Best Books for Starting a Business: 48 CEO Picks

Eric Ries replaces the detailed business plan with quick experiments, validated learning about customers and honest progress measures, so a new venture can change course before it runs out of money. Sheryl Sandberg values its view of how tech companies build products and businesses.

Peter Thiel, drawing on his Stanford startup course, argues that founders should build something new with defensible value rather than copy what already works, and should look for secrets others have missed. Casey Neistat points to its idea of how hard it is to turn nothing into something.

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson reject much of the usual advice to new businesses, from business plans and outside investors to long hours and early hiring, and tell founders to start doing the work. Mark Cuban says he would back a reader of it over an MBA.

Michael E. Gerber takes apart common myths about starting a business, follows a firm from infancy to maturity and argues that owners should work on the business rather than in it, using franchise-style systems. Brian Scudamore read it twice in a row and says no book affected him more.

Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares argue that steady customer growth decides whether a startup survives, and their Bullseye framework helps founders test nineteen channels to find the ones that work. Joel Gascoigne learned from it to give customer growth equal time with product work.

Jessica Livingston asks the founders of companies such as PayPal, Apple, Flickr and Hotmail about the origin of their ideas, raising early money and the mistakes of the first months. Joel Gascoigne read it in Buffer’s first months and found it practical as well as inspiring.

Derek Sivers started CD Baby by adding a Buy Now button to his band’s site and grew it into an online store he later sold, then boiled the experience into 40 short lessons. Tim Ferriss calls it a manifesto and a guidebook.

Ed McLaughlin left a corporate job to start two companies, one that failed and one he bootstrapped into the Inc. 500, and uses both to argue for distinctive competence and profit in every decision. Barbara Corcoran calls it a roadmap for winning the startup game.

Chris Guillebeau studies people who built businesses earning at least $50,000 from tiny starting investments, and argues that a venture needs no MBA, formal plan or staff, only overlap between a skill and what customers will buy. Tony Hsieh says it shows starting can be easier than expected.

Steve Blank argues that a startup is searching for a business model rather than running one, and his four-step Customer Development process tests assumptions with customers while mistakes are still cheap. Marc Andreessen told founders to keep it under their pillow.

Brad Feld and David Cohen gather short essays from TechStars mentors and founders on the lessons heard most often in the accelerator, from ideas and hiring to fundraising and incorporation. Jilliene Helman names it her top pick for a company that is just getting started.

Felix Dennis, a college dropout who built a publishing business without family money, passes on hard lessons to people ready to start a venture of their own, arguing that being young and broke can be an advantage. Sam Parr says no book did more for his entrepreneurial career.

Rob Fitzpatrick explains why asking people whether a business idea is good invites polite lies, and shows founders how to run customer conversations that reveal what is true. Roxana Bitoleanu would rank it first, since nothing else teaches how to ask without leading.

Paul Jarvis argues that a business can commit to staying small and still be profitable, and covers setting up shop, revenue targets, cash flow and keeping key clients. Cal Newport endorses its case for making a business better instead of bigger.

Elaine Biech covers the practical work of setting up a consulting business, from the business plan, marketing and fees to client relationships and growth, for people still deciding whether to go independent. Marjorie Blanchard says it is the one book she would choose if starting out today.

Daniel DiPiazza launched several businesses without capital by selling his skills, and lays out steps for testing an idea, setting priorities and promoting a venture as an alternative to slow promotions at work. Arne Giske says it showed him age is no barrier to building a business.

Rand Fishkin tells how Moz grew slowly out of an indebted mother-and-son firm and uses that story to question startup advice on minimum viable products, growth hacking and venture money. Seth Godin calls it an honest account of the lows as well as the highs of building a company.

Pia Silva explains how she and her partner went from debt and 100-hour weeks to a profitable branding practice by selling services without ads, with worksheets on positioning and pricing. Julia Pimsleur calls it a roadmap for anyone building a services business or personal brand.

Dan Shapiro, a four-time founder, organizes his advice around five phases of a startup, from shaping the idea and splitting equity through funding, leadership and management to closing out a company. Kristen Hamilton calls it solid and realistic advice.

Ash Maurya combines Lean Startup, Customer Development and bootstrapping into a step-by-step process for finding a problem worth solving and testing a solution in small, fast iterations before building too much. Garrett Moon recommends it for building products the lean way.

Patrick J. McGinnis explains how to commit ten percent of one’s hours and money to startups while keeping a salary, acting as founder, angel or adviser, with profiles such as a lobster-roll business run beside a corporate job. Andrea Loubier pairs it with Girlboss for planning a first venture.

Amos Schwartzfarb of Techstars argues that young companies die when revenue grows too slowly, and sets out how founders should sell, hire salespeople and use early sales to raise money. Brad Feld calls it the sales playbook every startup founder needs.

JJ Ramberg, with Lisa Everson and Frank Silverstein, gathers short tips for small business owners on hiring, finance, PR and sales, with advice from well-known founders. Simon Sinek suggests giving a copy to any entrepreneur.

