The best 100 Entrepreneurship books

The 48 Laws of Power (1998) takes an irreverent look at the fundamental characteristics of power – how to understand it, defend against it, and use it to your advantage. This Blink offers compelling insights, backed by historical examples, into the dynamics of competition and control. 

The Gap and the Gain (2021) is a guide to finding happiness and fulfillment inside yourself, instead of constantly hunting for external affirmation. By learning to define your own standards of success, and by measuring your achievement backward, you’ll appreciate how much progress you’ve actually made, and experience renewed motivation in every area of your life.

The Pumpkin Plan (2012) presents a simple yet powerful strategy to help you grow your business and stand out in any industry. Through real-life examples and practical tips, you’ll learn how to identify and focus on your most profitable clients, streamline your operations, and create a company culture that fuels growth.

The Heart of Transformation (2021) is a how-to guide for changing an organization. It focuses on six specific capabilities that leaders can adopt to meet the demands of the twenty-first century.

Unreasonable Hospitality (2022) illustrates how surpassing expectations can take your service-based business to the next level. Through a collection of anecdotes and firsthand experiences, it imparts valuable insights into customer service, as well as employee management.

The 1-Page Marketing Plan (2018) is a streamlined, step-by-step framework for developing your own customized marketing strategy. With only one page, businesses can build and implement a marketing plan that attracts new customers and drives growth.

Burn the Boats (2023) tells the story of how Matt Higgins went from abject poverty to wealth and success using one simple approach: tossing Plan B and going all-in. Through both guidance and inspiration, it will help you apply this strategy to achieving your own goals and dreams.

Who Not How (2020) introduces a new way of thinking about entrepreneurship, goal setting, and collaboration. Developed by business coach Dan Sullivan, the Who Not How mindset shows the importance of delegating tasks to others. By inviting them to help you achieve your goals, you’ll gain more free time, increase your income, and develop valuable, lasting professional relationships.

How to Grow Your Small Business (2023) is your six-step flight plan to guide your business as it takes off. When Don Miller started to take his business to the next level, he realized no-one had written a reliable, step-by-step playbook for growth. Since then, his small home content business has expanded into a $20 million dollar company, so he wrote the book he wished he’d had. 

Napoleon Hill’s Golden Rules (2009) offers a wide array of tips and life hacks to improve your life and bring you closer to realizing your goals. Author Napoleon Hill developed his techniques – many of which stem from the power of positive thinking – nearly a century ago, but they’re still the cornerstone of many of today’s self-help and personal development theories.

Find Your WHY (2017) offers something that every person and business is looking for: a true purpose. The authors provide strategies and exercises that individuals and teams alike can use to discover their most powerful motivations, and their reasons for getting up in the morning and starting the workday. This is a useful guide if you’re searching for the right job, trying to hire the right employees or hoping to gain a better understanding of yourself and the people you live and work with.

 “I think understanding your own why – your raison d’être – and ensuring your actions are consistent with it is a big part of long-term happiness and fulfillment.” – Ben H, Head of Content at Blinkist

The Infinite Game (2019) is a guidebook to help today’s business leaders get back on the right track to building companies that will last for generations to come. It points out the many pitfalls that leaders fall into in the pursuit of short-term gains and shows how they can put the focus back on practices that lead to strength and stability, as well as more revenue.  

Zero to One (2014) offers advice to start-up founders. It shows how to establish a monopoly by creating proprietary technology, a strong brand, scalable products, and by using network effects.

The Self-Made Billionaire Effect (2014) reveals the secrets behind the world’s most successful companies and entrepreneurs. These blinks show that it isn’t luck, age or external factors that got some of the world’s wealthiest people where they are today. Find out how self-made billionaires became masters of duality by integrating imagination and design, and juggling opposing ideas.

Buy Back Your Time (2023) teaches entrepreneurs how to hire the right people for the right tasks, so they can free up the time they need to build their empire. Practical advice and success stories guide those who feel stuck in their busy lives out of the tedium of small chores and into the limitless field of pure production.

This book chronicles the audacious, adventurous life of Steve Jobs, the innovative entrepreneur and eccentric founder of Apple. Drawing from Jobs’s earliest experiences with spirituality and LSD to his pinnacle as worldwide tech icon, Steve Jobs describes the man’s successful ventures as well as the battles he fought along the way.

