31 Books Every Entrepreneur Needs to Read in 2024
As an entrepreneur, you‘re always looking for ways to level up—whether that means honing your business skills, seeking out mentorship and advice, or getting inspired to tackle your next big challenge. One of the best ways to gain new knowledge and perspective is by reading the stories, lessons learned, and winning strategies of other successful entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators.
To help you build your ultimate reading list, we‘ve rounded up 31 of the most impactful books for entrepreneurs in 2024. Packed with timeless wisdom, practical advice, and powerful insights, these game-changing reads will help you supercharge your entrepreneurial journey in the year ahead.
Classic Business Books for Entrepreneurial Success
These essential books have stood the test of time and continue to be invaluable resources for today‘s entrepreneurs:
1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Originally published in 1936, Carnegie‘s masterpiece remains one of the most influential business and self-help books of all time. Learn how to build meaningful relationships, communicate effectively, and master the art of persuasion—skills that are crucial for any entrepreneur.
2. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Based on interviews with over 500 millionaires, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison, Hill‘s 1937 classic lays out the key principles and mental techniques used by the world‘s most successful people to build their fortunes. A must-read for entrepreneurs looking to develop a winning mindset.
3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
First published in 1989, this groundbreaking book has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Covey‘s seven habits provide a blueprint for personal and professional effectiveness that will help you strategize, prioritize, and lead as an entrepreneur.
Modern Business Bibles for Entrepreneurs
To succeed as an entrepreneur today, add these contemporary business classics to your bookshelf:
4. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Ries‘ massively influential book lays out a scientific approach for rapidly testing ideas, measuring results, and making data-driven decisions to build products people truly want. An essential framework for starting and scaling in today‘s fast-moving business landscape.
5. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Horowitz, co-founder of legendary venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, delivers hard-won wisdom on starting, running, selling, and investing in technology companies. Filled with humorous stories and straight talk on the real challenges entrepreneurs face.
6. Zero to One by Peter Thiel
PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel argues that tomorrow‘s champions won‘t win by competing ruthlessly in today‘s marketplace—they‘ll escape competition altogether by creating new markets with innovative ideas. Learn how to build the future with this contrarian entrepreneurial manifesto.
7. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone
Go inside the rise of one of the most successful and influential companies of our time in this deeply reported look at the early days of Amazon and the unrelenting drive of its founder, Jeff Bezos. A fascinating case study for entrepreneurs in what it takes to revolutionize an industry.
8. Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
The late Zappos CEO shares lessons from building a $1 billion online business known for its customer service and unique company culture. Hsieh‘s engaging stories provide a model for creating a business that‘s profitable, purpose-driven and fun.
Cultivate Creativity and Innovation
As an entrepreneur, your ability to innovate is your ultimate competitive advantage. These books will help you harness the creative potential of yourself and your team:
9. The Innovator‘s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
The Harvard Business School professor‘s groundbreaking book explains why market-dominating companies often miss out on new waves of innovation—and what you can do to avoid the same fate as you build your business. An essential read on disrupting yourself before others do.
10. Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley
IDEO founder David Kelley and his brother Tom, a partner at the renowned design firm, offer strategies for tapping into your creative potential to solve problems and uncover opportunities. Learn how to innovate through human-centered design, experimentation, and continuous iteration.
11. Change By Design by Tim Brown
This book from the CEO of IDEO demonstrates how design thinking—a human-centered approach to problem solving—can transform organizations and inspire innovation. A practical guide to creating products, services, and experiences that resonate with customers.
12. A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
Pink makes a compelling case for the growing importance of right-brain skills like design, story, empathy, and meaning in the modern economy. An eye-opening look at the skills entrepreneurs need to thrive in a world of increasing automation and abundance.
Maximize Your Productivity and Potential
Entrepreneurial success requires relentless focus, efficient execution, and continuous self-improvement. These reads will help you bring your A-game every day:
13. Getting Things Done by David Allen
Allen‘s simple yet powerful framework for increasing productivity teaches you how to capture, organize, and process all your tasks, priorities, and ideas to achieve stress-free performance. Implement this system to take control of your schedule and commitments.
14. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Learn the science behind how habits are formed and changed—and how you can harness the power of habit to build a more successful business and life. Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Duhigg draws on cutting-edge research to explain why habits exist and how they can be modified to create positive change.
15. Atomic Habits by James Clear
Clear‘s blockbuster book provides a proven framework for improving every day by mastering the small behaviors that lead to remarkable results. Learn how to form good habits, break bad ones, and get 1% better each day—a recipe for entrepreneurial achievement.
16. Essentialism by Greg McKeown
McKeown offers a systematic method for discerning what‘s absolutely essential, eliminating what‘s not, and removing obstacles in order to focus on the things that really matter. A must-read for entrepreneurs looking to do less, but better.
Get Inspired By Entrepreneurial Journeys
Nothing motivates a founder like learning how other iconic entrepreneurs beat the odds and built legendary companies. Dive into these page-turning memoirs and origin stories:
17. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Nike co-founder Phil Knight candidly shares the inside story of the company‘s early days as a scrappy startup and its evolution into one of the world‘s most iconic brands. An inspiring entrepreneurial tale filled with lessons on overcoming adversity, pursuing a vision, and building a world-changing business.
18. The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger
The former CEO of The Walt Disney Company offers leadership lessons from his 15 years at the helm of one of the world‘s largest media companies, a period of immense growth and transformation. Iger‘s insights on fostering creativity, taking smart risks, and leading with integrity are invaluable for any entrepreneur.
19. Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
Follow the entertaining journey of the irreverent British billionaire as he builds his Virgin business empire, taking on entrenched competitors and repeatedly defying the odds. Branson‘s risk-taking spirit and unorthodox style provide endless entrepreneurial inspiration.
20. Trailblazer by Marc Benioff
Salesforce founder and co-CEO Marc Benioff shares how he built one of the world‘s most innovative companies through a commitment to core values, disrupting the status quo, and giving back to the community. An inspiring manifesto for stakeholder capitalism and conscious leadership.
21. The Upstarts by Brad Stone
Stone, author of The Everything Store, provides an inside look at the founding stories of two of today‘s most transformational companies—Uber and Airbnb—and how they went from scrappy startups to Silicon Valley superstars. A study in what it takes to build a business that can reshape entire industries.
Empowering Reads for Women Entrepreneurs
For budding female founders, these books provide advice and inspiration from some of today‘s most successful women in business:
22. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg ignited a global conversation about women in the workplace with her 2013 manifesto. Filled with personal anecdotes, data, and practical advice, Lean In encourages women to pursue their ambitions and change the conversation from what they can‘t do to what they can.
23. Grit by Angela Duckworth
Psychologist Angela Duckworth shows why the secret to achievement has less to do with talent and more to do with a special blend of passion and persistence she calls "grit." An excellent playbook for persevering on the path of entrepreneurship.
24. In the Company of Women by Grace Bonney
Across the globe, women are embracing entrepreneurship and launching creative businesses. Bonney‘s book brings together advice and inspiration from over 100 women who are artists, makers, and entrepreneurs. Learn from their setbacks, successes, and hard-earned wisdom.
Biographies of Visionary Leaders
Go behind-the-scenes and learn from the extraordinary lives of these legendary business leaders:
25. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Based on more than forty interviews with Apple‘s co-founder over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Isaacson paints a compelling portrait of the brilliant, mercurial visionary who revolutionized six industries.
26. Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
Get inside the mind of the ambitious entrepreneur behind Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity in this deeply reported biography. Vance illuminates Musk‘s singular drive to transform industries and shape the future through technological innovation and sheer force of will.
27. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder
The legendary investor gave Schroeder unprecedented access to explore his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. The result is an intimate look at the origins and arc of Buffett‘s life and business philosophy—and lessons on what it takes to build immense wealth and live a meaningful life.
Conclusion
As an entrepreneur, you never stop learning—and there‘s no better teacher than books by founders, experts, and thought leaders who‘ve been there before. Armed with lessons from these 27 essential reads, you‘ll have the knowledge and inspiration to take your business to new heights in 2024 and beyond.
For even more great reads, check out our picks for the best sales books, marketing books, customer service books, and overall business books every entrepreneur should have on their shelf.
Happy reading—and here‘s to your next breakthrough business idea, major milestone, or big exit in the year ahead!
