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 · 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
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 It’s out of date!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…
- 3
How to Style Your Brand
Everything You Need to Know to Create a Distinctive Brand Identity
Fiona Humberstone · 2015
4.35392 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
The right brand identity has the power to attract, engage and compel people to do business with you. But for many entrepreneurs, creating an effective brand can be a challenge. Whether you're a start-up on a lemonade budget, or a seasoned entrepreneur…
- 4
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…
- 5
Brand Sense
Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound
Martin Lindstrom · 2005
3.87898 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
In perhaps the most creative and authoritative book on sensory branding ever written, international business legend Martin Lindstrom reveals what the world's most successful branding companies do differently, integrating touch, taste, smell, sight, and…
- 6
Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A
How Faith, Cows, and Chicken Built an Iconic Brand
Steve Robinson · 2019
4.04996 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing and growthCompany building
About the book
The longtime chief marketing officer for Chick-fil-A tells the inside story of how the company turned prevailing theories of fast-food marketing upside down and built one of the most successful and beloved brands in America. During his thirty-four-year…
- 7
Building A Story Brand
Donald Miller · 2017
4.2726,500 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsMarketing 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…
- 8
The Everything Store
Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
Brad Stone · 2013
4.1378,706 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsCompany building
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…
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
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,…
- 3
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…
- 4
Logo Design Love
A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities
David Airey · 2009
4.204,263 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
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…
- 5
The Hero and the Outlaw
Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes
Margaret Mark · 2001
4.13970 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
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…
- 6
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 brands
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…
- 7
The Amazon Way
Amazon's Leadership Principles
John Rossman · 2014
3.942,271 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
About the book
In just twenty years, Amazon.com has gone from a start-up internet bookseller to a global company revolutionizing and disrupting multiple industries, including retail, publishing, logistics, devices, apparel, and cloud computing. But what is at the heart…
- 8
Move Fast and Break Things
How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy
Jonathan Taplin · 2017
3.591,538 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brands
About the book
A stinging polemic that traces the destructive monopolization of the Internet by Google, Facebook and Amazon, and that proposes a new future for musicians, journalists, authors and filmmakers in the digital age. Move Fast and Break Things tells the story…
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
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
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…
- 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
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…
- 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
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
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Patrick Lencioni · 2002
4.11144,022 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni once again offers a leadership fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. This…
- 2
The Effective Executive
The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done
Peter F. Drucker · 1966
4.0938,437 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
What makes an effective executive? The measure of the executive, Peter F. Drucker reminds us, is the ability to "get the right things done." This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence,…
- 3
The Making of a Manager
What to Do When Everyone Looks to You
Julie Zhuo · 2019
4.1922,682 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller! Congratulations, you're a manager! After you pop the champagne, accept the shiny new title, and step into this thrilling next chapter of your career, the truth descends like a fog: you don't really know what you're…
- 4
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…
- 5
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,…
- 6
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…
- 7
A Different Kind of Power
Jacinda Ardern · 2025
4.4521,916 ratings · Goodreads
Leading and managing
About the book
From the former prime minister of New Zealand, then the world’s youngest female head of government and just the second to give birth in office, comes a deeply personal memoir chronicling her extraordinary rise and offering inspiration to a new generation of…
- 8
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…
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
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…
- 6
Careless People
A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
Sarah Wynn-Williams · 2025
4.12150,174 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
Sarah Wynn-Williams joined Facebook believing the company could change things for the better. Instead, what she encountered over seven years was so shocking that Meta obtained a legal order to silence her. Now you can read her award-winning story. Candid…
- 7
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…
- 8
How companies like yours were actually built, from the people who built them.
- 1
Retail Gangster
The Insane, Real-Life Story of Crazy Eddie
Gary Weiss · 2022
3.901,120 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
A biography of the spectacular rise and fall of Eddie Antar, better known as "Crazy Eddie," whose home electronics empire changed the world even as it turned out to be one of the biggest business scams of all timeBack in the fall of 2016 we heard the news…
- 2
The First American
The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
H.W. Brands · 2000
4.1123,067 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsFounder stories
About the book
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • Benjamin Franklin, perhaps the pivotal figure in colonial and revolutionary America, comes vividly to life in this “thorough biography of ... America’s first Renaissance man” ( The Washington Post ) by the two-time Pulitzer Prize…
- 3
Authentic
A Memoir by the Founder of Vans
Paul Van Doren · 2021
4.23974 ratings · Goodreads
E-commerce and consumer brandsFounder storiesCompany building
About the book
In the tradition of bestsellers such as Shoe Dog , Authentic is a surprisingly candid, compelling memoir by a high school dropout who went on to establish one of the world's most iconic brands. You may not have known their creator, but you…
- 4
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…
- 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
Elon Musk
Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
Ashlee Vance · 2015
4.12456,221 ratings · Goodreads
Founder storiesCompany building
About the book
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and innovator behind SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, sold one of his internet companies, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. Ashlee Vance captures the full spectacle and arc of the genius's life and work, from his tumultuous upbringing in…
- 7
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…
- 8
American Kingpin
Catching the Billion-Dollar Baron of the Dark Web
Nick Bilton · 2017
4.4155,362 ratings · Goodreads
Founder stories
About the book
From New York Times-bestselling author Nick Bilton comes a true-life thriller about the rise and fall of Ross Ulbricht, aka the Dread Pirate Roberts, the founder of the online black market Silk Road. In 2011, Ulbricht, a 26-year-old libertarian idealist…
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
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…
- 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
To Sell is Human
The Surprising Truth About Moving Others
Daniel H. Pink · 2012
3.8726,914 ratings · Goodreads
Company buildingFirst sales
About the book
From the bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind comes a surprising--and surprisingly useful--new book that explores the power of selling in our lives.According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales. Every day…
- 5
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…
- 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
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…
- 8
The Psychology of Money
Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness
Morgan Housel · 2020
4.27363,975 ratings · Goodreads
Company building
About the book
Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780857197689. Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Money―investing, personal finance, and business…
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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.