Blue Ocean Strategy (2004) is a business classic that revolutionized the way companies think about market competition. It explains why some businesses can grow uncontested, while the rest tear each other to bits in a hypercompetitive environment.

Clockwork (2018) explains how entrepreneurs can grow their enterprises without sacrificing their sanity. The trick is implementing smart systems and standard operating procedures that allow your business to run like clockwork without your constant input, freeing you up to tackle the challenges or embrace the opportunities that come your way.

Drawing from personal interviews, The Millionaire Next Door (1996) reveals that many millionaires’ daily lives are a far cry from the stereotype of luxury cars, mansions and private jets. Yet this book also disproves the belief that becoming a millionaire is difficult – anyone can learn not only how to become rich but also stay rich.

In The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth (2012), leadership guru John C. Maxwell shares his secrets to self-development. He reveals that personal growth needs to be actively cultivated; it doesn’t just happen by itself. By discovering your key values, working out a strategy, and taking small actions every day, you can accelerate your personal growth – and live a life full of joy, adventure, and satisfaction.

Bold (2015) is a guide to creating wealth by using today’s most impactful, cutting-edge tools: exponential technologies. Using real-life examples and step-by-step guides, the blinks explore how to transform start-up concepts into billion-dollar companies.

Sun Tzu and the Art of Business (1996) explains how ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu’s classic text The Art of War applies to the hyper-competitive environment of modern business. These blinks explore how business leaders can integrate Sun Tzu’s battle strategies into their own plans for market domination.

Financial Intelligence (2013) is an accessible handbook that helps managers and decision makers interpret financial data and understand its importance.

The Innovator’s Dilemma explains why so many well-established companies fail dismally when faced with the emerging markets they create. This Blink focuses on one of the book’s central themes: disruptive innovation.

Superhuman Innovation (2019) explores the impressive breadth of possibilities that artificial intelligence (AI) offers to all fields of business, from healthcare to fashion. Rather than cause a robotic takeover, it argues, human-machine collaboration will empower businesses and consumers alike to set and achieve greater goals than ever before. 

The Startup-Playbook (2012) gives you business-building tips straight from the founders of some of the world’s biggest start-ups. By conducting interviews with the founders of companies like LinkedIn and Spanx, the author uncovers what you need to do to make it big.

Two Weeks Notice (2023) is your step-by-step guide to launching a successful online business. It provides you with the tools and tricks you need to become your own boss – and gain the creative and financial freedom to live your best life. 

These blinks explain why the job of a CEO is among the toughest and loneliest in the world, and how you can survive all the stress and heartache involved.

On Grand Strategy (2018) takes case studies from throughout history, including ancient Rome and the Cold War, to examine the common characteristics of the world’s best leaders. Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Lewis Gaddis also looks at the common mistakes made over the years which have brought even the mightiest of leaders to their knees.

The 48 Laws of Power (1998) takes an irreverent look at the fundamental characteristics of power, and how to understand it, defend against it and use it to your advantage These blinks offer compelling insights, backed by historical examples, into the dynamics of competition and control.

Inspired describes the best practices of creating successful software products and explains the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them. The lessons are applicable in a range of product environments, from fledgling start-ups to large corporations.

Do the Work (2011) outlines ways to help you conquer your fears, stop procrastinating and accomplish the things you've long desired. Learn about the many ways you can fight resistance, the negative internal force that tries to stop all of us from reaching our goals.

Zero to One explores how companies can better predict the future and take action to ensure that their startup is a success. The author enlivens the book’s key takeaways with his own personal experiences.

Secrets of Sand Hill Road (2019) unveils the inner workings of one of Silicon Valley’s most iconic streets. Many of the area’s top venture capital firms are located here and have played a part in funding some of the biggest names in tech today. VC insider Scott Kupor has worked with many of them, and these blinks share their secrets – allowing the rest of us to decipher the mystery of venture capital, how to get it and why it can make or break a company.

Blue Ocean Shift (2017) is a step-by-step guide to moving past competition in an overcrowded industry. These blinks, based on decades of the authors’ practical experience, explain why you should endeavor to make competition obsolete and how you can open up whole new worlds of opportunity.

