There’s nothing quite like a good book to help you discover new thoughts. When you read the right book at the right time, it’s sort of like walking into a darkened room and finding a candle to help you see through the darkness.
So, when you find a great book, you have to share it.
We’ve rounded up our second list of books (see here for the first edition in our unofficial-official book club) recommended by some of the business owners and entrepreneurs that we’ve worked with and spoken to on our blog. These recommendations have earned the seal of approval from an assortment of successful, inspiring individuals.
The books below were all suggested as a response to the simple question, ‘One book every entrepreneur should read.’ They cover a huge array of topics, from the vaguely theoretical and academic (Zero to One and Fooled by Randomness) to the inspirational (The Secret and A Good Day), to the direct and actionable (Getting Things Done) and everything in between.
There’s nothing worse than feeling short on ideas. Ideas have to come from somewhere. Many of the best ideas are waiting to be discovered by the right reader. Sometimes you read the right book, or maybe the right chapter, or even just a single great sentence, and it can send you off in unexpected directions for a whole year, or even your whole life.
Zero to One — Peter Thiel and Blake Masters
Recommended by: Chris Gove (Saltwater Brewery), Rachel Cohen (Snowe), and Matt Murphy (Kids in the Game and King Kids)
If you want to build a better future, you must believe in secrets. The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shows how we can find singular ways to create those new things.
Reinventing Organizations — Frederic Laloux
Recommended by: Philip Soriano (Hugh & Crye)
In this groundbreaking book, the author shows that every time humanity has shifted to a new stage of consciousness in the past, it has invented a whole new way to structure and run organizations, each time bringing extraordinary breakthroughs in collaboration. A new shift in consciousness is currently underway. Could it help us invent a radically more soulful and purposeful way to run our businesses and nonprofits, schools and hospitals?
Getting Things Done — David Allen
Recommended by: Daniel and Brenna Lewis (Brooklyn Tailors)
Since it was first published almost fifteen years ago, David Allen’s Getting Things Done has become one of the most influential business books of its era, and the ultimate book on personal organization. “GTD” is now shorthand for an entire way of approaching professional and personal tasks, and has spawned an entire culture of websites, organizational tools, seminars, and offshoots.
Fooled By Randomness — Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Recommended by: Gabi Lewis (Ex0)
Fooled by Randomness is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand.
The Secret — Rhonda Byrne
Recommended by: Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin (theSkimm)
The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.
Rich Dad Poor Dad — Robert T. Kiyosaki
Recommended by: Stevenson Aung (Nalata, Nalata) and Joe DeMarco (Local Barre)
Rich Dad Poor Dad, the #1 Personal Finance book of all time, tells the story of Robert Kiyosaki and his 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 earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.
Who Moved My Cheese? — Spencer Johnson
Recommended by: Clinton Pearce (The Madonna Inn)
A timeless business classic, Who Moved My Cheese? uses a simple parable to reveal profound truths about dealing with change so that you can enjoy less stress and more success in your work and in your life.
The Very, Very Rich and How They Got That Way — Max Gunther
Recommended by: Nick Gray (Museum Hack)
The Very, Very Rich provides revealing insights into the intriguing world of big money, recounting the spectacular success stories of 15 men who made it to the very, very top. In 1972, Max Gunther invited readers to take a journey with him through a gallery of America’s most prominent millionaires. This classic is now nearly 40 years old but its value endures, since the key steps on the route to wealth do not change with time. These secrets can be learned from, adapted and applied by anyone today.
A Good Day — Kevin Henkes
Recommended by: Galyn Bernard and Christina Carbonell (Primary)
What can turn a bad day into a good day? You decide.
Getting to Yes — Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton
Recommended by: Natasha Case (Coolhaus)
Since its original publication nearly thirty years ago, Getting to Yes has helped millions of people learn a better way to negotiate. One of the primary business texts of the modern era, it is based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution.
Getting to Yes offers a proven, step-by-step strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. Thoroughly updated and revised, it offers readers a straightforward, universally applicable method for negotiating personal and professional disputes without getting angry-or getting taken.
The 100: Building Blocks for Business Leadership — Tom Salonek
Recommended by: Kai Avent-deLeon (Sincerely, Tommy)
More than half of all small businesses fail within the first five years. Starting and running a small business is hard work, and many entrepreneurs feel they must do whatever it takes to succeed, at the expense of their family, friends, and health. Yet, if done correctly, small-business ownership can—and should—balance profitable operations with personal fulfillment. According to author Tom Salonek—founder and CEO of Intertech, a Minnesota-based technology consulting and training firm—this balance is actually the secret to success.
The 4 Hour Workweek — Tim Ferriss
Recommended by: Sean Cupit (Fondren Public, Fenian’s Pub, CrossFit 601)
Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, or earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint.
Built to Last — Jim Collins and Jerry Porras
Recommended by: Crista Freeman (Phin & Phebe’s)
Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras took eighteen truly exceptional and long-lasting companies and studied each in direct comparison to one of its top competitors. They examined the companies from their very beginnings to the present day—as start-ups, as midsize companies, and as large corporations. Throughout, the authors asked: “What makes the truly exceptional companies different from the comparison companies and what were the common practices these enduringly great companies followed throughout their history?”
The Omnivore’s Dilemma — Michael Pollan
Recommended by: Elizabeth Mozer (LoCo Foods)
What should we have for dinner? Ten years ago, Michael Pollan confronted us with this seemingly simple question and, with The Omnivore’s Dilemma, his brilliant and eye-opening exploration of our food choices, demonstrated that how we answer it today may determine not only our health but our survival as a species. In the years since, Pollan’s revolutionary examination has changed the way Americans think about food. Bringing wide attention to the little-known but vitally important dimensions of food and agriculture in America, Pollan launched a national conversation about what we eat and the profound consequences that even the simplest everyday food choices have on both ourselves and the natural world.
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