Reading list: the books for what you are building
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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
The Fifth Risk
Undoing Democracy
Michael Lewis · 2018
4.1048,939 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
The morning after Trump was elected president, the people who ran the US Department of Energy waited to brief the administration’s transition team on the agency it would soon be running. Nobody appeared. Across all departments the stories were the same: Trump…
- 2
The Generals
American Military Command from World War II to Today
Thomas E. Ricks · 2012
4.113,734 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
From the #1 bestselling author of Fiasco and The Gamble , an epic history of the decline of American military leadership from World War II to Iraq History has been kind to the American generals of World War II, Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley, and…
- 3
Sea Stories
My Life in Special Operations
William H. McRaven · 2019
4.4611,714 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
Admiral William H. McRaven is a part of American military history, having been involved in some of the most famous missions in recent memory, including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, and the raid to kill Osama bin…
- 4
Dark Money
The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
Jane Mayer · 2016
4.3127,850 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
Why is America living in an age of profound economic inequality? Why, despite the desperate need to address climate change, have even modest environmental efforts been defeated again and again? Why have protections for employees been decimated? Why do…
- 5
The Road to Serfdom
Friedrich A. Hayek · 1944
4.1426,812 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
A classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and general readers for half a century. Originally published in England in the spring of 1944, when…
- 6
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…
- 7
The War of Art
Steven Pressfield · 2002
3.96123,784 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
Internationally bestselling author of Last of the Amazons, Gates of Fire, and Tides of War, Steven Pressfield delivers a guide to inspire and support those who struggle to express their creativity. Pressfield believes that “resistance” is the greatest enemy,…
- 8
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…
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
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…
- 3
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…
- 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
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…
- 6
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…
- 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
Freedom's Forge
How American Business Produced Victory in World War II
Arthur Herman · 2012
4.333,196 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceCompany building
About the book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • SELECTED BY THE ECONOMIST AS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR Remarkable as it may seem today, there once was a time when the president of the United States could pick up the phone and ask the president of General Motors to…
What founders at seed need most: company building, finding product-market fit, raising money, first sales, marketing and growth.
- 1
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…
- 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
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
Solving Product Design Exercises
Questions & Answers
Artiom Dashinsky · 2018
4.30675 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fitCompany building
About the book
Practice your product design and UX skills. Prepare for your next job interview. "Redesign the NYC metrocard system. Design a dashboard for a general practitioner. Redesign an ATM". Learn how to solve and present exercises like these, that top startups…
- 7
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…
- 8
Cashvertising
How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make BIG MONEY Selling Anything to Anyone
Drew Eric Whitman · 2008
4.352,705 ratings · Goodreads
First salesCompany buildingMarketing and growth
About the book
Your brain is being controlled-and you don't even know it. Because if you think the ads you're seeing today are just pretty pictures with nice, creative copy, you're mistaken. Truth is, you are being powerfully influenced by dozens of proven scientific…
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
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…
- 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
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…
- 4
To Rescue the American Spirit
Teddy Roosevelt and the Birth of a Superpower
Bret Baier · 2025
4.542,106 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author and Fox News Channel’s Chief Political Anchor, a captivating biography of Theodore Roosevelt, the stalwart naturalist, writer, ranchman, soldier, president, and avatar of our modern era. There has never been a…
- 5
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…
- 6
Radical Candor
Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
Kim Malone Scott · 2017
4.0460,996 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Now a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller "I raced through Radical Candor --It’s thrilling to learn a framework that shows how to be both a better boss and a better colleague. Radical Candor is packed with illuminating truths, insightful…
- 7
The Outsiders
Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
William N. Thorndike Jr. · 2012
4.2214,412 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
”It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different.”, John TempletonWhat makes a successful CEO? Most people call to mind a familiar definition: a seasoned manager with deep industry expertise. Others might point to the…
- 8
The Innovator's Dilemma
The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business
Clayton M. Christensen · 1997
4.0362,726 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen says outstanding companies can do everything right and still lose their market leadership -- or worse, disappear completely. And he not only proves what he says, he tells others how to avoid a similar fate. Focusing…
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
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.…
- 3
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…
- 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
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
The Second Estate
How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy
Ray D. Madoff · 2025
4.41506 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defence
About the book
A revelatory book that lifts the curtain on America’s most consequential public how the rich get richer using tools the government gave them. Amid conflicting narratives about the drivers of wealth and inequality in the United States, one constant hovers in…
- 7
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…
- 8
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…
How companies like yours were actually built, from the people who built them.
- 1
Destiny and Power
The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush
Jon Meacham · 2015
4.138,940 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder stories
About the book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review | Time | NPR | St. Louis Post-DispatchIn this brilliant biography, Jon Meacham, the…
- 2
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…
- 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
No Higher Honor
A Memoir of My Years in Washington
Condoleezza Rice · 2011
3.964,209 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder stories
About the book
From one of the world's most admired women, this is former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's compelling story of eight years serving at the highest levels of government. In her position as America's chief diplomat, Rice…
- 5
Hannibal and Me
What History's Greatest Military Strategist Can Teach Us About Success and Failu re
Andreas Kluth · 2012
4.27819 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
A dynamic and exciting way to understand success and failure, through the life of Hannibal, one of history's greatest generals. The life of Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps with his army in 218 B.C.E., is the stuff of legend. And the…
- 6
The Wise Men
Six Friends and the World They Made
Walter Isaacson · 1986
4.114,470 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
A captivating blend of personal biography and public drama, The Wise Men introduces the original best and brightest, leaders whose outsized personalities and actions brought order to postwar Averell Harriman, the freewheeling diplomat and Roosevelt's special…
- 7
The Mind of War
John Boyd and American Security
Grant Tedrick Hammond · 2001
4.17380 ratings · Goodreads
Government and defenceFounder stories
About the book
The ideas of US Air Force Colonel John Boyd have transformed American military policy and practice. A first-rate fighter pilot and a self-taught scholar, he wrote the first manual on jet aerial combat; spearheaded the design of both of the Air Force's premier…
- 8
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…
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
Bad Blood
Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
John Carreyrou · 2018
4.40285,283 ratings · Goodreads
Company 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…
- 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…
- 5
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…
- 6
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…
- 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 Big Short
Inside the Doomsday Machine
Michael Lewis · 2010
4.31174,827 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
The #1 New York Times bestseller: "It is the work of our greatest financial journalist, at the top of his game. And it's essential reading.", Graydon Carter, Vanity FairThe real story of the crash began in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn't shine and…
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.