Reading list: the books for what you are building
Tell us your business model, industry and stage, or how you invest, and get the books worth your time, picked from 30,000 on building and backing companies. Chosen by ratings and what they are about.
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643 books written by investors and founders
Now readingAtomic HabitsJames Clear4.31★
Change your answersFounder · Seed · Marketing and growth
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ShortlistThe best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
The best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
- 1
Go for No! for Network Marketing
Richard Fenton · 2017
4.44312 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany buildingFirst sales
About the book
The perfect companion book for anyone in direct sales or network marketingFenton and Waltz, authors of the best-selling book, Go for No! and Ray Higdon, founder of one of the fastest growing network marketing training companies today, have teamed up to create…
- 2
Permission Marketing
Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers
Seth Godin · 2014
3.9114,851 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
The man Business Week calls "the ultimate entrepreneur for the Information Age" explains "Permission Marketing", the groundbreaking concept that enables marketers to shape their message so that consumers will willingly accept it. Whether it is the TV…
- 3
80/20 Sales and Marketing
The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More
Perry Marshall · 2013
4.191,904 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthFirst salesCompany building
About the book
Stop "Just Getting By" ... Master The 80/20 Principle And Make More Money Without More Work. When you know how to walk into any situation and see the 80/20's, you can solve almost ANY marketing problem. 80/20 can demolish any sales and advertising problem.…
- 4
Strategic marketing for educational institutions
Philip Kotler · 1985
81 Open Library reading lists
Marketing and growth
About the book
Here is the handbook for academics and practitioners who want to understand what marketing is, how it can contribute to their institutions' greater effectiveness, and how to do it. This revised edition, like its predecessor, provides a solid background in…
- 5
Selling the Invisible
A Field Guide to Modern Marketing
Harry Beckwith · 1997
3.9410,059 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthFirst salesCompany building
About the book
You can't touch, hear, or see your company's most important products... So how do you sell, develop, make them grow? That's the problem with services. This "phenomenal" book, as one reviewer called it, answers that question with insights on how markets work…
- 6
Copywriting Secrets
Jim Edwards · 2019
4.311,193 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany buildingFirst sales
About the book
What if you could sell anything to anyone? Nobody is born knowing how to sell. But the truth is, you can learn how to sell more . . . a LOT more . . . when you discover the right words that make people buy. Copywriting is selling. Whether online,…
- 7
Crossing the Chasm
Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers
Geoffrey A. Moore · 2002
4.0332,109 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany buildingFirst sales
About the book
Here is the bestselling guide that created a new game plan for marketing in high-tech industries. Crossing the Chasm has become the bible for bringing cutting-edge products to progressively larger markets. This edition provides new insights into the realities…
- 8
Scientific Advertising
Claude C. Hopkins · 1923
4.063,981 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
Scientific Advertising is an important work on advertising from the early 20th century and is still used today by those learning the basics and more advanced parts of the advertising field. The author of Scientific Advertising, Claude C. Hopkins, is well…
The books most about marketing and growth.
- 1
Go Pro - 7 Steps to Becoming a Network Marketing Professional
Eric Worre · 2013
4.258,886 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growth
About the book
Over twenty years ago at a company convention, Eric Worre had an aha moment that changed his life forever. At that event he made the decision to Go Pro and become a Network Marketing expert. Since that time, he has focused on developing the skills to do just…
- 2
Basic marketing research
Naresh K. Malhotra, Naresh Malhotra · 2001
29 Open Library reading lists
Marketing and growth
- 3
Unleashing the Ideavirus
Stop Marketing AT People! Turn Your Ideas into Epidemics by Helping Your Customers Do the Marketing thing for You.
Seth Godin · 2000
3.935,966 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growth
About the book
The book that sparked a marketing revolution. "This is a subversive book. It says that the marketer is not--and ought not to be--at the center of successful marketing. The customer should be. Are you ready for that?" --From the Foreword by Malcolm Gladwell,…
- 4
SEO 2014
Learn Search Engine Optimization with Smart Internet Marketing Strategies
Adam Clarke · 2014
4.121,161 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growth
About the book
No matter what your background is, SEO 2014 will walk you through search engine optimization techniques I've used to grow countless companies online and show you how to rank high in Google. But first, let me tell you a little secret about SEO marketing...…
- 5
Hegarty on Advertising
John Hegarty · 2011
4.06741 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growth
About the book
A look into what lies behind great ideas and brilliant advertising, told by one of the industry's leading players. What makes a great idea? How does one best pitch to a prospective client? What effect will new technology have on advertising? Written by one of…
- 6
The 1-Page Marketing Plan
Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd
Allan Dib · 2016
4.3211,134 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growth
About the book
Do Not Read This Book If You Hate Money To build a successful business, you need to stop doing random acts of marketing and start following a reliable plan for rapid business growth. Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and…
- 7
The Ultimate Marketing Plan
Find Your Hook. Communicate Your Message. Make Your Mark.
