Best Public Relations Books for Entrepreneurs and Professionals

Here are some of the guests and some of their books, in no particular order. I recommend all of the below books. If I didn't like a book, I wouldn't have them on the show.

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

If given a choice between investing in someone who has read Rework or has an MBA, I'm investing in Rework every time. This is a must read for every entrepreneur.

Mark Cuban

Co-founder/HDNet & Broadcast.com

In terms of sci-fi books, I think Isaac Asimov is really great. I like the Foundation series, probably one of the all-time best.

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

I don’t read “business books”. I may read books which were classified as “Business”, “Leadership”, etc; but, if I do, I do so in spite of the category they’ve been deemed to belong to, not because of it.

I generally split books into three main categories. Here are the titles –sorry, but I simply can’t pick just one– that currently hold the top spots in each:

[...]

Biography/Memoir: Andre Agassi’s and J. R. Moehringer’s “Open“; Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love“; and Salman Rushdie’s “Joseph Anton“.

Gabriel Coarna

Founder/Readable

This is the most important—and fascinating—book yet written about how the digital age will affect our world. With vivid examples and brilliant analysis, it shows how the internet and other communications technologies will empower individuals and transform the way nations and businesses operate. How will different societies make tradeoffs involving privacy, freedom, control, security, and the relationship between the physical and virtual worlds? This realistic but deeply optimistic book provides the guideposts. It’s both profoundly wise and wondrously readable.

Walter Isaacson

Author

Clay’s Innovator’s Dilemma was important. Also, about 10 years later, he had another which really had a profound impact on me and on my belief systems – How will you measure your life.

Dragos Novac

CEO/Nordic 9

It's a history of science book that explores the question of whether science and technology make consistent forward progress or whether progress comes in bursts related to other social forces. I tend to think that science is a consistent force for good in the world. I think we'd all be better off if we invested more in science and acted on the results of research. I'm excited to explore this theme further.

Mark Zuckerberg

CEO/Facebook

The unassuming Georgetown computer science professor has become one of this generation’s leading voices on how we can all work more wisely and more deeply. With media consumption continuing to go way up (which, for most of us, means happiness and productivity continue to go way down) and the world becoming noisier every day, this book is an urgent call to action for anyone serious about being in command of their own life. The minimalism movement successfully led millions to opt out of the many possessions we’re told we’re supposed to crave and focus instead on the small number of things that bring the most meaning and value to our lives. The same ideology applies to our online lives. Digital clutter is stressful. We don’t need the constant connectivity, the pages and pages of apps, the incessant scrolling and clicking. New technologies can improve our lives if we know how to best leverage them. This book already helped me break my Facebook addiction—and the first month of the year has been a big improvement for me because of that.

Ryan Holiday

Media Strategist, Author, Founder/Brass Check

Recommended by Bogdana Butnar (Head of Strategy/Poke)

Source: Bogdana Butnar - The Ultimate Books to Read List

Of the five books I finished over vacation, the one that impressed me the most – and that is probably of broadest interest – is Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by science writer Joshua Foer. This is an absolutely phenomenal book that looks at memory and techniques for dramatically improving memory. Foer actually mastered these techniques, which led him to the finals of the U.S. Memory Championship. His book gives fascinating insights into how the mind works.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Recommended by Ola Olusoga (Co-founder/Populum)

Source: Interview with Ola Olusoga: How Books Have Guided His Path To Self-Discovery

While likely uncomfortable for a lot of people, it was excellent, provocative, and challenging all at the same time.

Brad Feld

Investor, Co-Founder/Foundry Group

Most recent (like several years ago) was about blockchain technology. After reading many articles about blockchain, bitcoin and cryptocurrency I had a "Eureka" moment when reading Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott. That moment when I realized the potential of this technology and the massive changes that can literally transform the world we are living. A true paradigm shift.

Antonio Eram

Founder & CEO/NETOPIA mobilPay

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman impacted how I interpret and receive love. Not just romantically, but in my friendships and business relationships. I had several personal and professional relationships that improved when I could appreciate that their "love language" was different than mine. I could at least see their efforts as an attempt at showing me love and kindness, even if it wasn't how I best receive or give love. This is pivotal. And if you can separate out the idea of it being for romantic partners only, I'd say this is critical reading for leaders. Not everyone is motivated and feels appreciation by a raise. Sometimes, public recognition of kind words or an act of kindness will feel better than anything else you can do.

