My husband has always inspired me to read a lot of entrepreneurial books. And so I did. And still do. These are must read business books for entrepreneurs, business owners, product guru's and everyone with an interest in leadership who want to challenge themselves to be open-minded and to keep learning. Think outside the box and use knowledge from different industries, domains and topics. All these book have inspired and motivated me to work on and build out my brand.
By all means, this is not a limited list. I'll keep on reading and will continue to add business books to this list that I feel are worthwhile sharing with you.
If you have any tips please email hello@eefinthecity.com
John Carreyrou
Reads like a thriller. Until you realize that this is a true story! A real page turner.
The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face of pressure and threats from the CEO and her lawyers.
Nir Eyal
We all secretly wish every one of your users would become hooked to whatever you are making. That's at least why I started reading this book
Why do some products capture widespread attention while others flop? What makes us engage with certain products out of sheer habit? Is there a pattern underlying how technologies hook us?
Nir Eyal answers these questions (and many more) by explaining the Hook Model—a four-step process embedded into the products of many successful companies to subtly encourage customer behavior. Through consecutive “hook cycles,” these products reach their ultimate goal of bringing users back again and again without depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging.
One of my favourites as this books gives you actually a lot of practical examples. A/B test everything.
Most websites lose. Almost all of them. Many never make a profit. Others are successful at first, and then get crushed by competitors. This book is about how to buck the trend--to make websites that customers love and that are outrageously profitable.
Malcom Gladwell
A book to entertain. A lot of examples about why certain people became successful. Was it just luck or was it about being smart?
Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?
His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.
David Epstein
Is a range of experience better than over-specialization? Decide for yourself. I enjoyed reading this book.
What's the most effective path to success in any domain? It's not what you think.
Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you'll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world's top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule.
Jason Fried,
David Heinemeier Hansson
Couldn't be a more trendy topic right now. I read this book more than a year ago when I started working remote. A book to read yourself and to share with the wider team.
The “work from home” phenomenon is thoroughly explored in this illuminating new book from bestselling 37signals founders Fried and Hansson, who point to the surging trend of employees working from home (and anywhere else) and explain the challenges and unexpected benefits. Most important, they show why – with a few controversial exceptions such as Yahoo -- more businesses will want to promote this new model of getting things done.
Jason Fried,
Another one day read. Easy and practical to execute.
Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you're looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf.
Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you'll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don't need outside investors, and why you're better off ignoring the competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You don't need to be a workaholic. You don't need to staff up. You don't need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You don't even need an office. Those are all just excuses.
Phil Knight
“Let everyone else call your idea crazy.. just keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where “there” is. Whatever comes, just don’t stop.”
In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his lime green Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed $8,000 his first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion. In an age of startups, Nike is thene plus ultraof all startups, and the swoosh has become a revolutionary, globe-spanning icon, one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable symbols in the world today.
Gary Keller
The essential of this book? What is the one thing...;) Some people prefer to just read a summary of the book.
The One Thing explains the success habit to overcome the six lies that block our success, beat the seven thieves that steal time, and leverage the laws of purpose, priority, and productivity.
How any startup can achieve explosive customer growth
Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
Main thing: dedicate 50% of resources to product and 50% to distribution or what the writer calls Traction.
Why do so many startups fail? According to entrepreneurs Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares, most failed startups make the fatal mistake of putting all their effort into perfecting their product at the cost of reaching out to potential users.
Instead, they should be putting half their resources into getting traction.Tractionis the essential guide for any startup looking to stay ahead of the curve and start building a user base early in the game. The book offers no one-size-fits-all solution: every startup is unique, so no single method is guaranteed to generate traction. Instead, the authors identify nineteen different traction channels, from viral marketing to trade shows. They offer insights on how to exploit each one to its fullest potential, and provide a framework to test various channels and identify the best one for any startup.