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 · Media, entertainment and games · Seed
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ShortlistThe best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
The best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
- 1
Spreadable Media
Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture
Henry Jenkins · 2012
3.72524 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany buildingMarketing and growth
About the book
Spreadable Media maps fundamental changes taking place in our contemporary media environment, a space where corporations no longer tightly control media distribution and many of us are directly involved in the circulation of content. It contrasts…
- 2
Inbound Marketing
Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs
Brian Halligan · 2009
3.873,974 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
Stop pushing your message out and start pulling your customers in Traditional "outbound" marketing methods like cold-calling, email blasts, advertising, and direct mail are increasingly less effective. People are getting better at blocking these…
- 3
Masters of Doom
How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
David Kushner · 2003
4.3020,678 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video John Carmack and John Romero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popular culture. And they provoked a national controversy. More than anything, they lived a…
- 4
Epic Content Marketing
How to Tell a Different Story, Break through the Clutter, and Win More Customers by Marketing Less
Joe Pulizzi · 2013
3.961,339 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
One of FORTUNE Magazine's Top 5 Business Book Must-Reads How do you cut through the noise, commotion, and bad information that is right now cluttering up your customers' digital space? EPIC CONTENT MARKETING One of the world's leading experts on content…
- 5
The Infinite Game
Simon Sinek · 2017
4.1630,000 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
Do you know how to play the game you're in? In finite games, like football or chess, the players are known, the rules are fixed, and the endpoint is clear. The winners and losers are easily identified. In infinite games, like business or politics or life…
- 6
George Lucas
A Life
Brian Jay Jones · 2016
4.194,248 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and games
About the book
The essential biography of the influential and beloved filmmaker George Lucas On May 25, 1977, a problem-plagued, budget-straining independent science-fiction film opened in a mere thirty-two American movie theaters. Conceived, written, and directed by a…
- 7
Winning Every Day
The Game Plan for Success
Lou Holtz · 1998
4.14903 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
"Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it."-- Lou HoltzMeet Lou Holtz, the motivational miracle worker who revitalized the Notre Dame football program by…
- 8
The Loudest Voice in the Room
How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News-and Divided a Country
Gabriel Sherman · 2013
3.891,948 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
The astonishing inside story of Fox News, the most powerful media and political business in the world, from one of the hottest young investigative journalists today. The story of Fox News' ascent is an epic story of political power, business success,…
Books on media, entertainment and games.
- 1
The Chaos Machine
The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World
Max Fisher · 2022
4.269,592 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and games
About the book
From a New York Times investigative reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist, “an essential book for our times” (Ezra Klein), tracking the high-stakes inside story of how Big Tech’s breakneck race to drive engagement, and profits, at all costs fractured the world…
- 2
Mood Machine
The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist
Liz Pelly · 2025
3.834,803 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
With unprecedented access and unsparing analysis, this is the definitive investigation into Spotify, weaving interviews with incisive cultural criticism, and illuminating how streaming has reshaped music for listeners and artists alike.Flush with testimony…
- 3
Burn Book
A Tech Love Story
Kara Swisher · 2024
3.9416,244 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
From award-winning journalist Kara Swisher comes a witty, scathing, but fair accounting of the tech industry and its founders who wanted to change the world but broke it instead. Part memoir, part history, Burn Book is a necessary chronicle of tech’s most…
- 4
Antisocial Media
How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy
Siva Vaidhyanathan · 2018
3.86594 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
If you wanted to build a machine that would distribute propaganda to millions of people, distract them from important issues, energize hatred and bigotry, erode social trust, undermine respectable journalism, foster doubts about science, and engage in massive…
- 5
Convergence Culture
Where Old and New Media Collide
Henry Jenkins · 2006
3.863,860 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and games
About the book
Convergence Culture maps a new territory: where old and new media intersect, where grassroots and corporate media collide, where the power of the media producer and the power of the consumer interact in unpredictable ways. Henry Jenkins, one of America's…
- 6
Who Is Michael Ovitz?
