Lean Into The World’s Bestselling Business Books
The most successful people on the planet attribute much their success to one good habit: reading. Bill Gates reads a book a week, Warren Buffett dedicated 80% of his time to reading at the start of his investment career, and Mark Zuckerberg started a global book club in 2015 with the goal of getting everyone to spend more time with their nose in a book.
If you’ve got an eye for business and you want to up your game, kicking off a reading habit is probably a good place to start. You can’t argue with the results! To help get you started, we’ve amassed a list of the best business books that all the best entrepreneurs swear by.
Check out this awesome list of the best business books
The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
The Lean Startup
- 18 min reading time
- audio version available
A bible for modern entrepreneurs, The Lean Startup provides insight into the two key methods of lean manufacturing and agile development to help startups develop sustainable business models.
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
Zero to One
- 22 min reading time
- audio version available
This is one of the best books on business for those who have their fingers on the pulse of the startup scene. Written by Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and backer of numerous companies like Facebook and N26, it’s considered one of the best books to come out of Silicon Valley.
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
Amazingly, this 1998 classic business book hasn’t dated one bit: leadership is all about the interpersonal, and, well, humans are creatures of habit! Revealing the main traits that make a successful leader, you’ll be inspired to channel famous figures as diverse as Winston Churchill and Mother Theresa.
You Can Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen
You Can Negotiate Anything
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
With a title like that, this book will hypnotize you into developing the confidence to negotiate your way through life – whether it’s big business decisions or simply your day-to-day judgment calls. Find out about what defines negotiation success and how to get things going your way, every time.
All Marketers Are Liars: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works — and Why Authenticity is the Best Marketing of All by Seth Godin
All Marketers Are Liars
- 12 min reading time
- audio version available
If marketing is your thing, you can’t afford to miss one of the books every business should own. Learn how to craft authentic-sounding stories to win customers and keep them.
What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest by Denise Lee Yohn
What Great Brands Do
- 16 min reading time
- audio version available
Keynote business speaker and branding expert, Denise Lee Yohn, sheds light on her quarter-century of experience in this popular business book – and suddenly, the processes that have made commercial giants out of Nike, Apple, and Starbucks don’t seem so out of reach.
Nail It Then Scale It: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom
Nail It then Scale It
- 12 min reading time
- audio version available
An essential for those who are just stepping into the entrepreneurial lark, this book breaks down the process of creating innovative products that solve pain points, showing you how to communicate with your target market and optimize your strategy.
Idea to Execution: How to Optimize, Automate, and Outsource Everything in Your Business by Ari Meisel and Nick Sonnenberg
Idea to Execution
- 16 min reading time
- audio version available
This popular business book from 2016 follows the true story of two friends who founded a company overnight, documenting every step of the way alongside the challenges that can arise during the early stages of a startup. It’s a must for aspiring entrepreneurs with limited funds at hand.
21 Days to a Big Idea: Creating Breakthrough Business Concepts by Bryan Mattimore
21 Days to a Big Idea
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
Stuck in a creative rut? In 21 Days to a Big Idea, Bryan Mattimore shares simple techniques to coax out big ideas – applicable to anyone who’s keen to start a business but needs to refine their selling points. This isn’t just one of the best books for business owners – it’s also a guide to life for all those who want to follow where their creativity leads.
First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
First, Break all the Rules
- 19 min reading time
- audio version available
A great manager is hard to find. That’s because there are a lot of common misperceptions floating around out there about good managerial techniques and attitudes. Based on information gleaned from interviews with successful managers, this title will help you get into the mindset of a great leader.
Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action by Simon Sinek
Start with Why
- 22 min reading time
- audio version available
Simon Sinek is one of the most influential authors on business leadership. His bestsellers, including this one, are considered among the best business books in the world. Start With Why is probably the most famous, exploring why certain business — and people — become successful, and others don’t. It also provides steps to make sure you fall in the former category.
The Smartest Guys In The Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany Mclean and Peter Elkind
The Smartest Guys in the Room
- 18 min reading time
- audio version available
If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s worth a watch, but for the real insider scoop on how Enron met its ignominious end, then you have to get your hands on this book. Almost a what-not-to-do guide, the authors look at how Enron became known for innovation on Wall Street, and how they set themselves up for a nasty fall!
So, there you have it: some of the most popular business books currently in the ever-expanding Blinkist library! With the current count at well over 2,000 titles, we’re constantly adding new books-in-blinks to help you stay on top of all the great nonfiction being published every day. Happy reading!
