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Top Business Books Recommended by Founders

The Top Entrepreneurs podcast has interviewed 900+ founders. Each CEO shares their favorite book. This list highlights the most popular.
Showing 1 - 20 of 995 books
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition cover

1. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition

by Robert B. Cialdini
Read 42 comments
The Algorithm Design Manual cover

2. The Algorithm Design Manual

by Steven S Skiena
Read 38 comments
Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems cover

3. Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems

by Martin Kleppmann
Read 35 comments
Purely Functional Data Structures cover

4. Purely Functional Data Structures

by Chris Okasaki
Read 27 comments
Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas cover

5. Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas

by Seymour A. Papert
Read 26 comments
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined cover

6. The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

by Steven Pinker
Read 25 comments
The High Cost of Free Parking, Updated Edition cover

7. The High Cost of Free Parking, Updated Edition

by Donald C. Shoup
Read 23 comments
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid cover

8. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

by Douglas R. Hofstadter
Read 23 comments
Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War cover

9. Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War

by Robert Coram
Read 22 comments
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most cover

10. Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most

by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen
Read 22 comments
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety cover

11. Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety

by Eric Schlosser
Read 22 comments
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software cover

12. Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides
Read 22 comments
Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming cover

13. Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming

by Peter Seibel
Read 21 comments
The Four Steps to the Epiphany cover

14. The Four Steps to the Epiphany

by Steve Blank
Read 21 comments
The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you cover

15. The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you

by Rob Fitzpatrick
Read 21 comments
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain cover

16. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

by John J. Ratey
Read 20 comments
A Philosophy of Software Design cover

17. A Philosophy of Software Design

by John Ousterhout
Read 20 comments
Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age cover

18. Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age

by Michael A. Hiltzik
Read 20 comments
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains cover

19. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

by Nicholas Carr
Read 19 comments
21st Century C cover

20. 21st Century C

by Ben Klemens
Read 19 comments