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 · Health and biotech · Seed
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ShortlistThe best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
The best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
- 1
Sedated
How Modern Capitalism Created our Mental Health Crisis
James Davies · 2021
4.212,515 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotech
About the book
In Britain alone, more than 20% of the adult population take a psychiatric drug in any one year. This is an increase of over 500% since 1980 and the numbers continue to grow. Yet, despite this prescription epidemic, levels of mental illness of all types have…
- 2
No More Tears
The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson
Gardiner Harris · 2025
4.1722,997 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
An incendiary, deeply reported exposé of Johnson & Johnson, one of America’s oldest and most trusted pharmaceutical companies, from award-winning investigative journalist Gardiner Harris One day in 2004, Gardiner Harris, early for a flight, sat down at an…
- 3
The Advantage
Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business
Patrick Lencioni · 2012
4.1316,684 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No, New York Times best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful…
- 4
Replenish
Leading from a Healthy Soul
Lance Witt · 2015
4.29765 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotech
About the book
Every leader functions on two stages--the front stage or public world, and the back stage or private world. One cannot lead successfully front stage when one is completely depleted back stage. In a time when pastors are leaving the ministry in record numbers…
- 5
Successful Women Think Differently
9 Habits to Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Resilient
Valorie Burton · 2012
4.201,226 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
Popular author and professional certified coach Valorie Burton knows that successful women think differently. They make decisions differently. They set goals differently and bounce back from failure differently. Valorie is dedicated to help women create new…
- 6
Never Pay the First Bill
And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win
Marshall Allen · 2021
4.26601 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
From award-winning ProPublica reporter Marshall Allen, a primer for anyone who wants to fight the predatory health care system--and win.Every year, millions of Americans are overcharged and underserved while the health care industry makes record profits. We…
- 7
Balance
How to Invest and Spend for Happiness, Health, and Wealth
Andrew Hallam · 2022
4.10942 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotech
About the book
Stop chasing money and start redefining success.Sure, money is important. And yes, it can make you happy, but only up to a point. The truth is, science has shown that we each have a set point that links our earnings with happiness; go beyond that point, and…
- 8
The New Good Life
Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less
John Robbins · 2010
3.68678 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotech
About the book
How do you define the good life? For many, success is measured not by health and happiness but by financial wealth. But such a worldview overlooks the important things in personal contentment, family time, spirituality, and the health of the planet and those…
Books on health and biotech.
- 1
The Innovator's Prescription
A Disruptive Solution for Health Care
Clayton M. Christensen · 2008
4.211,158 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechInnovationMoats and competition
About the book
A groundbreaking prescription for health care reform--from a legendary leader in innovation . . . Our health care system is in critical condition. Each year, fewer Americans can afford it, fewer businesses can provide it, and fewer government programs can…
- 2
Silk Road
Eileen Ormsby · 2014
3.99548 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
It was the 'eBay of drugs', a billion dollar empire. Behind it was the FBI's Most Wanted Man, a mysterious crime czar dubbed 'Dread Pirate Roberts'. SILK ROAD lay at the heart of the 'Dark Web' - a parallel internet of porn, guns, assassins and drugs. Lots of…
- 3
Where Does It Hurt?
An Entrepreneur's Guide to Fixing Health Care
Jonathan Bush · 2014
3.78598 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany buildingInnovation
About the book
A bold new remedy for the sprawling and wasteful health care industry Where else but the doctor’s office do you have to fill out a form on a clipboard? Have you noticed that hospital bills are almost unintelligible, except for the absurdly high dollar amount?…
- 4
Ashes to Ashes
America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris
Richard Kluger · 1997
3.94306 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
Ashes to Ashes is a monumental history of the American tobacco industry’s ironic success in developing the cigarette, modern society’s most widespread instrument of self-destruction, into the nation’s most profitable consumer product. Starting with its…
- 5
The Cigarette Century
The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America
Allan M. Brandt · 2007
4.10509 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
The invention of mass marketing led to cigarettes being emblazoned in advertising and film, deeply tied to modern notions of glamour and sex appeal. It is hard to find a photo of Humphrey Bogart or Lauren Bacall without a cigarette. No product has been so…
- 6
The Kelloggs
The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek
Howard Markel · 2017
3.87969 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
"What's more American than Corn Flakes?" --Bing Crosby From the much admired medical historian ("Markel shows just how compelling the medical history can be"--Andrea Barrett) and author of An Anatomy of Addiction ("Absorbing, vivid"--Sherwin Nuland, The…
- 7
Quantum Supremacy
Michio Kaku · 2023
3.783,798 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
An exhilarating tour of humanity's next great technological achievement, quantum computing, which may eventually illuminate the deepest mysteries of science and solve some of humanity's biggest problems, like global warming, world hunger, and incurable disease,…
- 8
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
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.…
- 5
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,…
- 6
UX for Beginners
A Crash Course in 100 Short Lessons
Joel Marsh · 2016
4.04527 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fitCompany building
About the book
Apps! Websites! Rubber Ducks! Naked Ninjas! This book has everything. If you want to get started in user experience design (UX), you've come to the right 100 self-contained lessons that cover the whole spectrum of fundamentals. Forget dry, technical…
- 7
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…
- 8
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…
Leading and managing a team as the company grows.
