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 · E-commerce and consumer brands · Seed
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ShortlistThe best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
The best matches for everything you told us, ranked.
- 1
Amazon Selling Blueprint - How to Find and Launch Your First Private-Label Product on Amazon in 90 Days or Less
Scott Voelker · 2015
4.22354 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsFirst salesCompany building
About the book
Have you heard stories about people striking it rich by selling their own private-label products on Amazon? Wish you could have financial freedom and more time with your family just like those other folks? While it does require work on your part, it's easier…
- 2
Logo Design Love
A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities
David Airey · 2009
4.204,263 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
There are a lot of books out there that show collections of logos. But David Airey’s “Logo Design Love” is something different: it’s a guide for designers (and clients) who want to understand what this mysterious business is all about. Written in…
- 3
Reengineering Retail
The Future of Selling in a Post-Digital World
Doug Stephens · 2017
4.13445 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsFirst salesCompany building
About the book
Since the release of Doug Stephens’ first book, The Retail Revival , change in the global retail sector has accelerated beyond even the boldest forecasts. As predicted, online giants like Amazon and Alibaba.com are growing at a dizzying pace. Hundreds of…
- 4
Ecommerce Evolved
The Essential Playbook To Build, Grow & Scale A Successful Ecommerce Business
Tanner Larsson · 2016
4.43405 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsCompany buildingMarketing and growth
About the book
As whole, the ecommerce industry is ANTIQUATED. It’s out of date! and is way way way behind in terms of what’s actually working in the world of online business.Most ecommerce business owners are still doing things in the same way they were done back in the…
- 5
How Big Brands Grow What Marketers Dont Know
Byron Sharp · 2010
40 Open Library reading lists
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing and growth
About the book
"This book provides evidence-based answers to the key questions asked by marketers every day. Tackling issues such as how brands grow, how advertising really works, what price promotions really do and how loyalty programs really affect loyalty, How Brands…
- 6
The Brand Gap
Marty Neumeier · 2003
3.985,757 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
THE BRAND GAP is the first book to present a unified theory of brand-building. Whereas most books on branding are weighted toward either a strategic or creative approach, this book shows how both ways of thinking can unite to produce a “charismatic brand”―a…
- 7
This Is Not a T-Shirt
A Brand, a Culture, a Community--a Life in Streetwear
Bobby Hundreds · 2019
4.211,335 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
The story of The Hundreds and the precepts that made it an iconic streetwear brand by Bobby Hundreds himself Streetwear occupies that rarefied space where genuine "cool" coexists with big business; where a star designer might work concurrently with Nike, a…
- 8
The Hero and the Outlaw
Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes
Margaret Mark · 2001
4.13970 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
A brand’s meaning―how it resonates in the public heart and mind―is a company’s most valuable competitive advantage. Yet, few companies really know how brand meaning works, how to manage it, and how to use brand meaning strategically. Written by best-selling…
Books on e-commerce and consumer brands.
- 1
Product Research 101
Find Winning Products to Sell on Amazon and Beyond
Renae Clark · 2015
4.20304 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
About the book
Just getting started with product research and sourcing? Stuck trying to find ideas or find that “perfect” winning product? Want to find good selling products that others are ignoring? Interested in wholesale or private label products? If you answered yes,…
- 2
Six Billion Shoppers
The Companies Winning the Global E-Commerce Boom
Porter Erisman · 2017
4.09399 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
About the book
"From China to India to Nigeria, e-commerce is entering a golden era in countries that were long left out of the e-commerce gold rush experienced in the West. If the story of the first twenty years of e-commerce’s growth was set in developed markets, the…
- 3
Working Backwards
Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon
Colin Bryar · 2021
4.197,844 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
About the book
Working Backwards is an insider's breakdown of Amazon's approach to culture, leadership, and best practices from two long-time, top-level Amazon executives.Colin started at Amazon in 1998; Bill joined in 1999. In Working Backwards, these two long-serving…
- 4
You Must Write a Book
Boost Your Brand, Get More Business, and Become the Go-To Expert
Honoree Corder · 2016
4.21280 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
About the book
Honorée Corder is the author of dozens of books, she does all sorts of other magical things, and her badassery is legendary. She is Hal Elrod's business partner and co-creator of The Miracle Morning book series, and she coaches high profile professionals,…
- 5
The Everything War
Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power
Dana Mattioli · 2024
4.121,461 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
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
The Everything Store
Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
Brad Stone · 2013
4.1378,706 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
About the book
The definitive story of Amazon.com, one of the most successful companies in the world, and of its driven, brilliant founder, Jeff Bezos. Amazon.com started off delivering books through the mail. But its visionary founder, Jeff Bezos, wasn't content with…
- 7
One Click
Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com
Richard L. Brandt · 2011
3.748,039 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
About the book
Amazon's business model is deceptively simple: Make online shopping so easy and convenient that customers won't think twice. It can almost be summed up by the button on every page: "Buy now with one click."Why has Amazon been so successful? Much of it has to…
- 8
Building Distinctive Brand Assets
Jenni Romaniuk · 2018
4.30220 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
About the book
Building Distinctive Brand Assets is for anyone with a brand logo, font or colour scheme, and is essential reading for those who have wondered if (or have been told) it's time for a change. Readers will learn how to set up a long-term strategy to build a…
What founders at seed need most: company building, finding product-market fit, raising money, first sales, marketing and growth.
