Here is our list of best sellers and top books for entrepreneurs and business owners, including our own personal must reads by the top authors in entrepreneurship.
“You’ll be the same in five years as you are today, except for the people you meet and the books you read.” — Charlie “Tremendous” Jones
This year I set out to read 30 books. A serious goal–a book every 2.5 weeks. While I only crossed 17 books off that list, setting a reading goal really helps me stay motivated to sit down a crank through the pages. Reading shouldn’t be a race, nor does it matter how many you read, but as your typical goal oriented entrepreneur, these types of personal challenges help me stay motivated.
Reflecting upon the year, it was important for me to be introspective and see how these books changed the way I see the world.
To recap an incredible 2012… here are 17 lessons from 17 books to kick your New Year off right…
Who’s Got Your Back by Keith Ferrazzi
This is Ferrazzi’s followup to the classic must-read, Never Eat Alone. Going beyond networking basics and other solid tips, Who’s Got Your Back is about creating very deep relationships. Ferrazzi talks about the “long slow dinner” and how building friendships in business and in life is more than about just writing on the back of business cards and pinging your list of “friends” when you get into town. This year, I hosted a bunch of awesome dinners in my tiny apartment in New York, and have run three incredible Under30Experiences to Iceland and Costa Rica. Thanks for the inspiration Keith.
The Lesson: Relationships should be about quality over quantity. The goal should not be to “know everyone”. Build a small group of people that want to go out and conquer the world together.
Boomerang by Michael Lewis
I had to read about the rise and fall of Iceland during the global financial crisis before my trip. From the author of Moneyball, Lewis’ accounts of exploring the world of high finance are incredibly intriguing and entertaining at the same time. Learning how Iceland traded derivatives amongst themselves, drove up the price of their currency until a beer routinely cost $30USD, and then imploded, causing the country’s three largest banks to fail was truly mystifying. The good news is, now Iceland’s economy is ripe for entrepreneurs to emerge and we’ll be going back this June for the Startup Iceland Adventure.
The Lesson: Base your economy, your company, and your income on creating real value for others.
Small Loans Big Dreams by Alex Counts
If you are at all interested in microfinance and how giving small loans to business owners in impoverished places is improving their communities, then this is the book to read. This book follows the story of Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus as he builds the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and across the globe. Armed with this book and lots of other research on the downsides of microcredit, we built our Microfinance Surf Camp to Nicaragua in April 2013.
The Lesson: Entrepreneurship knows no borders or social classes. Coupled with education and accountability, access to capital can create sustainable micro-businesses.
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
If 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Will Smith, and Kanye West are talking about a book, I’m going to have to check it out. What impressed me most about the book is that Greene not only recounts classic stories from historical figures like Machiavelli and Queen Elizabeth, but he also explains the “transgression of the law”, or how it can come back to bite you. Laws like “Always Say Less Than Necessary” have very serious downsides, which Greene explains in nearly as much detail as the law itself. To me, a good book always dispels their naysayers ahead of time.
The Lesson: “Disdain things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best revenge.”
Startup Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer
If you are an entrepreneur, you have to wonder–what makes the perfect environment for startups to flourish? Israel’s incredibly resilient, educated population has figured it out; 63 Israeli companies are listed on the NASDAQ from a country of just over 7million people. I highly encourage anyone who wants to help build their local startup community to give this a read.
The Lesson: “Immigrants are not averse to start from scratch. They are by definition risk-takers. A nation of immigrants is a nation of entrepreneurs.”
The Education of Millionaires by Michael Ellsberg
In this book, Ellsberg interviews both millionaires and billionaires who never went to college including Sean Parker, Marc Ecko, and Matt Mullenweg. This book came out in 2011, so the stories are very relavant and feature some popular names in entrepreneurship today. Ellsberg’s popularity sparked from his article in Forbes, “How I Overcame Bipolar II (and Saved My Own Life).” Also awesome, is that Ellsberg has a permanent email auto-responder that says he would rather have his tombstone say “He Wrote a Lot of Great
Books,” than have it say “He Wrote a Lot of Great Emails,” thus he will not be writing you back.
The Lesson: “The biggest thing you won’t learn in college is how to succeed professionally.”
Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie
Despite all the negative press on how jaded a marketing scheme that gives away a 44 cent pair of shoes every time you buy a $44 pair of shoes is, the story of TOMS Shoes is an inspiring one. I commend Blake and his team for building a company that encourages others to do good in the world. Blake is a talented entrepreneur, who has built multiple companies while wearing boardshorts. Start Something That Matters tells the story of TOMS and runs through some of the basics on how to get started yourself. It’s a quick read, worth picking up.
The Lesson: It is truly possible to build a business both rich in profit and in social good.
