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
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Change your answersFounder · AI and data · Seed
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ShortlistThe best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
The best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
- 1
Genius Makers
The Mavericks Who Brought AI to Google, Facebook, and the World
Cade Metz · 2021
4.263,395 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
"This colorful page-turner puts artificial intelligence into a human perspective. Through the lives of Geoff Hinton and other major players, Metz explains this transformative technology and makes the quest thrilling." Walter Isaacson, author of The Code…
- 2
Everybody Lies
Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz · 2017
3.9043,226 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
Foreword by Steven Pinker Blending the informed analysis of The Signal and the Noise with the instructive iconoclasm of Think Like a Freak, a fascinating, illuminating, and witty look at what the vast amounts of information now instantly available to us…
- 3
The Connection Algorithm
Take Risks, Defy the Status Quo, and Live Your Passions
Jesse Tevelow · 2015
3.73450 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
A #1 Bestseller in Entrepreneurship A #1 Bestseller in Management A #1 Bestseller in Personal Success A #1 Bestseller in Knowledge Capital "Young Jesse Tevelow is on to something. His new book, The Connection Algorithm, is chock full of phenomenal strategies…
- 4
Human + machine
Paul R. Daugherty · 2018
28 Open Library reading lists
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how we work right now. Are you ready? In the past, robots were typically large pieces of machinery, sectioned off from human workers to perform precise, mechanical tasks on an assembly line. But now, bots and other…
- 5
Prediction Machines
The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence
Ajay Agrawal · 2018
3.864,021 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
"What does AI mean for your business? Read this book to find out." -- Hal Varian, Chief Economist, Google Artificial intelligence does the seemingly impossible, magically bringing machines to life--driving cars, trading stocks, and teaching children. But…
- 6
The Thinking Machine
Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip
Stephen Witt · 2025
4.295,636 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
“Stephen Witt’s deep reporting shines through every page of The Thinking Machine. The result is a page-turning biography of perhaps the most consequential CEO and company in the world.”, David Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of Range Nvidia is…
- 7
The Infinity Machine
Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence
Sebastian Mallaby · 2026
4.423,320 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
From one of our leading chroniclers of the intersection of innovation and capitalism, a landmark reckoning, based on unprecedented access, with one of the world’s most brilliant and driven tech visionaries and his game-changing company.Even by the standard…
- 8
Data Strategy
How to Profit from a World of Big Data, Analytics and the Internet of Things
Bernard Marr · 2017
3.77418 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
Less than 0.5 per cent of all data is currently analysed and used. However, business leaders and managers cannot afford to be unconcerned or sceptical about data. Data is revolutionizing the way we work and it is the companies that view data as a strategic…
Books on ai and data.
- 1
Supremacy
AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World
Parmy Olson · 2024
4.046,375 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
In November of 2022, a webpage was posted online with a simple text box. It was an AI chatbot called ChatGPT, and was unlike any app people had used before. It was more human than a customer service agent, more convenient than a Google search. Behind the…
- 2
The Scaling Era
An Oral History of AI, 2019–2025
Dwarkesh Patel · 2025
3.87570 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
An inside view of the AI revolution, from the people and companies making it happen.How did we build large language models? How do they think, if they think? What will the world look like if we have billions of AIs that are as smart as humans, or even…
- 3
Power and Progress
Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity
Daron Acemoğlu · 2023
3.942,496 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
The bestselling co-author of Why Nations Fail and the bestselling co-author of 13 Bankers deliver a bold reinterpretation of economics and history that will fundamentally change how you see the world A thousand years of history and contemporary evidence…
- 4
The Nvidia Way
Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant
Tae Kim · 2024
4.304,727 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
"The definitive look at the most remarkable business story of this era.", Morgan Housel, New York Times best-selling author of The Psychology of Money and Same As Ever"The Nvidia Way is a riveting history of Nvidia’s unexpected ascent to the top of the tech…
- 5
The Industries of the Future
Alec J. Ross · 2016
3.968,471 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
This book answers the question: 'What's next?' The Internet had a world-changing impact on businesses and the global community over the twenty years from 1994 to 2014. In the next ten years, change will happen even faster. As Hillary Clinton's Senior…
- 6
Machine, Platform, Crowd
Harnessing Our Digital Future
Andrew McAfee · 2017
4.042,898 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
“A clear and crisply written account of machine intelligence, big data and the sharing economy. But McAfee and Brynjolfsson also wisely acknowledge the limitations of their futurology and avoid over-simplification.” ― Financial Times In The Second Machine Age…
- 7
Future Ethics
Cennydd Bowles · 2018
4.29273 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
‘Eloquent, insightful and utterly a must read for anyone who is inventing the future or cares about living in it.’, Christina Wodtke, Stanford University ‘Cennydd’s long-lens view of ethics is exactly what designers, product managers and builders of today’s…
- 8
The Philosopher in the Valley
Alex Karp, Palantir and the Rise of the Surveillance State
Michael Steinberger · 2025
3.721,540 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
‘An excellent look at what Palantir does, as well as a fascinating insight into the mind of its eccentric chief executive’ TelegraphPalantir Technologies is the most interesting company in the world – and the most controversial. Palantir builds data…
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 User Experience Team of One
