This is a list of the top business books of all time, in no particular order. At Under30CEO we are firm believers that the secrets to success can be learned from others who have been successful before. Many of these authors have spent a lifetime learning the lessons in these books the hard way. Luckily for us, their wealth of knowledge is presented in the books below. There are no excuses–get reading…and please let us know what you think should have made the list in the comments!
The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Micalowicz
ReWork by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey
The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World by David Kirkpatrick
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World by Chris Guillebeau
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout
Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham
The Parable of the Pipeline: How Anyone Can Build a Pipeline of Ongoing Residual Income in the New Economy by Burke Hedges
The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter M. Senge
Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie
Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality by Scott Belsky
The Simplicity Survival Handbook by Bill Jensen
The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle by Steven Pressfield
I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley & William Danko
Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies by Nikos Mourkogiannis
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness by Jim Rohn
Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich-And Why Most Don’t by Donald J. Trump and Robert Kiyosaki
Upstarts: How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit from Their Success by Donna Fenn
Today We Are Rich by Tim Sanders
Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack by Donna Fenn
Never Get a “Real” Job: How to Dump Your Boss, Build a Business and Not Go Broke by Scott Gerber
Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: Non-Boring, Fluff-Free Strategies for Marketing and Promoting Your Business by David Siteman Garland
Crush It: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk
Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup by Brad Feld & David Cohen
Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
Bargaining For Advantage by G. Richard Shell
3-D Negotiation by David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius
The Intelligent Entrepreneur by Bill Murphy
Illusions of Entrepreneurship by Scott A. Shane
Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers
Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
Your Money or Your Life by Joel Dominguez & Vicki Robin
Fail-Safe Investing by Harry Browne
Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less by Sam Carpenter
Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution by Michael Hammer and James Champy
The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott
Practical Lessons in Leadership by Art Petty
Green to Gold by Daniel Esty & Andrew Winston
Seeing What’s Next by Clayton M. Christensen
Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days by Jessica Livingston
SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer
Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age by Paul Graham
It’s Not About The Money by Brent Kessel
Work Less, Live More by Bob Clyatt
iCon: Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business by Jeffery S. Young and William L. Simon
The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowieki
Freakanomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson
Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim
Bankable Business Plans by Edward Rogoff
The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison by Mike Wilson
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner
Indispensable by Joe Calloway
Lean Thinking by James Womack and Daniel Jones
Bringing Nothing To The Party: True Confessions of a New Media Whore by Paul Carr
Organizational Culture and Leadership by Edgar H. Stein
How to Make more Money than Your Parents by Nick Tart and Nick Scheidies
12: The Elements of Great Managing by Rodd Wagner & James Harter
Growing Great Employees by Erika Andersen
Hiring Smart by Pierre Mornell
Viral Loop From Facebook to Twitter, How Today’s Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves by Scott Penenberg
Learning from the Future by Liam Fahey & Robert Randall
Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors by Michael E. Porter
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson
The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason
Self-Directed Behavior by David L. Watson & Roland G. Tharp
Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale
The Art of Exceptional Living by Jim Rohn
Magic of Thinking BIG by David J Schwartz
Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions by Gary Klein
Smart Choices by John S. Hammond
The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz
Ethics for the Real World by Ronald Howard & Clinton Korver
Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
UNmarketing by Scott Stratten
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan by George Bradt
The Halo Effect by Phil Rosenzweig
The Perfect Pitch by Jon Steel
The Human Side of Enterprise by Douglas McGregor
Acres of Diamonds by R.H. Conwell
Myths of Innovation by Scott Berkun
The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John Jantsch
The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence by Tom Peters
The Perfect Pitch by Jon Steel
The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes
The Art of Possibility by Benjamin Zander
Making Things Happen by Scott Berkun
Results Without Authority by Tom Kendrick
The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking by Roger Martin
The Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Winslow Taylor
The Alchemist by Paul Coelho
Accounting Made Simple by Mike Piper
How to Read a Financial Report by John A. Tracy
Radical Leap by Steve Farber
Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank
The New Business Road Test by John Mullins
How to Make Millions with Your Ideas by Dan Kennedy
When You’re In A Traffic Jam I’m Playing Golf by Simon Thompson
Pursuit of Happiness by Chris Gardner
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
The Human Side of Enterprise by Douglas McGregor
The Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgn
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done By Ram Charan
The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder
My Start-Up Life by Ben Casnocha
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
The Functions of the Executive by Chester I. Barnard
StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
The Power of Less by Leo Babauta
The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
Bit Literacy by Mark Hurst
The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz
Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
Show Me The Numbers by Stephen Few
From The Top 100 Business Books of All Time: What They Say, Why They Matter and How They Can Help You by Jack Covert and Steve Sattersten…
Flow by Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi
How to Be a Star at Work by Robert E. Kelley
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Power of Intuition by Gary Klein
What Should I Do with My Life? by Po Bronson
Chasing Daylight by Eugene O’Kelly
On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis
The Leadership Moment by Michael Useem
The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
Leadership Is an Art by Max De Pree
The Radical Leap by Steve Farber
Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will by Tichy and Sherman
Leading Change by John P. Kotter
Questions of Character by Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr.
The Story Factor by Annette Simmons
Never Give In! Speeches by Winston Churchill
In Search of Excellence by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.
The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen
Only the Paranoid Survive by Andrew S. Grove
Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? by Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.