The Greatest Salesman In the World by Og Mandino
I’m not into fiction that I’m supposed to translate into business lessons like The Monk and the Riddle, but I traded for The Greatest Salesman In The World on the beach in Costa Rica so I can’t complain. This old school 1968 edition tells stories in the form of ancient scrolls and explores what it takes to find abundance in your life. Needless to say there are some good lessons about the mindset it takes to make your dreams come true.
The Lesson: “You were not created for a life of idleness.”
Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy AND The Science of Breath by Yogi-Ramacharaka
Okay, I know what you’re thinking, what does these two books have to do with Under30CEO? Well, if you are looking for an edge in life and in business, I highly recommend practicing yoga, or at least gaining an understanding of how to create greater focus in your life. Yoga has done this for me, and these two classic texts will fill you in on the basics of yogi philosophy. Take what you like and leave the rest…
The Lesson: From the beginning of time, many of the world’s most successful people have taken time to observe the world differently and see themselves as part of the bigger picture.
Iceland, India, Interstate by Colin Wright
Dude, Iceland again? Yes, as you can see, I’m a bit obsessed, but this was the most fun I had reading a book all year. Colin was one of our very first writers at Under30CEO and I’ve been following his Exile Lifestyle blog for years. Every three months his followers decide where he should live next. As you can imagine, Colin has some pretty ridiculous stories, and some interesting thoughts on living differently. The e-book is only $5.99 on Amazon right now.
The Lesson: Go out there and LIVE. Life is short, take advantage of it, and when you get a crazy idea–go for it.
The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau
As I embarked on my own journey to go location independent, I wanted to be sure I checked out other bloggers who are doing awesome things from abroad. Being unconventional is something that I pride myself on and Guillebeau is the leader of the tribe. Hands down, this was the best book I read all year, and I love what Chris is doing. The guy is on a mission to visit every country in the world, his book tour hit every single state, and if anyone can get me a ticket to his World Domination Summit in 2013, I’ll be forever grateful.
The Lesson: “If something is worth doing, you might as well do it all the way–so I’ve added ‘radical goalsetting’ to my own unconventional life planning.”
The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
I clearly couldn’t get enough of Guillebeau, so I immediately downloaded his next book. This book is much more basic, and gives you very clear instructions and how-to’s to get a business off the ground with just $100. Imagine Tim Ferriss without the fluff, and right into the nuts and bolts of how to start your lifestyle business. I read this one quickly since I’ve already been completely broke and developed a website for $175 in India, but if you haven’t– get on it.
The Lesson: Passion or Skill + Usefulness = Success
The Power of Less by Leo Babauta
I’m a huge fan of Leo’s Zen Habits blog and find that the simplest things can make a huge impact in your life. Leo is no yogi, he’s simply a regular guy who is a master at cutting out the noise, simplifying life, and focusing on what is important. I never understood what people meant by “being present” and thought it was esoteric until I read this Zen Habits post. Being a minimalist myself, I can truly attest that you can do more with less.
The Lesson: “Doing more things means you’re likely to do a lot of unimportant things, and you’ll be overworked and stressed at the same time.”
Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer by Chuck Thompson
This isn’t a business book, but if you are into travel, and want to hear from people who think differently about the world and have had crazy experiences, Thompson can fill you in on some of his adventures. This is a book filled with stuff too graphic and too real for your typical travel magazine. I’m a big fan of anyone who goes against the grain, gets fired for standing up for what they believe in, or exposes the truths about an industry. Thompson writes a page-turner detailing how jaded the travel journalism industry is.
The Lesson: Be bold… And do whatever it takes to get discounts in the travel industry.
Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
Zappos was my favorite startup story since reading Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson. Listening to how Tony sold his first venture for $245 million, bought a bunch of San Francisco apartments for him and his friends to work and party from, went flat broke trying to build Zappos, and finally was acquired for $1.2 billion by Amazon, is truly amazing. Hsieh works in a ton of actionable pieces of advice on how to succeed serving millions of customers in first-class fashion, and creating a first-class, yet quirky, place to work.
The Lesson: There will never be another 2013. When Tony sold his first venture to Microsoft, he said there would never be another 1999, and went to work on his next act, passing up millions of guaranteed dollars if he had simply stayed with the company and let his shares vest… All to chase his passion.
The 4 Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss
Admittedly, Tim has made a huge impact on my life. I read the Four Hour Work Week in 2007 and am living the dream to this day. The Four Hour Body helped cement what I already practiced in the weight room, so I couldn’t help but pickup his next book. While I’m not taking up any new adventures in the kitchen, there is a really good section on how to learn anything, which has helped me with my pursuits of both Spanish and French. Even if you could care less about the kitchen, you should pay attention to the radical ways Tim gets publicity.
The Lesson: Whatever you want to do in life, think about how to hack the system, so you can compete with only the best.
Matt Wilson is co-founder of Under30Media. Join Matt abroad on his next adventure at http://under30experiences.com and sign up for more information on their trips to Iceland, Alaska, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Bali.
Follow @MattWilsontv
