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Top 18 Books Every New Entrepreneur Should Read

Setting out into the world with a fresh idea for a startup, but don’t know where to begin? We have made it easy for you. Below you can find a list of 18 books on entrepreneurship that every new entrepreneur should read to seek inspiration and learn the tips and tricks of the business world.

 

Secret Sauce by Priya Bala and Jayanth Narayanan

Secret Sauce is an in-depth look at forty of India’s most iconic and successful restaurants, not just as landmarks and must-visit destinations, but also as businesses that have stood the test of time and upheld their standards of dining and culinary excellence.

From a hundred-year-old no-frills eatery in Bengaluru to an award-winning dine-out venue in Delhi, from inventive cafes to nationwide chains that have scaled admirably, this book is a sumptuous treat for aspiring food entrepreneurs, foodies, and anyone interested in the success secrets and inner workings of the restaurant business in India.

Buy Now!

 

Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

National bestselling author Gary Vaynerchuk is back with an inspiring new book offering profiles of internet entrepreneurs and fresh lessons on how they crushed it-how they turned their dreams into thriving businesses and extraordinary personal brands.

In his 2009 international bestseller Crush It!, Gary insisted that a vibrant personal brand was crucial to entrepreneurial success, In Crushing It!, Gary explains why that’s even more true today, offering his unique perspective on what has changed and what principles remain timeless

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The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson

Naval Ravikant is an entrepreneur, philosopher, and investor who has captivated the world with his principles for building wealth and creating long-term happiness.

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant is a collection of Naval’s wisdom and experience from the last ten years, shared as a curation of his most insightful interviews and poignant reflections. This isn’t a how-to book, or a step-by-step gimmick. Instead, through Naval’s own words, you will learn how to walk your own unique path toward a happier, wealthier life.

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The Biography of a Failed Venture by Prashant Desai

Prashant Desai was seven when he lost his father. Growing up in poverty, his single-minded focus was to become wealthy and successful.

In April 2017, Prashant Desai founded a venture to build the first truly Indian sports brand – D:FY. In six months, Rajiv Mehta, who started Puma India and led it for seven years, joined him as a partner. They opened seventeen stores in seven cities, riding on great aspirations and confidence. The business lost Rs 30 crore in thirty months, virtually wiping out all that Prashant had earned for nearly thirty years.

The Biography of a Failed Venture provides a brutally honest account of why D:FY failed and how entrepreneurs can avoid these pitfalls to make their business ventures successful.

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Startup Compass by Ujwal Kalra and Shobhit Shubhankar

Startup Compass covers ten stages in the journey of a startup using the experiences of some of the most inspirational startup experts in India and beyond.

This book is based on the ‘How to Start a Startup’ series at IIM Ahmedabad where over a series of lectures, successful entrepreneurs spoke of their success and failure across key stages of the startup lifecycle. Theirs are stories of grit and ambition, of vision being transformed into tangible reality, of dreamers, pioneers, steely-eyed achievers. They offer invaluable advice to those who would like to follow in their footsteps.

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Blitz Scaling by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh
From the authors of New York Times bestsellers, The Alliance and The Start-up of You, comes a smart and accessible must-have guide for budding entrepreneurs everywhere.
Featuring case studies from numerous prominent tech businesses such as AirBnB and WeChat, this book offers a specific set of practices for catalysing and managing dizzying growth in bourgeoning start-ups. Prioritising speed over efficiency in an environment of uncertainty, Blitz Scaling illustrates how businesses can accelerate to the stage in a company’s life cycle where the most value is generated.
In less than a decade, Xiaomi has gone from being a Chinese start-up to a global player in the smartphone market. Driven by the philosophy of ‘Innovation for all’, the company has a cult fan following; after all, it offers high-end features at relatively low prices.

How did a small Chinese start-up become so big in a matter of years? How has it managed a cult following in such a short time period when a company like Apple took decades? What’s the secret behind Xiaomi’s success? Such are the answers this book will provide at length.

The Art of a Happy Exit helps entrepreneurs get prepared for all that selling their business entails. The book covers not just the Outside game-positioning, prospecting, finding professional partners, negotiating, structuring, and executing, but the critical Inside game-the mental and emotional preparation needed even while retaining customers, employees, and the business.

Buy Now!

 

Connecting the Dots by John Chambers

Legendary Silicon Valley visionary and one of the world’s greatest business leaders, John Chambers shares the playbook and philosophy that transformed Cisco into a global tech titan and now inspire a new generation of leaders.

