100+ must-read books for entrepreneurs

Are you an entrepreneur committed to achieving success by helping your clients succeed first? Then, you already know that proper growth begins with a deep understanding of your customers’ needs and the industry they operate in. We’ve prepared a curated list of 100+ high-value reads to support that mission. It includes biographies of the most influential business leaders, the stories of iconic brands, diaries of entrepreneurs and specialists, and insightful books explaining how different sectors of the economy and business genuinely work. To make it easier to navigate, we’ve organized the list by topic so you can jump straight to the publications most relevant to your industry or your clients. Each title in this list has been precisely selected, thoroughly read, and genuinely recommended. Explore the 100+ must-read books for entrepreneurs, compiled by Bartek Majewski, CEO of Casbeg, and Jacek Bartczak, our team’s Business & Sales Expert.

Table of contents – categories of recommended books for the entrepreneurs:

Consulting

Walt Bogdanich, Michael Forsythe – When McKinsey Comes to Town

A book showing big consulting in a very unfavorable light. The poor quality of services provided by individual consultants in the market and, on the other hand, the complete amorality and lack of adaptation to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses by large consulting firms were key factors in founding Casbeg. On the other hand, I didn’t realize things could be as bad as described in the authors’ stories.

Transportation & Logistics

Marc Levinson – The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger

A book about how maritime transport looked decades ago, how it evolved, and how it looks today. It explains why the emergence of container ships transformed sea transport in the same way that smartphones changed the world of mobile phones. It also highlights why, over the past 60 years, less has changed in business than we might think.

Education

Blythe Grossberg – I Left My Homework in the Hamptons: What I Learned Teaching the Children of the One Percent

An interesting memoir of a teacher who started tutoring on the side and eventually became highly sought-after, working with the children of New York’s elite. This gave her a unique observational position. At times, it felt like reading about Rome before its fall. Surprisingly, I also found it useful as a parent and learned quite a bit about customer segmentation and pricing for service-based businesses.

Energy

Gretchen Bakke – The Grid: Electrical Infrastructure for a New Era

An excellent book about the power grid infrastructure. If you want to know where electricity comes from, how it’s stored and transported, and the purpose of all those power poles, this is a great starting point. The book is written heavily from an American perspective, as the U.S. infrastructure and its specific characteristics take center stage.

Peter Zeihan – The Absent Superpower: The Shale Revolution and a World Without America

I’ve read everything Zeihan has written. This particular book focuses on the shale revolution, which turned the U.S. into an energy exporter, fundamentally changing America’s approach to global engagement. Thanks to this book, I gained a much better understanding of international trade, transportation, and geopolitics, especially in the context of the flow of hydrocarbons.

Take a look at this position through the eyes of Bartosz Majewski – play the episode of the podcast: Jak wygląda świat bez Ameryki? | Interesy #30 | The Absent Superpower | Peter Zeihan,

Ron Chernow – Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller

The biography of John D. Rockefeller — one of the greatest industrialists in American history, an icon of capitalism, the richest man in the world during his time, and later in life, a philanthropist.

Food and Beverages

Jarvis Hooten – Mobile Vending: How To Run A Traveling Food Or Merchandise Concession

In some industries, the winner is the software creator whose product is best tailored to the needs of Fortune 500 companies. In others, it’s the food truck owner offering the most unique lemonade. Even in this industry, there’s a common formula for a successful business: listen to customers, identify an unmet need, start with a prototype, and improve it as much as possible.

Hardware & Manufacturing

Walter Isaacson – Steve Jobs

Probably the most famous business biography in history, written by arguably the best biographer of all time. If you haven’t read it yet, this is the sign from above you’ve been waiting for. Go to the bookstore and start reading! 🙂

Tony Fadell – Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making

Simply a great book. If you’re a founder, you must read it. Tony has experienced the startup world from many perspectives: as a founder, product developer, CEO, and investor. His book addresses some of the most important questions asked by company founders. It’s filled with incredible stories from his time building Nest, the iPhone, iPod, and iPad, and his involvement in the failure of General Magic. The section on his work at Google after Nest’s acquisition is also particularly fascinating.

Eliyahu M. Goldratt – The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

A book about what a manufacturing company looks like when it is based on ineffective processes—and what changes when effective processes are introduced.

IT

Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford – Project Phoenix

Surprisingly easy-to-read book about how large IT departments function in big companies – and how to fix that mess.

Gene Kim – Project: Unicorn

The second part of Project Phoenix. Very easy to read. It’s a slightly different story, but it comes to very similar conclusions. Focused on DevOps approach. If someone feels unsatisfied after reading Project Phoenix, it’s worth picking up.

