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 · Focus and resilience
Your reading list
ShortlistThe best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
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…
- 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…
- 3
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…
- 4
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…
- 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…
- 6
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…
- 7
- 8
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…
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…
- 2
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…
- 3
Focus
Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence
Heidi Grant Halvorson · 2013
3.961,067 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
We all want to experience pleasure and avoid pain. But there are really two kinds of pleasure and pain that motivate everything we do. If you are promotion-focused, you want to advance and avoid missed opportunities. If you are prevention-focused, you want to…
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- 5
Millionaire Success Habits
The Gateway To Wealth & Prosperity
Dean Graziosi · 2016
4.063,061 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
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…
- 6
Four Thousand Weeks
Time and How to Use It
Oliver Burkeman · 2021
4.17133,825 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
The average human lifespan is absurdly, outrageously, insultingly brief: if you live to 80, you have about four thousand weeks on earth. That’s a pretty good argument for spending less time on Twitter.Of course, nobody needs telling that there isn’t enough…
- 7
Drive
The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Daniel H. Pink · 2009
3.95127,465 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money, the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink…
- 8
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…
What founders at seed need most: company building, finding product-market fit, raising money, first sales, marketing and growth.
- 1
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…
- 2
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…
- 3
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…
- 4
A Project Guide to UX Design
For User Experience Designers in the Field or in the Making
Russ Unger · 2009
3.871,774 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fitCompany building
About the book
“If you are a young designer entering or contemplating entering the UX field this is a canonical book. If you are an organization that really needs to start grokking UX this book is also for you. " -- Chris Bernard, User Experience Evangelist, Microsoft User…
- 5
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.…
- 6
LinkedIn Riches
How To Use LinkedIn For Business, Sales and Marketing! Updated and Revised
John Nemo · 2014
4.07319 ratings · Goodreads
First salesMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
SPECIAL Includes Free Access to 25+ LinkedIn Training Videos!Discover How To Use LinkedIn For Sales, Business and Marketing, including how Find New Sales Leads and Prospective Clients on LinkedIn FAST- Turn Your Existing LinkedIn Connections into Paying…
- 7
Lean UX
Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience
Jeff Gothelf · 2012
3.996,766 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fitCompany building
About the book
The Lean UX approach to interaction design is tailor-made for today’s web-driven reality. In this insightful book, leading advocate Jeff Gothelf teaches you valuable Lean UX principles, tactics, and techniques from the ground up, how to rapidly experiment with…
- 8
Risky is the New Safe
The Rules Have Changed . . .
Randy Gage · 2012
3.86348 ratings · Goodreads
Raising moneyCompany building
About the book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and #1 WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER Risky Is the New Safe is a different kind of book for a different kind of thinking--a thought-provoking manifesto for risk takers. It will challenge you to think laterally, question…
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
Give and Take
A Revolutionary Approach to Success
Adam M. Grant · 2013
4.0641,070 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Give and Take highlights what effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation, and leadership skills have in common. For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But today, success…
- 5
Inspired
How to Create Tech Products Customers Love
Marty Cagan · 2008
4.2226,350 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
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…
- 6
American Icon
Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company
Bryce G. Hoffman · 2012
4.425,255 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
THE INSIDE STORY OF THE EPIC TURNAROUND OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF CEO ALAN MULALLY. At the end of 2008, Ford Motor Company was just months away from running out of cash. With the auto industry careening toward ruin, Congress offered all…
- 7
All It Takes Is a Goal
The 3-Step Plan to Ditch Regret and Tap Into Your Massive Potential | Achieve Your Resolutions and Find Success
Jon Acuff · 2023
4.552,450 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
"This is my new favorite book about goals!" -- Mel Robbins , podcaster and New York Times bestselling author of The High 5 Habit What if you could have a fulfilling career, a thriving marriage, strong friendships, and rewarding hobbies, all while being in…
- 8
Switch
How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
Chip Heath · 2010
4.0355,816 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives?The primary obstacle is a conflict that's built into our brains, say Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the critically acclaimed bestseller Made to Stick.…
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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 4
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…
- 5
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…
- 6
Excellent Advice for Living
Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier
Kevin Kelly · 2023
4.225,201 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilience
About the book
“I love aphorisms, proverbs, and Secrets of Adulthood . . . Excellent Advice for Living includes wise, practical advice for life.”, Gretchen Rubin, via Twitter “One hundred years from now, when so much of the nonsense of our age is forgotten, people will…
- 7
Buy Back Your Time
Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire
Dan Martell · 2023
4.365,076 ratings · Goodreads
Focus and resilienceCompany building
About the book
Wall Street Journal Bestseller Learn to conquer the one real hurdle to scaling your company and growing Time How you use your free time will make or break your success. The secret? It’s not about working harder or finding more time to do work. It’s about…
- 8
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…
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…
- 2
Elon Musk
Walter Isaacson · 2023
4.3281,328 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era, a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles,…
- 3
Never Die Easy
The Autobiography of Walter Payton
Walter Payton · 2000
4.231,581 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
"Never die easy. Why run out of bounds and die easy? Make that linebacker pay. It carries into all facets of your life. It's okay to lose, to die, but don't die without trying, without giving it your best." His legacy is towering. Walter Payton, the man they…
- 4
Sam Walton, Made in America
My Story
Sam Walton · 1992
4.1628,881 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…
- 5
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…
- 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…
- 7
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…
- 8
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…
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…
- 2
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…
- 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…
- 4
Lok Vyavhar
Diamond Books · 1936
4.221,157,905 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
This is the translation of famous - HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE - a classic book that gave birth to the self-help industry. Through this book, Dale Carnegie offers practical and proven advice on how to deal with people and understand them in order…
- 5
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…
- 6
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…
- 7
Outliers
The Story of Success
Malcolm Gladwell · 2008
4.19890,252 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
In this stunning book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers", the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that…
- 8
The First American
The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
H.W. Brands · 2000
4.1123,067 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growth
About the book
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • Benjamin Franklin, perhaps the pivotal figure in colonial and revolutionary America, comes vividly to life in this “thorough biography of ... America’s first Renaissance man” ( The Washington Post ) by the two-time Pulitzer Prize…
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.
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.