Dan S. Kennedy · 1991
4.12607 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growth
About the book
More than 5 million businesses have profited from this unique step-by-step marketing system. The Ultimate Marketing Plan, 3rd Edition shows you how to put together the most promotable message possible for any product or service. Filled with practical,…
- 8
Basic Marketing Case Book
E. Jerome McCarthy, Stanley J. Shapiro · 1960
30 Open Library reading lists
Marketing and growth
What founders at seed need most: company building, finding product-market fit, raising money, first sales, marketing and growth.
- 1
Get Backed
Craft Your Story, Build the Perfect Pitch Deck, and Launch the Venture of Your Dreams
Evan Baehr · 2015
4.36356 ratings · Goodreads
Raising moneyCompany building
About the book
HOW DO YOU LAUNCH THE VENTURE OF YOUR DREAMS? Get Backed isn’t just about startup fundraising. It’s a handbook for anyone who has an idea and needs to build relationships to get it off the ground. Over the last 3 years, entrepreneurs Evan Loomis and…
- 2
The Elements of User Experience
User-Centered Design for the Web
Jesse James Garrett · 2002
4.014,134 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fitCompany building
About the book
Smart organizations recognize that Web design is more than just creating clean code and sharp graphics. A site that really works fulfills your strategic objectives while meeting the needs of your users. Even the best content and the most sophisticated…
- 3
Achieving Excellence in Fundraising + Website
Eugene R. Tempel · 2003
4.02249 ratings · Goodreads
Raising moneyCompany building
About the book
The third edition of this acclaimed resource, Achieving Excellence in Fundraising, explains the fundraising profession's major principles, concepts, and techniques. With contributions from noted experts in the field, and filled with illustrative examples,…
- 4
UX for Beginners
A Crash Course in 100 Short Lessons
Joel Marsh · 2016
4.04527 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fitCompany building
About the book
Apps! Websites! Rubber Ducks! Naked Ninjas! This book has everything. If you want to get started in user experience design (UX), you've come to the right 100 self-contained lessons that cover the whole spectrum of fundamentals. Forget dry, technical…
- 5
Observing the User Experience
A Practitioner's Guide to User Research
Mike Kuniavsky · 2003
3.99695 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fit
About the book
The gap between who designers and developers imagine their users are, and who those users really are can be the biggest problem with product development. Observing the User Experience will help you bridge that gap to understand what your users want and need…
- 6
Venture Deals
Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
Brad Feld · 2011
4.1117,486 ratings · Goodreads
Raising moneyCompany building
About the book
Praise for Venture Deals"My biggest nightmare is taking advantage of an entrepreneur without even realizing it. It happens because VCs are experts in financings and most entrepreneurs are not. Brad and Jason are out to fix that problem with Venture Deals.…
- 7
Hey, Hun
Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing
Emily Lynn Paulson · 2023
3.5814,654 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthFirst salesCompany building
About the book
She signed up for the sisterhood, free cars, and the promise of a successful business of her own. Instead, she ended up with an addiction, broken friendships, and the rubble of a toppled pyramid . . . scheme. Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the…
- 8
Solving Product Design Exercises
Questions & Answers
Artiom Dashinsky · 2018
4.30675 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fitCompany building
About the book
Practice your product design and UX skills. Prepare for your next job interview. "Redesign the NYC metrocard system. Design a dashboard for a general practitioner. Redesign an ATM". Learn how to solve and present exercises like these, that top startups…
Leading and managing a team as the company grows.
