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.

Fill in your cardOr browse a starter list

Atomic HabitsJames Clear · 4.31★FreakonomicsSteven D. Levitt · 4.01★The Tipping PointMalcolm Gladwell · 4.01★Rich Dad Poor DadRobert T. Kiyosaki · 4.08★BlinkMalcolm Gladwell · 3.96★Thinking, Fast and SlowDaniel Kahneman · 4.16★The Art of WarSun Tzu · 3.94★
30,000books on building and backing companies
27,964with a checked cover
3.86★average reader rating across the library
643written by 367 investors and founders on our records
Change your answersFounder · Seed · Pricing and business model
I am
Your rolePick one
Business modelUp to three
Your stagePick one
Working onUp to four
Your rolePick one
How you investUp to three
To sharpenUp to three
IndustryUp to three
More ways to narrow it: kind of book, and when it was written
Kind of bookAny
WrittenPick one

Nothing is stored. Your answers live in the page's address, so the list can be kept or shared.

Your reading list

↻ Show different picks

The best matches for everything you told us, ranked.

  • 1

    Business Model Generation

    Alexander Osterwalder · 2010

    4.2160,411 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business modelCompany building

    About the book

    Business Model Generation is a practical, inspiring handbook for anyone striving to improve a business model or craft a new one. 1) Change the way you think about business models Business Model Generation will teach you powerful and practical…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 2

    Graphic Artists Guild Handbook

    Pricing & Ethical Guidelines

    Graphic Artists Guild · 1984

    4.151,405 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business modelCompany building

    About the book

    · Completely revised and updated to reflect the latest trends · Features the latest information on pricing graphic design work Graphic Artists Guild Pricing & Ethical Guidelines, is the industry bible, containing information all graphic artists and their…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 3

    Monetizing Innovation

    How Smart Companies Design the Product Around the Price

    Madhavan Ramanujam · 2016

    4.141,360 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business modelCompany building

    About the book

    Surprising rules for successful monetization Innovation is the most important driver of growth. Today, more than ever, companies need to innovate to survive. But successful innovation, measured in dollars and cents, is a very hard target to hit.  Companies…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 4

    Confessions of the Pricing Man

    How Price Affects Everything

    Hermann Simon · 2015

    4.24952 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business modelCompany building

    About the book

    The world s foremost expert on pricing strategy shows how this mysterious process works and how to maximize value through pricing to company and customer. In all walks of life, we constantly make decisions about whether something is worth our money or our…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 5

    Business Model You

    A One-Page Method For Reinventing Your Career

    Tim Clark · 2012

    4.004,426 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business modelCompany building

    About the book

    A one-page tool to reinvent yourself and your career The global bestseller Business Model Generation introduced a unique visual way to summarize and creatively brainstorm any business or product idea on a single sheet of paper. Business Model You uses the…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 6

    The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing

    A Guide to Growing More Profitably

    Thomas T. Nagle · 1986

    4.08544 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business modelCompany building

    About the book

    For undergraduate introduction to Market Pricing courses. A comprehensive and practical, step-by-step guide to pricing analysis and strategy development. The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing shows readers how to manage markets strategically, rather than simply…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 7

    Seizing the White Space

    Business Model Innovation for Growth and Renewal

    Mark W. Johnson · 2010

    3.98317 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business modelCompany building

    About the book

    Business model innovation is the key to unlocking transformational growth, but few executives know how to apply it to their businesses. In Seizing the White Space, Mark Johnson gives them the playbook. Leaving the rhetoric to others, Johnson lays out an…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 8

    Platform Scale

    How an emerging business model helps startups build large empires with minimum investment

    Sangeet Paul Choudary · 2015

    4.19529 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business modelCompany buildingMarketing and growth

    About the book

    Over the last decade or so, we're seeing the emergence of a new form of scale. Today's massively scaling startups - which rapidly grow to millions of users and billions in valuation - do not sell a product or service. Instead, they build a platform on which…

    On AmazonAudible

The books most about pricing and business model.