A Research and Design Survival Guide
Leah Buley · 2013
4.191,657 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fitCompany building
About the book
UX Team of Oneb Theory and Practice for Designers Responsible for Holo UX b This book presents ways to achieve greater impact than standardized UX work results with less time and resources do. Whether youre looking to turn to the UX field, or an experienced…
- 3
80/20 Sales and Marketing
The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More
Perry Marshall · 2013
4.191,904 ratings · Goodreads
First salesMarketing and growthCompany 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
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
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
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,…
- 7
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.…
- 8
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…
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
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…
- 3
The Wisdom of the Bullfrog
Leadership Made Simple
William H. McRaven · 2023
4.408,634 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Make Your Bed, a short, inspirational book of advice and leadership lessons that Admiral McRaven collected over his four decades as a Navy SEAL. The title “Bullfrog” is given to the Navy SEAL who has served the…
- 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
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…
- 5
Rising Strong
The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution
Brené Brown · 2015
4.2590,292 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Social scientist Brené Brown has ignited a global conversation on courage, vulnerability, shame, and worthiness. Her pioneering work uncovered a profound truth: Vulnerability, the willingness to show up and be seen with no guarantee of outcome, is the only path…
- 6
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,…
- 7
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…
- 8
Business Model Generation
Alexander Osterwalder · 2010
4.2160,411 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
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…
Published in the last three years, newest first, for what you told us.
- 1
Reshuffle
Who wins when AI restacks the knowledge economy
Sangeet Paul Choudary · 2025
4.32316 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
What happens when the “know-how” that once defined expertise migrates from humans to AI tools? How do organizations reorganize when machines take over not just tasks but entire workflows? And most importantly, how does this reshaping of knowledge work change…
- 2
The Optimist
Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future
Keach Hagey · 2025
3.791,312 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
From an acclaimed Wall Street Journal reporter comes the first biography of the enigmatic leader of the AI revolution, charting his ascent within the tech world as well as his ambitions for this powerful new technology. On November 30, 2022, OpenAI…
- 3
The Age of Extraction
How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity
Tim Wu · 2025
3.871,213 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
Tech platforms manipulate attention, extract wealth, and deepen inequality. In this new book, Tim Wu (The Attention Merchants) explains how we can reclaim control and create a balanced economy that works for everyone.“The magic of Tim Wu’s The Age of…
- 4
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…
- 5
The Technological Republic
Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West
Alexander C. Karp · 2025
3.533,868 ratings · Goodreads
AI and dataCompany building
About the book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A cri de coeur that takes aim at the tech industry for abandoning its history of helping America and its allies.”, The Wall Street Journal From the Palantir co-founder, one of tech’s boldest thinkers and The…
- 6
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…
- 7
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…
- 8
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…
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
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…
- 4
Personal History
A Memoir
Katharine Graham · 1997
4.0925,181 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
Madrid. 22 cm. 557 p. Encuadernación en tapa blanda de editorial ilustrada. Graham, Katharine 1917-2001. Traducción de María Luisa Rodríguez Tapia y José Manuel Calvo Roy. Título Personal history .. Este libro es de segunda mano y tiene o puede tener marcas…
- 5
Never Finished
Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within
David Goggins · 2022
4.3850,509 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
This is not a self-help book. It's a wake-up call! Can't Hurt Me, David Goggins' smash hit memoir, demonstrated how much untapped ability we all have but was merely an introduction to the power of the mind. In Never Finished, Goggins takes you inside his…
- 6
Bitter Brew
The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer
William Knoedelseder · 2012
4.056,011 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
“Bitter Brew deftly chronicles the contentious succession of kings in a uniquely American dynasty. You’ll never crack open a six again without thinking of this book.”, John Sayles, Director of Eight Men Out and author of A Moment in the Sun The creators of…
- 7
Going Infinite
The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
Michael Lewis · 2023
3.8437,422 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
From the #1 best-selling author of The Big Short and Flash Boys, the story of FTX’s spectacular collapse and the enigmatic founder at its center. When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby.…
- 8
Bad Blood
Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
John Carreyrou · 2018
4.40285,283 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany 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…
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
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…
- 3
- 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…
- 5
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie · 1936
4.211,172,289 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
"How to Win Friends and Influence People' is one of the first best-selling self-help books ever published. Just after publishing, it quickly exploded into an overnight success, eventually selling more than 15 million copies worldwide, and pioneering an entire…
- 6
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…
- 7
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…
- 8
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.