Tag: entrepreneurs

20 Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read

Have you ever wondered about that one thing common in world’s wealthiest people? Most of them have acclimated themselves in reading books. Books lead us to a new way of thinking and teach us how to become successful in life.

If you aspire to join the level of wealthy entrepreneurs, reading is a priceless skill. To grow a healthy and thriving business, you need to read books just like a regular part of the diet.

It’s been stated that most CEOs read at least three books per month. If you are interested in finding a couple of engaging business books to your must-read list, then the following list will help you.

Here is the list of 20 books that should be on every entrepreneur’s reading list. You can dive into the following books and begin learning new skills or seek some inspiration for your business.

  1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill:

This book is one of the bestselling self-help guides of all time. Napoleon says in this book that riches begin with a state of mind. If you want to become rich, change your mindset. You must think yourself rich. The term rich could mean any form of wealth such as money, happiness, healthy relationships, or success in the business, etc. This book offers some deep insight into the ways to become money conscious. It depicts how you can think yourself as a rich person, and control our mindsets to become rich.

When you think rich, you will grow rich. The state of mind has a definitive purpose on your richness. Until you become success conscious, you won’t achieve it. Don’t let your mind think indifferently or become failure conscious. The initial point of all achievement is desire. Set a definitive goal in your mind and go forward.

  1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie:

You need to influence and deal with people to get success in your business. This book provides you an overview idea of how to make people think like you, how you can win them without any resentment. The ways to like people, techniques in handling them, and giving sincere appreciation are depicted in this book. Let the people indulge in your way of thinking and admire you emphatically.

  1. Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelly:

The fundamental and core thing in the book is simple. Tom and David make a persuasive case that creativity is innate in all human beings. The difference is some of the people recognize the creativity inside and others don’t. The ultimate goal of the book is to guide and bring out creativity within people. Everyone is creative, but not everyone has the courage to be create. They need guidance when to take action and how to start a project.

Many people don’t dare to be creative and afraid of failure. But failure eventually gives a breakthrough to success. The author says you need to give yourself permission to fail to become successful. The author also depicts the steps for sparking creativity in one chapter “Spark: From Blank Page to Insight,”

  1. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson:

The ‘Slight Edge’ is a book about new ways of thinking. This book helps to make daily choices and take action by creating multiple outcomes to deliver the lives we desire. It outlines how to apply the daily discipline and consistently use the Slight Edge principles to turn around any aspect of your life. It represents the way of thinking: what we know, how we hold that knowledge, and what we do.

The secret factor is straightforward: Do the small things over and over again until success kicks in. As most of the small things are extremely easy to do, these small things produce massive results after some time. Jeff Olsen also outlined several powerful ideas to help us embark on the road to mastery.

  1. The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris:

Do you feel overwhelmed or overworked? The book by Tim Ferris can surely help you out. You’ll get to know about the lifestyle design, which will eliminate 50 percent of the work and help you in living the life you want.

The book states the step-by-step blueprint to free yourself from the chains of a corporate job, create a business to fulfill your dreams, and live life like a millionaire.

This book is perfect for those who are sure there must be more to life than just living to work. If you’re thinking about starting your business but certainly not sure how to take steps, go for this book.

  1. The Creative Curve by Allen Gannett:

Why some people are considered as genius while others not? What additional insights they have? Or is it because of the creativity? The author offers a model to reverse engineer the creativity so we can potentially reach success.

According to the author, the creative arc is a bell-shaped curve that examines the relationship between preference and familiarity. The more it is exposed, the popular it becomes. When it reaches a peak, the idea overstated and leads become infamous. The crux of the book devises four laws of the creative curve: consumption, imitation, creative communities, and iterations.

One need to be familiar with the chosen field, should learn from successful predecessors, find mentors to guide, and progressively elaborate their ideas to formulate the success.

  1. This is Marketing by Seth Godin:

This book largely aimed at marketers and encourages them to work in different ways. The entrepreneurs can find it helpful as it provides the functional requirements of the business. The book perhaps described as the magnum opus of Seth Godin, and describes how the Internet has transformed media from being colossal.

It helps the people to become who they want to be and knowing about the ideal form of marketing. The book “This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen until You Learn to See” also depicts how a change forces marketers to adopt an approach of identifying their targets’ underlying goals.

  1. The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker:

One of the most popular books “The Effective Executive” by Peter Drucker is the top picks for most of the entrepreneurs. The book will definitely elevate your effectiveness to the top notches. It is one of the best books that can change your life. It illustrates how personal effectiveness (Doing the right things) can be developed through several key practices.

The author explains in the book how efficiency is the primary function of executives. Being efficient is simply doing what is necessary. The key to being efficient for an executive is to apply the efforts and bear the responsibilities.

