Reading good books is like talking with some of the greatest thinkers of our time, and centuries past.
Reading is particularly important for entrepreneurs. Many authors have spent a lifetime gaining a wealth of knowledge, and learning the lessons in their books the hard way so you don't have to.
The 4-Hour Workweek
Timothy FerrissThis is a blueprint on how to make more money while working less. Tim Ferriss draws from real life experiences and presents a step-by-step guide to a low-stress high income life.
Reality Check
Guy KawasakiKawasaki helped make Apple a household name. This book gives real-world advice on how to outsmart, outmanage, and outmarket your competition.
Screw Business As Usual
Richard BransonBusiness advice from the man who founded and grew Virgin Group to a 21 billion dollar company. Branson suggests you should turn traditional business strategies on their head.
The Startup Owner’s Manual
Steve Blank & Bob DorfA step-by-step guide of nearly encyclopedic proportions that teaches how to create a successful company. Learn "new math" for startups, business model canvas, and everything else you need to know.
REWORK
Jason Fried & David H HanssonA collection of short & aggressive chapters that present counterintuitive ideas with straightforward language. Some learnings: underdo the competition, meetings are toxic, and asap is poison.
Made To Stick
Chip Heath & Dan HeathWhy some ideas thrive and others die. Here you'll learn to make ideas stickier by applying the "human scale principle," using the "velcro theory of memory," and more.
The Thank You Economy
Gary VaynerchukEcommerce and social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk reveals how companies big and small can scale personal, one-on-one attention to their entire customer base.
Trust Agents
Chris Brogan & Julien SmithHow to build networks of influence to grow your business by combining high-level theory and practical actions through social media. Build influence, reputation, and earn trust.
The Lean Startup
Eric RiesA guide to allocate your resources as efficiently as possible and how entrepreneurs should use continuous innovation to create successful businesses.
Midas Touch
Donald Trump & Robert KiyosakiThrough real life stories of success, failure, perseverance, and purpose, you'll learn how these two entrepreneurial icons have gotten rich, while many others haven't.
Getting Things Done
David AllenA national bestseller from 2002 that remains relevant. Allen's premise: our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. This book will teach you the art of stress-free productivity.
Crossing The Chasm
Geoffrey MooreMoore's chasm theory describes how high-tech products initially sell well to tech literate customers, then hit a lull as marketing pros try to cross the chasm to mainstream buyers.
How to Win Friends & Influence People
Dale CarnegiePublished in 1936, this classic has sold over 15 million copies. The learnings are simple: how to win friends, and influence people, and you'll find the skills completely transferable to today's business world.
Poke The Box
Seth GodinA manifesto by marketing guru Seth Godin. It's a call to action about the initiative you're taking, in your job, or in your life. This is the ultimate kick in the pants to shake up your life.
Escape From Cubicle Nation
Pamela SlimSlim explores the emotional issues of leaving the corporate world and the nuts and bolts of lauching a business. Drawing from her own career, this will help you wiegh your options and make a successful escape if you decide to...
The Four Steps to the Epiphany
Steve BlankLearn to write a business, marketing, and sales plan. Also provides step-by-step strategy on how to organize sales, marketing, and BD for a new product or company.
Crush It
Gary VaynerchukLearn to turn your passions and interests into real businesses using social media, passion, transparency, and reactionary business practices.
In The Plex
Steven LevyVeteran tech reporter Steven Levy was granted unprecedented access into Google HQ and shares his insight. He reveals its key values: speed, openness, experimentation, risk raking, and more.
Good To Great
Jim CollinsEleven years ago Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" This book is his answer.
The Tipping Point
Malcolm GladwellThe tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, and spreads like wildfire. Gladwell explores and illuminates the tipping point phenomenon.
Awaken The Giant Within
Anthony RobbinsFamous motivational speaker, Anthony Robbins, reveals his most effective strategies and techniques to master your emotions, body, relationships, finances, and your life in general.
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, & SwitzlerEntrepreneurs find themselves in crucial conversations on a regular basis, and this book will teach you how to most effectively deal with them.
Founders At Work
Jessica LivingstonThis is a series of interviews with founders of famous technology companies about what happened in the earliest days. Interviews with: Apple, Flickr, PayPal, 37Signals, Gmail, and more.
Linchpin
Seth GodinThere used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there's a third team, the linchpins - those indispensable people that get things done.