Michael Ovitz · 2018
4.212,770 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
"When the history of Hollywood is written, few people will have played a larger role than Michael Ovitz.... It is impossible to read such a chronicle and not see Mr. Ovitz as the Steve Jobs of agenting, possessing a version of Jobs's fanatical drive and a…
- 7
The Filter Bubble
What the Internet is Hiding From You
Eli Pariser · 2011
3.795,527 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
An eye-opening account of how the hidden rise of personalization on the Internet is controlling - and limiting - the information we consume. In December 2009, Google began customizing its search results for each user. Instead of giving you the most broadly…
- 8
The New Rules of Marketing & PR
How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Di
David Meerman Scott · 2007
3.856,679 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
"The" benchmark guide to marketing and PR, updated with the latest social media and marketing trends, tools, and real-world examples of success"The New Rules of Marketing & PR, 4th Edition" is the pioneering guide to the future of marketing, an international…
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
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
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…
- 5
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…
- 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
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,…
- 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
The Ride of a Lifetime
Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
Robert Iger · 2019
4.4099,495 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
A grand vision defined: The CEO of The Walt Disney Company shares the ideas and values he has used to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world, and inspire the people who bring the magic to life. In 2005, Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt…
- 3
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 Cubs Way
The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse
Tom Verducci · 2017
4.453,556 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
With inside access and reporting, Sports Illustrated senior baseball writer and FOX Sports analyst Tom Verducci reveals how Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon built, led, and inspired the Chicago Cubs team that broke the longest championship drought in sports,…
- 5
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…
- 6
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…
- 7
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,…
- 8
The Manager's Path
A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change
Camille Fournier · 2017
4.2510,686 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Managing people is difficult wherever you work, but the tech industry as a whole is pretty bad at it. Tech companies in general lack the experience, tools, texts, and frameworks to do it well. And the handful of books that share tips and tricks of engineering…
Published in the last three years, newest first, for what you told us.
- 1
Who Knew
Barry Diller · 2025
4.222,332 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
Barry Diller, one of America’s most successful businessmen, reveals himself here, his successes, failures, and struggles, with surprising candor and intimacy in a memoir rich in Hollywood lore and filled with business acumen. Writing in his singular voice,…
- 2
Play Nice
The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment
Jason Schreier · 2024
4.167,684 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
New York Times bestselling author and the gaming industry's preeminent investigative journalist Jason Schreier examines three decades of ups and downs at Blizzard Entertainment leading up to a hostile corporate takeover and a sexual misconduct scandal that…
- 3
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…
- 4
Battle for the Bird
Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter's Soul
Kurt Wagner · 2024
4.08483 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
An expertly reported investigation into Twitter’s messy corporate history, including Elon Musk’s takeover in 2022, its outsized cultural impact, and its significant role in shaping how the world gets its news. Bloomberg journalist Kurt Wagner takes you…
- 5
Character Limit
How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter
Kate Conger · 2024
4.243,256 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
Rising star New York Times technology reporters Kate Conger and Ryan Mac tell for the first time the full and shocking inside story of Elon Musk’s unprecedented hostile takeover of Twitter and the forty-four-billion-dollar deal’s seismic political, social,…
- 6
Muskism
A Guide for the Perplexed
Quinn Slobodian · 2026
3.79855 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and games
About the book
Who on earth is Elon Musk and what is he doing? Is he a hero, a villain, or does he swing constantly between those two poles? According to the constant media gush driven by his every act and pronouncement, Musk is best understood in personal terms. This…
- 7
Collision of Power
Trump, Bezos, and THE WASHINGTON POST
Martin Baron · 2023
4.161,370 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
“A closely observed, gripping chronicle of politics and journalism during a decade of turmoil.”, The New York Times Book Review Politics. Money. Media. Tech. …It’s all here in Collision of Power. “ All the President's Men for a new generation.”, Town…
- 8
The Algebra of Wealth
A Simple Formula for Financial Security
Scott Galloway · 2024
4.0610,176 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesCompany building
About the book
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA must-have guide to optimizing your life for wealth and success, from bestselling author, NYU professor, and co-host of the Pivot podcast Scott Galloway.Today's workers have more opportunities and mobility than any…
How companies like yours were actually built, from the people who built them.