Resilience (2013) points the way to the true path to success. Making your dreams come true isn’t something that only happens in fairy tales; if you’re willing to put in the hard work and not shy away at the first sign of difficulty, you can pursue your dreams and live the life you’ve always wanted. All it takes is resilience – the ability to keep moving forward even when your inner voice is trying to stop you.

Author James Altucher explains that after the 2008 global economic crisis, you can’t wait to be chosen; you have to Choose Yourself. This means you have to take full responsibility for your own success and happiness by reclaiming control of your aspirations and dreams. To do this, the book gives you both tools and effective practices to stay physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy.

Profit First (2014) lays out the practical steps entrepreneurs can take to immediately see a positive difference in their bank accounts. These blinks explain how traditional accounting stands between businesses and the profits their owners dream of, and proposes a new approach that guarantees consistent profitability.   

Side Hustle (2017) explains that anyone can design and launch a profitable side project. It details how to generate an income in the short-term, with the resources you already have at your disposal, and without taking on the risk of quitting your day job.

By looking at examples of companies that failed, The Four Steps to the Epiphany explains the key insights startups need to achieve and sustain success, and to steer clear of the path to failure.

Masters of Scale (2021) is part fascinating anecdote, part how-to guide for entrepreneurs who are preparing to launch their product or scale up their company. With case studies and stories behind some of the world’s biggest companies, it isolates the principles behind successfully scaling up.

Employee to Entrepreneur (2018) demonstrates how to transition from the mentality of an employee to that of an entrepreneur. It shows how you can pursue purpose in your work while avoiding the pitfalls that most first-time entrepreneurs encounter. With practical strategies for launching and testing your ideas, this exploration of the entrepreneurial mindset proves that anyone can find fulfillment in work and in life when equipped with the right tools and attitude.

The two most important types of conversation you’ll have when founding a business are those with potential customers and those with potential investors. The Mom Test (2013) offers advice on nailing the information you really need from these meetings, and ensuring your business has the best possible foundation for success.

7 Business Habits That Drive High Performance (2014) outlines the organizational values and behaviors that drive success. These blinks explore how high-performing businesses race ahead of their competitors and explain how every company can transform their everyday activities to boost their bottom line. 

Super Founders (2021) offers an in-depth analysis behind the success of billion-dollar startups. After crunching over 30,000 data points, it unravels the multitude of false notions surrounding tech unicorns and reveals what it really takes to make it in Silicon Valley. 

Make No Small Plans (2022) is the inside story of how a group of young entrepreneurs created one of the world’s most exciting platforms for global events and conferences – the Summit Series. This isn’t just a chance for them to recount their company’s history, though. Packed with actionable takeaways and business wisdom, this is a book designed to inspire readers on their own entrepreneurial journeys.

The CEO Next Door (2017) takes a look at what separates a good CEO from a great one. Backed up by extensive research headed by the authors, it proposes that ordinary people can become leaders of large, successful companies, and details the steps involved in climbing that corporate ladder.

How to Have a Happy Hustle (2019) is an empowering guide to making ideas happen. Puncturing the mystique surrounding successful startups, Bec Evans reveals how anyone can grow an idea into a business by starting small, thinking creatively and getting feedback from their target market. Most importantly, by focusing on the process of testing and building an idea, connecting with people, and learning from mistakes a happy hustle redefines success to include personal growth, fulfilment as well as financial gain.

How to Have a Happy Hustle won the Startup Inspiration category at the Business Book Awards 2020.

Unprepared to Entrepreneur (2021) is a frank, lively guide to starting a business for those who fear they don’t have the requisite knowledge, worry they’ll fail, or aren’t sure how to begin. Packed with practical tips and personal anecdotes, it shows you that to be successful in the business world, you don’t need a perfect plan or an expensive degree. You just need a vision, the motivation –⁠ or madness –⁠ to make it happen, and the resilience to always get back up on your feet.

People used to follow a straightforward path in their careers from education to steady employment and on to retirement. But the world has changed, and it’s more important than ever to know how to adapt. In Think Like an Entrepreneur, Act Like a CEO (2015), Beverly E. Jones outlines her tips for becoming a more agile, resilient professional in charge of her or his career.