- 1
Dare to Lead
Brené Brown · 2018
4.17132,765 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into…
- 2
Leadership Strategy and Tactics
Field Manual
Jocko Willink · 2020
4.409,277 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
The ultimate guide on leadership from the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Extreme Ownership.In the military, a field manual provides instructions in simple, clear, step-by-step language to help soldiers complete their mission. In the civilian…
- 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
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,…
- 5
The One Minute Manager
Kenneth H. Blanchard · 1981
3.95149,478 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
For more than twenty years, millions of managers in Fortune 500 companies and small businesses nationwide have followed The One Minute Manager's techniques, thus increasing their productivity, job satisfaction, and personal prosperity. These very real results…
- 6
Leading with the Heart
Coach K's Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life
Mike Krzyzewski · 2000
4.204,239 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
In this informative and inspirational book, Coach K, Duke University's head basketball coach, tells readers how he coaxes peak performances from his team, relying on lessons he learned as a captain in the U.S. Army. Duke University's head basketball coach…
- 7
The Phoenix Project
A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win
Gene Kim · 2013
4.2551,320 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Bill is an IT manager at Parts Unlimited. It's Tuesday morning and on his drive into the office, Bill gets a call from the CEO. The company's new IT initiative, code named Phoenix Project, is critical to the future of Parts Unlimited, but the project is…
- 8
Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated
And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
Keith Ferrazzi · 2014
3.8451,138 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
The bestselling business classic on the power of relationships, updated with in-depth advice for making connections in the digital world. Do you want to get ahead in life? Climb the ladder to personal success? The secret, master networker Keith Ferrazzi…
Published in the last three years, newest first, for what you told us.
- 1
Defy
The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes
Sunita Sah · 2025
4.041,013 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotech
About the book
Why is it so hard to stand up to authority even when we know something’s wrong? Many of us comply much more than we realize. How many times have you wanted to object, disagree, or opt out of something but ended up swallowing your words, shaking your head,…
- 2
Fiat Food
Why Inflation Destroyed Our Health and How Bitcoin Fixes It
Matthew Lysiak · 2023
4.32275 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotech
About the book
THE REAL COST OF INFLATION ON A COUNTRY can be best seen not through government-sanctioned data points circulated throughout the corporate sponsored media, but in the financial, physical, and mental health of its citizenry. Officials point to the increase of…
- 3
Bad Company
Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream
Megan Greenwell · 2025
4.025,595 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
A damning indictment of the private equity industry told through the stories of four American workers whose lives and communities were upended by the ruinous effects of private equity takeovers. Private equity runs our country, yet few Americans have any…
- 4
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…
- 5
The Origins of Efficiency
Brian Potter · 2025
4.12401 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
A step-by-step examination of how production processes, from penicillin and automobiles to steel and semiconductors, get more efficient over time, and why it matters for unlocking a new era of abundance.Efficiency is the engine that powers human civilization.…
- 6
The Big Fail
What the Pandemic Revealed About Who America Protects and Who It Leaves Behind
Joe Nocera · 2023
3.90339 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
From the collaborators behind the modern business classic All the Devils are Here comes a damning indictment of American capitalism, and the leaders that left us brutally unprepared for a global pandemicIn 2020, the novel coronavirus pandemic made it painfully…
- 7
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…
- 8
Personal Branding for Introverts
Goldie Chan · 2025
4.41211 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
A top expert in personal branding shows introverts how to leverage their unique strengths to get ahead To build a career, you need a personal brand to showcase your distinct skills, experience, and expertise. Building that brand can feel…
How companies like yours were actually built, from the people who built them.
- 1
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The First Forty Years, 1899-1939 v. 1
Iain H. Murray · 1982
4.58445 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechFounder stories
About the book
When Martyn Lloyd-Jones, physician, preacher and Christian Leader, died in 1981, after more then 40 years in London, few knew the remarkable story of his formative earlier years which, in the authorised biography, is now told for the first time. From his…
- 2
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…
- 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
Disney High
The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire
Ashley Spencer · 2024
3.949,197 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
The first unauthorized look at the inner workings―and ultimate breakdown―of the Disney Channel machine For many kids growing up in the 2000s, there was no cultural touchstone more powerful than Disney Channel, the most-watched cable channel in prime time…
- 5
Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson · 2011
4.161,391,990 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
Walter Isaacson's worldwide bestselling biography of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years--as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and…
- 6
Thrive
The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
Arianna Huffington · 2014
3.6918,585 ratings · Goodreads
Health and biotechCompany building
About the book
In Thrive, Arianna Huffington makes an impassioned and compelling case for the need to redefine what it means to be successful in today's world. Arianna Huffington's personal wake-up call came in the form of a broken cheekbone and a nasty gash over her…
- 7
Alex Ferguson
My Autobiography
Alex Ferguson · 2013
3.9418,818 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
The celebratory, revealing, inspiring, and entertaining autobiography of the greatest manager in the history of British soccer. Over the past four years, Alex Ferguson has been reflecting on and jotting down the highlights of his extraordinary career, and…
- 8
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…
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
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…
- 3
- 4
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…
- 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
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…
- 7
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman · 2011
4.16616,355 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more…
- 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…
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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.