- 1
Start with Why
How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Simon Sinek · 2009
4.09281,577 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Why do you do what you do? Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to…
- 2
The Ride of a Lifetime
Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
Robert Iger · 2019
4.4099,495 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
A grand vision defined: The CEO of The Walt Disney Company shares the ideas and values he has used to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world, and inspire the people who bring the magic to life. In 2005, Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt…
- 3
A Different Kind of Power
Jacinda Ardern · 2025
4.4521,916 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
From the former prime minister of New Zealand, then the world’s youngest female head of government and just the second to give birth in office, comes a deeply personal memoir chronicling her extraordinary rise and offering inspiration to a new generation of…
- 4
Built to Last
Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
Jim Collins · 1994
4.0687,169 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
"This is not a book about charismatic visionary leaders. It is not about visionary product concepts or visionary products or visionary market insights. Nor is it about just having a corporate vision. This is a book about something far more important,…
- 5
The Goal
A Process of Ongoing Improvement
Eliyahu M. Goldratt · 2004
4.0786,160 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Written in a fast-paced thriller style, The Goal, a gripping novel, is transforming management thinking throughout the world. It is a book to recommend to your friends in industry - even to your bosses - but not to your competitors. Alex Rogo is a harried…
- 6
Joker One
A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood
Donovan Campbell · 2009
4.154,545 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
After graduating from Princeton, Donovan Campbell, motivated by his unwavering patriotism and commitment, decided to join the service, realizing that becoming a Marine officer would allow him to give back to his country, engage in the world, and learn to…
- 7
The 360 Degree Leader
Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization
John C. Maxwell · 2005
4.158,377 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Don't wait for that promotion! Start leading NOW... right where you are! What's the number one question leadership expert John C. Maxwell is asked while conducting his leadership conferences? "How can I implement what you teach when I'm not the top leader?"…
- 8
The Manager's Path
A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change
Camille Fournier · 2017
4.2510,686 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Managing people is difficult wherever you work, but the tech industry as a whole is pretty bad at it. Tech companies in general lack the experience, tools, texts, and frameworks to do it well. And the handful of books that share tips and tricks of engineering…
Published in the last three years, newest first, for what you told us.
- 1
Lean Marketing
More Leads. More Profit. Less Marketing.
Allan Dib · 2024
4.31452 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
Bigger Results with Less Marketing You keep being told to do more marketing―more complex, more aggressive, and more expensive marketing. Chasing the latest bright, shiny object is exhausting. Increased efforts keep leading to disappointment. The overwhelm…
- 2
Personal Branding for Introverts
Goldie Chan · 2025
4.41211 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
A top expert in personal branding shows introverts how to leverage their unique strengths to get ahead To build a career, you need a personal brand to showcase your distinct skills, experience, and expertise. Building that brand can feel…
- 3
Brand It Like Serhant
Stand Out From the Crowd, Build Your Following, and Earn More Money
Ryan Serhant · 2024
3.95275 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
Bestselling author and real estate, television, and media icon Ryan Serhant shares his proven, three-step strategy to build your brand from scratch Brand is everything. Whether you’re a real estate broker, a hair stylist, or a freelance contractor, your end…
- 4
Little Bosses Everywhere
How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America
Bridget Read · 2025
3.965,793 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
A groundbreaking work of history and reportage that unveils the stranger-than-fiction world of multilevel marketing, from the shadowy cabals at the top to the strivers at the bottom, whose deferred dreams churn a massive money-making scam that has remade…
- 5
The Pricing Roadmap
How to Design B2B SaaS Pricing Models That Your Customers Will Love
Ulrik Lehrskov-Schmidt · 2023
4.43207 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fitCompany building
About the book
"The definitive resource on SaaS pricing, I absolutely can not recommend this book enough." Viktor Heide, COO of Contractbook.com, Forbes "30 under 30" A foolproof method to achieve skyrocketing sales, growth, and profits for your software as a service…
- 6
The First-Time Manager
Sales
Mike Weinberg · 2023
4.43282 ratings · Goodreads
First salesCompany building
About the book
The First Time Manager Series has sold over 500,000 copies and is a go-to guide for new and aspiring sales managers on what to expect and how to succeed. The jump from sales superstar to sales manager has made or broken many a sales career. As a…
- 7
Cancel Me If You Can
Dave Portnoy · 2026
4.226,588 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
In his unfiltered style, Dave Portnoy details the journey of how he built his polarizing media empire, Barstool Sports, while refusing to bend the knee to those who tried to tear him down, staying true to himself and blocking out the haters. Dave Portnoy is a…
- 8
Glossy
Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss's Glossier
Marisa Meltzer · 2023
3.2912,235 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
The bombshell exposé that reveals, for the first time, exactly what happened at Glossier, one of America’s hottest and most consequential startups, and dives deep into the enigmatic, visionary woman responsible for it all. Called “one of the most disruptive…
How companies like yours were actually built, from the people who built them.
