Even if you're just starting a business or you've been running one for a long time, reading start-up books is a good way to get ideas and stay motivated. Books about starting a business are a great source of advice and inspiration for people who think they aren't good enough at it or want to know what other people have been through. It can be hard to pick just a few books to read from your local library because there are so many to choose from.

That's why we're here. Here are some of the best books about starting a business. They'll help you get your business off the ground, get money from venture capitalists, be a supportive leader, and keep going, no matter what you're going through.

best business startup books to read

“The Startup Owner’s Manual” by Steve Blank

There are a lot of high-quality universities that teach the startup process that is in "The Startup Owner's Manual." If you don't want to pay for school, this is one of the best books on how to start a business.

It's not hard to start a business, but most people think it is. This book tells you what you need to do to start a business that will be a hit. With more than 100 charts and graphs and 77 checklists, this book will show you how to start a business.

“Who” by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

Marketing, product, or execution aren't the most important parts of business. It's hiring that's the most important part! It can make all the difference in your business if you hire the best people to be on your team. That's why "Who" is one of the best books for people who want to start a business.

Everyone can improve their chances of getting hired by following the steps in "Who." New CEO? A front desk manager? A marketing manager? This book will show you how to make sure the right people are hired, no matter what kind of job they're doing. When you start a company, you're in charge of making sure it has a healthy, dynamic culture. Learning how to hire the right people is a big part of that.

 “You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth” by Jen Sincero

When someone wants to start a business, most of them do it because they enjoy the excitement of starting and running a business. That doesn't hurt, either.

In Jen Sincero's book, "You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth," she tells personal stories and gives bite-sized lessons on how to change your mindset and focus on wealth. It's an easy-to-read guide.

People who read Sincero's book will learn how to change the world around them and make as much money as they want. As a business owner or entrepreneur, you've already taken the first steps toward that goal. If you follow Sincero's advice, you can go even further.

“Zero to One” by Peter Thiel

"Zero to One" has been called one of the best books about starting a business. If you haven't read this book yet, you should. Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, is known as a controversial person. His book "Zero to One," on the other hand, is full of ideas that are hard to ignore because they are backed up by strong arguments.

"Zero to One" is a guidebook for people who want to start a tech company, but there are a lot of things you can learn from it no matter what kind of business you work in. Use this book to change your ideas about what it's like to start or run a small business.

“Leading at the Speed of Growth” by Katherine Catlin and Jana Matthews

As the founder of a start-up, you are in charge of your new business. Right: If you're doing things the right way, there might be times when you're growing so quickly that things feel chaotic and out of order. In "Leading at the Speed of Growth," the authors help you get through those stages of growth and get ready for the next one.

During each of the three stages of entrepreneurship, this guide gives advice on what to do and what not to do. It also tells you what to do and what not to do at each stage. This book also has stories from more than 500 entrepreneurs who can help you become a great leader when your business is growing.

“Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity” by Kim Scott

Hire a CEO coach to learn how to run your business better. But what entrepreneur can afford to do that?

There are many big companies that have hired a CEO coach like Kim Scott. She has worked for them, like Dropbox and Twitter. For the price of her book, "Radical Candor," you can learn how to give feedback, listen, and praise like a good CEO should.

This New York Times bestseller gives you a simple framework for how to be a better boss, making it a must-read for anyone who wants to start a business. As long as it worked well for other successful tech companies, why not yours?

“The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers” by Ben Horowitz

Ben Horowitz is one of the most well-known and experienced entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, so it makes sense that his book is on the list of the best startup books.

"The Hard Thing About Hard Things" can help you make the hard decisions you'll have to make while running your new business. Whether you're an experienced entrepreneur or you're just starting out, this book has a lot of advice for you.

Enjoy Ben Horowitz's humor and sense of humor as you read this book as an extra bonus.

“Founders at Work” by Jessica Livingston

Many of the best books on starting a business have the information you need to get started, but they can also be a little dry and dull. In Jessica Livingston's book, "Founders at Work," you'll get to meet the people who started their businesses and hear their stories. You can be inspired by their stories.

Among the founders and co-founders of Apple, Microsoft, Google, Flickr, PayPal and Hotmail are people who have given advice on how to start a business in just one book. Find out how they did it with this guide.

“The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries

"The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries is a best-seller on Amazon for a good reason, and you should read it too. This book isn't just about how to run your new business, but how to do it with very little money. A lot of businesses don't start out with a lot of money. This book is for people who want to learn how to start a business.

If you read "The Lean Startup," you'll learn a lot about how to save money and use human creativity while still making money. This makes it one of the best business startup books on the market. With these two lessons in your back pocket, you'll be able to get your startup going in no time.

“Never Too Late to Startup” by Rob Kornblum

As a general rule, we think of startup founders as people who start new businesses in their parents' garages or dorm rooms. These people are usually young people who try new things and end up making a lot of money. There are a lot of people who start a business later in life, after they've worked for a long time. This perspective doesn't include them.

"Never Too Late to Start" by author and venture capitalist Rob Kornblum is here to change that. In his book, Kornblum interviews a dozen people who started businesses in their 50s and 60s. There are a lot of ideas about how age and experience can help you in the startup world, as well as advice on how to balance things like family and work.

This is one of the best books for entrepreneurs who want to start a business because it comes with a lot of useful tools. It has resources for a 90-day business timeline, a one-page business plan, and a template for a pitch for money.

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