  1. Business Adventures by John Brooks:

Business Adventures by John Brooks is one of the beloved books of business tycoons like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. The evergreen lessons it contains are being admired by these business magnates.

The book talks about 12 critical moments in American industry. It details the surprising case studies of American business in the past century. You can discover the reasons for all the events described in the book according to your perspective. Perhaps, business adventures teach lessons to the people on how to act. The chapters depict human nature in the context of business, technologies and change in best practices that people never do.

  1. Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson:

When you see a biography of an iconic, historic figure like Benjamin Franklin, it is really worth to get it. Although he was the most sparkling characters of history, there were stark differences.

The book states the account of the activities of Benjamin Franklin from the humble beginnings to a clever and practical person. From the apprentice of a printer to a wise sage and practical philosopher, he got international status and outshined in the world.

Isaacson has specified several things about Benjamin Franklin in a plain and straightforward manner in the book. You’ll see a perceptive analysis on Franklin as a real man with strong emotions and human weaknesses. It focuses on his pro-democratic views and his relationship to modern culture. This book would probably be the best choice for entrepreneurs to know how to look at life in multiple ways.

  1. The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday:

This book helps you undergo the struggles of your life with elegance and resilience by drawing lessons from ancient heroes, former presidents, actors, and athletes. It depicts how their adversity life turned into the pillar of success with the help of their perception and willpower. The whole book is packed full of anecdotes that illustrate the timeless stoical lessons about the greatest men and women who have ever lived.

It tells to focus on the things you can control. Let the other things go and turn every new obstacle into an opportunity for a better and stronger life. This book also depicts the perception, action, and will power.

  1. Connect The Dots by Rashmi Bansal:

The book tells the stories of courage, determination, and inspiration of 20 people who became entrepreneurs without doing an MBA.

The book is one of the most inspiring books the entrepreneurs should read. The different stories of how people have come from nowhere to the scenario. Each of the stories will be amazingly inspirational for the readers.

The book shows that it is not necessary to do an MBA to become an entrepreneur as academic qualifications shouldn’t decide a person’s future. The entrepreneurs need to be ready to tackle during their challenging period.

  1. You Can Win by Shiv Khera:

The book is a self-help book that motivates most of the people and takes things right from their daily life and gives them a positive thrust. The book is mostly for those who pursue a balanced personality and want to move towards the zenith of success with a positive vibe.

It stresses for those who have the desire to succeed and want to live their life in a better manner than they are currently now. The action plan for life has stated in the book with the importance of attitude, motivation, and success. Further, it provides steps to adopt a positive attitude in life.

  1. EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey:

EntreLeadership is a must-read book for business owners. It shows how Ramsey grew his own company from a card table in the living room to a multimillion company. He depicts all the mistakes he made along his way along with his success.

According to Dave Ramsey, the modern world belongs to neither entrepreneurs nor the leaders. You have to be both. i.e., EntreLeader. A leader has characteristics like discipline, vision, passion, and charisma. While an entrepreneur is driven, determined, creative, and courageous. To handle the entrepreneurial endeavor, a combination of both qualities is necessary.

  1. The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav:

The real strength of a person derives from silence, and praising the virtues of others will reflect through your politeness. The book deserves all the praises and is suitable for the broader audience regardless of cultural or religious background. The key purpose of this book is to explain people to nurture inner power so that they can deal easily with any kind of adversity.

  1. The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen:

The book “The Innovator’s Dilemma” is a business standard that explains the power of interruption. It depicts why market leaders are often failing gradually as the technologies and industries change. Sometimes the disruptive technologies will result in worse product performance in the organization. It also states what incumbents can do to secure their market leadership for a longer period of time.

  1. Good to Great by Jim Collins:

The author explains from his experience how to make good companies great. Moreover, Good to Great phase needs systematic stages and essential segments. If we had to describe the key purpose of the book in a single word, then Discipline will be the perfect hotel. You need disciplined people, great thought, and action to be in focused and excellence.

The author says “Good is the Enemy of Great”. Many organizations don’t even try to be great. Instead, they want to be good because it is an easier process. The companies are not determined to be the best in the industry. Thus, it opens the door to competitors. It’s the same with our lives. Few people want to live a great life. This is just because they’re happy with living a good life.

  1. The power of habit by Charles Duhigg:

This book by Charles Duhigg is perfect for those if you are under the delusion that you’re under the control of your life. If you are planning to start a new habit but just can’t stick to it. If you want to go out of a bad habit but keep falling off the wagon. The author demonstrates that habits dictate most of the things that go around us. I believe every entrepreneur should read this book to take control of their life. It explains perfectly the practical strategies and techniques to apply changes on the individual and organizational level.