Discovering the Soul of Service by Leonard Berry
Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan
Competing for the Future by Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad
Influence by Robert B. Cialdini, PhD
Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout
A New Brand World by Scott Bedbury with Stephen Fenichell
Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith
Zag by Marty Neumeier
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
How to Become a Rainmaker by Jeffrey J. Fox
Why We Buy by Paco Underhill
The Experience Economy by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore
Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan
Financial Intelligence by Karen Berman and Joe Knight
The Balanced Scorecard by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton
Out of the Crisis by W. Edwards Deming
Toyota Production System by Taiichi Ohno
Reengineering the Corporation by Michael Hammer and James Champy
The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox
The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack with Bo Burlingham
First, Break all the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
Now, Discover Your Strengths by Buckingham and Clifton
The Knowing-Doing Gap by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono
Titan by Ron Chernow
My Years with General Motors by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.
The HP Way by David Packard
Personal History by Katharine Graham
Moments of Truth by Jan Carlzon
Sam Walton: Made in America by Sam Walton with John Huey
The Republic of Tea by Mel Ziegler, Patricia Ziegler, and Bill Rosenzweig
The Partnership Charter by David Gage
Growing a Business by Paul Hawken
Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson
The Monk and the Riddle Randy Komisar with Kent Lineback
McDonald’s: Behind the Arches by John F. Love
American Steel by Richard Preston
The Force by David Dorsey
The Smartest Guys in the Room by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie
The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley with Jonathan Littman
Jump Start Your Business Brain by Doug Hall
A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger Von Oech
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
The Age of Unreason by Charles Handy
Out of Control by Kevin Kelly
The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
Driven by Paul R. Lawrence and Nitin Nohria
To Engineer is Human by Henry Petroski
The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki
The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins
Up the Organization by Robert Townsend
Beyond the Core by Chris Zook
Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer
What the CEO Wants You to Know by Ram Charan
The Team Handbook by Peter Scholtes, Brian Joiner, and Barbara Streibel
A Business and Its Belief by Thomas J. Watson, Jr.
Lucky or Smart? by Bo Peabody
The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas L. Friedman
Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko
More Than You Know by Michael J. Mauboussin
Screw It, Let’s Do It by Richard Branson
Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way by Richard Branson
Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur by Richard Branson
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin
The Dip: A Little Book That Tells Us When to Quit and When to Stick by Seth Godin
Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin
Survival is Not Enough: Zooming, Evolution and the Future of Your Company by Seth Godin
Small is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas by Seth Godin
Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync by Seth Godin
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
All Marketers are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World by Seth Godin
Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers by Seth Godin
The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in that the Poor and Middle Class Do Not by Robert Kiyosaki
Rich Dad’s Who Took My Money?: Why Slow Investors Lose and Fast Money Wins by Robert Kiyosaki
Rich Woman: Take Charge of Your Money, Take Charge of Your Life by Kim Kiyosaki
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Geber
E-Myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company by Michael E. Geber
Awakening the Entrepreneur Within: How Ordinary People Can Create Extraordinary Companies by Michael E. Geber
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
Great By Choice: Uncertainty Chaos and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins
How the Mighty Fail: and Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins
Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions by Guy Kawasaki
Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki
The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
Rules for Revolutionaries by Guy Kawasaki
How to Drive Your Competition Crazy by Guy Kawasaki
The Macintosh Way by Guy Kawasaki
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life by David Allen
Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life by David Allen
The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard
Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service by Ken Blanchard
Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time by Ken Blanchard
The Secret: What Great Leaders Know — And Do by Ken Blanchard
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy
Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want — Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible by Brian Tracy
Maximum Achievement: Strategies and Skills That Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed by Brian Tracy
The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success by Brian Tracy
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness by Stephen Covey
Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey
How to Succeed With People by Stephen Covey
Bounce! The Path to True Confidence by Barry Moltz
You Need to Be a Little Crazy: The Truth About Starting and Growing Your Own Business by Barry Moltz
BAM! Delivering Customer Service in a Self Service World by Barry Moltz
Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement by Tony Robbins
Giant Steps : Author Of Awaken The Giant And Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins
Awaken the Giant Within : How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny! by Tony Robbins
The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential by John C. Maxwell
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell
How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life by John C. Maxwell
The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization by John C. Maxwell
Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success by John C. Maxwell
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter Drucker
Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker
The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization by Peter Drucker
Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive by Harvey B. Mackay
Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty: The Only Networking Book You’ll Ever Need by Harvey B. Mackay
The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World by Harvey B. Mackay
Pushing the Envelope All the Way to the Top by Harvey B. Mackay
Fired Up!: How the Best of the Best Survived and Thrived After Getting the Boot by Harvey B. Mackay
Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar
Selling 101: What Every Successful Sales Professional Needs to Know by Zig Ziglar
Better Than Good: Creating a Life You Can’t Wait to Live by Zig Ziglar
Matt Wilson is Co-Founder of Under30Experiences, a travel company for young people ages 21-35. He is the original Co-founder of Under30CEO (Acquired 2016).
Matt is the Host of the Live Different Podcast and has 50+ Five Star iTunes Ratings on Health, Fitness, Business and Travel. He brings a unique, uncensored approach to his interviews and writing. His work is published on Under30CEO.com, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Huffington Post, Reuters, and many others.
Matt hosts yoga and fitness retreats in his free time and buys all his food from an organic farm in the jungle of Costa Rica where he lives. He is a shareholder of the Green Bay Packers.
This is a list of the top business books of all time, in no particular order. At Under30CEO we are firm believers that the secrets to success can be learned from others who have been successful before. Many of these authors have spent a lifetime learning the lessons in these books the hard way. Luckily for us, their wealth of knowledge is presented in the books below. There are no excuses–get reading…and please let us know what you think should have made the list in the comments!
