Must Read Books for Entrepreneurs

Have you ever considered quitting the day job and pursuing the exciting but uncertain path of entrepreneurship? Perhaps you’re already a while down the path, battle-tested and moving swiftly from huge and important decision to huge and important decision. Either way; this reading list is for you. As an entrepreneur myself, I know that searching for the best books for entrepreneurs is a weekly task. In a bid to create a conclusive and special list; I’ve assembled (yes, much like the Avengers) some of the finest entrepreneurs I have the pleasure of knowing; and asked them to nominate what they consider must read books for entrepreneurs. We live in an age where there is a wealth of books for entrepreneurs, but take it from someone whose read their fair share of them – they are not all created equal. However, this list of must read books for entrepreneurs is overflowing with genuinely informative and impactful books. Please meet our expert panel who will help us discover some of the must read books for entrepreneurs.

Cindy Gallop

Cindy Gallop is an advertising consultant, former chair of the US branch of advertising firm Bartle Bogle Hegarty, and founder of the IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn companies. She has won the Advertising Woman of the Year award from Advertising Women of New York. Cindy is a professional public speaker in the areas of advertising, branding, and business strategy having spoken at SXSW, Web 2.0, ad:tech and more.

Robin Waite

Robin Waite is a bestselling author, business coach and the founder of an advertising agency, The Coconut Group. Now a full-time business coach, working with a maximum of 20 clients at a time, Robin is on a mission to help business owners solve their problems via his 1 on 1 coaching program. Robin Waite’s book Online Business Startup is a guide for entrepreneurs looking to launch a fast, lean and profitable online venture.

Louise Leolin

Louise is the MD of DinoByte Labs, a small London-based company that specialises in gaming. A games producer, Louise Leolin focuses on creating games with the gamers as her main priority. She makes sure that the games are tailored to what the gamers want, whilst also offering game design consultancy. Louise continues to be shortlisted in inspirational lists of young British female entrepreneurs destined for big things.

Dave Meltzer

Dave Meltzer is the CEO of Sports 1 Marketing, a Forbes “Top 10 Keynote Speaker“, award-winning humanitarian, and two-time national best-selling author, with 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and executive in the legal, technology, sports, and entertainment fields. Dave is uniquely positioned as a world-renowned thought leader, business strategist and leading humanitarian.

Carol E. Reiley

Carol E. Reiley is a computer scientist, roboticist, and entrepreneur. She is a pioneer in teleoperated and autonomous robot systems in applications such as surgery, space exploration, disaster rescue and self-driving cars. Carol E. Reiley is also a children’s book writer and brand ambassador and is the author and publisher of Making a Splash, a children’s book about growth mindset.

You’ve met the panel and now it is time to discover their nominations for some must read books for entrepreneurs.

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Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Dave Meltzer:

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill has had a major influence on the way that I approach both life and business. I used to say that every time I read it, I made another million dollars. Now, I say that the principles of Napoleon Hill, as well as the guidance I’ve received from the Napoleon Hill Foundation when writing my own book, has helped me to live with the spirit of excellence (which Hill called the “QQMA Formula”) and to empower other entrepreneurs with that same spirit.

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1.

Emotional Design: Why We Love or Hate Everyday Things

by Don Norman

Louise Leolin:

No matter what industry you’re in, you most likely have customers or users. Thanks to my UX background I’ve learned the importance of always considering the user experience, and how emotional design can influence that. Since the release of Don Norman’s Emotional Design (2003), we’ve sort of lost track of what UX means (yes, it’s more than interface design!), which is why I recommend reading this book to better understand how to give your customers the optimal experience. It’s about more than how they use your product or website, it’s about how they feel when they first walk into the store or when they open the packaging of your product to use it. This book underlines the psychology behind why people like things, teaching you how to design your business around your customer’s emotions, making them fall in love with your product or brand, regardless of industry.

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Built to Sell by John Warrillow

Robin Waite:

Seth Godin said, “There is no tooth fairy for selling a business!”, Neither is there for growing a successful business. Warrillow manages to distil a true entrepreneurs journey and his experiences of growing and selling businesses down into Built to Sell. What’s great about the book is that it is a narrative telling the story of our hero Alex, who meets “a guy” who helps Alex to turn his business around. It’s easy to follow, the principles of the productization process are crystal clear. It would inspire any reader to make immediate changes in their business.

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Leapfrog by Nathalie Molina Nino

Cindy Gallop:

The book I wish I’d read when I was younger – how to hack entrepreneurship with a ton of shortcuts.