Investment Banking

Michael Lewis – Liar’s Poker

A behind-the-scenes look at 1980s Wall Street from the perspective of an employee at Salomon Brothers—one of the largest investment firms at the time. After writing this book, the author became one of the top writers on various economic topics, and many of his books have been adapted into many acclaimed films.

Michael Lewis – Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt

What happens when we allow algorithms to trade alongside protein-based human investors on stock exchanges? Many unexpected things. Exactly what those are—you’ll find out from this book.

John LeFevre – Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

John LeFevre’s account of his adventures as a work-hard-party-hard investment banker, conquering the world with a career spanning New York, London, and Hong Kong. The world of banking before and after the 2008 crisis was vastly different, and this book serves as a record of a bygone era.

Bill Browder – Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice

A compelling story of a financier who arrived in Russia right after the collapse of the Soviet Union, made a fortune, and became Vladimir Putin’s number one enemy. What happens when a Westerner lands in a bus factory in AutoSan near Sanok in the late ‘80s? The answer to that question doesn’t even make it into the top ten most interesting stories in this book.

Marketing Agencies

John Warrillow – Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You

The author narratively guides us through the life of an overworked owner of a small marketing agency, struggling to handle a few clients by offering a variety of services. Alongside the protagonist, the book focuses on transforming the business into something that can be sold. The content is straightforward to digest, providing many practical insights, especially for those working in service companies.

David Ogilvy – Confessions of an Advertising Man

He is one of the best marketers in history and shares his approach to conducting marketing, running an agency, acquiring clients, and… basically everything else. Ogilvy’s work and this book are must-reads if you work in marketing or run a marketing agency.

Bartosz Majewski dedicated an episode of his podcast to this reading – take a listen: Od kucharza na szczyt marketerów | Interesy #19 | “Confessions of an Advertising Man” | D. Ogilvy.

Media and Creators Economy

Bob Iger – The Ride of a Lifetime

The autobiography of Disney’s former CEO, which, upon release, was seen as a prelude to a political career and a potential 2020 presidential bid for the Democrats. Although this did not happen, the book chronicles decades of work at various media companies, culminating in leading Disney and acquiring Pixar, Marvel Studios, LucasArts, and 20th Century Fox.

Disney and Iger left such a strong impression on me that I even made a video about the journey the company went through. See a video about the company’s history and read an article about its business model: [VIDEO] Disney – Firma, która zbudowała potężne imperium rozrywkowe | Modele Biznesowe #004.

Charlie Brooker, Annabel Jones – Inside Black Mirror

A book takes you behind the scenes of creating new seasons of one of the most provocative and creative TV series of the early 21st century.

Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer – No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

A book written by the CEO of Netflix along with an INSEAD professor outlining the principles that guide Netflix. I was surprised to find that many of the rules we independently developed at Casbeg were also reflected in this book.

Find out more about why we recommend this study: Interesy #13 – “Gdy regułą jest brak reguł” – R. Hastings, E. Meyer.

Mason Currey – Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

The author conducted extensive research on the daily routines of various artists, writers, and creatives over the years and then provided concise descriptions of their work styles and rituals. It’s interesting if you want to figure out how your day should look like or if you want to be happy and productive.

Ryan Holiday – Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work that Lasts

Ryan Holiday wrote a book on how to create and communicate your work in a way that makes people want to pay for it. In practice, monetizing one’s creativity is often not the strongest skill for creators — this book aims to solve that problem.

Peter Pomerantsev – This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality

An acquaintance mentioned in his review of this book that it helped him understand why reading Western media sometimes feels like being in Russia. Although we differ politically, his comment intrigued me. After reading it, I found he had a point.

Pomerantsev illustrates how modern media is influenced by various bad actors, taking us through troll farms, corrupt newsrooms, cynical politicians, and technocratic social platforms. The book is filled with practical examples, unique stories, and observations, making it a brilliantly written read, which we talk about more extensively in the podcast: Ciemna strona mass mediów | Interesy #34 | To nie jest propaganda | Peter Pomerantsev.

Michael Ovitz – Who Is Michael Ovitz?

The memoirs of Michael Ovitz, founder of the talent agency CAA and one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood in the late 80s and early 90s. He helped inspire A16Z, acquired the first commercial client for Palantir, and made Ghostbusters and Jurassic Park Happen. Yeah, he’s that guy. There is a lot of deal-making in this book, which I found awesome. I liked the story of CAA enough to create a video about it on my YouTube channel.

Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace – Creativity INC

The story of Pixar, written by its co-founder Ed Catmull. It delves into the behind-the-scenes creation of films like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., explaining how to avoid stifling creativity with structures and bureaucracy. The final chapter is particularly noteworthy, as it serves as a farewell to Steve Jobs, the company’s main investor. Catmull likely worked with Jobs longer than any other collaborator.