- 1
Heartland
A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
Sarah Smarsh · 2018
3.7616,921 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
During Sarah Smarsh’s turbulent childhood in Kansas in the 1980s and 1990s, the forces of cyclical poverty and the country’s changing economic policies solidified her family’s place among the working poor. By telling the story of her life and the lives of the…
- 2
Sam Walton
Made in America
Sam Walton · 1992
4.1527,178 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
As Sam Walton himself said, this is "...a story about entrepreneurship, and risk, and hard work, and knowing where you want to go and being willing to do what it takes to get there. And it's a story about believing in your idea even when maybe some other…
- 3
Shoe Dog
A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
Phil Knight · 2016
4.45389,310 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable…
- 4
Elon Musk
Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
Ashlee Vance · 2015
4.12456,221 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and innovator behind SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, sold one of his internet companies, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. Ashlee Vance captures the full spectacle and arc of the genius's life and work, from his tumultuous upbringing in…
- 5
Walt Disney Imagineering
A Behind the Dreams Look At Making the Magic Real
The Imagineers · 1996
4.121,961 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
Making dreams come true is what Disney does best -- and the Imagineers unite art and science to create a world in which reality surpasses imagination. The Imagineers are like Santa's elves: they are the nuts-and-bolts workers who allow Disney's magic to take…
- 6
Kissinger
A Biography
Walter Isaacson · 1992
4.025,508 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
By the time Henry Kissinger was made secretary of state in 1973, he had become, according to the Gallup Poll, the most admired person in America and one of the most unlikely celebrities ever to capture the world's imagination. Yet Kissinger was also reviled…
- 7
The Power Broker
Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
Robert A. Caro · 1974
4.5329,550 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • A modern American classic, this huge and galvanizing biography of Robert Moses reveals not only the saga of one man’s incredible accumulation of power but the story of his shaping (and mis-shaping) of twentieth-century New York. One of…
- 8
The Situation Room
The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis
George Stephanopoulos · 2024
4.3211,278 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
George Stephanopoulos, former senior advisor to President Clinton and for more than 20 years anchor of This Week and co-anchor of Good Morning America , recounts the crises that decided the course of history, from the place 12 presidents made their…
What founders at seed keep coming back to, if you have not read them yet.
- 1
Building A Story Brand
Donald Miller · 2017
4.2726,500 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
New York Times bestselling author Donald Miller uses the seven universal elements of powerful stories to teach readers how to dramatically improve how they connect with customers and grow their businesses. Donald Miller’s StoryBrand process is a proven…
- 2
Inspired
How to Create Tech Products Customers Love
Marty Cagan · 2008
4.2226,350 ratings · Goodreads
Company buildingFinding product-market fit
About the book
Learn to design, build, and scale products consumers can't get enough of How do today's most successful tech companies–Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla–design, develop, and deploy the products that have earned the love of literally billions of…
- 3
- 4
Zero to One
Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
Peter Thiel · 2014
4.14419,155 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
If you want to build a better future, you must believe in secrets. The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shows how…
- 5
To Sell is Human
The Surprising Truth About Moving Others
Daniel H. Pink · 2012
3.8726,914 ratings · Goodreads
Company buildingFirst sales
About the book
From the bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind comes a surprising--and surprisingly useful--new book that explores the power of selling in our lives.According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales. Every day…
- 6
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Stephen R. Covey · 1989
4.16843,480 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step…
- 7
Bad Blood
Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
John Carreyrou · 2018
4.40285,283 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face of pressure and threats from the CEO and her lawyers. In…
- 8
Rich Dad Poor Dad
What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money, That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
Robert T. Kiyosaki · 1997
4.08761,349 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert's story of growing up with two dads, his real father and the father of his best friend, his "rich dad", and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to…
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From the record
Written by the people who write the cheques
Books by investors and founders we hold records for. The author links to what they have done, not just what they wrote.
The Lean Startupby Eric Ries, Eric Ries2011 · 4.11★L
Lean Inby Sheryl Sandberg, Meta2013 · 3.94★T
The Hard Thing About Hard Thingsby Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz2014 · 4.19★D
Delivering Happinessby Tony Hsieh, Tony Hsieh2000 · 4.04★#
#Girlbossby Sophia Amoruso2014 · 3.64★T
The One Thingby Gary Keller, Pocketchange Investments2012 · 4.12★P
Principlesby Ray Dalio2017 · 4.09★Read what the people you are pitching read.
Every investor and founder on our records links to their books and the podcasts they are on.