cost marketing
  • Burst some myths and tells the truth

And other answer several things that you will probably not find on google

He even talks about mental health and that it is not at all optional.

I recommend this book to anyone who has started or thinks about starting a SaaS business.

Get a copy from Amazon.

The Hard Things about Hard Thing

Hard Things about Hard Thing

The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of the founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology companies to offer essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems business schools don't cover.

His blog has garnered a devoted following of millions of readers who have come to rely on him to help them run their businesses. A lifelong rap fan, Horowitz amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favourite songs and tells it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, from cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in.

Get a copy from Amazon.

Hooked

Hooked

Nir Eyal answers these questions (and many more) by explaining the Hook Model—a four-step process embedded into the products of many successful companies to subtly encourage customer behaviour.

Through consecutive “hook cycles,” these products reach their ultimate goal of bringing users back again and again without depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging.

Get a copy from Amazon.

The Founder Dilemmas

Founder Dilemmas

Noam Wasserman reveals the common pitfalls founders face and how to avoid them. He looks at whether it is a good idea to co-found with friends or relatives, how and when to split the equity within the founding team, and how to recognize when a successful founder-CEO should exit or be fired.

Wasserman explains how to anticipate, avoid, or recover from disastrous mistakes that can splinter a founding team, strip founders of control, and leave founders without a financial payoff for their hard work and innovative ideas.

He highlights the need at each step to strike a careful balance between controlling the startup and attracting the best resources to grow it and demonstrates why the easy short-term choice is often the most perilous in the long term.

Get a copy from Amazon.

Four Hour Work Week

Four Hour Work Week

Join Tim Ferriss as he teaches you:

  • How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want?
  • How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs?
  • How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist?
  • How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent "mini-retirements"?
  • What is the crucial difference between absolute and relative income?
  • How to train your boss to value performance over presence, or kill your job (or company) if it's beyond repair?
  • What automated cash-flow "muses" are and how to create one in 2 to 4 weeks?
  • How to cultivate selective ignorance-and create time-with a low-information diet?
  • What the management secrets of Remote Control CEOs are?
  • How to get free housing worldwide and airfare at 50-80% off?
  • How to fill the void and create a meaningful life after removing work and the office

I hope this list helps you to form a great entrepreneurial mindset and help you achieve your goals.

Get a copy from Amazon.

What other books or resources do you recommend for entrepreneurs?

If you are a startup looking to raise funding, here is a small list of Investors for you and for the complete list click here