You know how as a kid you’d often be told that you should read books, and you — well a lot, if not all, of you — would have probably dismissed that, probably still do, thinking that reading books is a total waste of time, or that it doesn’t have any relevance to real life, or that it’s simply escapist nonsense. Well, thinking that would probably indicate that you haven’t actually read enough to know otherwise. But also, I’m sure you’d be pretty embarrassed to find that 88% (a verifiable statistic, by the way) of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world swear by them, and make it a point to read at least for 30 minutes a day.
The thing is, you can only have so much experiences in life, and you’d be smart to learn from them, but you’d be even smarter to learn from others’ experiences — and that’s where books come in, helping you see things that you might not have been able to so far, and applying them to life. So these are 10 books that every entrepreneur should read, most of them corroborated by famous entrepreneurs themselves.
1. The Fountainhead — Ayn Rand
Mark Cuban, American businessman and owner of NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, told Business Insider that this is a must-read for every entrepreneur. This book perfectly captures the spirit that every self-made man or woman should live by. In fact, Ayn Rand created a whole philosophy based on this idea — Objectivism, with its principle most aptly communicated through a piece of dialogue by the protagonist: “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
2. The Startup Playbook
If fiction isn’t your thing and you’d prefer your lessons to come at you direct, then you couldn’t find a better book than this one. The book offers keen insights and experiences shared by 41 founders of different startups. Furthermore, you get advice on a number of things from discovering your niche to other lessons on leadership.
3. Zero to One — Peter Thiel
If you don’t want an intermediary you don’t really know telling you what you should do, then maybe tune in to one of the world’s leading and most popular entrepreneur — Peter Thiel’s book. The founder of PayPal writes a New York Times bestseller which seeks to help all newbies avoid mistakes that others have made. This is a must read for anyone embarking on a new venture.
4. Choose Yourself — James Altucher
This book makes it onto the list because unlike some of the other ‘heavier’ reads, this one is absolutely easy to consume. Written with a disarmingly deprecating style, Altucher offers a keen insight into setting off as an entrepreneur with ready wit and charm.
5. Business Adventures — John Brooks
This book is one of Bill Gates’ all time favorite set of short stories after being given the recommendation by Warren Buffets. And why bother listening to me further when you can listen to Gates himself: “‘Business Adventures’ is as much about the strengths and weaknesses of leaders in challenging circumstances as it is about the particulars of one business or another. In that sense, it is still relevant not despite its age but because of it.”
6. The 4-Hour Workweek — Tim Ferriss
This is a must-read for all entrepreneurs and pretty much anyone who’s ever handled trouble managing time. In fact, it would also help you even if you didn’t know you had trouble managing time. This is a guide on how to increase your work capital so much so that you’re about ten times as effective, thus accomplishing 40 hours worth of work in just 4.
7. Rework — Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
This book is geared towards very simply and directly showing you how to go about your business not just faster but in a smarter way. The great thing about this is how nontraditional it is. The book breaks free from all the shackles of commonly attributed advice like always making plans, and getting outside investors, and staffing up. It will show you that none of that is actually necessary, and sometimes even harmful.
8. Never Get a “Real” Job: How to Dump Your Boss, Build a Business and Not Go Broke — Scott Gerber
You’d be well advised to listen to this guy, who happens to be a 20-something hustler and bootstrapped who doesn’t come from a business background, has no business training, has never held a “real” job his whole life, but has still managed to become a total BOSS.
9. How to Win Friends and Influence People — Dale Carnegie
This is an old (1936) but really just timeless self-help book because it offers keen insight on understanding people, and really being an entrepreneur has a hell lot to do with people skills, be it dealing with partners, employees or potential investors.
10. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption — Laura Hillenbrand
This is an Amazon bestseller, and while it doesn’t deal with entrepreneurship, it holds valuable personality lessons and motivations that can be applied to all walks of life, including entrepreneurship. Lessons like personal sacrifice, survival and resilience may resonate with most people, but entrepreneurs truly need to live by them on a daily basis.
All of these books offer different ideas, skills and advice, some directly addressing entrepreneurship and some addressing the human spirit, but they can all help you learn from your mistakes and experiences before you’ve even made them.