Both enlightening and practical, this is an essential read for inspiring a new generation of leaders.

Buy Now!

 

Straight Talk for Startups by Randy Komisar

Filled with helpful real-life examples and specific, actionable advice, Straight Talk for Startups is the ideal handbook for anyone running, working for, or thinking about creating a startup, or just curious about what makes high-potential ventures tick.

Simple guidelines for successful startups from veteran venture capitalist Randy Komisar and entrepreneur Jantoon Reigersman.

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What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz

In this follow-up to the bestselling business classic The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz turns his attention to a question crucial to every organisation: How do you create and sustain the culture you want?

What You Do Is Who You Are is a journey through cultures ancient to modern, spotlighting models of leadership and culture-building from the samurai to prison gangs. Along the way, it answers fundamental questions: Who are we? How do people talk about us when we’re not around? How do we treat our customers? Can we be trusted?

This book will help you do the things needed to become the kind of leader you want to be – and others want to follow.

Buy Now!

The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley’s most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology companies to offer essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems business schools don’t cover.
Filled with Horowitz’s trademark humor and straight talk, and drawing from his personal and often humbling experiences, this book is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures.
From Startup to Exit by Shirish Nadkarni

With successful tech entrepreneurs interviewed and featured throughout, From Startup to Exit will help you:

Understand exactly what tech startups must do to succeed in all phases, from idea stage to IPO. Gain invaluable insights from the journeys of other successful tech founders that can be applied to your own situation.
Learn how to raise millions of dollars of funding from angels and VCs to give your company the fuel it needs to take off and succeed.

Digital Goddess by Victoria R. Montgomery Brown
Being a female entrepreneur just may be the toughest job in the world. In Digital Goddess, Montgomery-Brown—founder of Big Think, a collection of experts across all fields and disciplines that are either at the top of their field or disrupting it, shares her story in an entertaining and educational light. Told from the unique, female entrepreneurial perspective that unpacks all the hurdles other female founders may face in their own journey to the top, Montgomery-Brown shares the real-world lessons she’s learned along the way.

Irrationally Passionate reveals the inside story of how a rebel, train-wreck teenager transformed himself into a successful young entrepreneur, business leader and trusted advisor in his 30s. From getting his first job as an assistant to Jackie Chan in Hong Kong, to learning strategy from champion Muay Thai boxers in Thailand, to tackling huge personal setbacks, to becoming a CEO in 60 seconds, among many other stories

Jason’s inspiring journey across countries, industries and companies has something for everyone. This book is a highly personal, authentic and open account of a young entrepreneur’s life. Brimming with practical advice and philosophical insights, it will compel readers to reflect on how they perceive life, work, family and spirituality by giving them a fresh perspective.

Using his rich experience as an investor and mentor to numerous start-ups, Sanjay Kulkarni provides you a ringside view of this world. In an accessible, jargon- free approach and illustrated with insider stories, Angel Investing arms you with all the tools and strategies needed to become a successful angel investor. Like a good guide, this book will help you in navigating the start-up eco-system, avoiding common pitfalls, investing smartly and identifying the next billion-dollar start-up.
This is the journey of a boy born in a remote village, who went from riding a bullock cart to owning an airline, a journey of an entrepreneur who built India’s first and largest low-cost airline. Filled with rich anecdotes of everyday struggles and joys, this is the awe-inspiring story of Captain G.R. Gopinath.
This autobiography narrates in gritty detail Captain Gopinath’s incredible journey: quitting the Indian Army in the late 1970s with a princely gratuity of Rs 6500, going back to his farm land inundated by the river, converting a piece of barren land to set up a farm for ecologically sustainable silkworm rearing, winning the Rolex award for it, his loves and passions, his extraordinary determination to launch an airline (which touched a crazy market cap of US$ 1.1 billion in less than four years ), in the process rewriting aviation history.
On the Move by Hari Khemka
Every entrepreneur’s story is different; each follows a unique path to success. Even so, Hari Khemka stands out, because of the sheer range of his entrepreneurship. From textiles to paper to household goods to steel to IT (hardware and software) to real estate to sound technology to surveillance equipment, he’s ‘been there and done that’. A one-man army, he always stays ahead of the curve, finding newer and ever more profitable paths.
On the Move is Hari Khemka’s account of his personal and professional life, peppered with anecdotes of his business triumphs and failures.
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