Best books for founders and investors

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The best matches for everything you told us, ranked.

1
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Stephen R. Covey · 1989
4.16843,480 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceCompany 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…
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2
The Ultimate Sales Machine
Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies
Chet Holmes · 2007
3.979,181 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceFirst salesCompany building
About the book
Chet Holmes has been called “one of the top 20 change experts in the country.” He helps his clients blow away both the competition and their own expectations. And his advice starts with one simple concept: focus! Instead of trying to master four thousand…
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3
The Power of Consistency
Prosperity Mindset Training for Sales and Business Professionals
Weldon Long · 2013
4.25644 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceFirst salesCompany building
About the book
How to achieve wealth, happiness, and peace of mind through personal responsibility The Power of Consistency is based on the fundamental premise that private declarations dictate future actions. In other words, we tend to take actions with the thoughts and…
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4
Mindset
The New Psychology of Success
Carol S. Dweck · 2006
4.09182,500 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceCompany building
About the book
A newer edition of this book can be found here. After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how…
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5
The Thousand Weeks
Time Management for Mortals
Oliver Burkeman · 2021
4.18123,505 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
Simplified Chinese Edition of [Four Thousand Weeks ]
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6
Hyperfocus
How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction
Chris Bailey · 2018
3.8711,667 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceCompany building
About the book
Canada's productivity expert returns with a totally fresh angle on how to do more with less. Throughout his experiments and research, Chris Bailey came across many little-known insights into how we focus (a key element of productivity), including the…
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7
80/20 Sales and Marketing
The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More
Perry Marshall · 2013
4.191,904 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceFirst salesMarketing and growth
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.…
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8
Million Dollar Habits
Proven Power Practices to Double and Triple Your Income
Brian Tracy · 1999
4.003,669 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceCompany building
About the book
A guide to winning habits in business shows readers how to set and achieve goals quickly, organize their life, manage time, increase income, and tap inner power reserves--all in the service of improved productivity.
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The books most about focus and resilience.

1
Getting Things Done
The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
David Allen · 2001
4.00170,488 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
In today's world, yesterday's methods just don't work. In Getting Things Done, veteran coach and management consultant David Allen shares the breakthrough methods for stress-free performance that he has introduced to tens of thousands of people across the…
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2
The PARA Method
Simplify, Organize, and Master Your Digital Life
Tiago Forte · 2023
4.073,216 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
This accessible guide expands upon the “well-written, cogent, and useful” (David Allen, author of Getting Things Done) bestselling Building a Second Brain with actionable advice on how to improve your digital life in just a few minutes.Living a modern life…
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3
Rich AF
The Winning Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life
Vivian Tu · 2023
4.0610,220 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
When Vivian Tu started working on Wall Street fresh from undergrad, all she knew was that she was making more money than she had ever seen in her life. But it wasn’t until she found a mentor of her own on the trading floor that she began to understand what…
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4
Bit Literacy
Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload
Mark Hurst · 2007
3.702,567 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
"Bit Literacy" is essential reading for anyone who has experienced "digital overload" the daily flood of e-mail, multiple todo lists, a cluttered desktop, documents in various file formats, and the constant distraction of cell phones and other devices. More…
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5
Time Management from the Inside Out
The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule--and Your Life
Julie Morgenstern · 2000
3.952,875 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
A thoroughly updated and expanded edition of the definitive guide to managing and freeing up time Applying the groundbreaking from-the-inside-out approach that made Organizing from the Inside Out a New York Times bestseller, Julie Morgenstern set a new…
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6
Mastering the Rockefeller Habits
What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm
Verne Harnish · 2002
3.963,484 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
What are the underlying handful of fundamentals that haven't changed for over a hundred years? From Harnish's famous One-Page Strategic Plan to his concise outline of eight practical actions you can take to strengthen your culture, this book is a compilation…
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Published in the last three years, newest first, for what you told us.

1
Intentional
How to Finish What You Start
Chris Bailey · 2026
3.86368 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceCompany building
About the book
From author of Hyperfocus and productivity expert Chris Bailey, a new approach to finishing what you start.Most of us have no problem setting goals. We know what we want, and we have a pretty good sense of what it takes to get it. But consistently making…
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2
Slow Productivity
The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
Cal Newport · 2024
3.6627,060 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceCompany building
About the book
Do fewer things. Work at a natural pace. Obsess over quality. From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work, a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload. Our current…
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3
Lean Marketing
More Leads. More Profit. Less Marketing.
Allan Dib · 2024
4.31452 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceMarketing 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…
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4
Right Thing, Right Now
Justice in an Unjust World
Ryan Holiday · 2024
4.136,450 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
In his New York Times bestselling book, Discipline Is Destiny, Ryan Holiday made the Stoic case for a life of self-discipline. In this much-anticipated third installment in the Stoic Virtues series, he argues for the necessity of doing what’s right – even…
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5
The First-Time Manager
Sales
Mike Weinberg · 2023
4.43282 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceFirst 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…
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6
Reset
How to Change What's Not Working
Dan Heath · 2025
4.123,193 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceCompany building
About the book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Made to Stick, Switch, and The Power of Moments comes a revolutionary guide to fixing what’s not working, in systems and processes, organizations and companies, and even in our daily lives, by identifying…
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How companies like yours were actually built, from the people who built them.

1
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…
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2
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…
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3
Veeck As In Wreck
The Autobiography of Bill Veeck
Bill Veeck · 1962
4.132,173 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
Bill Veeck was an inspired team builder, a consummate showman, and one of the greatest baseball men ever involved in the game. His classic autobiography, written with the talented sportswriter Ed Linn, is an uproarious book packed with information about the…
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4
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…
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5
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…
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6
The Big Rich
The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes
Bryan Burrough · 2009
4.093,394 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
In The Big Rich, bestselling author and Vanity Fair special correspondent Bryan Burrough chronicles the rise and fall of one of the great economic and political powerhouses of the twentieth century, Texas oil. By weaving together the epic sagas of the…
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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…
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2
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…
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3
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…
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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…
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The books for what you are building.

Your reading list

Written by the people who write the cheques

Read what the people you are pitching read.