  • 1

    No B.S. Price Strategy

    The Ultimate No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide to Profits, Power, and Prosperity

    Dan S. Kennedy · 2011

    4.09270 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business model

    About the book

    What's the right price for your new product? Millionaire maker Dan S. Kennedy and pricing/marketing strategist Jason Marrs empower small business owners to take control of their profits by taking charge of the their price. Entrepreneurs are dared to…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 2

    The Business Model Navigator

    55 Models That Will Revolutionise Your Business

    Oliver Gassmann · 2013

    4.10458 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business model

    About the book

    A strong business model is the bedrock to business success. But all too often we fail to adapt, clinging to outdated models that are no longer delivering the results we need. The brains behind The Business Model Navigator have discovered that just 55 business…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 3

    Implementing Value Pricing

    A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms

    Ronald J. Baker · 2010

    4.34179 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business model

    About the book

    Praise for IMPLEMENTING VALUE PRICINGA Radical Business Model for Professional Firms"Ron Baker is the most prolific and best writer when it comes to pricing services. This is a must-read for executives and partners in small to large firms. Ron provides the…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 4

    The Pricing Roadmap

    How to Design B2B SaaS Pricing Models That Your Customers Will Love

    Ulrik Lehrskov-Schmidt · 2023

    4.43207 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business model

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 5

    Pricing Creativity

    A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour

    Blair Enns

    4.60204 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business model

    About the book

    Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour distills pricing theory into principles, rules, tips, and tools specifically for the creative professional.

    On AmazonAudible

  • 6

    Pricing Design

    Dan Mall · 2016

    4.36187 ratings · Goodreads

    Pricing and business model

    About the book

    Pricing projects can feel tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. Dan Mall explains how to earn more, by understanding what goes into a price (and why hourly rates don’t work) and what your clients really want, and are willing to pay for. Learn the right questions…

    On AmazonAudible

Published in the last three years, newest first, for what you told us.

  • 1

    Simple Marketing For Smart People

    The One Question You Need to Win Customers without Gimmicks, Hype, or Hard Selling

    Billy Broas · 2024

    4.35305 ratings · Goodreads

    Marketing and growthFirst salesCompany building

    About the book

    Why do so many smart people struggle with marketing? The answer is smart people love complexity, and complexity brews problems. Does your marketing feel like it has way too many moving parts? If so, Simple Marketing for Smart People is the solution you’ve…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 3

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 4

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 5

    Little Bosses Everywhere

    How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America

    Bridget Read · 2025

    3.965,793 ratings · Goodreads

    Company buildingMarketing and growth

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 6

    Careless People

    A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

    Sarah Wynn-Williams · 2025

    4.12150,174 ratings · Goodreads

    Company building

    About the book

    Sarah Wynn-Williams joined Facebook believing the company could change things for the better. Instead, what she encountered over seven years was so shocking that Meta obtained a legal order to silence her. Now you can read her award-winning story. Candid…

    On AmazonAudible

How companies like yours were actually built, from the people who built them.

  • 1

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 2

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 3

    Steve Jobs

    Walter Isaacson · 2011

    4.161,391,990 ratings · Goodreads

    Founder storiesCompany building

    About the book

    Walter Isaacson's worldwide bestselling biography of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years--as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 4

    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

    Founder storiesCompany building

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 5

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 6

    The Jordan Rules

    The Inside Story of One Turbulent Season with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls

    Sam Smith · 1992

    4.2519,445 ratings · Goodreads

    Founder stories

    About the book

    Sam Smith’s seminal, New York Times bestselling “eye-opener” ( The San Diego Union-Tribune ) on Michael Jordan and the 1990-1991 Chicago Bulls team, perfect for fans of ESPN’s hit documentary series The Last Dance. This is the book that changed the way the…

    On AmazonAudible

What founders at seed keep coming back to, if you have not read them yet.

  • 1

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 3

    The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

    Violate Them at Your Own Risk

    Al Ries · 1993

    4.0522,738 ratings · Goodreads

    Marketing and growthCompany building

    About the book

    There are laws of nature, so why shouldn't there be laws of marketing? As Al Ries and Jack Trout, the world-renowned marketing consultants and bestselling authors of Positioning, note, you can build an impressive airplane, but it will never leave the ground if…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 4

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Which books we recommend never depends on it: they are chosen from their ratings and what they are about.

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.

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.