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The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Carol E. Reiley:

An actionable book for software companies looking to build their business model canvas – not great for hardware companies. The pushes you to think about various aspects of your company to lay a framework for tracking metrics of your company and building your minimum viable product (MVP). Much is focused on of how to prioritize limited resources through fast iterations using Build-Measure-Learn model.

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2.

Checklist Manifesto

by Atul Gawande

Dave Meltzer:

Sometimes, entrepreneurs spend too much time, energy, or attention on big ideas, without thinking about the little steps it takes to get there efficiently. That’s why books like The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande are so important. The book not only shows how systems are put in place to avoid mistakes and missteps in building or running a business, but helps entrepreneurs break down complex tasks into simple steps.

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Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Cindy Gallop:

Because starting your own business means redesigning business to work the way you want it to work, and this book is the perfect guide. It echoes all my own business philosophies.

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Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost by Steve Blank

Carol E. Reiley:

A collection of blog posts that helps you understand the entrepreneurial mindset. It highlights the importance of finding product-market fit and customer validation. It’s one of my favorite books because it’s many short chapters packed full of wise wisdom and nuggets.

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The Female Entrepreneur by Charly Lester and Caroline Brealey

Louise Leolin:

In summary, it’s a step by step guide to starting a business, specifically targeted at women. I like it because they use real life examples and inspirational quotes and stories from successful female entrepreneurs, coupled with practical information about setting up a new business. It covers everything from the ideas stage, to registration, to marketing and making sales – and it is all written for a start up on a budget.

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Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Robin Waite:

This is the antithesis of the modern day, millennial mindset culture where you can get anything you want at the drop of a hat with little to no effort. However, Gladwell makes a keen point in Outliers that “true” success comes from putting a monumental amount of time and effort into learning one’s craft. Whether it’s the sport you chose, the instrument you play or the business you run; here’s to the 7-year overnight success.

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3.

Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel

by Jean Kilbourne

Louise Leolin:

A really interesting look at advertising and marketing, and how it seeks to manipulate our emotions. It’s a great read not only because it changes the way you as a consumer view ads, but also gives you a lot to consider when running your own marketing campaigns. As entrepreneurs, we sometimes end up doing our own marketing, and even building a brand around our personas (think Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg etc) and this book really helps you understand the psychology behind that, as well as how to get your message across to consumers. It also encourages taking responsibility for your marketing’s impact and discourage harmful ad tactics and the use of stereotypes.

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Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

Cindy Gallop:

When you start your own business, you’ll discover that people don’t do what you expect them to do. Dan Ariely’s iconic book is a must for entrepreneurs – speaking as someone who has had the good fortune to have Dan advise me on my own startup, MakeLoveNotPorn, with invaluable insights that have helped our business.

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Breakthrough by Scott Duffy

Dave Meltzer:

I might be a little biased, since I wrote the foreword for Breakthrough by Scott Duffy, but this new book is a fantastic guide for entrepreneurs of all ages, no matter what stage of life (or business) they are in. Breakthrough provides real life examples from the world’s top entrepreneurs, everyone from Richard Branson to Gary Vaynerchuk, showing how they got to their “aha” moments, and built successful businesses by leveraging those moments in time.

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The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim and Kevin Behr

Robin Waite:

With the help of a prospective board member and his mysterious philosophy of The Three Ways, Bill starts to see that IT work has more in common with a manufacturing plant work than he ever imagined. With the clock ticking, Bill must organize work flow streamline interdepartmental communications, and effectively serve the other business functions at Parts Unlimited. I never knew IT could be so exciting, but I was captivated from the beginning to the end of this book. It was like 24 but, less Jack Bauer and more Big Bang Theory!

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Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson

Carol E. Reiley:

Raising venture capital is confusing and a whole different world if you’ve never done it before. You’re sitting there as an entrepreneur who has limited experience negotiating with people who do this day in and day out. This book is organized well and breaks down the lingo and terms you may hear during negotiation. This is the one legal book you need to help you understand the terms in your term sheet for fundraising. It was a bible for me in how to respond to investors and how to sort read and negotiate termsheets. I loved this book so much that I checked out Brad Feld’s other books – startup guidebooks which break down how to run your company and handle the board.

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Which books would you consider must read books for entrepreneurs? Comment below and let us know! If you enjoyed discovering the must read books for entrepreneurs, you may also want to check out the most important business books.