An Aspiring Entrepreneurs Reading List

I recently published a post here asking for suggested reading for aspiring entrepreneurs. I want to share with you the most common books that were suggested to me when I asked fellow entrepreneurs what book they commonly recommended to people thinking about getting started with their own business.

• Rich Dad Poor Dad — Not all of us start out with a rich dad. Learn how to think about money and cash flow like a wealthy person. There are three key ideas you will walk away with: Robert Kiyosaki shares how his two dads — his actual father (poor dad) and the father of his best friend (rich dad) — shaped his thoughts about money and investing. You don’t need to earn a high income to be rich. Finally, rich people make their money work for them.
• E-Myth Revisited- There is a difference between good at what you do and creating a business. This book will help you learn the value of working on your business, not just in your business. The book explains why 80% of small businesses fail, and how to ensure yours isn’t among those. Learn why you need to build a company that’s based on processes and systems and not on the work of a single person and their talent.
• The Lean Startup — Learn how to use the 5 WHY method to examine problems and innovate quickly. The Lean Startup business approach focuses on the development and innovation of new products, which focuses on quick releases & iterations, gaining customer insight (without asking them), creative innovation and big goals. The key is to ship out versions of the product as quickly as possible to get real data. Validate your assumptions and lessons and draw conclusions from this data, based on actual customer behavior.
• How to Win Friends and Influence People — The title says it all. This is an older book, so the style of writing might be a bit more challenging but is essential reading. Written by Andrew Carnegie, a self-made billionaire in the 19th century. The book is a self-help classic that reads as a manual for life. The central idea is that you can change other people’s behavior simply by changing your own first. It teaches you the principles to better understand people, become a more likable person, improve relationships, win others over, and influence behavior through leadership.
• Influence, New and Expanded: the Psychology of Persuasion — If you want to persuade people in your marketing, social media and sales efforts, you need to understand how. You’ll learn the seven universal principles, how to use them to become skilled at the art of persuasion. The seven principles include: Reciprocation, Commitment & Consistency, Social Proof, Authority, Liking, Scarcity and Unity. The new and expanded version added a seventh principle that he calls Unity, what we call finding your tribe.
• Made to Stick — Learn to master the Success model to improve your storytelling ability. They based the book on 10 years of study, where the Heath brothers answered the question: “Why do some ideas succeed while others die”? “A sticky idea is one that is understandable, memorable, and actually changes perspectives or behaviours. Not all ideas are sticky. Although with their process it is possible to turn them into sticky ideas. We have seen their concept of the “curse of knowledge” cost entrepreneurs tons of opportunity.

What books do you feel were left out?