68 books, summarised simply.
Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
by Nir Eyal & Ryan Hoover
An international bestseller with over 1 million copies sold in 30+ languages, this book by Nir Eyal reveals the Hook Model—a four-step process used by successful companies to create habit-forming products that bring users back without costly advertising.
Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love
by Marty Cagan
A comprehensive guide to building successful technology products by former eBay and Netscape executive Marty Cagan. This book provides a master class in structuring and staffing product organizations, discovering the right product, and creating products that customers will love.
Paul Graham Essays
by Paul Graham
Collection of essays by Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham on startups, including classics like 'How to Make Wealth', 'Startups in 13 Sentences', and 'The 18 Mistakes that Kill Startups'. Considered essential reading, akin to Yoda's wisdom for founders.
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
by Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky & Braden Kowitz
A practical guide to the Design Sprint methodology created at Google, offering a unique five-day process for solving tough problems and testing new ideas quickly.
The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup
by Noam Wasserman
Noam Wasserman's research-based guide to founder decisions. Based on studying 10,000 founders—essential for avoiding common traps.
The Lean Entrepreneur: How Visionaries Create Products, Innovate with New Ventures, and Disrupt Markets
by Brant Cooper & Patrick Vlaskovits
Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits provide a practical guide to combining customer insight with rapid experimentation. Essential for founders implementing Lean Startup methodology in their ventures.
The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development
by Donald G. Reinertsen
Donald G. Reinertsen’s advanced treatment of lean principles applied to product development, covering flow, queues, variability, and economic decision-making. Useful for founders and product leaders scaling complex product organizations who need to improve speed, throughput, and decision quality in R&D and product delivery.
The Unfair Advantage: How You Already Have What It Takes to Succeed
by Ash Ali & Hasan Kubba
Winner of Business Book of the Year Award, Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba show how to identify and leverage your unique advantages rather than just working harder. Essential for founders understanding their competitive edge.
Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want
by Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur & Gregory Bernarda et al.
Alexander Osterwalder's practical guide to designing compelling value propositions using the Value Proposition Canvas.
48-Hour Start-up
by Fraser Doherty
Fraser Doherty’s "48-Hour Start-up: From idea to launch in 1 weekend" is a guide for entrepreneurs who want to get a quick start. The U.K.-based entrepreneur behind SuperJam provides a cheat sheet for developing a business idea and launching it quickly. The book outlines online tools and shortcuts entrepreneurs can use to create and promote a product or service efficiently.
Birthing the Elephant
by Karin Abarbanel & Bruce Freeman
Birthing the Elephant is a startup-focused book that guides aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs—particularly first-time founders—through the emotional, strategic, and practical challenges of launching a new business, making it a relevant must-read for startup founders.
Cooking Up a Business
by Rachel Hofstetter
A practical guide for aspiring entrepreneurs that follows real food startup founders, offering concrete advice on validating ideas, branding, distribution, and scaling a consumer-product business from scratch.
Core Curriculum Reading: Experimenting in the Entrepreneurial Venture
by Thomas R. Eisenmann & Eric Ries & Sarah Dillard
A Harvard Business School core reading (by Thomas R. Eisenmann, Eric Ries, and Sarah Dillard) that introduces hypothesis-driven entrepreneurship and lean startup experimentation. It teaches founders how to translate vision into testable business model hypotheses, design experiments, and use data to iterate toward product–market fit—making it a must-read foundational text for startup founders.
Disciplined Entrepreneurship
by Bill Aulet
Bill Aulet's book provides a step-by-step guide to launching a successful startup, focusing on disciplined entrepreneurship. It's a practical resource for aspiring founders.
Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup
Framework with 24 steps for building successful startups, based on MIT teaching. Shelved 73 times as startup on Goodreads with average rating 4.27 from 2,429 ratings, published 2013.