Kaci Lambe Kai

Writer, Photographer, Designer

I was a little surprised to learn what a bad manager Nixon was. Although it doesn’t compare to his other failings, Nixon’s management style offers some good reminders of how not to run a team. He avoided conflict at all costs. His staff frequently left meetings with diametrically opposed views on what he had just asked them to do. Or he would be crystal-clear about what he wanted, while actually expecting his staff to ignore his demands. His team wisely blew off his repeated orders to break into the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, and steal a document that might be damaging to him.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

I can’t remember the last time a book affected me as profoundly as Three Women. Lisa Taddeo is a tireless reporter, a brilliant writer, and a storyteller possessed of almost supernatural humanity. As far as I’m concerned, this is a nonfiction literary masterpiece at the same level as In Cold Blood—and just as suspenseful, bone-chilling, and harrowing, in its own way. I know already that I will never stop thinking about the women profiled in this story—about their sexual desire, their emotional pain, their strength, their losses. I saw myself in all of them. Truly, Three Women is an extraordinary offering.

Elizabeth Gilbert

Author

Recommended by Raluca Radu (Owner/MTH Digital)

Source: Interview with Raluca Radu, owner of MTH Digital

Torossian's For Immediate Release is a fearless, bold, clear, honest, and practical look at how PR shapes minds, ideas, and businesses. It is required reading for any business or brand interested in making an impact in today's 24/7 media world.

Daymond John

Founder & CEO of FUBU

Recommended by Jeff Gibbard (Chief Brand Officer/From The Future)

Source: Social Business Strategist Jeff Gibbard Shares the Books That Formed His Business Perspective

It’s incredible how he almost single-handedly took a third world country and built it into a first-world country in one generation.

Will Shu

Founder/Deliveroo

Recommended by Irina Botnari (Managing Partner & Co-Founder/Bucur's Shelter Hostel)

Source: Irina Botnari, Co-Founder at Bucur's Shelter Hostel, on Books, Her Love for Stories and Biographies

Is the future knowable, and by whom? All pundits and commentators should publish their prediction track records, yet don't. What to pay attention to and what to ignore.

Marc Andreessen

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

This is a colorful and insightful insiders’ view of how technology is both empowering us and threatening us. From privacy to cyberattacks, this timely book is a useful guide for how to navigate the digital future.

Walter Isaacson

Author

The alternate click-bait title of Ann’s great new book could have been 73 Ways to Improve Your Writing and Conquer the World! …and it would have been an understatement. We’re all publishers now, and the better writers connect, persuade, and win. Be one of them with this book.

Brian Clark

Founder & CEO/Copyblogger Media

Recommended by Tudor Teodorescu (Founder/Transylvania Uncharted)

Source: Tudor Teodorescu, Founder of Transylvania Uncharted, Shares the Story of How a Book Shaped His Life Path

A prominent whistleblower chronicles her experience fighting discrimination against women and people of color in tech.

Eric Ries

Founder/Long-Term Stock Exchange

How to make amazing products. Super fun to read too.

Lewis Smith

Entrepreneur & Developer/BodyTracker

Gang Leader for a Day is loosely related to the themes Better Angels in that it explores what life is like for those who don't live under effective governance. I'm looking forward to reading this and finishing up Better Angels.

Mark Zuckerberg

CEO/Facebook

Make sure to pick up the revised edition. For my generation, most advice is pretty obvious (blogs are Social Media too - oh I didn’t know that already :D), but there are some interesting cases and thoughts on going viral.

Kyrylo Taranenko

Head of Marketing/Y-Productive

Crystallizing Public Opinion was written by the Godfather of PR. Bernays combined crowd psychology with the psychoanalytical ideas of his uncle, Sigmund Freud, to become the first thinker to explain how PR could thrive by managing public opinion. It’s truly incredible how poignant his insights and analysis remain in popular culture.

Ronn Torossian

CEO, Founder/5W PR

If you know an entrepreneur, give them a copy of @jjramberg new book to help them on their journey.

Simon Sinek

Best-selling Author

My favorite book of the summer so far: Jonathan Dee. "A Thousand Pardons."

Malcolm Gladwell

Writer & Journalist

In spite of his unusual beginning--or more likely because of it--Frank Abagnale’s abilities to teach us how to avoid fraud are second to none. He’s been there, he’s done that, so if you want to know how the criminals will come at you, and how to protect yourself from them, buy this book.

John Miller

Former Assistant Director for Public Affairs, FBI

Recommended by Bogdana Butnar (Head of Strategy/Poke)

Source: Bogdana Butnar - The Ultimate Books to Read List

Recommended by Lucas Morales (Founder & CEO/Zeall.us)

Source: Lucas Morales, Founder & CEO of Zeall.us, Gave Entrepreneurship Its First Shot at the Age of 14

Where How to Break Up with Your Phone took a pretty tame view of social media – hey, maybe it’s not great, so let’s just do a bit less – this book goes for the jugular. Reviewing all the ways social media companies are conspiring against us, selling our attention to the highest bidder (whether that be an ad for a new car or a new president), and how the algorithms that drive social-media engagement are self-optimizing for the worst of everything.

