Top-5 Books for Entrepreneurs

Startups can be incredibly risky. Many of them fail outright, and even those that survive often fall short of their full potential.
Now fortunately, while every startup is unique, the core challenges that they face are largely the same, and as a result, there are steps that you can take to navigate the predictable challenges of a business, the best way to spend your time & energy in the early days, the right way to show your idea to get useful feedback, how to prepare for the tough challenges that most of the Entrepreneurs or founders face, and tips for for how to build an incredible valuable business.
While the books do contain some overlapping ideas, each one provides a unique & valuable perspective. They can help you establish best practices & avoid common mistakes. So if you are only ever going to read best books on how to build a successful startup & become a successful Entrepreneur, these are the five books every Entrepreneur must read.

#-1: Zero to One (Peter Thiel)

The Goal of a startup is to create & capture new value. Unfortunately, generating value for customers doesn't always translate into business success.
A startup can fail to capture enough value in the form of revenue and profits to fund the operations, and as a result, they can struggle to survive even as customers benefits from their work.
"Zero to One" by Peter Thiel is about how to turn a startup idea into a valuable business. While much of the advice is geared towards wildly ambitious startups, many of the insight can be equally applied to smaller startups and even small businesses. It's an inspirational read for anyone interested in building a more valuable business.

#-2: The Mom Test (Rob Fitzpatrick)

One of the fastest ways to validate a startup idea is by discussing it with potential customers. Unfortunately, many of these conversations backfire, because most people would rather be supportive and socially polite rather than blunt & honest and as a result, it's very easy to misinterpret their encouragement as a genuine interest in your idea.
"The Mom Test" by Rob Fitzpatrick explains how to properly talk with people to gather honest and useful feedback. It can help you ask the right questions in the right way to gather the information that you need to validate or improve your idea, and can help you avoid misleading information that could potentially send your startup in the wrong direction.

#3: The Startup J Curve (Howard Love)

It's no secret that many startups fail, but what is less understood is that the path to success often involves making dramatic changes to the original startup idea. And unfortunately, many Entrepreneurs are not prepared for this possibility, and as a result, they can end up feeling lost or even consider giving up when facing predictable setbacks.
"The Startup J Curve" (Howard Love) can help you put common challenges into context. It explains how the startup journey unfolds in a predictable, six-step pattern. And byto understanding how each of these stages in the pattern operates you increase your odds for success. Instead of feeling lost when you face inevitable setbacks, you'll have a clear sense of how to move your business idea forward.

#-4: The Lean Startup (Eric Ries)

Many startup founders make the mistake of focusing their early time and energy on building a pre-defined product or service, and then, after months of hard work, they're often surprised to find out that the final result fails to attract customers. People don't want to buy it, and the only way to save the startup at that point is to make expensive change.
"The Len Startup" (Eric Ries) can help you to figure out the right thing to build, the product that people want and are willing to pay for as quickly as possible. The book stresses the value of Identifying key assumptions as quickly and as in expensively as possible. Done right, this approach can help you turn your idea into a sustainable business faster & with far less waste along the way.

#-5: The Hard Thing About Hard Things (Ben Horowitz)

Startup life is hard. No matter how much planing or research you do, there will be unexpected surprises along the way. And unfortunately, there is no recipe or formula for how to deal with the most difficult challenges that founders face, not to mention the emotional struggles that often accompany them.
"The Hard Thing About Hard Things" (Ben Horowitz) is a collection of advice, practical wisdom, and humbling experiences that can help founders better prepare for difficult challenges. It tackles tough topics like having to fire friends when they are no longer a fit, poaching employees from competitors, and having to deal with the potential of bankruptcy. It's an absolute must read for founders or Entrepreneurs who are facing tough challenges or for those who want to be better prepared to do so.
Credit: Rick Kettner

These are the top-5 books for startup founders or Entrepreneurs.