Do More Faster
by Brad Feld & David G. Cohen
Authored by Brad Feld, this book provides practical advice and insights from the Techstars accelerator program, aimed at helping startup founders navigate the early stages of their business journey.
Don't Hire a Software Developer Until You Read this Book
by Kemi Kukoyi
K.N. Kukoyi's guide is essential for tech startup founders, offering insights into hiring software developers and managing tech projects effectively. It's a practical resource for navigating the complexities of tech entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business
by Enodare
A practical guide by Enodare that offers essential insights and steps for aspiring entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses.
Entrepreneurship – Robert Hisrich, Michael Peters, Dean Shepherd
by Robert D. Hisrich & Michael P. Peters & Dean A. Shepherd
Comprehensive entrepreneurship textbook covering key concepts for startup founders.
Entrepreneurship – William D. Bygrave, Andrew Zacharakis
by William D. Bygrave & Andrew Zacharakis
Textbook on entrepreneurship tailored for modern startup environments.
Entrepreneurship: In a European Perspective – C.K. Volkmann, K.O. Tokarski and M. Granhagen
by Christine K. Volkmann & Kim Oliver Tokarski & Marc Grünhagen
Textbook providing a European view on entrepreneurship, relevant for founders in international contexts.
Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures – Bruce R. Barringer
by Bruce R. Barringer & R. Duane Ireland
Practical guide to successfully launching new ventures for founders.
Eric Ries
by Eric Ries
Eric Ries is a prominent author on startup methodology, best known for his foundational startup book "The Lean Startup," which introduces the build-measure-learn loop, validated learning, and lean principles for creating and scaling startups. His work is considered must-read material for startup founders seeking a systematic approach to innovation and product development.
Escaping the Build Trap
by Melissa Perri
Melissa Perri provides a framework for effective product management that creates real value. Shows how to shift from feature-factory mindset to outcome-driven product development, focusing on solving customer problems.
Extreme Programming Explained
by Kent Beck
"Extreme Programming Explained" by Kent Beck is described by Babak Nivi (founder of AngelList and Venture Hacks) as revelatory. The book advocates developing products using extreme programming practices unless the founder has specific superior experience.
Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model
by John Mullins & Randy Komisar
Randy Komisar’s book that teaches founders how to evolve their business model from an initial, assumption-heavy “Plan A” to a validated “Plan B” by rigorously testing leaps of faith using a framework of analogs and antilogs, metrics, and rapid iteration—making it a strong companion to lean and hypothesis-driven startup building.
Go. No Go.
by Lauri Harrison
Lauri Harrison's book is a practical guide for entrepreneurs to evaluate their business ideas before launching. It provides a structured approach to assess the viability and potential success of startup concepts.
Go. No Go.: Is Your business Idea Ready to Launch?
Framework to evaluate if a business idea is ready for launch. Helps entrepreneurs assess viability before committing resources.
HOT or NOT: How to know if your Business Idea will Fly or Fail
A guide for entrepreneurs to evaluate whether their business idea has potential for success or failure. Featured on a Goodreads list of recommended reads before starting a startup, with an average rating of 4.00 from 49 ratings.
How to Transform Your Ideas into Software Products
by Poornima Vijayashanker
This book by Poornima Vijayashanker provides practical advice for ideation and prototyping, making it an essential read for those looking to turn ideas into successful software products. It's particularly useful for startups aiming to get new projects off the ground quickly.
Late-Blooming Entrepreneurs: Eight Principles for Starting a Business After Age 40
by Lynne Beverly Strang
Provides principles for individuals over 40 to launch successful businesses, challenging age-related stereotypes. 4.67 avg rating from 9 ratings in startup reading recommendations.
Launching New Ventures: An Entrepreneurial Approach – Kathleen R. Allen
by Kathleen R. Allen
Guide to launching new ventures using an entrepreneurial approach, useful for startup founders.