James Andrew Miller – Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency

A 900-page book on CAA, unlike Who is Michael Ovitz, written as a polyphonic narrative by founders, employees, clients, partners, and witnesses. It’s both a fascinating study of how the company operated and an extension of the story, covering the period after the founders’ departure.

New Space

Christian Davenport – The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos

The book tells the stories of two space companies: SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, and Blue Origin, headed by Jeff Bezos. It explores their contrasting approaches, missions, and impacts on the space industry, highlighting the competition and innovation within the commercial space sector.

Ashlee Vance – When The Heavens Went On Sale

The book chronicles the stories of space companies that are not SpaceX, including Astra, PlanetLabs, Firefly, and Rocket Lab. It features compelling journalism by Ashlee Vance, who found a way to profit from an industry that burns through cash. This insightful narrative highlights the challenges and innovations faced by these companies in the competitive space sector.

We summarise the value of this item in the podcast: Interesy #10 – “When The Heavens went on sale” – Ashlee Vance.

Ashlee Vance – Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Some admire him, while others can’t stand him — Elon Musk is a figure that elicits strong reactions. To better understand his story, we recommend delving into Ashlee Vance’s biography, considered the best account of Musk’s life and career to date. It provides insights into his achievements and the controversies surrounding him, making it a must-read for anyone interested in this influential entrepreneur.

Walter Isaacsson – Elon Musk

The world’s best biographer has written a book about the richest man in the world. This book covers not just space but also significant events like the production of various projects, the acquisition of Twitter and Tesla, and much about Musk’s private life. It’s an explosive mix, beautifully written.

And here is an episode of the podcast with key extracts from the reading: Książka idealna dla żon przedsiębiorców | Interesy #21 | “Elon Musk” | W. Isaacson.

George Friedman, Jacek Bartosiak – Wojna w Kosmosie: Przełom w geopolityce

One of the most famous political analysts and one of the best up-and-coming combine forces to describe the space domain in terms of geopolitics. What does this have to do with business? Turns out it’s a lot. Governments will be very active in space, and doing business in that domain requires us to figure out what drives governments to do what they do.

Listen to an episode of Bartek Majewski’s podcast about this book: Jak grać w kapitalizm w kosmosie? | Interesy #18 | “Wojna w kosmosie” | Bartosiak/Friedman

SaaS

Aaron Ross, Jason Lemkin – From Impossible to Inevitable: How Hyper-Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue

Two SaaS veterans on everything sales, marketing, and customer success in the SaaS context.

Aaron Ross, Marylou Tyler – Predictable Revenue: Turn Your Business Into a Sales Machine with the $100 Million Best Practices of Salesforce.com

Another noteworthy book on sales and marketing practices in a SaaS company. It offers valuable insights into effective strategies and approaches that drive growth and customer engagement within the software-as-a-service industry. It’s mostly about setting up outbound go-to-market motion at Salesforce, and it’s quite dated, but you’ll still get value out of it.

Dan Lyons – Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble

Dan Lyons, after being laid off from Newsweek, became a content manager at the now-established startup HubSpot. He cynically critiques the management practices in that work environment, making for an interesting read, especially when compared to Mark Roberge’s insights as HubSpot’s CRO. However, it’s essential to note that Lyons holds a negative perspective on the company and can come across as quite grumpy. If only he’d stay in Hubspot and just vested his stock he’d be a multimillionaire, but hey, at least he has a Phd in bitching and a book now, right?

Marc Benioff, Carlye Adler – Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company – And Revolutionized an Industry

How did Salesforce.com transform from a startup operating out of a rented apartment to the fastest-growing software company in the world in less than a decade? You’ll find the answers in this book, which explores the company’s innovative strategies and growth trajectory.

John Warrillow – The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry

This is a basic yet valuable introduction to subscription businesses, featuring a wealth of diverse examples from both B2C and B2B markets. It’s an excellent starting point for anyone looking to understand the subscription model and its applications.

Startups

Andrew S. Grove – Only the Paranoid Survive. Lessons from the CEO of INTEL Corporation

A book in which the author, the CEO of Intel, shares insights on leveraging key moments of change in the industry. In the 1980s, under Grove’s leadership, Intel primarily sold RAM, but through reflections outlined in this book, it pivoted towards processors, leading to Intel’s long-standing dominance in the field and the iconic Intel Inside sticker on computers from the 1990s and early 2000s.

