Want to be a Better Entrepreneur in 2015? Read These Books

There are now lots of resources on being a better and smarter entrepreneur. Whatever you have set out to achieve in 2015, some of these business books can make a big difference in your life and business.

You have probably read some of these books already. These are some of the most best seller books most entrepreneurs have read or added to their reading list. Find time to read some of these books this year and your entrepreneurial journey will never be the same again.

There is no better way to continue your personal and business growth in 2015 than to begin in the pages of a great book. These are 8 great additions to your reading list this year.

1. Zero to one

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by venture capitalist, PayPal co-founder, and early Facebook investor Peter Thielalong with Blake Masters. It is a condensed and updated version of a highly popular set of online notes taken by Masters for the CS183 class on startups taught by Thiel at Stanford University in Spring 2012.

“Crisply written, rational and practical, Zero to One should be read not just by aspiring entrepreneurs but by anyone seeking a thoughtful alternative to the current pervasive gloom about the prospects for the world.” – The Economist

2. The Hard Things About Hard Things

In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley’s most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology companies to offer essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems business schools don’t cover.

“More than any other business book released this year, “Hard Things” gives an insider’s perspective on what it’s like to lead and scale a startup.” (–Business Insider’s Best Business Books of 2014)

3. The Innovators

The Innovators: How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution was written by Walter Isaacson. The book details the history of the digital revolution through several pivotal innovators who created early computer breakthroughs and later larger systems like the Internet.

The author also asserts that many innovators successes throughout history happens often with the help of other contributors via teamwork is a recurring theme.

“…a project whose gestation preceded Steve Jobs and whose vision exceeds it.” (New York Magazine)

4. Thinking, Fast and Slow

Thinking, Fast and Slow is a best-selling book by Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics winner Daniel Kahneman which summarizes research that he conducted over decades, often in collaboration with Amos Tversky. It covers all three phases of his career: his early days working on cognitive biases, his work on prospect theory, and his later work on happiness.

“A major intellectual event . . . The work of Kahneman and Tversky was a crucial pivot point in the way we see ourselves” (David Brooks The New York Times)

5. Hooked

Hooked is a guide to building habit-forming technology, written for product managers, designers, marketers, and startup founders. It provides practical insights to create habits that stick and actionable steps for building products people love and can’t put down.

“Hooked gives you the blueprint for the next generation of products. Read Hooked or the company that replaces you will” (Matt Mullenweg, Founder of WordPress)

6. The Power of Habit

The Power of Habit is a book by Charles Duhigg, a New York Times reporter. It explores the science behind habit creation and reformation. Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed.

“Once you read this book, you’ll never look at yourself, your organisation, or your world quite the same way.” (Daniel H. Pink)

7. Big Bang Disruption

Big Bang Disruption is an alarming look at how quick-to-market innovations are killing established industries. It analyses the origins, economics and anatomy of ‘Big Bang’ disruption. The material draws on research by the Accenture Institute for High Performance, along with interviews with entrepreneurs, investors, and executives from more than 30 industries.

“Everything you need from business school in one very direct book. Big Bang Disruption elegantly and simply identifies why innovation happens in some new companies and how you can embrace and harness this new way of thinking.” (Dick Costolo, CEO Twitter)

8. Choose Yourself

With dozens of case studies, interviews and examples–including the author, investor and entrepreneur James Altucher’s own heartbreaking and inspiring story–Choose Yourself illuminates your personal path to building a bright, new world out of the wreckage of the old.

“Altucher has turned his misfortune into a source of wisdom and comfort for the despondent.” (Business Week)