Be an Ethical Entrepreneur, Marketer, and Business Builder

Entrepreneur Books

On a regular basis people ask me what are the BEST business books they should read.

Well the one you should read depends on the biggest problem you are currently trying to solve.

The list below has segmented books into a series of categories based on common topics. For each topic, the best book I’ve read on that specific topic is listed at the top and then it goes down from there.

Keep in mind, I recommend ALL of these books, but if you’re looking for the best results in the shortest amount of time, start at the top and work your way down in each category.

If you’d like the Bryan’s Notes version of each book, many I’ve read on my Kindle so you can read my highlights from my Kindle profile.

Since I’m obsessed with mine, do yourself a favor and get all of these on your Amazon Kindle. Plus the books are usually cheaper.

Entrepreneurial & General Business Books

  1. The Star Principle: How it Can Make You Rich by Richard Koch
  2. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
  3. Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) by Verne Harnish
  4. 80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More by Perry Marshall
  5. What Really Works: The 4+2 Formula for Sustained Business Success by William Joyce, Nitin Nohria, and Bruce Roberson
  6. Billionaire In Training (Instant Success) by Brad Sugars
  7. The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value by Frederick F. Reichheld
  8. Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
  9. Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat (Agora Series) by Michael Masterson
  10. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber
  11. Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow
  12. The Great Game of Business, Expanded and Updated: The Only Sensible Way to Run a Company by Jack Stack, Bo Burlingham
  13. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
  14. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras
  15. In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters
  16. The Myth of the Garage by Chip and Dan Heath (It’s FREE to download to your Kindle)
  17. The Business Coach (Instant Success) by Brad Sugars
  18. Instant Cashflow (Instant Success) by Brad Sugars
  19. Rework by Jason Fried

Team Building Books

  1. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham
  2. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
  3. The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work – by Shawn Achor
  4. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us – by Daniel Pink
  5. Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness by Frederic Laloux
  6. Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment: How to Improve Productivity, Quality, and Employee Satisfaction by William C. Byham
  7. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick M. Lencioni
  8. The One Thing You Need to Know: … About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success by Marcus Buckingham
  9. Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham
  10. The Power of Scrum by Jeff Sutherland. This book gives you a high level picture of how Scrum can help your team accomplish more than you think possible.
  11. Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland. You need to read both of his books to fully grasp the concepts. This one gives you the nuts and bolts.
  12. Instant Team Building (Instant Success) by Brad Sugars
  13. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
  14. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh

Sales & Sales Training Books

  1. To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Dan Pink
  2. The Action Selling Sales Training Book Series (Action Selling Book Series) by Duane Sparks (3 books)
  3. ProActive Sales Management: How to Lead, Motivate, and Stay Ahead of the Game by William “Skip” Miller
  4. Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want by Dave Lakhani

Advertising and Marketing Books

  1. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Jack Trout and Al Ries
  2. Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins
  3. The 33 Ruthless Rules of Local Advertising by Michael Corbett
  4. Ice to the Eskimos: How to Market a Product Nobody Wants by Jon Spoelstra
  5. The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott
  6. Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today’s Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves by Adam L Penenberg
  7. Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping–Updated and Revised for the Internet, the Global Consumer, and Beyond by Paco Underhill
  8. The Ultimate Sales Letter: Attract New Customers. Boost Your Sales (Ultimate Sales Letter) by Dan Kennedy

Investing Books

  1. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
  2. The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley
  3. If You Can: How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly by William J. Bernstein
  4. The Richest Man in Babylon: Bestselling Guide to Financial Success: Saving Money and Putting it to Work for You by George S. Clayson
  5. The Warren Buffett Way, Second Edition by Robert G. Hagstrom
  6. Nothing Down for the 2000s: Dynamic New Wealth Strategies in Real Estate by Robert Allen

Personal Development Books

  1. The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
  2. The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How. by Daniel Coyle
  3. Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done by Josh Davis
  4. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman
  5. Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation by Sally Hogshead
  6. The Secret Code of Success: 7 Hidden Steps to More Wealth and Happiness by Noah St. John
  7. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Business Psychology Books

  1. The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch
  2. Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip and Dan Heath
  3. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcom Gladwell
  4. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath
  5. Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
  6. Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
  7. How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
  8. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Additional Educational Books and Resources

  1. American Courage: Remarkable True Stories Exhibiting the Bravery That Has Made Our Country Great edited by Herbert W. Warden III
  2. Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economicsby Henry Hazlitt
  3. 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done by Peter Bregman
  4. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher Mcdougall (not a business book but a great inspirational story that points out that some times the “experts” don’t have a clue)
  5. The Wall Street Journal
  6. Work the System by Sam Carpenter (Shows you how to systematize the back-end of your business.)