Frank Sennett – Groupon’s Biggest Deal Ever

If you are Gen X or a Millenial, Groupon needs no introduction. If you are curious about the behind-the-scenes details of this e-commerce discount operation, this is the book for you. It offers valuable insights, especially for those seeking to create a venture-building company or incubate new entities within their operations.

Peter Thiel, Blake Masters – Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shares his strategies for building businesses from the ground up. Interestingly, the first draft of this book was written by Blake Masters, who attended Thiel’s lectures and took detailed notes. These notes were published on his blog, gaining popularity in the Silicon Valley startup community. As a result, Masters suggested compiling them into a book, which became one of the more important reads on startups, technology, and the future.

Antonio Garcia Martinez – Chaos Monkeys

An autobiography of a startup hustler. Written without any filters, painfully transparent, and as cynical as possible. It strips away illusions, which is particularly useful in early-stage startups. I think it shouldn’t be read literally if you ever want to feel a sense of community with anyone. Cynics sound smart, but realistic optimists make money in this business.

We talk about Chaos Monkeys in an episode of the Interests podcast: Ile cudów musi się zdarzyć, by startup odniósł sukces? | Interesy #26 | Chaos Monkeys | A. Martinez.

Randall E. Stross – The Launch Pad: Inside Y Combinator

A portrait of the early days of Y Combinator, and consequently the world of Web 2.0 in full bloom. A time when dozens of web applications aimed at solving relatively trivial problems of everyday life were coming through YC rather than new rocket technologies. This book mainly holds historical value, but if you dream of creating an incubator or accelerator, it may still offer some insights.

Jimmy Soni – The Founders

Portrait of the PayPal mafia, before they knew they were one. It’s about PayPal since its inception to its Ebay acquisition. If you want to know the story of the company that had the highest density of entrepreneurial and technical talent in Silicon Valley, this is what you read.

To this publication, we also dedicated one episode of the podcast: Czego uczy historia Paypala? Interesy #15 | “The Founders” | J. Soni.

Jason Calacanis – Angel

A book about investing in early-stage startups from the perspective of an angel investor. The author presents a quantitative approach that feels somewhat distant to me, but his impressive track record suggests it can be very effective – something I still need to confirm with my intuition. If you’re looking for an interesting perspective on investments in this asset class, it’s definitely worth a read, of which we are firmly convinced here: Jak inwestować w startupy technologiczne? 🖥 | Interesy #45 | Bartek Majewski | “Angel” | Calacanis.

Mike Isaac – Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber

A book about Uber that chronicles its journey from inception to the ousting of its second CEO and co-founder. It explores the challenges, controversies, and transformative moments that shaped the company’s rapid rise and subsequent struggles. The narrative provides insights into the internal dynamics and external pressures that influenced Uber’s trajectory.

Nick Bilton – Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal

A story of the struggle for control over a company growing faster than its founders could have imagined. It suggests that Twitter’s legendary inability to create anything innovative, despite its incredible user community, originated from how key executives were more focused on internal battles than on the product itself.

Matthew Brennan – Attention Factory: The Story of TikTok & China’s ByteDance

A book about Bytedance, a company that owns TikTok, and building tech businesses in China.

Sarah Frier – No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram

A book detailing the entire history of Instagram, from its inception to the moment the founders departed from Facebook. It explores the platform’s evolution, key developments, and the impact of its founders on its trajectory and culture.

Michael Lewis – The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story

A book about the eccentric inventor and creator of major, rapidly growing companies before and during the dot-com bubble, Jim Clark.

Elad Gil – High Growth Handbook

A collection of essays by various authors, edited by a startup veteran and a VC, focused on the rapid growth of tech companies. It provides many tactical answers and unconventional solutions to typical startup problems that arise during the fast-growth phase.

Eric M. Jackson – PayPal Wars

A historical book about PayPal (interestingly, it’s the only one written about the company), published shortly after its acquisition by eBay. Keith Rabois mentioned that early employees may not love it, but it remains valuable and accurately captures the atmosphere of a rapidly growing fintech organization, especially as it’s written from an insider’s perspective. Eric Jackson did a good job telling the story, and Jimmy Soni later wrote an excellent follow-up. PayPal is one of the most important companies in tech history, and it deserves a book that fully reflects its story.

Listen to the episode of Bartek Majewski’s podcast in which he takes on this position: Interesy #2 – “The PayPal Wars” – Eric M. Jackson

Marc Randolph – That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea

A book about old Netflix, while they were still renting DVDs via mail and have been transitioning into a subscription model.

Brad Stone – The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World

Brad Stone wrote a book about the then-champions of the sharing economy, a trend that never fully took off – but served as a narrative for 2 companies. At the same time, it serves as a fascinating study of building a marketplace driven by network effects with real-world consequences. An additional value of the book is that it was written before Travis Kalanick stepped down following a boardroom coup at Uber.

