Ben Horowitz knows how hard it is to run a business, and he is brutally honest about it. The cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz draws on his experiences in founding, running, selling, and investing in companies. The book offers essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems in running your venture that business schools don't cover.
A step-by-step, encyclopedic reference manual by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf on how to build and scale a successful startup. Best to read this book in parts and reference it whenever you need help with a particular section.
Learn the path Tony Hsieh took at Zappos, which he joined and became CEO after selling LinkExchange to Microsoft, to grow the company to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in less than ten years. A great book on creating the a strong and customer-oriented company culture.
Originals at its core is a book about how to champion new ideas and fight groupthink. Adam Grant explores how to recognize a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt using studies and stories spanning business, politics, sports, and entertainment.
Great marketers don't use consumers to solve their company's problem; they use marketing to solve other people's problems. Seth Godin's book is a culmination of decades of experience to help people understand marketing and apply its core ideas to their own businesses. A must read book on marketing.
Understanding and setting up analytics is key to building your business. This book can teach you how to solve crucial challenges such as measuring social media and multichannel campaigns, applying the right analytics techniques and correctly, and becoming more data-driven in growing your business.