Lean Media
by Ian Lamont
Lean Media by Ian Lamont adapts lean and iterative development ideas to media products—such as books, films, and digital content—offering startup founders and creators a framework for rapidly testing concepts with audiences and reducing risk in creative ventures.
Lean Startup
Eric Ries introduces the Lean Startup methodology, advocating for validated learning, rapid experimentation, and iterative product development to build sustainable businesses with minimal waste.
New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century and Business Plans That Work by Jeffry A. Timmons
Classic text on new venture creation and crafting effective business plans. Essential for founders developing their startup plans.
Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future
by Mike Maples Jr. & Peter Ziebelman
A groundbreaking book that reveals the hidden forces behind outlier startup success. Written by Mike Maples Jr. and Peter Ziebelman, it challenges conventional startup wisdom by showing how the most successful founders think differently and break established patterns to create transformative companies.
Rework
by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
Book by Jason Fried tied for #5 in Goodreads startup reading list, 3.97 avg rating from 176,441 ratings. Offers unconventional business advice emphasizing simplicity, action, and avoiding traditional planning pitfalls.
Running Lean
by Ash Maurya
Running Lean is a pragmatic guide for founders to systematically test and iterate their business model from an initial concept to one that works. It applies lean startup methodologies, focusing on hypothesis-driven validation, customer interviews, and metrics to reduce risk and build products that customers actually want.
School for Startups
by Jim Beach & Chris Hanks & David Beasley
Authored by Jim Beach, 'School for Startups' is a guide for entrepreneurs looking to achieve small business success quickly. It offers a structured approach to launching and growing a startup within 90 days.
Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days
by Chris Guillebeau
Step-by-step method to launch a side hustle from idea to profitable income in one month, ideal for aspiring entrepreneurs testing business ideas without quitting their job.
Start Me Up!: The No-Business-Plan Business Plan
by Ebong Eka
Ebong Eka's "Start Me Up!" offers practical advice for entrepreneurs, covering topics like overcoming fears, becoming an expert, and raising funds.
Start Your Own Business
Comprehensive guide covering business planning, funding sources, and marketing basics for aspiring entrepreneurs. Updated to 2025 edition to provide practical steps for launching a startup. Essential resource for beginners navigating the initial stages of business ownership.
Startup: An Insider's Guide to Launching and Running a Business
by Kevin Ready
A startup-focused business book (paperback edition, ISBN 1703385454) that provides practical guidance on launching and operating a startup, covering planning, funding, operations, and growth from an insider’s perspective—positioned as a hands-on resource for aspiring and early-stage founders.
Startups and Entrepreneurs
by Atticus Aristotle
Authored by Atticus Aristotle, this book provides insights into common pitfalls that startups and entrepreneurs face, offering guidance on how to navigate challenges and achieve success.
Technology Ventures – Tom Byers, Richard Dorf, Andrew Nelson
by Thomas H. Byers & Richard C. Dorf & Andrew J. Nelson
Comprehensive textbook on technology entrepreneurship, guiding from idea to enterprise creation. Relevant for startup founders interested in tech ventures.
Testing Business Ideas
by David J. Bland & Alexander Osterwalder
Testing Business Ideas by David J. Bland and Alexander Osterwalder is a practical guide for startup founders to systematically validate business models, products, and features through rapid experimentation. It provides a catalog of experiments, prioritization frameworks, and visual tools to reduce risk and avoid building products nobody wants, making it a must-read companion to Lean Startup-style innovation.
The $100 Startup
Authored by Chris Guillebeau, 'The $100 Startup' provides guidance for aspiring entrepreneurs on how to start and run a successful business with minimal investment.
The 7 Secret Keys to Startup Success
by David J. Muchow
Authored by David Muchow, this book provides a comprehensive guide for startups and growing businesses, covering practical business and legal advice.
The Art of the Start
by Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki provides a comprehensive guide for launching a startup, covering everything from pitching to marketing. It's a practical resource for aspiring entrepreneurs.