There wasn’t that much new information here, especially for someone who’s been paying close attention to the social media landscape for years, but there was a renewed sense of outrage and purpose and contextualization. The idea that you don’t have to believe that Zuckerberg or Sandberg are evil masterminds plotting to derail civilization to accept that social-media engagement algorithms that run on auto-pilot much of the time could very well get us there.

David Heinemeier Hansson

Co-Founder/Basecamp

Churchill, A Life by Martin Gilbert is the most impactful book I've read this year. I generally enjoy reading biographies, as they're a great way to understand history in a more personal viewpoint, while also getting a glimpse of how influential figures overcame adversities and pursued their ambitions.

Churchill's life stood out to me for a couple reasons. When you think about the personal decisions made before, during, and after World War II, it's really amazing to realize how much one person's vision and leadership influenced the outcome of world affairs during the 1900s. During his long public career of 50+ years, it is admirable to see how he navigated politics and overcame setbacks to reach the pinnacle of his career as a war time prime minister.

Overall, it was very humbling to learn about Churchill's work ethic. As a political leader as well as an author, he is a true example of a public servant who envisioned a better (and more peaceful) world order and worked hard throughout his career to carry out that vision while also securing his legacy in history.

Gunhee Park

Co-Founder/Populum

The book is about the concept of "common knowledge" and how people process the world not only based on what we personally know, but what we know other people know and our shared knowledge as well.

This is an important idea for designing social media, as we often face tradeoffs between creating personalized experiences for each individual and crafting universal experiences for everyone. I'm looking forward to exploring this further.

Mark Zuckerberg

CEO/Facebook

Recommended by Drew McLellan (Founder/McLellan Marketing Group & Agency Management Institute)

Source: Drew McLellan, Founder of McLellan Marketing Group: ‘I read to find perspective’

If you do enjoy this biography, I followed it up with a few others I consider to be in the same league: Knight’s Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel by David Fraser, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, and Mencken: The American Iconoclast.

Ryan Holiday

Founder/Brass Check

In The Meaning of Culture, John Cowper Powys makes the point that the difference between education and culture is that culture is the incorporation of music, art, literature, and philosophy not just into your library or your CV but into who you are. He talks too about the interplay of culture and life, the way that what we read can enrich what we experience, and what we experience can enrich what we read.

Tim O'Reilly

Founder/O'Reilly Media

I knew nothing about Queen Victoria but Julia Baird does an amazing job of making her accessible and interesting–and captures just what life was like for a woman in the 19th century, even if she was a queen!

Ryan Holiday

Media Strategist, Author, Founder/Brass Check

Recommended by Yaro Starak (Founder/Entrepreneurs-Journey.com)

Source: Yaro Starak, Founder of Entrepreneurs-Journey.com: ’’There’s no such thing as failure, there’s only stepping stones to success’’

Recommended by Barack Obama (Former USA President)

Source: Every book Barack Obama has recommended during his presidency

Colin Wilson's The Outsider is another book that addresses the same theme: the untapped power of the mind and its constant battle with the world, to make sense of it, or be broken by it. But the book is also significant for me because at 23, reading this book, I wanted to write something as good as Wilson had done at that age. (For a wonderful story recapitulating Wilson's ideas, I also recommend his takeoff on H.P. Lovecraft, The Mind Parasites.) Wilson also shaped my relationship to books. So many critics write about literature and philosophy as a dead thing, an artifact. Wilson writes about it as a conversation with another mind about what is true.

Tim O'Reilly

Founder/O'Reilly Media

Recommended by Lucas Morales (Founder & CEO/Zeall.us)

Source: Lucas Morales, Founder & CEO of Zeall.us, Gave Entrepreneurship Its First Shot at the Age of 14

I’m especially interested in the central question that Doris Kearns Goodwin raises in The Bully Pulpit. How does social change happen? Can it be driven by a single inspirational leader, or do other factors have to lay the groundwork first? Sometimes a single leader can make a big difference: In the field of global health, Jim Grant almost single-handedly created a global constituency for children, sparking a movement to double vaccination rates and save millions of lives. But Roosevelt’s case was different. Although he tried to push through a number of political reforms earlier in his career, he wasn’t really successful until journalists at McClure’s and other publications had rallied public support for change.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Sonia Purnell’s examination of Winston’s better half was truly revelatory. (Churchill said the best decision he ever made in his life was marrying Clementine and this book makes it clear just how many times she saved his ass).

Ryan Holiday

Media Strategist, Author, Founder/Brass Check

Wish all books maximized learning per hour of reading time. A very well done book on branding and new brand values. It will be the death of many incumbents.