The Entrepreneurial Bible to Venture Capital (2013) is a must-read for any entrepreneur or business leader looking to fund their next great idea. Venture capital firms seek start-ups that show potential and often commit to the tune of millions of dollars. If you want to make it in today’s competitive start-up world, you need to understand how venture capital works.

Testing Business Ideas (2021) explores how entrepreneurs can use experimentation to give their new venture the best chance of success. It outlines the rationale behind testing, and describes a framework for deciding how to proceed. 

Hopping over the Rabbit Hole (2020) is an honest, straight-talking look at what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. The brutal truth is that the vast majority of businesses fail – yet many budding entrepreneurs still operate with their rose-tinted glasses firmly in place. But by following a few crucial tips – drawn from a successful business career with its fair share of mistakes – you’ll be more likely to survive, rather than succumb to failure.

First, Break all the Rules (1999) shows how great management differs from conventional approaches. The authors demonstrate how some commonly held notions about career and management are actually misleading. Based on interviews conducted with successful managers (research that the authors did for Gallup) the book introduces its readers to the key notions that great managers – those who get their employees to achieve performance excellence – use in their jobs.

Company of One (2019) presents an alternative philosophy of business success – one that turns conventional wisdom on its head by prizing less over more, small over large and niche over mass. In the course of laying out this philosophy, it also provides practical strategies for developing your own small-scale business enterprise – one that can provide you with enough free time, independence and income to live the life you want to live.

Million Dollar Micro Business (2021) is a hands-on guide to creating your first online course – and making lots of money in the process. From coming up with an idea that feeds your passions to perfecting your marketing, it provides guidance on how to claim your place in this innovative, burgeoning industry of online learning.

Scale for Success (2021) is a guide to turning your small business into a far bigger and more successful enterprise than it is today. From crowdfunding to job descriptions, it covers the ins and outs – and highs and lows – of scaling up any firm.

Oversubscribed (2015) explains how to create a business that generates more demand than it can supply. Used by Apple to create a passionate and loyal customer base and by boutique brands to manufacture desire and earn huge profits, the business model of oversubscription both gets attention and keeps it. In these blinks, you’ll learn how it works.

Crushing It! (2018) explains and explores why having a strong personal brand is crucial in business. Following up on his 2009 best seller, Crush It!, the author draws on both his own experiences and those of readers to illustrate why having a strong presence across multiple digital-media channels is a blueprint for success.

How to Start a Start-up (2015) is a practical guide to founding your own company. From pitching for funding to hiring employees, these blinks offer tips, strategies and insights about the first steps a start-up should take to forge a path toward solid, sustainable growth.

The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management (2010) offers seven key principles that will help managers stay focused on making their customers happy. You’ll find that the practical tools presented in these blinks will not only increase your profits; they’ll keep you and your workforce focused on what’s really important.

Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got (2000) is a guide to spotting new opportunities, securing new clients and succeeding, no matter what your area of business. These blinks explain how to make more out of what you already have and how best to use it to your business’s advantage.

Mavericks (2022) makes a case for maverick leadership. It shows that independent thinkers motivated by meaningful goals can transform their careers and communities – and that anyone can develop their inner maverick by focusing on five key characteristics.

The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster (2015) is the essential guide to building a successful business. These blinks will walk you through the most important aspects of entrepreneurship by taking a close look at the four skills crucial to success: sales, recruiting, leadership and productivity.

How I Built This (2020) is a journey along the circuitous road to entrepreneurial success. Based on the top business podcast on iTunes, with 200 million downloads to date, How I Built This chronicles the ascension of dozens of the world’s most inspiring entrepreneurs, examining their darkest moments as well as their greatest triumphs. 

Finish Big (2014) is a guide for how to exit an organization in a way that's healthy and positive for both a business owner and the company. Leaders often overlook this aspect of their career, mistakenly thinking that leaving will be simple, when instead it requires long-term planning to truly finish in a way that benefits everyone.

Based on the true story of two friends who founded a company overnight with zero cash investment and built it up over the following year, Idea to Execution (2016) is about the everyday challenges entrepreneurs face when launching a start-up. These blinks show you the steps to success, from sketching a business plan to putting tools in place that optimize your company’s performance numbers.