As Jacek Bartczak put it: If your service isn’t illegal, it’s just not yet regulated. this book is a must for you. See what else we think about this item: Growth hacking Ubera i Airbnb | Interesy #25 | “The Upstarts” | B. Stone.

E-Commerce and Retail

Sam Walton – Sam Walton: Made In America

An excellent autobiographical book about how the WalMart store networks and Sam’s Club operated. Sam Walton, who, at the time of writing, was the richest person in the world and the largest employer in the USA, while being at the end of his professional career (and life). Impressive story of a guy who lived on his terms.

We talk about the American Dream in this episode of the podcast: Lekcje biznesu od założyciela Walmartu | 432 mld dolarów majątku 💰 | Interesy #60 | Bartek Majewski.

John Mackey – The Whole Story

The book is by the founder of The Whole Foods, which is, in my opinion, the best grocery store in the USA. A few years ago, the store was bought by Amazon, and this book is the story of the bumpy road the company went through.

Joe Coulombe – Becoming Trader Joe

The book is by the founder of Trader Joe’s, which is, in my opinion, the second-best grocery store in the USA, after Whole Foods.

Robin Lewis, Michael Dart – New Rules Of Retail

This is a book about the future of the retail industry, written in… 2009. It’s worth reading and analyzing what has proven to be true and what hasn’t and considering why. Reading archival books about the future is an excellent antidote to all kinds of trend reports and expert predictions.

Niels Lunde – Miraklet i LEGO

The world of building blocks and toys from the inside. At the same time, the book shows what happens to a company when it focuses too much on the brand, concrete steps are not taken alongside wishful thinking, no one asks for customers’ opinions, and the ego of certain employees has too much influence on the company’s operations.

Benjamin Lorr – The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket

The functioning of a supermarket from the inside.

Tom Acitelli – Pilsner: How the Beer of Kings Changed the World

The author looks through the beer industry.

Marcia Layton Turner – The Domino’s Story: How the Innovative Pizza Giant Used Technology to Deliver a Customer Experience Revolution

From this reading, you’ll learn how pizzerias and the chain restaurant market operate.

Mary Curran-Hackett – The Sephora Story: The Retail Success You Can’t Make Up

The cosmetics industry from the inside, from the founding of Sephora to the current digital age.

Brad Stone – The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

One of the first books about how Amazon, starting with selling books online, began to create an e-commerce empire where more and more products could be purchased. Over time, this empire expanded to include logistics and warehouses, as well as server space. It’s short, you can finish it in 2 afternoons.

Tony Hsieh – Delivering Happiness

An autobiographical book by the CEO and founder of Zappos.com, which was acquired by Amazon for nearly a billion dollars in 2008. The late Tony Hsieh, who passed away in 2020, was a serial entrepreneur, customer service fanatic, and pioneer of online retail with physical inventory. The book chronicles his life and business journey up until the sale of Zappos. Rest in peace, Tony.

Ryan Daniel Moran – 12 Months to $1 Million

A well-known podcaster, entrepreneur, and investor outlines the system he uses to guide companies from zero to $1 million in revenue within 12 months. This approach is quite useful as a reference point for establishing structure, priorities, and benchmarks during the chaotic initial development phase of a business.

Krzysztof Domeradzki – Patent na e-commerce

A famous Polish journalist and writer conducted a handful of interviews with founders of well-known e-commerce companies in cooperation with cyber folks. It came out very diverse, interesting, educational, and inspiring. Find out more in our podcast: Jak rośli Altenberg, CoffeeDesk, Morele i Oponeo? 🛞 | Interesy #56 | Majewski | Patent na e-commerce.

Marketplace

Andrew Chen – The Cold Start Problem

The author of the book is Andrew Chen, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz. The publication spans over 400 pages, densely packed with practical insights into product development and building network effects. It serves as a guide for overcoming the challenges of launching new products and scaling companies, based on experiences from organizations like LinkedIn, Zoom, Uber, Dropbox, Tinder, and Airbnb.

The Polish edition was co-published by Bartek Majewski (co-author of this post), Krzysztof Bartnik, and Bartek Pucek. You can buy it at coldstart.pl.

Jeff John Roberts – Kings of Crypto: One Startup’s Quest to Take Cryptocurrency Out of Silicon Valley and Onto Wall Street

A well-documented story of the greatest success to date for a cryptocurrency company. Despite facing recent challenges and competition from OpenSea, the history of Coinbase is emblematic of the trajectory of an innovative startup from Y Combinator or Silicon Valley.