Vinod Khosla

Co-Founder/Sun Microsystem

The Palm at the End of the Mind, by Wallace Stevens. Stevens is my favorite poet, and this is the most commonly available collection of his poems. His meditations on the relationship of language and reality have entranced me for more than thirty years. I keep reading the same poems, and finding more and more in them. Also someone I quote often. Special favorites are "Sunday Morning," "An Ordinary Evening in New Haven," and "Esthetique du Mal."

Tim O'Reilly

Founder/O'Reilly Media

I was riveted (and appalled) by Tiger Woods and probably talked to more people about this book than anything else I read this year.

Ryan Holiday

Media Strategist, Author, Founder/Brass Check

Recommended by Boban Dedovic (Serial Entrepreneur)

Source: Serial Entrepreneur Boban Dedovic Talks about the Books that Changed His Viewpoints

Solitude is the birthplace of clarity and perspective. As a leader, I've experienced this truth and as a researcher I've seen the power that solitude brings to leaders. The tough part is that it takes real courage and discipline to make solitude a practice. In this important book, Ray Kethledge and Mike Erwin show us how it's done and the profound difference it can make in our organizations.

Brene Brown

Author & Researcher

Written by the founder of a major crisis PR firm, the book is an insider's guide into the world of crisis communications. It's a crisis PR handbook!

Ronn Torossian

CEO, Founder/5W PR

While the title is more recognized for the movie, it is the book that provides the greatest perspective and strategic insight. Buckley provides an inimitable window into the development and creation of narratives, and how imperative it is for industries and brands to understand how to shape them.

Ronn Torossian

CEO, Founder/5W PR

PR is notoriously a hard industry to succeed in. And as an entrepreneur, it’s really hard -
and sometimes you have to make decisions that are not always easy but best for the company. A great book — necessary reading for everyone at 5WPR — is the great business book, The No Asshole Rule. The book’s theory, while seemingly obvious, is quite difficult to adhere to for many people – learn to cut your losses. We’ve had to resign clients when they no longer fit our business. It’s an unfortunate reality that you must eliminate aspects of your business that are no longer serving your mission.

One can be tough without being an asshole. A key lesson in business, and in life.

Ronn Torossian

CEO, Founder/5W PR

Diermeier, a professor from the Kellogg School of Management, examines and explores how a company can “face humiliation and possibly even ruin within seconds of a negative tweet or blog post.” As a crisis communications veteran, I am fascinated by his analysis and tactics on reputation.

Ronn Torossian

CEO, Founder/5W PR

Currently, I read something like A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen. Which is one of my favorite books.

Dmitry Dragilev

Founder/JustReachOut & PR That Converts

The Senility of Vladimir P.: A Novel by Michael Honig [is] really funny. Takes your mind off the business world, it puts you in a different reality, sort of like Soviet Russia, Communist Russia. I’m from there, so makes sense.

Dmitry Dragilev

Founder/JustReachOut & PR That Converts

Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki was my bible when I started up. If you plan to become an entrepreneur – this is an absolute must-read.

Deepak Hariharan

Founder & CEO/MentorYes

One changing point for me was reading Blog Marketing by Jeremy Wright lots of years ago. Made me rethink my entire online business orientation.

Mircea Scarlatescu

Co-Founder/123flori.ro

I just finished Vincent Cronin’s book on Napoleon, a man who definitely needed better PR. Napoleon codified the laws for the first time in Europe. He was constantly limiting kings and other tyrants. He opened the ghettos and stopped religious discrimination. He was an extraordinary man who wrote a lot of laws himself. He was incredibly polite, generous almost to a fault, a remarkable person who was vilified. By who? The kings that he deposed — the kings of England, and the old king of France, and the kings of Prussia, and the Tsar of Russia — were all threatened by this man who was bringing democracy.

I think it’s interesting to read this book and look at Napoleon and see how history has treated him. Even the expression “Napoleon complex,” Napoleon was average height for a French person. The idea is just preposterous, treating maybe the most gifted man of the 19th century as some kind of despot. He was a liberator, a law-giver, and a man of incredible gifts. He never considered himself a soldier, he considered himself a politician, though he was probably the greatest general in all history.

It’s interesting to read about him for a couple of reasons: to see what one man of modest birth can do with his life, and to see how history can distort the truth entirely. The job of historians is often just that, to distort history, because history is based on fashion. So we’re changing American history all the time, whatever’s politically fashionable. The school districts decide they want to emphasize this person in history, and de-emphasize that person. It’s illuminating to understand that even history is based on fashion. Even morality — popular morality — is based on fashion. Real morality is based on reason, and never make the mistake between the two.

Larry Ellison

Co-Founder/Oracle