Blitzscaling (2018) looks at a revolutionary development in the business world – one that’s so unprecedented, a new word had to be invented for it. It’s the process whereby companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon began as small, scrappy start-ups and then rapidly ballooned into world-conquering giants within just a few years. What’s their secret? In a word: blitzscaling. And that, as the title suggests, is what this book is all about.

Nail It then Scale It (2011) is your guide to perfecting your business plan and expanding your company. These blinks outline the process of creating innovative products that solve problems, targeting and communicating with the right markets and refining your strategy before scaling your business.

Big Bang Disruption (2014) explains how disruptive innovations are endangering many of today’s businesses, and how to keep your business alive despite these disruptions. It describes the four stages of market disruption and provides 12 rules that’ll help you get through them.

Trillion Dollar Coach (2019) pays homage to Bill Campbell, a coach and mentor whose advice and insights helped some of Silicon Valley’s brightest lights build multi-billion dollar companies. In these blinks, Google leaders Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle chart Campbell’s remarkable life, from the Columbia University football field to the Californian boardrooms in which the digital revolution was planned and rolled out. Along the way, they shed light on Coach Bill’s leadership philosophy.

Building Your Business the Right-Brain Way (2014) offers a practical translation of the basics of entrepreneurship into a language creatives can easily understand, through focusing on the strengths of the right hemisphere of the brain, such as as creativity, emotion and visualization.

Never Get a “Real” Job (2011) encourages young entrepreneurs to swear off “real” jobs, foregoing the nine-to-five life in favor of taking control of their own lives. Based on real-world experience and observation, it provides a nuts-and-bolts guide to getting it together and starting up.

Why Startups Fail (2021) identifies six core reasons why startups fail. It presents a framework for analyzing startup failure that explores how different aspects of a business work together. Entrepreneurs can use this framework to evaluate the health of their own ventures. 

Make Your Mark features the wisdom and tips of 21 of the most successful entrepreneurs and creatives of the last few years. These artists, coders, developers and writers share the secrets and ideas that have helped them take their respective markets by storm.

The Common Path to Uncommon Success (2021) arms you with the tools to create valuable content and turn it into financial independence. Drawing on more than 3,000 interviews with successful entrepreneurs, it lays bare the path to transforming your big idea into a profitable business.

Subscribed (2018) looks at a business model that’s currently enjoying unprecedented success around the globe: subscriptions. Whether it’s Netflix, Spotify or Uber, companies have realized that more and more people are interested in services rather than ownership – they want the ride rather than the car. It’s an insight that’s literally worth billions. But more than that, it’s the future. If you want to make it in today’s crowded marketplace, it pays to take a closer look at the phenomenon.

Smartcuts (2014) is about the secrets used by innovative companies and bright minds to achieve big successes in the shortest possible time. It outlines the reasons why unconventional methods are much more powerful than traditional ones in today's business world, and what you can do to take advantage of them.

The Economist: Numbers Guide (1991) explores a variety of mathematical tools that are exceptionally useful across a range of business environments. These blinks reveal just how simple it is to manage risk by quantifying it, helping improve decision making in the process. The book’s mathematical notions are explained at a basic level, so no prior math knowledge is required.

Self-Made Boss (2022) is a practical starter kit for anyone looking to start a small business. It’s packed with advice and case studies looking at small businesses from across the United States, with step-by-step instructions for turning your great idea into a successful business. 

Being Boss (2018) is a guide for creative entrepreneurs determined to build successful businesses. From fostering the right mentality to establishing boundaries, setting goals, and taking time away, Being Boss shares helpful tactics for having it all, in work and in lif

The Innovation Stack (2020) explores what it takes to be a true entrepreneur – that is, to find a problem no one else has solved, and do everything you can to solve it. It reveals how two friends built a billion-dollar financial-services company from the ground up through courage, ingenuity, and a touch of humor. 

Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0 (2020) updates Jim Collins and Bill Lazier’s essential 1992 business handbook, Beyond Entrepreneurship for the entrepreneurs, visionaries, and innovators of today. This new edition combines the timeless business advice and strategy of the original text, supplemented with cutting-edge insights and case studies pertinent to today’s business world.