- 1
The Elements of User Experience
User-Centered Design for the Web
Jesse James Garrett · 2002
4.014,134 ratings · Goodreads
Finding product-market fitCompany building
About the book
Smart organizations recognize that Web design is more than just creating clean code and sharp graphics. A site that really works fulfills your strategic objectives while meeting the needs of your users. Even the best content and the most sophisticated…
- 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
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,…
- 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
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…
- 7
Risky is the New Safe
The Rules Have Changed . . .
Randy Gage · 2012
3.86348 ratings · Goodreads
Raising moneyCompany building
About the book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and #1 WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER Risky Is the New Safe is a different kind of book for a different kind of thinking--a thought-provoking manifesto for risk takers. It will challenge you to think laterally, question…
- 8
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.…
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
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…
- 3
Joker One
A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood
Donovan Campbell · 2009
4.154,545 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
After graduating from Princeton, Donovan Campbell, motivated by his unwavering patriotism and commitment, decided to join the service, realizing that becoming a Marine officer would allow him to give back to his country, engage in the world, and learn to…
- 4
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…
- 5
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…
- 6
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…
- 7
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…
- 8
The Coaching Habit
Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever
Michael Bungay Stanier · 2016
4.0030,923 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
In Michael Bungay Stanier's The Coaching Habit, coaching becomes a regular, informal part of your day so managers and their teams can wok less hard and have more impact. Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the…
Published in the last three years, newest first, for what you told us.
- 1
Brand It Like Serhant
Stand Out From the Crowd, Build Your Following, and Earn More Money
Ryan Serhant · 2024
3.95275 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
Bestselling author and real estate, television, and media icon Ryan Serhant shares his proven, three-step strategy to build your brand from scratch Brand is everything. Whether you’re a real estate broker, a hair stylist, or a freelance contractor, your end…
- 2
Personal Branding for Introverts
Goldie Chan · 2025
4.41211 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing 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…
- 3
Exit Interview
The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career
Kristi Coulter · 2023
4.117,737 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsCompany building
About the book
A candid, intensely funny memoir of ambition, gender, and a grueling decade inside Amazon, from the author of Nothing Good Can Come from This. What would you sacrifice for your career? All your free time? Your sense of self-worth? Your sanity? In 2006,…
- 4
The Whole Story
Adventures in Love, Life, and Capitalism
John Mackey · 2024
4.19652 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsCompany building
About the book
Whole Foods Market’s Cofounder and CEO for 44 years, John Mackey offers an intimate and provocative account of the rise of this iconic company and the personal and spiritual journey that inspired its remarkable impact. The growth of Whole Foods isn’t just…
- 5
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…
- 6
Lean Marketing
More Leads. More Profit. Less Marketing.
Allan Dib · 2024
4.31452 ratings · Goodreads
Marketing and growthCompany building
About the book
Bigger Results with Less Marketing You keep being told to do more marketing―more complex, more aggressive, and more expensive marketing. Chasing the latest bright, shiny object is exhausting. Increased efforts keep leading to disappointment. The overwhelm…
- 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
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…
How companies like yours were actually built, from the people who built them.
- 1
The Man Who Saved the Union
Ulysses Grant in War and Peace
H.W. Brands · 2012
4.136,257 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsFounder stories
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…
- 2
Secret Formula
The Inside Story of How Coca-Cola Became the Best-Known Brand in the World
Frederick Allen · 1994
3.96484 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
A "highly entertaining history [of] global hustling, cola wars and the marketing savvy that carved a niche for Coke in the American social psyche” (Publishers Weekly).Secret Formula follows the colorful characters who turned a relic from the patent medicine…
- 3
Fordlandia
The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City
Greg Grandin · 2009
3.664,273 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
The stunning, never before told story of the quixotic attempt to recreate small-town America in the heart of the Amazon. In 1927, Henry Ford, the richest man in the world, bought a tract of land twice the size of the U.S. state of Delaware in the Brazilian…
- 4
Jim Henson
The Biography
Brian Jay Jones · 2013
4.0415,877 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
For the first time ever-a comprehensive biography of one of the twentieth-century's most innovative creative artists: the incomparable, irreplaceable Jim Henson. He was a gentle dreamer whose genial bearded visage was recognized around the world, but most…
- 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
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
Founder 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…
- 7
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…
- 8
The Elon Musk Blog Series
Wait But Why
Tim Urban · 2016
4.701,837 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
In 2015, Elon Musk reached out to blogger Tim Urban and asked him if he'd take a crack at explaining Elon's endeavors, and the industries surrounding them, to the world. Tim accepted, and after extensive meetings with Elon and his staff, he wrote four blog…
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
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
- 6
Rich Dad Poor Dad
What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money, That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
Robert T. Kiyosaki · 1997
4.08761,349 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert's story of growing up with two dads, his real father and the father of his best friend, his "rich dad", and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to…
- 7
The Art of the Start
The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything
Guy Kawasaki · 2004
3.9129,538 ratings · Goodreads
Company buildingMarketing and growth
About the book
A new product, a new service, a new company, a new division, a new organization, a new anything, where there’s a will, here’s the way. It begins with a dream that just won’t quit, the once-in-a-lifetime thunderbolt of pure inspiration, the obsession, the…
- 8
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…
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.