# Business Books Recommendation



## Trifoilum (Dec 13, 2009)

So..seeing that with the more awareness of personalities differences...I would like to ask for some business book recommendation..

It would highly seemed that I need to jump in the world of an entrepreneur (and all that entails) now. At nearly 21. Without experience and/or previous knowledge(How do I feel? Oh, chillz. Don't worry IGNORE THAT I AM CURLING IN A BALL PRAYING FOR GODS IN EVERY PANTHEON.) That's all I gonna say.
 
And with no business knowledge atm, I think I want to find some books as a preparation stage. I mean, better ready than not, right?

I'm seeking two group of books:
1) general books; basics about Sales, Marketing, both on and off the Web, and prolly Management; for small businesses and stores, preferably in general too.

2) Book of entrepreneurship and leadership; ideals, guides, lessons, etc.
My criteria about this would be;

a) equal sense and idealism. Or at least 60:40. I don't want a book that's detached from reality (Business; the Final Fantasy Way, for instance), or being dumbly kind, but I don't want a book that essentially says, 'You can only grow in this way, that way, or NO way at all.' or 'THE WORLD IS CRUEL EAT OR BE EATEN! be ruthless! What is moral!' Yes; I'm an INFJ. >_>;
b) I guess it's better to know more humanist lessons than utilitarian; something that's hard to do in entrepreneurship. To learn more values rather than seeing this world as....goods. Assets. Resources. Costs. More F-tuned, if possible. But on the other hand, I might need both. I dunno about this one.
c) No Sun Tzu or any historical parable, please. I'd like them to be separate. Besides; they subconsciously connect businesses with wars. I don't want to make that connection more.
d) Some amount of theories are okay; but have mercy on my non business background. D:

Samples would be wonderful. Just for a taste.

Thank you in advance


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## Crisdom (Jan 2, 2012)

The Personal MBA can help.
I can't post links apparently, but just google the name and you'll find the website.

I have read the ones which I was interested in, and they were indeed extremely good.

If you want to be even more efficient in learning, the website has summarys and reviews of the books, so you can decide which ones are the most interesting for your project.

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*Personal MBA*

MBA programs don't have a monopoly on advanced business knowledge: you can teach yourself everything you need to know to succeed in life and at work. The Personal MBA features the very best business books available, based on thousands of hours of research. So skip b-school and the $150,000 loan: you can get a world-class business education simply by reading these books.

*Business Creation*
•	Go It Alone by Bruce Judson 
•	The Lean Startup by Eric Ries 
•	The Knack by Norm Brodsky & Bo Burlingham 
•	Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson 
•	Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim 
•	Bankable Business Plans by Edward Rogoff 

*Value-Creation & Testing*
•	Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson 
•	The New Business Road Test by John Mullins
•	How to Make Millions with Your Ideas by Dan Kennedy 

*Marketing*
•	All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin 
•	Permission Marketing by Seth Godin 
•	The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout 
•	Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham 

*Sales*
•	The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy 
•	Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff 
•	The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes 
•	Value-Based Fees by Alan Weiss 
•	SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham 

*Value-Delivery*
•	Indispensable by Joe Calloway 
•	The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu Goldratt 
•	Lean Thinking by James Womack and Daniel Jones 

*Finance & Accounting*
•	Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits by Greg Crabtree 
•	The 1% Windfall by Rafi Mohammed 
•	Accounting Made Simple by Mike Piper 
•	The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Finance by Robert A. Cooke 
•	How to Read a Financial Report by John A. Tracy
•	Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson 

*The Human Mind*
•	Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
•	Brain Rules by John Medina 
•	Making Sense of Behavior by William T. Powers 
•	Driven by Paul Lawrence and Nitin Nohria 
•	Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales 

*Productivity & Effectiveness*
•	Getting Things Done by David Allen 
•	The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz 
•	StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath 
•	Bit Literacy by Mark Hurst 
•	10 Days to Faster Reading by Abby Marks-Beale 

*Problem Solving*
•	The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch 
•	Accidental Genius by Mark Levy 
•	Learning from the Future by Liam Fahey & Robert Randall 

*Behavioral Change*
•	The Power of Less by Leo Babauta 
•	The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz 
•	Re-Create Your Life by Morty Lefkoe 
•	Self-Directed Behavior by David L. Watson & Roland G. Tharp

*Decision-Making*
•	Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions by Gary Klein 
•	Smart Choices by John S. Hammond et al 
•	Ethics for the Real World by Ronald Howard & Clinton Korver 

*Communication*
•	On Writing Well by William Zinsser 
•	Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds 
•	Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath 
•	The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert Bly 
•	Show Me The Numbers by Stephen Few 

*Influence*
•	Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
•	How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie 
•	Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson et al 
•	The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene 

*Negotiation*
•	Bargaining For Advantage by G. Richard Shell 
•	3-D Negotiation by David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius 
•	The Partnership Charter by David Gage 

*Management*
•	First, Break All The Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman 
•	12: The Elements of Great Managing by Rodd Wagner & James Harter 
•	Growing Great Employees by Erika Andersen 
•	The Essential Drucker by Peter F. Drucker 

*Leadership*
•	Tribes by Seth Godin 
•	Total Leadership by Stewart Friedman 
•	What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith 
•	The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan by George Bradt et al 
•	The Halo Effect by Phil Rosenzweig 

*Project Management*
•	Making Things Happen by Scott Berkun 
•	Results Without Authority by Tom Kendrick 

*Systems*
•	Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows 
•	Work the System by Sam Carpenter 

*Analysis*
•	Turning Numbers Into Knowledge by Jonathan Koomey 
•	Marketing Metrics by Paul W. Farris et al 
•	The Economist Numbers Guide by Richard Stuteley 

*Statistics*
•	Thinking Statistically by Uri Bram 
•	How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff 

*Corporate Skills*
•	The Unwritten Laws of Business by W.J. King 
•	The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker 
•	The Simplicity Survival Handbook by Bill Jensen 
•	Hire With Your Head by Lou Adler 

*Corporate Strategy*
•	Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies by Nikos Mourkogiannis
•	Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter 
•	Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne 
•	Seeing What’s Next by Clayton M. Christensen et al 

*Creativity & Innovation*
•	The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp 
•	Myths of Innovation by Scott Berkun 
•	Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter F. Drucker 

*Design*
•	The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman 
•	Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell et al

*Consulting*
•	Getting Started in Consulting by Alan Weiss 
•	Secrets of Consulting by Gerald M. Weinberg

*Personal Finance*
•	Your Money or Your Life by Joel Dominguez & Vicki Robin 
•	The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley & William Danko 
•	I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi 
•	Fail-Safe Investing by Harry Browne

*Personal Growth*
•	Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale 
•	The Art of Exceptional Living by Jim Rohn 
•	A Guide to the Good Life by William Braxton Irvine


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