Economics In One Lesson
Henry HazlittEvery entrepreneurs should have basic knowledge of economics. This book is the shortest and surest way to understand basic economics.
Smarter, Faster, Cheaper
David GarlandYou'll learn innovative ways to market, promote, and improve your business by way of practical advice as opposed to fluffy theory. This is a smart and fresh book that's easy to digest and put to use immediately.
UnMarketing
Scott StrattenPeople don't like getting cold calls and spam. This book will show you how to unlearn the old marketing methods, and teach you to build relationships with your customers and make yourself the logical answer to their needs.
Power Friending
Amber MacAmber wants you to think of your audience as your friends and then treat them that way. The Power Friending approaching is all about developing business relationships based on mutual respect and support.
The Innovator’s Dilemma
Clayton M. ChristensenLearn how companies can do everything right and still lose their market leadership or disappear altogether. This extremely sharp book presents a set of rules for capitalizing on the disruptive innovation.
The Innovator’s Solution
Clayton M. Christensen & Michael E. RaynorThe followup book to The Innovator's Dilema published six years later. This beautifully written best seller further explores the ideas and paradoxes presented in the first book.
How To Make Millions With Apps
Chad MuretaMureta made millions by starting a successful app business with zero experience, and he explains how you can do it too.
Delivering Happiness
Tony HsiehThe visionary CEO of Zappos explains how his obsession with corporate culture and customer service lead to unprecedented success.
Worth Every Penny
Sarah Petty & Erin VerbeckToo many entrepreneurs discount their products to compete with the big guys, but this book argues there's a better way... because your product is 'worth every penny.'
Also Check Out "12 Must Watch TED Talks for Entrepreneurs:

Nice collection but if I had to read all of that before starting my business I would still be reading!
If I had to choose only one it would be ‘Rework’.
Great List!
Have to agree with @Daniel.
I’ve read half of them, but after 15 years of running this business, I can tell you that the most pragmatic, actionable advice is in Rework. Don’t miss Made to Stick either.
I’m sure many of the lessons and ideas here overlap.
Oh, and one that’s understandably missing because it only came out a couple of weeks agi is Mike Monteiro’s “Design is a Job”. Applicable ideas for all SMBs out of the gate.
Awesome list, Mark! I will definitely second The “4-Hour Work Week” and “Rework” – both excellent books. I know “Getting Things Done” is a productivity staple, but I didn’t find it too useful – the system was so involved I ended up not using it.
Another book to consider – especially for those managing teams – is EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey. He’s not your traditional tech guy, but the book is a great guide on how to really build a loyal, hardworking productive culture through quality leadership and management. Highly recommended.
Just purchased 4 of them! And ‘How to make millions with Apps’ just last week.
I would add the Fastlane Millionaire to the list. Very concrete story, a must read!
Some great books on the list. I’ve read Rework, Tipping Point and 4HWW all of which are inspirational. For the practical day-to-day management of workflow and life I’d love to see Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits book up there too. Can’t recommend his philosophy enough.
http://greatesthitsblog.com/ features 8 of these books if anyone wants to read a one-page or one-sentence summary.
Amazing list, but I don’t see one of the best business books – “How to get rich” by Felix Dennis.
Rather poor description of Four steps to epiphany, I think. The ideas in it have transformed how startups work in the valley; and the key idea adopted everywhere, including by the lean movement is the customer development cycle. If there was one book to read, I’d name that one (only because I haven’t read Blank’s other book yet; I suspect it’s just as important).
Rework, Linchpin, etc are cute “controversial” fun reads, but Blanks work will make your product company successful, and that’s all that really matters. Eric Reis’s continuation in Lean Start up is also incredibly valuable.
Innovator’s dilemma/solution, while important books, are more useful if you are trying to be entrepreneurial in a large company that starting your own thing.
Good to great is outdated and now has proven inaccurate, as well as being more for inhouse big companies than entrapreneurs.
The one missing book every entrepreneur should read before starting a company (or perhaps after, if they are less than happy) is The Monk and the Riddle.
Finally I’d argue that Kawasaki’s Art of the Start is more directly applicable to start ups than his others.
Awesome list indeed, very good suggestions
personnally I read Crush it, Rework and I’m halfway through Linchpin.
I also particularly enjoyed reading Being Geek which is not on your list but thought deserved a mention.
http://tum.bz/book/4f11bb483579a6000103b80f/michael-lopp-being-geek-the-software-developer-s-career-handbook
My favorite of those 4!
