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 · Government and defence · Seed
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ShortlistThe best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
The best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
- 1
Company Commander
The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II
Charles B. MacDonald · 1947
4.235,000 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
As a newly commisioned Captain of a veteran Army regiment, MacDonald's first combat was war at its most hellish--the Battle of the Bulge. In this plain-spoken but eloquent narrative, we live each minute at MacDonald's side, sharing in all of combat's misery,…
- 2
No Room for Small Dreams
The Decisions That Made Israel Great
Shimon Peres · 2017
4.521,282 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
Shimon Peres, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and one of the towering figures of the twentieth century, caps his legacy with this final book, completed shortly before his death, a majestic, intimate, and personal exploration of modern Israel’s history and…
- 3
Economic Policy
Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow
Ludwig von Mises · 1979
4.342,106 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
Von Mises' economic theories and views on economic policy are revealed in his lectures on capitalism, socialism, interventionism, inflation, foreign investment, and policies and ideas
- 4
A Century of War
Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order
F. William Engdahl · 1992
4.19489 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
This book is a gripping account of the murky world of the international oil industry and its role in world politics. Scandals about oil are familiar to most of us. From George W. Bush's election victory to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, US politics and oil…
- 5
Unrestricted warfare
Qiao Liang, Wang Xiangsui · 2002
34 Open Library reading lists
Government and defence
About the book
Translated from the Original Chinese Documents Publisher Provided Annotation. As incredible as it may be to believe, three years before the September 11 bombing of the World Trade Center-a Chinese military manual called Unrestricted Warfare touted such an…
- 6
About Face
Odyssey Of An American Warrior
David H. Hackworth · 1989
4.396,333 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
Called “everything a twentieth century war memoir could possibly be” by The New York Times, this national bestseller by Colonel David H. Hackworth presents a vivid and powerful portrait of a life of patriotism. From age fifteen to forty David Hackworth…
- 7
The Man Who Saved the Union
Ulysses Grant in War and Peace
H.W. Brands · 2012
4.136,257 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceMarketing and growth
About the book
From New York Times bestselling author H. W. Brands, a masterful biography of the Civil War general and two-term president who saved the Union twice, on the battlefield and in the White House, holding the country together at two critical turning points in our…
- 8
The Marketing of Evil
How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised As Freedom
David Kupelian · 2005
4.17822 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceMarketing and growth
About the book
DAVID KUPELIAN'S CULTURE-WAR BESTSELLER IS NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK! Millions of Americans today accept ideas and behaviors that would have horrified all previous generations. Why? Why have thousands of years of Judeo-Christian moral standards suddenly…
Books on government and defence.
- 1
The Hour of the Predator
Giuliano da Empoli · 2025
3.945,140 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
A chilling assessment of international politics in our time, from an internationally bestselling author whose work has sparked controversy and debate across the worldBlending the author’s personal insight with startling historical comparisons to the days of…
- 2
Unit X
How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War
Raj M. Shah · 2024
3.821,608 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany buildingInnovation
About the book
Shortlisted for the 2024 Financial Times Business Book of the Year “An exceedingly important book!”, General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former Director of the CIA “Essential reading for understanding how technology will change the future of warfare.”…
- 3
Chip War
The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
Chris Miller · 2022
4.3846,826 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
An epic account of the decades-long battle to control what has emerged as the world's most critical resource, microchip technology, with the United States and China increasingly in conflict. You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil, the…
- 4
The Sirens' Call
How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource
Christopher L. Hayes · 2025
3.938,942 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
An Instant #1 New York Times BestsellerFrom the New York Times bestselling author and MSNBC and podcast host, a powerful wide-angle reckoning with how the assault from attention capitalism on our minds and our hearts has reordered our politics and the very…
- 5
Written Out of History
The Forgotten Founders Who Fought Big Government
Mike Lee · 2017
4.05728 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
Senator Mike Lee tells the story of the Founders whose warnings about the dangers of an all-powerful federal government helped shape our Constitution--but are being ignored today. Today, most Americans are familiar only with the "big names" associated…
- 6
This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends
The Cyberweapons Arms Race
Nicole Perlroth · 2021
4.3111,823 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
From The New York Times cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth, the untold story of the cyberweapons market-the most secretive, invisible, government-backed market on earth-and a terrifying first look at a new kind of global warfare.Zero day: a software bug…
- 7
Apple in China
The Capture of the World's Greatest Company
Patrick McGee · 2025
4.4810,559 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
For readers of Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs and Chris Miller’s Chip War, a riveting look at how Apple helped build China’s dominance in electronics assembly and manufacturing only to find itself trapped in a relationship with an authoritarian state making…
- 8
The Everything War
Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power
Dana Mattioli · 2024
4.121,461 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
From veteran Amazon reporter for The Wall Street Journal, and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting, Dana Mattioli's The Everything War is the shocking, explosive, and untold exposé of Amazon's endless strategic greed, from destroying…
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
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
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.…
- 6
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.…
- 7
Go for No! for Network Marketing
Richard Fenton · 2017
4.44312 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany buildingFirst sales
About the book
The perfect companion book for anyone in direct sales or network marketingFenton and Waltz, authors of the best-selling book, Go for No! and Ray Higdon, founder of one of the fastest growing network marketing training companies today, have teamed up to create…
- 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
Good to Great
Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
Jim Collins · 2001
4.12312,279 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
The Challenge: Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning. But what about the…
- 2
A Higher Loyalty
Truth, Lies, and Leadership
James B. Comey · 2018
4.0949,995 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
In his book, former FBI director James Comey shares his never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ethical leadership looks like, and how it…
- 3
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…
- 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
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…
- 6
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…
- 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
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…
Published in the last three years, newest first, for what you told us.