Corporate America

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

A book featuring eight stories of CEOs who achieved the highest growth in company value per share. It includes both well-known and lesser-known leaders who used conventional and unconventional strategies. The book provides excellent reference points for top managers. When I first read it, I learned about capital allocation and Henry Singelton from Teledyne. If you don’t understand the last sentence, stop reading this blog post and buy this book immediately.

Phil Knight – Shoe Dog

The memoirs of Nike’s founder, Phil Knight, about the early years of the company, which was then still called Blue Ribbon and was slowly gaining recognition in the USA. One of the best business autobiographies I’ve had the chance to read.

Thomas Gryta, Ted Mann – Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric

A book about what happened at General Electric after Jack Welch’s departure. It wasn’t pretty.

Robert Rosenberg – Around the Corner to Around the World: A Dozen Lessons I Learned Running Dunkin Donuts

A book about a bakery/café where every day feels like Fat Thursday. It’s a captivating behind-the-scenes story of a café that evolved into part of an international conglomerate. I have had a special fondness for it since I visited Boston.

Colin Bryar, Bill Carr – Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon

Ever wondered how Amazon runs on a day-to-day basis? How does it make decisions? How does it recruit and conduct meetings? Or what was the story behind launching Kindle or Prime? If, like me, you did, then that’s a book for you. Many have long wondered, how do they do it? and how are they so successful?. Two long-time Amazon executives wrote a book addressing these questions through various areas of the company’s operations.

While the book is insightful and practical, it leaves a desire for a more comprehensive encyclopedia of the Amazon. They even founded a consulting firm to implement these practices in other companies. A closer look at it is here: Interesy #5 – “Od Z do A” – B. Carr, C. Bryar.

Alice Schroeder – The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

960 pages of Warren Buffett’s biography that I managed to devour in 3 days. I’ve read several thousand pages about him, his investments, and Berkshire Hathaway, and this is probably the best synthesis of the subject you can find. The book was published in 2008, so it does not cover the last 14 years of his story.

Daniel Schulman – Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America’s Most Powerful and Private

The Koch brothers are heirs to a chemical empire employing over 100,000 people and generating revenues exceeding $100 billion. It’s one of the few privately held companies operating on such a scale and not listed on the stock exchange. The book details the Koch family’s history, including the values the brothers uphold and their political involvement that stems from these beliefs. It’s an interesting read for those curious about the influence of big business on American politics. I tend to recommend this book for clients who want to give money to charities or political causes.

Thomas J. Watson Jr., Peter Petre – Father, Son & Co.: My Life at IBM and Beyond

It’s rare for a son who inherited a company from his father to be able to write his memoirs. But that’s exactly what happened here — Thomas Watson had the chance to present both his perspective on succession and growing up in the shadow of his father, who was the president of IBM, as well as his later professional career. I highly recommend this book to clients working on succession planning.

Frank Slootman – Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity

A great book — if you’re a founder, you must read it. While Slootman was writing that book, he was on top of the world as the CEO of Snowflake. Since then, he has tepped down. With this book and his career achievements, he deserves to be placed alongside Andy Grove. In Amp It Up, just like in Grove’s High Output Management, you can explore the philosophy of managing a fast-growing tech company. It’s worth reading, as it’s a highly practical book based on the author’s personal experiences.

If you are a CEO who wants to run his tech company effectively and efficiently, this is a book for you. If you want to find out why we recommend it, click here: Interesy: podcast Bartka Majewskiego #1 – “Amp it up” – Frank Slootman.

Lee Iacocca – Iacocca: An Autobiography

In his autobiography, Lee Iacocca depicts a fascinating career path – from his pivotal role in the success of the Ford Mustang, where the introduction of installment sales was a significant factor, through his position as CEO at Ford to his move to the then-failing Chrysler. This is a story about the American corporate world of the second half of the 20th century, also showing the links between the automotive industry and politics. The stories of such entrepreneurs are worth reading more often – their experiences, put to the test of time, allow universal conclusions to be drawn, valid regardless of the circumstances and era.

Scott Galloway – The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google

A very good book by a highly controversial and often misguided marketing professor and entrepreneur. It describes the sources of competitive advantage for four global tech giants.

Small and Medium Businesses

Tom Acitelli – The Audacity of Hops

A collection of stories about the American craft beer revolution. As far as I know, the market share of craft beer in the U.S. is the highest in the world. This book explains in an accessible way how this came to be. We break it down into its essentials in this episode of the podcast: Rewolucja kraftowego piwa w USA | Browar za 14 mln dolarów | Audacity of Hops | Majewski | Interesy.