Hard to choose which will be the next one :)
I would add to the list “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind” By Al Ries and Jack Trout. It is a must read to learn about branding and psychology.
Great list shopify thanks for these excellent book recommendations. you should start a shopify book club, I would join.
Great list!
I have actually read all but 7!
Must read the remaining.
Great list! I am setting a personal goal to have them ALL read by May 3rd 2013, right before we leave on our Disney Cruise…
“Live at Your Peak Personal Power”
Alishia Willardson
http://www.yourpeakpersonalpower.com
I would love to read them all, what a great collection. thank you
Thanks for this list! There are a few here that I haven’t read yet. Off to the iBooks store!
“Nothing to Lose: Everything to Gain” Ryan Blair. No secret formulas. A focus on some good strategies but a down to Earth reverence for what everyone seems to want to avoid: long hours and hard work. There’s no such thing as an overnight success. All rags to riches stories, unless they involve being a part of the luck sperm club are predated by years of long lonely days.
WOW! Thanks for all the great comments! I’m so glad everyone is enjoying the list I put together. Happy reading!
That’s a nice list! I’d like to know what books you would select if you had to narrow it down to your top 10 must read?
Someone mentioned the book Positioning, by Al Ries and Jack Trout. I’d second that. (Not sure about top 10, but maybe).
RJ: I guess that would depend on what you’re looking to learn! Even still, I’m not sure I could narrow it down any further – in fact, it was difficult enough to get it down to 33.
:-)
Glad you enjoyed my list!
Looks like I’ll be reading “Rework” from all the recommendations I see. Great list though. Several of the books I’ve already read and its always awesome to discover new ones.
Great round up. You have two of my favorites: 4 hour work week and Rework. I’ll be looking at the others. The “How To Make Millions With Apps” book is intriguing. I’ve been thinking of this for awhile.
Amazing list! I have so many books saved on my Amazon wish list, this just added a whole ton more, and so perfectly relevant to my Shopify startup!
I’ve got both of Gary Vaynerchuk’s books and they are great. Right now I’m reading The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future from Chris Guillebeau. It’s got some great real world examples in it.
A great list, though I would add Luke Johnson’s book Start It Up as a very useful, honest guide to entrepreneurship – he doesn’t sugar-coat the pitfalls and risks to setting up your own business, but has plenty of reasons to still do it anyway.
Just finished The Thank You Economy – absolutely worth the read, definitely helped me refocus my commitment to social media, and too much success!!
-4 Hour Work week … good ideas.
-Screw it let’s do it (not sure if that is same as Screw Business as usual). Branson has great story’s.
-Rework: Amazing. Amazing. Practical. Amazing. Get it.
-Made to Stick: It’s been a while but it is no rework.
-The Lean Startup: High level. Blank’s books may be better.
-Getting Things Done: Overkill. Can be simplified and updated with the times.
-How to win friends and influence people: Great book on some basics.
-Poke the Box: Neat but no need to read.
-Crush It: Will pump you up but no need.
-Good to Great: For large companies.
-Awaken the Giant: there is motivational value but there is stuff on Nutrition for example that Tony Robbins has said himself he was wrong. Just watch his Ted Talk instead. It’s solid.
-Founders at Work is amazing by I think a modern suggestion is Jared Tame’s StartUpsOpenSourced.com and available on Amazon. I really enjoyed this.
-Unmarketing: Nothing Special but some decent ideas.
-Delivering Happiness: Solid book on creating a loyal culture and customer base.
Summary: Rework should be the only “if 1” book. Someone mentioned Felix Dennis’s “How to Get Rich”. The title may be off putting but damn was that a candid and awesome read. He has a very interesting Ted talk (or poetry reading) as well.
I’ve read a ton of these types of books and there is value in it but I am convinced there is more value in doing vs. viewing. Awesome if you can do both but quite often one can get caught up in reading paralysis.
You can read my list: www.goodreads.com/jaretmanuel
Rock on Shopify! You guys are awesome…
@JaretManuel
I’d strongly recommend Alexis Ohanian’s “Make Something People Love”. His book made me realize how important it is that your product or service “wow” your customer. For example his book made an impression on me and here I am recommending it.
The E-Myth
Set me on a new course that I’m still working on.
The $100 Startup is great. Thee are no reasons not to go for it now.
e-myth should be in the list. great list thanks.
Hey!
Think also about “Business Model Canvas” A.Ostervald :)
Where’s the E-Myth?