Wilson Harrell, the entrepreneur behind Formula 409 as well as flops such as Toasta-Pizza, shares the instincts he relied on, how to raise money and how to manage a young company. Alden Mills says it first opened his mind to entrepreneurship.

John L. Nesheim covers each phase of a high-tech startup, from the business plan and valuation to funding and an eventual IPO, with 23 case studies showing what founders and investors earned. Lucas Morales found it dated but useful for planning to survive rather than to chase unicorn status.

Edward Winkleman walks through opening a gallery, from the business plan and start-up capital to location, staff, cash flow and keeping artists and collectors. Zach Feuer says it holds information he wishes he had known before starting his own gallery.

Erlend Bakke rebuilt his work after a health scare on a London tube train, and explains how to run a profitable business without constant stress and how to launch a virtual company without putting money in. Marvin Liao recommends it.

Guy Kawasaki updates his guide for founders now that business plans matter less, social media replaces PR and crowdfunding can stand in for investors, while team, product and competitors remain the hard parts. Deepak Hariharan says it was his bible when he started up.

Noam Wasserman draws on data from close to 10,000 founders to show how early choices, such as founding alone or with friends and how to split equity, decide whether a startup survives. Cody McLain recommends it for anyone running a startup.

Chris Brogan writes for misfits who want more than a cubicle job, with stepwise instructions for building a company from nothing around their passions and values, including the basic frameworks most beginners miss. Scott Oldford says it changed his life.

Daymond John started FUBU on a $40 budget selling home-sewn clothes in Queens, and argues that a lack of money pushes founders to be more creative, frugal and close to customers. Sujan Patel recommends it as proof that bootstrapping can build a lasting business.

Jay Niblick tackles the discomfort solo consultants and coaches feel about selling, with a five-step process for finding qualified leads and turning them into paying clients as the practice grows. Mike Koenigs praises it as a system for winning business faster.

Chris Guillebeau collects 100 side businesses started by teachers, coders and families, from ice pops to city tours, and adds steps for launching one, from spotting overlooked markets to building a product. Gretchen Rubin praises it for pairing inspiration with action.

Roger Fields, a restaurant owner and consultant, rejects the idea of a mysterious X factor and walks through opening a restaurant, from concept, location and menu to staffing and profit. Grégoire Jacquet, a veteran owner, says it holds the know-how to open and run a thriving restaurant.

Ben Horowitz writes mainly about running a company through hard times, such as firing friends, poaching recruits and knowing when to sell, drawn from building technology firms. Michael Dell says it is candid about the thrills and perils of starting a business.

Robert Kiyosaki’s parables are mainly about money, contrasting a salaried father with one who built wealth through business and investing. Many founders, including Kris Reid and Vincent Pugliese, say it first pushed them to stop being employees and start a business.

Phil Knight’s memoir tells how he borrowed fifty dollars, sold Japanese running shoes from his car and survived bankers and rivals to build Nike. Bill Gates calls it an honest reminder that the path to business success is messy and full of mistakes.

Tony Hsieh recounts his ventures from childhood schemes to LinkExchange and Zappos, arguing that a company built on culture and happiness can also profit. Joel Gascoigne says it pushed Buffer to set its values while it still had seven people.

Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson explain venture financing term by term, from valuations to convertible debt, for founders raising money for a new company. Tracy Osborn says she consulted it nearly every day while fundraising.

Taylor Pearson holds that globalization and new technology have moved the sources of money and freedom, and presents entrepreneurship as the strongest career choice for the young. Sujan Patel recommends it to founders leaving the nine-to-five.

Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur’s handbook is mainly about designing and renewing business models with the Business Model Canvas. Alexandra Stroe pairs it with The Lean Startup for young companies still testing their model.

Jay Conrad Levinson’s marketing manual offers small business owners hundreds of low-cost tactics for attracting clients, keeping them coming back and getting referred. Robert Hajnal turns to it when building something from scratch, and Pat Walls calls it ahead of its time.

Scott Belsky concentrates on the ups and downs after a venture’s launch and first funding, with lessons on team, product and leadership drawn from founders and companies of every size. Joe Gebbia compares a new venture to jumping off a cliff and calls the book the parachute.

Jim Koch left consulting to brew a family recipe when others doubted him, and draws business lessons on sales, hiring and culture from building the Boston Beer Company. Tony Hsieh calls it sound advice on turning a passion into a business.

Josh Kaufman’s self-taught alternative to business school covers marketing, sales, entrepreneurship and operations through simple mental models, giving a new owner the core concepts in one volume. Brian Burkhart likes its short lessons from finance to marketing.

Maria Ross treats a brand as a company’s promise and personality rather than its logo, with a ten-question process for building a brand strategy that a small business can afford. Seth Godin and Ann Handley both endorse it.

Through 20 months of faxes, the Banana Republic founders Mel and Patricia Ziegler and Bill Rosenzweig record turning an idea into a tea company, and the book reprints their real business plan. It appears on a reading list from Seth Godin.

John Warrillow uses the story of an agency owner who cannot sell his firm to argue that a business should be teachable, specialized and repeatable so it can run without its founder. Turgay Birand says entrepreneurs should plan for this from the start.