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the best business books

The business books most often recommended by founders, CEOs, investors, and operators in our 4,800-recommender index. Drawn from the same business-management canon that recurs on the reading lists of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Marc Andreessen, and dozens of working executives.

60 books, ranked by how many of the 4,800 notable readers in our index have publicly recommended each one.

  1. Thinking, Fast and Slow
    65 people

    Thinking, Fast and Slow

    Daniel Kahneman · 2011

    65 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  2. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
    58 people

    The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

    Ben Horowitz · 2014

    58 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  3. Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
    54 people

    Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

    Peter Thiel · 2014

    54 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  4. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
    40 people

    Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

    David J. Epstein · 2019

    40 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  5. The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change)
    38 people

    The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change)

    Clayton M. Christensen · 2003

    38 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  6. High Output Management
    36 people

    High Output Management

    Andrew S. Grove · 1995

    36 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  7. Good To Great : Why Some Companies Make The Leap and Others Don't
    32 people

    Good To Great : Why Some Companies Make The Leap and Others Don't

    Jim Collins · 2001

    32 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  8. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World — And Why Things Are Better Than You Think
    28 people

    Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World — And Why Things Are Better Than You Think

    Hans Rosling · 2018

    28 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  9. The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: "On Robustness and Fragility" (Incerto)
    27 people

    The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: "On Robustness and Fragility" (Incerto)

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb · 2007

    27 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  10. Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, Expanded Third Edition
    26 people

    Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, Expanded Third Edition

    edited by Peter Kaufman · 2006

    26 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  11. The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition
    24 people

    The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition

    Don Norman · 2002

    24 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  12. Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts
    24 people

    Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts

    Annie Duke · 2018

    24 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  13. The Wealth of Nations
    21 people

    The Wealth of Nations

    Adam Smith · 1977

    21 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  14. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
    21 people

    Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

    Simon Sinek · 2009

    21 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  15. Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
    20 people

    Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity

    Kim Scott · 2017

    20 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  16. Never Split the Difference
    20 people

    Never Split the Difference

    Chris Voss · 2023

    20 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  17. Only the Paranoid Survive
    20 people

    Only the Paranoid Survive

    Andrew S. Grove · 1998

    20 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  18. The E-Myth Revisited : Why Most Small Businesses Dont Work and What to Do About It
    19 people

    The E-Myth Revisited : Why Most Small Businesses Dont Work and What to Do About It

    Michael E. Gerber · 1995

    19 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  19. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
    19 people

    Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

    John Carreyrou · 2018

    19 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  20. The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done
    19 people

    The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done

    Peter F. Drucker · 2006

    19 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  21. Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life
    19 people

    Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life

    Nir Eyal · 2019

    19 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  22. Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life (Incerto)
    18 people

    Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life (Incerto)

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb · 2018

    18 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  23. Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
    17 people

    Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries

    Safi Bahcall · 2019

    17 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  24. The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership
    17 people

    The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership

    Bill Walsh · 2009

    17 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  25. The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
    16 people

    The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success

    William N. Thorndike Jr. · 2012

    16 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  26. The Rational Optimist
    16 people

    The Rational Optimist

    Matt Ridley · 2010

    16 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  27. Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers
    16 people

    Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers

    Geoffrey A. Moore · 2006

    16 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  28. High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People
    16 people

    High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People

    Elad Gil · 2018

    16 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  29. Predictably Irrational
    16 people

    Predictably Irrational

    Dan Ariely · 2008

    16 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  30. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
    16 people

    Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

    Tony Hsieh · 2010

    16 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  31. What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture
    15 people

    What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture

    Ben Horowitz · 2019

    15 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  32. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Good to Great, 2)
    15 people

    Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Good to Great, 2)

    Jim Collins · 2004

    15 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  33. Thinking in Systems
    14 people

    Thinking in Systems

    Donella H. Meadows · 2008

    14 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  34. The Great CEO Within: The Tactical Guide to Company Building
    14 people

    The Great CEO Within: The Tactical Guide to Company Building

    Matt Mochary · 2019

    14 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  35. Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
    14 people

    Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs

    John Doerr · 2018

    14 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  36. Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell
    14 people

    Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell

    : The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg &Alan Eagle · 2019

    14 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  37. Tribe of Mentors
    14 people

    Tribe of Mentors

    Tim Ferriss · 2017

    14 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  38. Debt: The First 5,000 Years
    13 people

    Debt: The First 5,000 Years

    David Graeber · 2011

    13 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  39. Life 3.0
    13 people

    Life 3.0

    Max Tegmark · 2017

    13 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  40. Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail
    13 people

    Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail

    Ray Dalio · 2021

    13 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  41. Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
    13 people

    Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

    Nir Eyal · 2014

    13 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  42. Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business
    12 people

    Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business

    Danny Meyer · 2006

    12 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  43. The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War (The Princeton Economic History of the Western World)
    12 people

    The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War (The Princeton Economic History of the Western World)

    Robert J. Gordon · 2016

    12 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  44. Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It
    12 people

    Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It

    Scott Kupor · 2019

    12 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  45. 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy
    12 people

    7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy

    Hamilton Helmer · 2016

    12 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  46. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary Edition
    12 people

    Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary Edition

    Al Ries · 2001

    12 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  47. Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber
    12 people

    Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber

    Mike Isaac · 2019

    12 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  48. The Road to Serfdom
    12 people

    The Road to Serfdom

    Friedrich Hayek · 1994

    12 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  49. The Book Of Five Rings
    11 people

    The Book Of Five Rings

    Miyamoto Musashi · 1988

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  50. Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control
    11 people

    Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control

    Stuart Russell · 2019

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  51. Eating Animals
    11 people

    Eating Animals

    Jonathan Safran Foer · 2009

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  52. Economics in One Lesson
    11 people

    Economics in One Lesson

    Henry Hazlitt · 1979

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  53. How Will You Measure Your Life?
    11 people

    How Will You Measure Your Life?

    Clayton M. Christensen · 2012

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  54. Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
    11 people

    Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

    Seth Godin · 2003

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  55. Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies
    11 people

    Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies

    Geoffrey West · 2017

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  56. No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
    11 people

    No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

    Erin Meyer & Reed Hastings · 2020

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  57. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction
    11 people

    Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

    Dan Gardner & Philip E Tetlock · 2015

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  58. Getting to Yes
    11 people

    Getting to Yes

    Roger Fisher · 1992

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  59. On War: Complete First Four Unabridged Books
    10 people

    On War: Complete First Four Unabridged Books

    Carl Von Clausewitz · 1989

    10 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  60. Capital in the Twenty-First Century
    10 people

    Capital in the Twenty-First Century

    Thomas Piketty · 2014

    10 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop

other topic hubs

Methodology: each book is ranked by the number of recommenders in our index who have publicly endorsed it. Curated topics use a hand-picked book list; year-stamped pages query our index by publication year. More on methodology →