  1. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki:

“Rich Dad Poor Dad” is about Robert Kiyosaki and his experience with two of his father one is his real father (poor dad) and other is his best friend’s father (rich dad). He explains both the ways in which they shaped their thoughts about money and investing. He says “You don’t need to earn a high income to be rich”.

The author compares his poor dad to those people who are perpetually running in the Rat Race to need more money in their life but never able to satisfy their dreams for wealth because of financial literacy.

  1. The Greatest Salesman in the World- Og Mandino:

The author says in this book “Never feel shame for trying and failing for he who has never failed is he who has never tried.” The book is dealing with the philosophy of salesmanship and success. The author tells an anecdote of Hafid, a poor camel boy who achieves a life of abundance and became the owner of the most powerful trade empire of his time and was known as the greatest salesman in the world.

There are 10 scrolls that hold the secret of learning and lays the foundation, each containing a key principle each for mastering the art of selling.

20 Movies Every Entrepreneur Should Watch

Entrepreneurship is one a boom in the era of Startups and business ventures. If you have an idea, go for it. The perseverance does pay off in the long run. All you need is a change in perspective and a strong wish for what you want to achieve. And a great way to get into that desired mindset appears with a motivational movie! Movies are a great way to learn from others in an easy to understand manner.

You can obtain some powerful insights from these 20 entertaining films either if you are planning to start a new business venture or at a race of existing entrepreneur. Most of them are the true stories of the greatest minds world has ever seen. So, if you have missed watching these inspirations, grab your phone, open Netflix or anything you have, get inspired to do take the industry by storm.

The Pursuit of happyness: Never Ever Give Up!

This film is based on the true story of Chris Gardner, who is an American businessman, investor, author as well as philanthropist. The struggle from homelessness to Wall Street legend has been depicted in this movie. This true story traces the fleeting ups and frightening down of a father with adherence to keeping never give up dreams regardless of what obstacles come in the way.

Wall Street: Every dream has its price! Are you ready?

A young and impatient stockbroker who can do just about anything it takes to succeed with a little trading by admiring a ruthless and greedy corporate raider and a Wall Street shark, who takes the youth under his wing. With full of ambition, he does whatever he can to make his way to the top. He finds himself at the zenith of business, however, everything becomes morally reprehensible. This movie gives a perfect example that giving up principles in life for money comes with a high price.

Nightcrawler: Anyone can become anything

This movie is for people with great vision. The flawless acting of Jake Gyllenhaal’s will keep you engaged throughout the movie. This depicts about struggles of a guy who is looking for a job but can’t find one. However, he finds an ocean of opportunity after witnessing a crime and decides to become a crime journalist. This movie emphasizes persuasion and drive. It will teach how positive attributes can make you limitless just with a little focus on and steady improvements.

The Godfather: A timeless masterpiece

An iconic movie that has had more parodies spinning off its storyline. The script is quite phenomenal and breathtaking. The symbolism and meaning in every scene are countless. It is a story about the growth of a small family business in New York to the largest organized crime family. The father and son were the brains behind the family. It gives an insight into what it takes to become one of the significant family businesses in the country.

The Social Network: The biggest risk is not taking any risk 

This movie is based on the eventual success story of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.  It emphasizes how true entrepreneurs face challenges. Zuckerberg begins from a dorm room to give a global social network and a revolution in communication. This movie teaches important lessons to be resilient and flexible in life to change direction when needed. It shows the hall of fame, success and then how it leads to both personal and legal complications.

Pirates of Silicon Valley: Talent and Sweat matters at the end

This is a biographical, documentary-style film about two tech-giants (Steve Jobs and Bill Gates) in the globe. The enormous competitions between the two powerful persons to raise their own companies (Apple and Microsoft) with the fluctuating love-hate relationship in the world of technology. This is an inspirational tale with quite a few useful pointers for entrepreneurs.

Moneyball: Old Way Vs New Way

This is a true story based on Oakland A’s general manager Billy Bean. He proves the conventional wisdom of baseball is wrong by using computer-generated analysis and recruits players to build a powerhouse team. Although faced with the budget, Bean prepares to challenge the old tradition of playing basketball by recruiting bargain-bin players with a game-winning potential. His use of overall career statistics has revolutionized the basketball game.

The Intern: Equal opportunity knows no age 

It is very challenging to start a job after retirement, but a 70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered the retirement as an opportunity to become a senior intern at an online fashion site. Being an intern, he becomes part of the company as a sincere employee followed by a young, tireless, dynamic, and workaholic founder Jules Ostin. His charm, wisdom, and sense of humor help him to develop a strong bond and friendship among all of the employees. He continues to be a source of support and inspiration for every employee in the organization.