Tom Acitelli – American Wine – A Coming of Age Story

A collection of stories about American wine. It explains how it evolved from 1948 to today. Not long ago, Americans weren’t known for producing excellent wine, but now they are (California Zinfandels hold a special place in my heart). The book explains in an accessible way how this transformation happened.

Greg McBee – Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!: 4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential

A finance book for non-finance people. If you’re an entrepreneur looking for a set of simple rules and heuristics for managing your personal and business finances, this is the perfect read for you.

Verne Harnish – Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It… and Why the Rest Don’t

There are many books targeted at small businesses because it’s a large potential market – you can sell a lot of books to that audience. Similarly, there are books for big companies since, despite their small numbers, winning them over can be lucrative – in speaking gigs and consulting assignments. Verne Harnish wrote Scaling Up 2.0 for those who fall in between and are experiencing rapid growth. It’s a compelling set of practices for developing and organizing various aspects of a company in a high-growth phase.

Thomas J. Stanley – The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy

A 1996 book by two researchers of American millionaires. It turns out that the portrait of an American millionaire is quite different from the image that the media tries to portray.

Scott Belsky – The Messy Middle

The co-founder of Behance shares tips on how a company should operate when it’s no longer small but not yet large.

Sahil Lavingia – The Minimalist Entrepreneur: How Great Founders Do More with Less

Founders are creators—the author reminded me of this simple truth. Sahil is a practitioner, founder of the platform Gumroad supporting creators in selling their products, the second employee of Pinterest, and more recently, a venture capitalist. This is a highly practical book written by an entrepreneur for entrepreneurs.

Open-source entrepreneurship is a trend I resonate with and try to contribute to. If concepts like a 40-hour workweek, profitability, customer focus, and bootstrapping appeal to you, get yourself a copy of The Minimalist Entrepreneur. And before that, turn on the dedicated episode of the podcast: Podręcznik bootstrapowego rozwijania produktów | Interesy #23 | “Minimalistyczny przedsiębiorca”.

Andrew Wilkinson – Never Enough: From Barista to a Billionaire

The founder of Tiny Capital has written an autobiography within which he grapples with the questions that torment many hugely successful people. An interesting and strongly introspective book. If you dream of building a holding company or are struggling to find meaning after your successes, then this could be a very valuable reading for you.

Private Equity and Venture Capital

Jason Kelly – The New Tycoons: Inside the Trillion Dollar Private Equity Industry That Owns Everything

A very good synthesis of how the private equity market operates in the U.S. and the internal mechanisms driving the industry. Although the book was written 10+ years ago, and the market has evolved since, the general principles remain similar. It provides valuable insights into the dynamics of private equity, making it a useful resource for understanding this complex field.

Bryan Burrough – Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

A classic. The story of the leveraged buyout of the food and tobacco conglomerate RJR Nabisco for $25 billion. At the time, it was the largest transaction of its kind in the world, illustrating the complexities and high stakes of corporate acquisitions. This event marked a significant moment in financial history, highlighting the interplay of investment firms and corporate governance.

Cristiane Correa – DREAM BIG: How Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Beto Sicupira Acquired Anheuser-Busch, Burger King and Heinz

The story of 3G Capital captivated me so much that I even created an episode about it for my Business Models series on youtube: 3G Capital – FUNDUSZ, którego spółka notuje ponad 50 mld $ przychodów | Modele Biznesowe #008 and an episode of the podcast: W co inwestuje brazylijski król hamburgerów? 🍔 | Interesy #43 | Bartek Majewski | “Dream Big” . It is an excellent example of how business can be conducted in emerging markets, showcasing the strategies and approaches that led to their success. The book provides insights into their operations and the unique challenges faced in these dynamic environments.

Francisco Homem de Mello – 3G Way: Dream, People, Culture

This book is a continuation of the 3G Capital story, focusing more on their culture and mindset than on the history of their fund and acquired companies. It’s a quick read. It can be easily finished in two afternoons, but it offers insights that provoke thought for much longer. The author’s exploration of 3G’s approach provides valuable lessons for anyone interested in business strategy and corporate culture.

Scott Kupor – Secrets of Sand Hill Road

A very good synthesis of how the Venture Capital market operates in the U.S. and the internal mechanisms driving it. From my experience and observations, the insights translate moderately well to the Polish market, which has its own unique characteristics. The book was recently written by a practitioner — Scott is a partner at A16Z — adding valuable firsthand knowledge to the analysis.

Sebastian Mallaby – The Power Law

A book detailing the history of the venture capital industry and the key laws governing it. If you have any connection to VC, this is an essential read, and it’s excellently written. It provides valuable insights into the evolution and foundational principles of venture capital, making it a must-have resource for professionals in the field.

