15 Best Entrepreneurs Books to Start Reading

Knowledge is power, and you’ll need a lot of it if you’re going to steer your business to success.

Whether an aspiring entrepreneur or an entrepreneur striving to make your business successful, learning from successful entrepreneurs’ experiences can help you grow faster.

Let’s look at the 15 best entrepreneurs’ books to get inspiration about success and grow your business.

1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

This book has been dubbed the Granddaddy of All Motivational Literature, and it was the first book to prescribe what it takes to be a winner.

Napoleon Hill draws from the stories of millionaires like Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and Thomas Edison to illustrate the principles he put forth.

2. The Lean Startup by Eric Reis

A lot of startups end up failing, but many of these failures are avoidable. The Lean Startup provides a different approach that is now being adopted worldwide and changing how companies are developed and products are being launched.

In The Lean Startup, Eric Reis describes what is required for a company to penetrate the fog of uncertainty in order to discover a path to a sustainable and successful business.

3. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber

In a revised edition of the 150,000-copy bestseller, The E-Myth, Michael Gerber refutes some of the myths surrounding starting your own business and shows just how commonplace assumptions can get in the way of being able to run a successful business.

Gerber succeeds in walking the reader through the steps that occur in the life of a business, from infancy, through the pains of growing as an adolescent, to the perspective of the mature entrepreneur.

4. Rework by Jason Fried

Most of the business books that you get today will give you the same advice: draft a business plan, study the competition, look for investors, and all that.

However, Rework shows you a more effective, easier and faster means of succeeding when running a business. By reading it, you’ll be able to know why some plans are harmful, why you don’t need to get investors, and why you’re better off shutting out your competition.

5. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

This is one of the most successful motivational books in history, selling well over 15 million copies since it was released in 1936. The book is timeless and appeals to businesses, self-help startups, and general readers.

Carnegie believes that a lot of successes come from an ability to communicate rather than having brilliant insights. This book teaches how to value others and make them feel appreciated and loved.

6. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Through this amazing book, Malcolm Gladwell is able to take the reader on an intellectual journey through the world of ‘outliers.’ He asks the question of what truly differentiates high-achievers.

His answer to this question is that we tend to pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and less attention to where they are actually from.

7. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

This is the best personal finance book ever written. It tells the story of Kiyosaki and his two fathers; his real father, and that of his best friend (his rich dad), as well as how the two men helped him shape his opinions on money and investing.

It refutes the myth that you need to earn high to become rich, and it distinguishes between working for money and having money work for you.

8. The Ascent of Money: The Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson, in this book, follows the money to tell the story behind the evolution of the world’s financial system, from the beginning way back in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest occurrences in what he had dubbed Planet Finance.

Fergusson also reveals financial history as the backstory behind our own history, arguing that the evolution of debt and credit is as significant as the history of technological innovation and the rise of civilization.

9. Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis landed a job at Salomon Brothers after getting out of the London School of Economics and Princeton within three years, he had risen to the rank of bond salesman, making millions for the firm and cashing out steadily.

Liar’s Poker is the amalgamation of these years — a look behind the scenes at one of the most turbulent times in American business. His book is Lewis’s account of an era where greed and gluttony were the order of the day.

10. Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Michael H. Pink

A lot of people see money as the best motivator. Michael pink says it’s a mistake.

In this provocative book, he asserts that the secret to high performance anywhere is the need to direct our lives, learn and create, and do better for our world and ourselves.

11. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

Outdated methods don’t work in today’s world. In this book, Allen shares some awesome methods for stress-free performance that he has shared with thousands of people all over the world.

His premise? That productivity is proportional to your ability to relax.

12. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

In this book, Stephen Covey presents a holistic approach to overcoming professional and personal issues. With insights and anecdotes, Covey presents a way to live with integrity fairness, service and dignity.

13. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss

In this book, Ferriss dishes on the tips he has learned from studying the New Rich, a subculture of people who did away with the deferred life plan and mastered time and mobility to developed luxury lifestyles for themselves.

If you’re looking to make your way in this revolutionary new world, this here is your compass.

14. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh

The CEO of Zappos shows how a unique kind of corporate identity can help deliver a huge difference in the way results are being achieved — by creating a company that values and has happiness.

15. Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way by Richard Branson

From Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Records and V2 to Virgin Cola, Virgin Megastores and a wide array of other companies, Richard Branson is the rockstar billionaire that a lot of us want to be.

Branson, however, did business by following a simple philosophy:

“Oh, screw it, let’s do it”

Losing My Virginity is an unusual, borderline outrageous autobiography of one of the greatest business geniuses in the world. Branson and his friends named their business “Virgin” because that was what they were — virgins at the game.

Since then, he’s written his success rules, creating a global business with headquarters, no management structure, and no corporate identity.