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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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★
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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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 2

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 3

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 4

    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.…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 5

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 6

    Business Made Simple

    60 Days to Master Leadership, Sales, Marketing, Execution, Management, Personal Productivity and More

    Donald Miller · 2021

    4.192,054 ratings · Goodreads

    Focus and resilienceFirst salesMarketing and growth

    About the book

    Is this blue book more valuable than a business degree? Most people enter their professional careers not understanding how to grow a business. At times, this makes them feel lost, or worse, like a fraud pretending to know what they're doing. It's hard to be…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 7

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 8

    Millionaire Success Habits

    The Gateway To Wealth & Prosperity

    Dean Graziosi · 2016

    4.063,061 ratings · Goodreads

    Focus and resilienceCompany building

    About the book

    Millionaire Success Habits is a book designed with one purpose in mind: to take you from where you are in life to where you want to be in life by incorporating easy-to-implement "Success Habits" into your daily routine. Legendary business coach Dean Graziosi…

    On AmazonAudible

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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 2

    Master of Change

    How to Excel When Everything Is Changing – Including You

    Brad Stulberg · 2023

    4.012,429 ratings · Goodreads

    Focus and resilience

    About the book

    NATIONAL BESTSELLER A revelatory book on rethinking change, creating a rugged and flexible mindset and identity, and developing habits for life's intensifying flux. From social disruptions like economic recessions, pandemics, and new technologies to…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 4

    Million Dollar Habits

    Proven Power Practices to Double and Triple Your Income

    Brian Tracy · 1999

    4.003,669 ratings · Goodreads

    Focus and resilience

    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.

    On AmazonAudible

  • 5

    Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management

    Mark Forster · 2006

    4.02953 ratings · Goodreads

    Focus and resilience

    About the book

    Aimed at those who have trouble completing assignments on time as well as anyone looking to lead a well-organized life, this innovative handbook takes a unique approach to time management. Efficiency expert Mark Forster shows that prioritizing tasks is never…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 6

    Visual Meetings

    How Graphics, Sticky Notes and Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity

    David Sibbet · 2010

    3.871,415 ratings · Goodreads

    Focus and resilience

    About the book

    Use eye-popping visual tools to energize your people! Just as social networking has reclaimed the Internet for human interactivity and co-creation, the visual meetings movement is reclaiming creativity, productivity, and playful exchange for serious work in…

    On AmazonAudible

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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 3

    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

    Focus and resilienceMarketing and growthFirst sales

    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

  • 4

    The Wealth Money Can't Buy

    The 8 Hidden Habits to Live Your Richest Life

    Robin Sharma · 2024

    4.206,440 ratings · Goodreads

    Focus and resilience

    About the book

    A groundbreaking book redefining success to show readers how they can create truly abundant and fulfilling lives by following Sharma’s model of the eight forms of wealth, growth, wellness, family, craft, money, community, adventure, and service, from the #1…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 6

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 2

    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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 3

    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

  • 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…

    On AmazonAudible

  • 5

    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

  • 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…

    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

    The Long Tail

    Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More

    Chris Anderson · 2006

    3.8330,263 ratings · Goodreads

    Company buildingFirst sales

    About the book

    The New York Times bestseller that introduced the business world to a future that s already here -- now in paperback with a new chapter about Long Tail Marketing and a new epilogue. Winner of the Gerald Loeb Award for Best Business Book of the Year. In…

    On AmazonAudible

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From the record

Written by the people who write the cheques

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Read what the people you are pitching read.

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