- 1
How to Run a Country
An Ancient Guide for Modern Leaders
Marcus Tullius Cicero · 2044
3.82431 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest statesman and orator, was elected to the Roman Republic's highest office at a time when his beloved country was threatened by power-hungry politicians, dire economic troubles, foreign turmoil, and political parties that refused…
- 2
Coming Up Short
A Memoir of My America
Robert B. Reich · 2025
4.502,794 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
From political economist, cabinet member, beloved professor, media presence, and bestselling author of Saving Capitalism and The Common Good, a deeply-felt, compelling memoir of growing up in a baby-boom America that made progress in certain areas, fell short…
- 3
The Lost Empire of Emanuel Nobel
Romanovs, Revolutionaries, and the Forgotten Titan Who Fueled the World
Douglas Brunt · 2026
4.39615 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
The hidden history of Emanuel Nobel, one of the world’s most successful corporate titans, a rival to the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds, integral in the creation of the Nobel Prize, whose legacy was erased in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution.…
- 4
Little Bosses Everywhere
How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America
Bridget Read · 2025
3.965,793 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany 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…
- 5
Age of Revolutions
Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present
Fareed Zakaria · 2024
4.184,180 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
The CNN host and best-selling author explores the revolutions, past and present, that define the polarized and unstable age in which we live. Populist rage, ideological fracture, economic and technological shocks, war, and an international system studded…
- 6
Chokepoints
American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare
Edward Fishman · 2025
4.342,959 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
The epic story of how America turned the world economy into a weapon, upending decades of globalization to take on a new authoritarian axis, Russia, China, and Iran. It used to be that ravaging another country’s economy required blockading its ports and…
- 7
How China Works
An Introduction to China’s State-led Economic Development
Xiaohuan Lan · 2024
4.34677 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
This book, a bestseller in China with over a million copies sold, depicts the role played by the Chinese government in China‘s economic development. It explains how the Chinese government has gradually established and improved market mechanisms while…
- 8
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…
How companies like yours were actually built, from the people who built them.
- 1
The Power Broker
Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
Robert A. Caro · 1974
4.5329,550 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder 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…
- 2
In My Time
A Personal and Political Memoir
Dick Cheney · 2011
3.792,988 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder stories
About the book
In this eagerly anticipated memoir, former Vice President Dick Cheney delivers an unyielding portrait of American politics over nearly forty years and shares personal reflections on his role as one of the most steadfast and influential statesmen in the…
- 3
The Rise and Fall of American Growth
The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War
Robert J. Gordon · 2016
4.192,210 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
How America's high standard of living came to be and why future growth is under threat In the century after the Civil War, an economic revolution improved the American standard of living in ways previously unimaginable. Electric lighting, indoor plumbing,…
- 4
Call Sign Chaos
Learning to Lead
Jim Mattis · 2019
4.2914,295 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder stories
About the book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A clear-eyed account of learning how to lead in a chaotic world, by General Jim Mattis--the former Secretary of Defense and one of the most formidable strategic thinkers of our time--and Bing West, a former assistant secretary…
- 5
Voorbij Band of Brothers
Dick Winters · 2006
4.3320,280 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder stories
About the book
They were called Easy Company, but their mission was never easy. Immortalized as the Band of Brothers , they suffered 150% casualties while liberating Europe, an unparalleled record of bravery under fire. Dick Winters was their commander, "the best combat leader…
- 6
My Share of the Task
A Memoir
Stanley McChrystal · 2013
4.112,140 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder stories
About the book
In early March 2010, General Stanley McChrystal, the commanding officer of all U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, walked with President Hamid Karzai through a small rural bazaar. As Afghan townspeople crowded around them, a Taliban rocket loudly…
- 7
The Price of Peace
Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
Zachary D. Carter · 2020
4.423,701 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder stories
About the book
A page-turning biography of world-changing economist John Maynard Keynes and the big ideas that outlived him. In the spring of 1934, Virginia Woolf sketched an affectionate biographical portrait of her great friend John Maynard Keynes. Writing a full two…
- 8
Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba
The Biography of a Cause
Tom Gjelten · 2008
4.091,391 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
A unique history of Cuba, captured in the life and times of the famous rum dynastyThe Bacardis of Cuba, builders of a rum distillery and a worldwide brand, came of age with their nation and helped define what it meant to be Cuban. Across five generations, the…
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
Contagious
Why Things Catch On
Jonah Berger · 2013
3.9834,129 ratings · Goodreads
Company buildingMarketing and growth
About the book
New York Times bestseller and named Best Marketing Book of 2014 by the American Marketing AssociationWhat makes things popular? Why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what…
- 6
Think and Grow Rich
Napoleon Hill · 1937
4.16395,129 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
Think and Grow Rich is a guide to success by Napoleon Hill, which was first published in 1937 following the Great Depression. It was immediately welcomed as an antidote to hard times and remained a bestseller for decades. Many people still find its philosophy…
- 7
Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson · 2011
4.161,391,990 ratings · Goodreads
Company 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…
- 8
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…
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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.