Joy: Trust your inner voice

This is a story of a four-generation family, centered on one girl who completely revolutionized the mop industry and how the invention of the self-wringing mop turned her into a millionaire. The girl founds her own dynasty and becomes a true boss of family and enterprise. She achieves success by ignoring the betrayal and treachery with the scars of love. This is a must-watch movie for anyone who finds themselves as weak in the market.

The Corporation: Open your eyes, Learn the stuff

This film takes a good, long look at what happens when you take a business and model it to be legally an individual or a corporation. This is an eye-opening film about evil corporations and also what we can do to stop them from taking over everything that we know. This documentary shows the unsettling information and unusual details that came from the 14th Amendment, under constitutional law that corporations are seen as individuals. The filmmaker trying to find out what type of person would a corporation be.

Office Space: Humbleness is needed to build a better tomorrow

This movie is a perfect blend of modern office space with disrespectful, clueless management, monotonous work culture, and the mind-numbing routine of the entrepreneur. This is a story about how one man leads the existential office workplace into an unexcited place following his own path. A man who consistently starts to slack off and do things his own way, however, his careless nature starts to lead him stealing from the company in a much bigger way than he expected. This movie carries a powerful message about the importance of wearing the right amount of flair at all times.

Wolf of Wall Street: There is no nobility in poverty.

This movie depicts the rise of a wealthy stockbroker Jordan Belfort living the ultimate life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government. It’s an inspirational film how persistently Jordan Belfort puts a specific mission in his company to create an empire of business and how business cultures are created in fast-growth companies with negligible corruption.

Forrest Gump: Lifetime story

This story is about a simple man with a moderate level of IQ and good intentions, who accidentally becomes a successful man from living his life the best way. He leads anything in his life. He wins medals fighting for Vietnam Army, starts a ping-pong craze and becomes a professional ping-pong player, takes up running, owns a famous shrimping company, donates to people and meets the president several times, and inspires people with his optimism. This clearly states that it is not necessary to be a super genius to make something work, you just have to try.

The Aviator: Dream it! Build it!

An epic biographical drama film depicting about the Billionaire and Aviation Tycoon Howard Hughes’ career. The attention to detail and perfection strived him as a great personality. He faced many obstacles from competitors with malicious rumors, but nothing stopped him to achieve the goal. He happens to be a risk taker spending several fortunes in designing and promoting new aircraft despite having mental illness and germaphobia.

Risky Business: Make your move by anyway

This is again a good story about a Chicago teenager Joel Goodsen, overwhelmed with his dad’s Porsche to start a trip for fun when his parents leave on an unauthorized vacation for a few days. Suddenly he starts to realize a lot of money is needed for which he raised in a very creative way. It’s never as easy as he was expecting but interestingly managed to come up with some fast cash. Joel turns the house into a brothel to raise more money after meeting enthusiastic friends of him.

Catch Me If You Can: A master of deception

This is another true tale about a young guy who pretends to be another person for entertainment and fraud as an airline pilot, doctor, lawyer, and later as a history professor during his stint as fraudulent cheque casher. He worked as a brilliant forger in which he got the first real claim to fame. This is amazing how he managed to achieve in a tougher environment without taking the stress. He was one of the best at what he did though it’s legal or not.

Steve Jobs: Epicenter of Success

This movie tells details about a relatively determined, persistent personality, the founder of Apple Steve Jobs. Both the success and failures along with his struggle to keep Apple a leading organization with the innovation of technology has depicted in this movie. The story unfolds the launch of different iconic products with his passion and ingenuity by overcoming internal conflict inside his company. A must see movie for entrepreneurs.

Shawshank Redemption: Hope is a walking dream 

This is one of the greatest films of all time because of its undeniable greatness.

It’s the story of a man who is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison with the worst possible conditions for false imprisonment for the murder of his cheating wife and lover. During the brutality of prison life, he experiences a bad situation, however, he adapts it and manages to make the best from it while helping the warden, etc during his prison through perseverance.

Glengarry Glen Ross: Embrace the highs and lows of life

This is a perfect story about what happens behind the world of sales. The movie gives an accurate time-capsule when business values money, and sales, above all else. This gives a lesson in how not to run a sales department and how to manage during high-pressure sales with all its highs and lows.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: Best, Worst, and Capitalize

This is the story about two con men in good and bad times. They unsuccessfully attempt to work together in a town which is not big enough for both of them on the Mediterranean coast. Therefore, they decide to take part in a bet and the loser leaves the town and the winner to look after the business after winning the bet. This bet brings out the worst and best parts in both of them with an interesting twist.

Now you got to know about a few inspirational movies that you should definitely watch as an entrepreneur! Perhaps one day we can find about your success as a successful entrepreneur.