A discussion of the key findings from this reading can be found here: Najważniejsze prawo rządzące startupami 📚 | Interesy #48 | Bartek Majewski | The Power Law | Mallaby.

Randall E. Stross – eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work

This publication has primarily historical value, providing a remarkable record of the work done with the Benchmark fund (before it became the Benchmark we know today) and their investments in companies like WebVan and eBay. It serves as a fascinating chronicle of the dot-com bubble, highlighting the dynamics and lessons from that era in venture capital.

Krzysztof Domeradzki, Artur Kurasiński – Startupowcy

Krzysztof Domeradzki and Artur Kurasiński have created a book that is a collection of interviews with Polish start-ups. If you’re curious about the stories of these companies, it’s worth a read – although the lessons contained therein are generally hardly generalizable.

Walker Deibel – Buy Then Build

The canonical book on search funds and, therefore, special purpose funds dedicated to buying a viable, growing, and operating business, generally in a traditional industry. If you dream of buying a business, this is a must-read.

Investments

David Rubenstein – Inwestorzy

The famous private equity investor and founder of the Carlyle Group has interviewed leaders investing in all sorts of investment classes. It’s a crazy interesting reading, I didn’t know there were whole classes of investment funds investing in airports, for example. I dedicated a podcast episode to it: Interesy #9 – “Inwestorzy” – David M. Rubenstein.

Jacob McDonough – Capital Allocation: The Financials of a New England Textile Mill 1955 – 1985

The financial history of Berkshire Hathaway. The author traces year by year what Buffett and company did with the fortune. A very useful read when you start asking yourself questions about what to do with company cash. Listen about it here: Jak dobrze alokować kapitał? | Interesy #17 | “Capital Allocation” | J. McDonough.

Janet Lowe – Damn Right: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger

A biography of blessed memory Charlie Munger. A great man, an investor, and a walking treasure trove of knowledge. I got a lot out of this book, which is why I recorded a podcast episode about it: 99 lat mądrego inwestowania | Interesy #16 | “Damn Right!” | J. Lowe.

William Green – Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the world’s best investors win in markets and life

The author portrays some investors and tries to distil lessons from them. Find out more: Jak działają inwestorzy w modelu 4 + 1? | Richer, Wiser, Happier | Majewski | Interesy #64.

Tren Griffin – Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor

A long-time director at Microsoft has written a great book about Charlie Munger. I tell the story here: Jak zarobić 2,5 mld dolarów w 99 lat? 💰 | Interesy #44 | Bartek Majewski | “Charlie Munger”.

Service-based companies

Gino Wickman – Traction: Get a grip on your business

If you believe that a business should operate like a machine, Wickman’s book is the manual for it. I find the mechanistic nature a bit off-putting, but I have implemented some of the advice with good results, and Casbeg has converted many clients to traction.

David Maister – Managing a professional services firm

An age-old book on how to do services. Although some of the chapters have aged extremely poorly and the style is severely inaccessible, it is still worth reading if you run a service business.

Katarzyna Młynarczyk, Bartłomiej Rak – Rzemieślnicy

The founders of several companies, who are also a couple, have written a book about people who are involved in crafts. So there is a conversation with a distiller, a farmer, and a tailor, among others. An insanely crafted reading that is sure to result in purchases from its protagonists. See for yourself by listening to the podcast: Interesy #3 – “Rzemieślnicy” – K. Młynarczyk, B. Rak.

GovTech

Alex Karp, Nicholas Zamiska – The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West

The founder and legal advisor at Palantir have written a book about what they believe in and what Palantir is all about. If you do anything at the interface with the public sector, this is the position for you. Why? Check it out here: W co wierzy dolina krzemowa? | Palantir | Najlepszy CEO 2024 wg Economist | A. Karp | Interesy #69.

Crime

Tom Wainwright – Narconomics

This book provides an in-depth explanation of how modern drug cartels operate and is also the best book on corporate social responsibility (CSR) that I have read. Also, beautifully written.

We present this publication in the 24th episode of the podcast: Ekonomia wg kartelu narkotykowego | Interesy #24 | “Narkonomia” | T. Wainwright.

John Carreyrou – Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Apart from showing how far you can go with the appearance of a functioning product (not recommended), the book also provides insights into how a biotechnology company backed by Venture Capital operates.

Jacob Helberg – The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power

A very timely and relevant book about the intersection of international politics and technology in the context of the U.S.’s rivalry with China and Russia. The author is uniquely positioned to write on this topic due to his professional experience in technology, security, and politics, having worked at Google, Stanford University, and several think tanks. It highlights that above a certain size, running a tech company inevitably involves engaging in political activities. If the U.S. implemented some recommendations from this book, it would pose an even greater challenge for China.