Best books for founders and investors

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The best matches for everything you told us, ranked.

1
Hacking Growth
How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success
Sean Ellis · 2017
4.105,586 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany buildingMarketing and growth
About the book
The definitive playbook by the pioneers of Growth Hacking, one of the hottest business methodologies in Silicon Valley and beyond. It seems hard to believe today, but there was a time when Airbnb was the best-kept secret of travel hackers and couch surfers,…
On Amazon Audible
2
Growth Hacker Marketing
A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising
Ryan Holiday · 2013
3.7711,194 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
Gmail, Facebook, AirBnb, Evernote. A new generation of multibillion dollar brands have been built without spending a dime on traditional marketing techniques. No press releases, no PR firm, and no billboards in Times Square.It wasn’t luck that took them from…
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3
Spam Nation
The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime, from Global Epidemic to Your Front Door
Brian Krebs · 2014
3.752,774 ratings · Goodreads
Security
About the book
There is a Threat Lurking Online with the Power to Destroy Your Finances, Steal Your Personal Data, and Endanger Your Life. In Spam Nation, investigative journalist and cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs unmasks the criminal masterminds driving some of the…
On Amazon Audible
4
How to Be Invisible
The Essential Guide to Protecting Your Personal Privacy, Your Assets, and Your Life
J.J. Luna · 2000
3.78642 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany building
About the book
From cyberspace to crawl spaces, new innovations in information gathering have left the private life of the average person open to scrutiny, and worse, exploitation. In this thoroughly revised update of his immensely popular guide How to Be Invisible , J.J.…
On Amazon Audible
5
This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends
The Cyberweapons Arms Race
Nicole Perlroth · 2021
4.3111,823 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany 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…
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6
Hackers & Painters
Big Ideas from the Computer Age
Paul Graham · 2004
4.059,667 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany building
About the book
“The computer world is like an intellectual Wild West, in which you can shoot anyone you wish with your ideas, if you’re willing to risk the consequences.”, from Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham We are living in the…
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7
Get What's Yours
The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security
Laurence J. Kotlikoff · 2015
3.771,409 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany building
About the book
Learn the secrets to maximizing your Social Security benefits and earn up to thousands of dollars more each year with expert advice that you can't get anywhere else.Want to know how to navigate the forbidding maze of Social Security and emerge with the…
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8
How to Measure Anything in Cybersecurity Risk
Douglas W. Hubbard · 2016
4.07397 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany building
About the book
A ground shaking exposé on the failure of popular cyber risk management methods How to Measure Anything in Cybersecurity Risk exposes the shortcomings of current "risk management" practices, and offers a series of improvement techniques that help you fill the…
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Books on security.

1
DarkMarket
Cyberthieves, Cybercops and You
Misha Glenny · 2011
3.781,277 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany building
About the book
The benefits of living in a digital, globalized society are enormous; so too are the dangers. The world has become a law enforcer's nightmare and every criminal's dream. We bank online; shop online; date, learn, work and live online. But have the institutions…
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2
Hackers
Heroes of the Computer Revolution
Steven Levy · 1984
4.168,649 ratings · Goodreads
Security
About the book
A mere fifteen years ago, computer nerds were seen as marginal weirdos, outsiders whose world would never resonate with the mainstream. That was before one pioneering work documented the underground computer revolution that was about to change our world…
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3
Smartcuts
How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success
Shane Snow · 2014
3.886,577 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany buildingInnovation
About the book
Entrepreneur and journalist Shane Snow ( Wired, Fast Company, The New Yorker , and cofounder of Contently) analyzes the lives of people and companies that do incredible things in implausibly short time. How do some startups go from zero to billions in mere…
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4
Public Parts
How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live
Jeff Jarvis · 2011
3.781,280 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany building
About the book
International bestselling author and optimistic internet thinker Jeff Jarvis examines the way the Internet has changed the way we form communities, create identities, engage in commerce, and live our lives. A visionary and optimistic thinker examines the…
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5
House of Huawei
The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company
Eva Dou · 2025
3.872,793 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany building
About the book
The untold story of the mysterious family dynasty at the center of China's Huawei.On December 1, 2018, Meng Wanzhou, daughter of Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO of China's most powerful company, Huawei Technologies, was detained at the request of U.S.…
On Amazon Audible
6
The Innovators
How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
Walter Isaacson · 2014
4.1240,532 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityInnovationCompany building
About the book
Following his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, The Innovators is Walter Isaacson’s revealing story of the people who created the computer and the Internet. It is destined to be the standard history of the digital revolution and an indispensable guide to…
On Amazon Audible
7
The Philosopher in the Valley
Alex Karp, Palantir and the Rise of the Surveillance State
Michael Steinberger · 2025
3.721,540 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany building
About the book
‘An excellent look at what Palantir does, as well as a fascinating insight into the mind of its eccentric chief executive’ TelegraphPalantir Technologies is the most interesting company in the world – and the most controversial. Palantir builds data…
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8
Zero-Resistance Selling
Achieve Extraordinary Sales Results Using the World Renowned Techniques of Psycho-Cybernetics
Maxwell Maltz · 1998
4.17248 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany building
About the book
Zero-Resistance Selling is your guide to literally "reprogramming" your own self-image to help you attain your loftiest selling and career goals. You'll find step-by-step strategies to harness the power of your imagination to wipe away resistance to your…
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Published in the last three years, newest first, for what you told us.

1
Dark Wire
The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever
Joseph Cox · 2024
3.973,556 ratings · Goodreads
Security
About the book
The inside story of the largest law-enforcement sting operation ever, in which the FBI made its own tech start-up to wiretap the world, shows how cunning both the authorities and drug traffickers have become, with privacy implications for everyone. In 2018, a…
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2
The Algebra of Wealth
A Simple Formula for Financial Security
Scott Galloway · 2024
4.0610,176 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany 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…
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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…
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4
Little Bosses Everywhere
How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America
Bridget Read · 2025
3.965,793 ratings · Goodreads
Company 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…
On Amazon Audible
5
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…
On Amazon Audible
6
The Infinity Machine
Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence
Sebastian Mallaby · 2026
4.423,320 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
From one of our leading chroniclers of the intersection of innovation and capitalism, a landmark reckoning, based on unprecedented access, with one of the world’s most brilliant and driven tech visionaries and his game-changing company.Even by the standard…
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How companies like yours were actually built, from the people who built them.

1
The Quest
Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World
Daniel Yergin · 2011
4.145,291 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityCompany building
About the book
Selected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year In this gripping account of the quest for the energy that our world needs, Daniel Yergin continues the riveting story begun in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Prize. A master…
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2
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…
On Amazon Audible
3
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…
On Amazon Audible
4
The Mind of War
John Boyd and American Security
Grant Tedrick Hammond · 2001
4.17380 ratings · Goodreads
SecurityFounder 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…
On Amazon Audible
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…
On Amazon Audible
6
The Big Rich
The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes
Bryan Burrough · 2009
4.093,394 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
In The Big Rich, bestselling author and Vanity Fair special correspondent Bryan Burrough chronicles the rise and fall of one of the great economic and political powerhouses of the twentieth century, Texas oil. By weaving together the epic sagas of the…
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What founders at seed keep coming back to, if you have not read them yet.

1
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…
On Amazon Audible
2
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…
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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…
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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…
On Amazon Audible

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The books for what you are building.

Your reading list

Written by the people who write the cheques

Read what the people you are pitching read.