The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything
Guy Kawasaki's fully revised guide to launching and establishing a business in the digital age.
A practical, battle-tested guide by Guy Kawasaki for entrepreneurs and startup founders that covers how to launch and grow a new venture, including pitching, bootstrapping, recruiting, and brand-building. Widely regarded as a must-read handbook for early-stage founders.
The Founder’s Dilemma
Written by Noam Wasserman, this book explores the critical decisions faced by startup founders, such as equity splits and hiring. It provides data-driven insights into the common pitfalls and challenges in the early stages of a startup.
The Founders Workbook: The Checklist Companion to the Startup Owners Manual
Companion workbook to The Startup Owner's Manual, providing checklists for founders. By Steve Blank.
The Four Steps to the Epiphany
by Steve Blank
"The Four Steps to the Epiphany" by Steve Blank is recommended by Babak Nivi (founder of AngelList and Venture Hacks) as the closest thing to a manual for building a startup. Marc Andreessen also appreciates the book as a roadmap for achieving Product/Market Fit.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
by Ben Horowitz
Authored by Ben Horowitz, this book provides practical wisdom for startup founders facing difficult decisions. It covers real-world challenges like firing friends and poaching talent, offering insights into the mindset of venture capitalists and the realities of business ownership.
The Leader's Guide
A companion book by Eric Ries that offers practical case studies, tools, and implementation advice for applying Lean Startup principles inside real organizations. It’s aimed at founders and leaders who want tactical guidance on driving experimentation, innovation accounting, and cultural change.
Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits's practical guide showing entrepreneurs how to validate business ideas, find product-market fit, and build sustainable companies using lean principles.
The Lean Product Playbook
by Dan Olsen
The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback by Dan Olsen is a guide for startup founders on how to apply lean principles to product development, ensuring that products meet customer needs effectively.
The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback
Dan Olsen's hands-on guide to building products customers love, providing a repeatable process for achieving product-market fit using lean startup principles.
The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
Eric Ries’s influential methodology book for startups, introducing concepts like validated learning, build‑measure‑learn loops, and minimum viable products (MVPs) to help founders systematically test ideas and reduce waste while building successful companies.
The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
A foundational book for startup founders that introduces the lean startup methodology, emphasizing validated learning, rapid experimentation, and iterative product development to build successful businesses under uncertainty.
The Partnership Charter: How To Start Out Right With Your New Business Partnership
by David Gage
David Gage's guide to creating partnership agreements that prevent founder conflicts. Essential for co-founders before they start working together.
The Rugged Entrepreneur: What Every Disruptive Business Leader Should Know
Book by Scott Andrew providing practical advice for disruptive entrepreneurs on building resilient businesses. Rated 3.82 average from 22 ratings on Goodreads.
The Startup Checklist
by David S. Rose
Written by David S. Rose, this book serves as a comprehensive guide for startup founders, covering startup execution, management, launch strategies, growth phases, and potential legal issues.
The Startup Checklist: 25 Steps to a Scalable, High-Growth Business
David S. Rose provides a comprehensive, step-by-step guide covering 25 critical actions for launching and scaling a startup, from legal formation to growth strategies and exit planning.
The Startup Owner's Manual
by Steve Blank & Bob Dorf
Steve Blank and Bob Dorf provide a step-by-step guide to building a great company, offering practical advice and strategies for startup founders.
Will It Fly?
by Pat Flynn
"Will It Fly?" by Pat Flynn is a practical guide for entrepreneurs to test their business ideas before investing time and money. It provides strategies to validate ideas and ensure they have the potential to succeed.
The Innovator's Method: Bringing the Lean Startup into Your Organization
by Nathan Furr and Jeff Dyer
By Nathan Furr and Jeff Dyer (2014, Harvard Business Review Press), this book shows established companies and teams how to apply lean-startup-style experimentation inside existing organizations, bridging corporate planning culture with startup-style validated learning.