- 1
Sid Meier's Memoir!
A Life in Computer Games
Sid Meier · 2020
4.183,838 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesFounder stories
About the book
The life and career of the legendary developer celebrated as the “godfather of computer gaming,” and creator of Civilization. Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world’s most popular video games, including Sid Meier’s…
- 2
Walt Disney
The Triumph of the American Imagination
Neal Gabler · 2006
4.0711,791 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
From Neal Gabler, the definitive portrait of one of the most important figures in twentieth-century American entertainment and cultural history. Seven years in the making and meticulously researched - Gabler is the first writer to be given complete access to…
- 3
The Jordan Rules
The Inside Story of One Turbulent Season with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls
Sam Smith · 1992
4.2519,445 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesFounder stories
About the book
Sam Smith’s seminal, New York Times bestselling “eye-opener” ( The San Diego Union-Tribune ) on Michael Jordan and the 1990-1991 Chicago Bulls team, perfect for fans of ESPN’s hit documentary series The Last Dance. This is the book that changed the way the…
- 4
DisneyWar
James B. Stewart · 2005
4.128,674 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
The dramatic inside story of the downfall of Michael Eisner, Disney Chairman and CEO, and the scandals that drove America’s best-known entertainment company to civil war. “When You Wish Upon a Star,” “Whistle While You Work,” “The Happiest Place on…
- 5
Hack Attack
The Inside Story of How the Truth Caught Up with Rupert Murdoch
Nick Davies · 2014
4.221,029 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
The definitive book on how the News of the World phone-hacking scandal reached the highest echelons of power in the government, security, and media in the UK, from the journalist who broke the story. At first, it seemed like a small story. The royal editor…
- 6
Howling at the Moon
The Odyssey of a Monstrous Music Mogul in an Age of Excess
Walter Yetnikoff · 2004
3.84451 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesFounder stories
About the book
he music industry’s most outspoken, outrageous, and phenomenally successful executive delivers a rollicking memoir of pop music’s heyday.During the 1970s and '80s the music business was dominated by a few major labels and artists such as Michael Jackson,…
- 7
The Chief
The Life of William Randolph Hearst
David Nasaw · 2000
4.031,280 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
The definitive and “utterly absorbing” biography of America’s first news media baron based on newly released private and business documents ( Vanity Fair ). In The Chief , David Nasaw presents an intimate portrait of William Randolph Hearst, famously…
- 8
Facebook
The Inside Story
Steven Levy · 2020
4.063,021 ratings · Goodreads
Media, entertainment and gamesFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
He has had unprecedented access to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg for three years. And now renowned tech writer Steven Levy delivers the definitive history of one of America's most powerful and controversial companies: Facebook. In his sophomore year of…
What founders at seed keep coming back to, if you have not read them yet.
- 1
Crossing the Chasm
Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers
Geoffrey A. Moore · 2002
4.0332,109 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany buildingFirst sales
About the book
Here is the bestselling guide that created a new game plan for marketing in high-tech industries. Crossing the Chasm has become the bible for bringing cutting-edge products to progressively larger markets. This edition provides new insights into the realities…
- 2
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
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
Violate Them at Your Own Risk
Al Ries · 1993
4.0522,738 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
There are laws of nature, so why shouldn't there be laws of marketing? As Al Ries and Jack Trout, the world-renowned marketing consultants and bestselling authors of Positioning, note, you can build an impressive airplane, but it will never leave the ground if…
- 4
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…
- 5
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…
- 6
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…
- 7
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries · 2011
4.11374,139 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
Most new businesses fail. But most of those failures are preventable.The Lean Startup is a new approach to business that's being adopted around the world. It is changing the way companies are built and new products are launched. Essential reading for any…
- 8
Never Split the Difference
Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
Chris Voss · 2016
4.33227,027 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
A former FBI hostage negotiator offers a new, field-tested approach to negotiating – effective in any situation. After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a kidnapping negotiator…
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.