Traction (2014) explains why the success of every start-up depends not only on its products, but on the customer base it builds. Weinberg and Mares present proven methods for gaining customers, and help you choose the best for each growth phase of your company. With a bit of Traction, you’ll win – and develop – the audience your product deserves.

Disrupt Yourself (2015) is about embarking on the journey of constant discovery that is your career. By following your interests, discovering your unique talents, taking the right risks and being prepared to learn, you will find yourself constantly stimulated and satisfied by your work.

Clay Water Brick (2015) explores the author’s unusual business career in connection with stories of successful micro-entrepreneurs all over the globe. These blinks reveal the strategies of entrepreneurs who make something out of nothing while making a difference in struggling communities.

Anything You Want (2011) is a guide to realizing your dream business, which is easier than you might think. These blinks will teach you why the conventional ideas of amassing tons of money, consultants and technology are all wrong, and that the real key to success is you and your stellar ideas.

What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School (1984) is an introduction to everything your professors don’t and can’t teach you at business school. Learn tips and tricks that only people with real job-market experience have in their arsenal, like how to make a good impression and how to leverage the concept of fear when making sales.

Smart People Should Build Things explores the dangerous consequences of top students’ career choices in the United States, and offers practical solutions to reset the country’s course toward prosperity by encouraging students to adopt an entrepreneurial attitude. Along the way, the author provides solid advice for budding entrepreneurs on their first adventure into business.

The Four (2017) examines the great superpowers of our digital age – Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google – and attempts to answer a few tough questions: How have these companies changed the world we live in and what is their formula for success? How can other companies rise to similar echelons of power? And what does it take to thrive in a world shaped by the Four?

Content, Inc. (2015) is a useful and practical guide on how to use content management to market your business, attract an audience and bring your ideas to the world. These blinks are packed with tips and tricks that will help you turn that audience into loyal subscribers and allow you to diversify your brand and move to the forefront of your industry.

The Change Masters (1983) is about Rosabeth Moss Kanter's findings from her extensive research on American corporations in the 1980s. She identifies the key factors that bring about change and innovation, and explains how you can structure your organization to adapt to change more effectively.

Founders at Work (2007) is a revealing look at what went on in the early days of over 30 influential US startups. In their own words, the founders of landmark companies such as Hotmail and Blogger.com tell their stories about the many ups and downs and twists and turns it took to make their ideas a reality. They also share the lessons they learned and the insight they’ve gained looking back on the trials and tribulations of those chaotic early days.

Business Model Generation (2010) is a comprehensive guide to building innovative business models. From empathizing and connecting with customers to finding inspiration for products and learning from some of today’s most game-changing platforms, these blinks will help you kick-start your business thinking.

Moms Mean Business is a guide to time management for mom entrepreneurs. These blinks help you discover where your true priorities lie, and provide you with planning techniques that will make it possible for you to dedicate more time to your ambitions and yourself.

Reinventing the Product (2019) takes an in-depth look at what it takes to compete in today’s increasingly digitized marketplace, outlining all the steps a company needs to take to pull itself out of the past and into a future where the marketplace is ruled by smart, digitally connected products.

Business Execution for RESULTS (2013) is a guide to building a better business. These blinks offer a practical plan for setting appropriate goals and performing the necessary analyses to create a winning business strategy that will lead your company straight to the top.

The Art of the Start offers a brief overview of some of the key aspects of starting and running a business. It covers topics such as pitching for funding, recruiting the right people, and building a successful brand.

CRUSH IT! is a motivational text, a blueprint and guide for those who want to translate their passion into a business. Using the author’s life as an example, this book details how everyone can “crush it,” i.e., realize the possibility of living their passion, determining their livelihood and making a living off of what they love to do.

The Replaceable Founder (2018) takes a unique look at how leaders can perform the valuable job of making themselves obsolete. By creating strong organizational structures, including streamlined production and hiring processes, company founders can build organizations that are sure to function and even thrive without them. This is an ideal scenario since it allows the ambitious founder to focus on what they love most: bringing innovative ideas to life and creating companies that promise great work experiences for everyone.