FundingUniverse.com agrees with Cicero: "Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body.”
Starting a company is hectic, time-consuming, and sometimes all encompassing. However, entrepreneurship is not just about growing your client base and revenue. Sometimes, it’s just about growth. Don’t let all the wear and tear of the every day keep you from learning anything you can.
Our in-house entrepreneurs take time everyday—at least a half an hour—reading news, blogs, and books.
As far as books go, we’d like to share some of our favorite picks for entrepreneurs.
Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute
Leadership and Self-Deception shows how most personal and organizational problems result from the little-known problem called ‘self-deception.’ See what it is, how people get caught up in it, and—most importantly—the surprising way to solve it.
Words that Sell: The Thesaurus to Help You Promote Your Products, Services, and Ideas by Richard Bayan
Lists over 2500 words, phrases, and slogans that sell: laid-out in the easily accessible thesaurus form
The Game of Work by Charles A. Coonradt
Learn what you need to do to enjoy your work as much as you enjoy your play!
Net Entrepreneurs Only by Gregory K. Ericksen
In their own words: Ten entrepreneurs, including the minds behind E*Trade, priceline.com, and eBay, tell their success stories.
The E Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber
Gerber dispels myths surrounding starting your own business and shows how commonplace assumptions can get in your way. On top of that, he walks you through the steps in the life of a business—from entrepreneurial infancy to maturity.
All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin
Okay, so the first thing Godin admits is that he lied when he named the book. This book is about how to do what customers demand: tell a story they want to believe. This is a great read for those who create things that people want as opposed to what they need.
Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
Godin declares Interruption Marketing (snatching a consumer’s attention away from what they’re doing) obsolete and lays out the alternative: Permission Marketing, offering consumers incentives to accept advertising voluntarily.
Purple Cow by Seth Godin
Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. Find out if your business is a ‘purple cow,’ but before you read this Godin go-getter, make sure you keep in mind what our COO Jeff Jordan has to say about getting the job done.
The Big Moo: The Group of 33 edited by Seth Godin
33 of the world’s smartest business thinkers give inspiration on how to move your organization from the mundane to the remarkable. Stop tryig to be perfect and start being remarkable.
Burn your Business Plan! What Investors Really want from Entrepreneurs by David E. Gumpert
Investors are busy people . . . Duh! Reading a 30-40 page business plan is as appetizing to them as a Blackberry is to the digitally impaired. Gumpert emphasizes tools like executive summaries and elevator pitches, over the business plan, as ways to not only capture, but keep, investor interest.
Who Moved my Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, M.D.
This international #1 bestseller leans on the ‘cheese’ metaphor to teach that change happens, and dealing with it (well) will lead to less stress and more success. Marketed towards every and any people, this book has special relevance to the entrepreneur.
Rules for Revolutionaries: The Capitalist Manifesto by Guy Kawasaki
Kawasaki, one of our favorite authors, presents his manifesto for world-changing innovation, using his battle-tested lessons to help revolutionaries become visionaries.
The New New Thing by Micael Lewis
A history of the Internet revolution and a condensed narrative of the high-tech frontier, Lewis’s book describes a shift in American culture away from conventional business models and definitions of success and toward a new way of thinking about the world.
Guerrilla Marketing Online Weapons: 100 Low-Cost, High-Impact Weapons for Online Profits and Prosperity by Levinson and Rubin
100 strategies to help you take advantage of the Internet’s great marketing potential.
Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen
Told in narrative form, this story behind the successful innovation at Pike's Place fish market in Seattle can be used in any industry across the board. Learn how changing intangibles like attitude can change substansials like results.
Inside the Tornado: Strategies for Developing, Leveraging, and Surviving Hypergrowth Markets by Geoffrey A. Moore
Got your sights set a hypergrowth market? Moore’s guide to delving in, turning profits, and winning market share addresses what entrepreneurs need to know.
Spin Selling by Neil Rackham
SPIN—Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff. This is a 12-year, million dollar research project with results that can help grow any sales business.
Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends by Tim Sanders
A FundingUniverse.com must-read: ”Why faith beats fear, greed isn’t good, and nice guys finish first.” – Fast Company. Just like entrepreneurship is about growth, business—good business—is about people.
Results-Based Leadership by Ulrich, Zenger, and Smallwood
Results-Based Leadership gives a clear-cut perspective on the leadership discussion. Learn how to connect personal leadership/character attributes with results.
Phrases that Sell by Edward Werz and Sally Germaine
The ultimate phrase finder to help you promote your products, services and ideas.
Term sheets and Valuations by Alex Wilmerding
A FundingUniverse.com must-read: We’ve used it as our own guide on occasion. A line by line look at the intricacies of term sheets and valuations: this book is a must for every entrepreneurs seeking investment.
A Matrix Approach to Solving Public Relations Problems by Laurie J. Wilson
This desktop reference for strategic matrix planning and developing communication tactics is an excellent starting point for those with little- to no experience with PR—a tool that is often overlooked but can be a lynch-pin as you build your business.