16 Books All Entrepreneurs Should Read

Small business leaders and VC's were recently questioned about books they would recommend to entrepreneurs today. Books ranging from straightforward business with common-sense startup advice to books of fiction of a more philosophical nature. All of these books offer lessons on life and business that are important for any entrepreneur sense you may have.
"Zero To One Million" is a book based on the life of young author Ryan Allis and how he went from a young nobody with aspirations to a business owner making millions.
"The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand sums up the entrepreneurial passion and spirit and brings up a valid point, "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." - Charlie O'Donnell
"Out of the Crisis" by W. Edwards Deming focuses on the entrepreneur/manager on respecting employees, focusing on process and insisting on the collection and analysis of data. The development of metrics to manage the business is critical for the start-up founder. -Roger Ehrenberg
"Extreme Programming Explained" by Kent Beck is revelatory. Buy the first edition and develop your product like this book tells you, unless you know better. -Babak Nivi
"the Four Steps to the Epiphany" by Steven Gary Blank is the closest thing to a manual for building a startup. - Babak Nivi
"The 4-Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss has great insights into saving time. - Paul Jozefak
"Getting Things Done" by David Allen is the best book on executing. - Paul Jozefak
"Venture Capital Investing" by David & Laura Gladstone is one of the best books on the basics of VC. -Paul Jozefak
"Piloting Palm" by Andrea Butter & David Pogue is the inside story of the good and bad times while Palm was growing into the dominant player in mobile computing. Must-read for anyone getting into the gadget or hardware businesses. -Dan Frommer
"Founders At Work" by Jessica Livingston is clear, interesting, informative interviews with top Internet entrepreneurs. A great way to learn how to do it right (or wrong) from people who have done it already. - Dan Frommer
"Structural Holes" by Ronald Burt is more a 'sociology of business' book, but I love this one! - Nate Westheimer
"Reality Check" by Guy Kawasaki is like a blog, you learn something on every page. Each chapter reminds me to be a little bit better at something I'm doing already. -Penelope Trunk
"Peak" by Chip Conley is not that well written (sorry Chip) but sound advice on achieving 'sustainable outperformance' and leveraging crises for the better. -Fred Destin
"The Happiness Hypothesis" by Jonathan Haidt is not a business book, but if you assume self-awareness and knowing what you are really good at are key to success in business (and life in general), this is the best attempt I have read at deriving 'meaning' from the joyous mess of life. - Fred Destin
"The Prince" by Machiavelli can give more insight than some business books. - Fred Wilson
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig is full of some amazing stories. - Fred Wilson

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