Read Up!

And See you at the top!!

If one makes a list of everyone that they have come across or read about or heard about that has made it worth their while in life, there are a few traits one can find to be common among them. The person could be anyone, an Author, an Artist, a Wise Man, or an Efficient Entrepreneur they all would have these defining traits in common. The trait that is the most prominent among all is that of is the habit of Reading.

“Books”, these are said to be the best friend that any individual can have, but one could very well argue that they are much more.  Books are the most efficient modes by which intangible things like knowledge, wisdom, experiences, memories, lessons, learning, emotions, feelings and so much more can be compiled and shared as something tangible among all.  By far, a book can be a friend, a guide, a mentor, a companion, a coach and so much more. One can pick up any number of life lessons from a book to which can empower them to reach their desired goals.

Here we talk about 10 books that needs to be on your bookshelf if you are thinking about venturing onto the Frontier of Entrepreneurship. Written by those who have beaten the odds to make their resolute mark on the Business Scape of the world, these works present a perfect combination of Guidance and Inspiration to the seeker who seeks it. Here are 10 books you that can guide you in trying times of your entrepreneurial journey.

1. The Startup Playbook: Secrets of the Fastest-Growing Startups from Their

Founding Entrepreneurs - David Kidder

300 pages of text detailing the twists and turns of the journeys of various Entrepreneurs of note, through David Kidder’s interviews with hundreds of founders about their path to success and how they managed to build their multimillion (or billion) dollar enterprises. Giving the reader insider access, David details the hard-hitting experiences of some of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs and CEOs, revealing their most closely held advice. 

 

 

 

2. The 4-Hour Workweek - Timothy Ferriss

 

Considered a must-read for those who want to take the entrepreneurial plunge, the book talks about how you can automate and create an income-generator so that you focus on your passion. Author Timothy Ferris believes that entrepreneurship is a great way to get back control of your life and also enjoy life without working 40 hours in a week. This book helps you effectively shun the typical 9-5 job and look at exciting avenues that allows you to live and work from virtually anywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Rework -  Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

 

Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Sounds too good to be true? Well, founders should read it to know why plans are actually harmful, why one doesn’t need outside investors, and why you’re better off ignoring the competition. 

 

 

 

 

4. The Lean Startup: Eric Ries 

 

 

 

This book by Eric Ries addresses a key statistic in the innovation ecosystem: most startups fail. But the author proposes an antidote of sorts to this truth, stating that many of those failures are preventable. Eric draws from disciplines such as lean manufacturing in the automotive sector to come up with his ‘Lean Startup’ approach to devise new metrics and success criteria for startups. Less is more, and that cannot be emphasised more for entrepreneurship.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don t - Jim Collins

 

 

Jim Collins in his celebrated 2001 book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don t identified seven characteristics of companies that went from “good” to “great”. The first and most telling characteristic relates to people and what the author refers to as the ‘Level 5 Leadership’, which is all about quiet, confident humility and being driven to do what is best for the company as opposed to being lauded and heralded as the “greatest” or “ iconic” – or some other similar – leader. Read this book to transition from the common good to the rare great.

 

 

 

 

 

6. Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur s Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation - Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom

 

This book gives the secret sauce to all those struggling startups. In the book the authors explain the ‘Nail It then Scale It’ method, which recognises those patterns and principles that most successful entrepreneurs use. If you are putting in all the hours and the hard work and still unable to find that elusive success, this book just might nudge you towards a breakthrough.

 

 

 

 

 

7. The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future -Chris Guillebeau

 

 

Compared with the dozens of books addressing corporate innovation or technology startups or small/medium businesses, The $100 Startup has a refreshingly different focus: the ‘solopreneur’ or individual entrepreneurs who strike off on their own or with small teams, and convert ‘passions into profits’ through micro-businesses. In this book, author Chris Guillebeau distils his learnings from conversations with over 1,500 individuals who have spun profitable businesses out of a modest investment of $100 or less. Whoever said you need multimillion-dollar fund-raises to be successful?

 

 

 

 

8. Things a Little Bird Told Me: Confessions of the Creative Mind -Biz Stone

 

In his book, Biz Stone, the Co-founder of Twitter, discusses the power of creativity and how to harness it through stories from his remarkable life and career. Biz, who is known for his creativity covers pivotal and personal stories from his life in this 224-page book, along with lessons earned and learned the hard way while building one of the top internet companies of our times. 

 

 

 

 

 

9. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life -Alice Schroeder

 

 

Author Alice Schroeder gets unprecedented access to one of the world’s noted billionaires: business magnate Warren Buffett. This book provides insider knowledge on the genius behind Berkshire Hathaway. Warren has never written a memoir, nor does he court the media like other well-known billionaires. So grab this book if you want to learn from an astute businessman who always treated his investors as partners. 

 

 

 

 

10. Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days -Jessica Livingston

 

 

Founders at Work is a collection of profiles of tech company founders such as Steve Wozniak (Apple), Caterina Fake (Flickr), Mitch Kapor (Lotus), Max Levchin (PayPal), and Sabeer Bhatia (Hotmail). Author Jessica Livingston is a founding partner at Y Combinator. This book will tell you how these tech geniuses stumbled upon their winning idea, what they did to nurture it, and how they built successful businesses based on it, despite the many challenges strewn along the way.