12 books that CEOs think you should
read in 2019
If you’re a founder or aspiring entrepreneur, perhaps you’re
looking to round out your reading list for 2019 with a few inspiring business
reads. We asked entrepreneurs to offer their book recommendations for the new
year, including both recent releases and older favorites. A number of CEOs
lauded the first book on this list–one you might have already picked up over
the holidays–but keep reading for other titles you may have overlooked.
BECOMING BY
MICHELLE OBAMA
Everyone has a journey on the road to success, paved with triumphs
and disappointments that are often invisible to the outside world. It’s a gift
to read Mrs. Obama’s authentic and candid story that reflects the experience of
so many of us. –Lisa Skeete Tatum, CEO of career management startup
Landit
THINKING, FAST AND SLOW BY DANIEL
KAHNEMAN
Daniel Kahneman, the author, is a nobel laureate and psychologist
who has dedicated most of his career to understanding the mechanisms for
decision-making. This book is an exploration of the two “systems” we use to
form judgements: System 1, which is more or less impulse and strongly swayed by
emotion, and System 2, which is how we solve long division problems–our slower
and more analytical thought processes. What’s fascinating is how often we fall
into “cognitive illusions” or “cognitive bias” because of our dependencies on
System 1. We are all trying to make better decisions more quickly, and this
book gives really actionable advice on how to do this while explaining why we
are the way we are. –Nicole Centeno, CEO of food startup Splendid Spoon
THE HARD THING ABOUT HARD THINGS:
BUILDING A BUSINESS WHEN THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS BY
BEN HOROWITZ
This is my entrepreneurial bible. So many lessons from this book
are applicable daily. I’ve incorporated pieces of it into our executive and
employee success playbook internally. –Falon Fatemi, CEO of AI startup
Node
NETFLIXED: THE EPIC BATTLE FOR
AMERICA’S EYEBALLS BY GINA
KEATING
I’m in the middle of the book Netflixed. I’d
definitely recommend it to any entrepreneur. It’s about the true startup hustle
behind a company that redefined an industry. Netflix succeeded because of great
strategy and a great team, but also a few lucky breaks. –Shan-Lyn Ma,
CEO of wedding startup Zola
WINNERS TAKE ALL: THE ELITE CHARADE
OF CHANGING THE WORLD BY ANAND
GIRIDHARADAS
The three books this year that really helped me question the
premises we are often building off of and gave me language for things I’ve felt
are Emergent Strategy by Adrienne
Maree Brown, Winners Takes All by Anand Giridharadas, and
finally Good and Mad by Rebecca Traister. I’m so
grateful for those authors and their work to help bring context to our moment
in such different but important ways.” –Karla Monterroso, CEO of the
diversity nonprofit Code2040
DARING GREATLY: HOW THE COURAGE TO BE
VULNERABLE TRANSFORMS THE WAY WE LIVE, LOVE, PARENT, AND LEADBY BRENÉ
BROWN
I get recommendations for business books all the time that are
incredibly interesting, but I sometimes find that the books that actually
impact my business are ones that have nothing to do with commerce. I’m a big
fan of Brené Brown and her work on vulnerability and empathy. Her book
Daring Greatly is a fantastic work that has helped inform how Maiden
Home interacts with the ecosystem we’re building between our craftsmen partners
in North Carolina, the Maiden Home team in New York, and our customers all over
the U.S. –Nidhi Kapur, CEO of furniture startup Maiden Home
HIGH GROWTH HANDBOOK BY
ELAD GIL
If you are in a position where you establish product-market fit
and are now pondering next steps and how to scale, this book makes you feel as
though you are consulting and being mentored by past successful entrepreneurs
who have established themselves in Silicon Valley. Culture Code by Daniel Coyle is also very
cool. When thinking about scaling, you have to consider the culture you are
building and in what way the people you bring in to your organization help and
build upon that culture. –Jessica Matthews, CEO of energy startup Uncharted
Power
POWER
UP: HOW SMART WOMEN WIN IN THE NEW ECONOMY BY
MAGDALENA YESIL
Magdalena is an entrepreneur-turned-investor who’s been working in
Silicon Valley for over 25 years and is well known for being the first investor
in Salesforce. Her book, Power Up, is about her experience working
in the Valley, and it’s eye-opening to see how many of her experiences felt relevant
and resonated with my own 25 years later.” –Heidi Zak, CEO of lingerie
startup ThirdLove
THE UNDOING PROJECT: A FRIENDSHIP
THAT CHANGED OUR MINDS BY MICHAEL
LEWIS
This book is about merging areas of study–in this case, psychology
and economics. I believe this is super important because it’s time for
industries to start collaborating towards a common goal. These unlikely friends
were able to discover things they would never have been able to had they
remained in their silos. –Alicia Thomas, CEO of fitness startup Dibs
FACTFULNESS: TEN REASONS WE’RE WRONG
ABOUT THE WORLD—AND WHY THINGS ARE BETTER THAN YOU THINK BY
HANS ROSLING
I highly recommend Factfulness because we all
need to be reminded that there are many changes in the world to be hopeful
about and to build upon. Hans Rosling’s lifetime of helping us see the world
more clearly is masterfully distilled in his last book. –Michelle Nunn,
CEO of humanitarian aid organization Care
GOOD TO GREAT: WHY SOME COMPANIES
MAKE THE LEAP AND OTHERS DON’T BY JIM
COLLINS
One of my all time favorite books, Good to Great really
defines the reasons why some companies make the transition to greatness, and
how to build an organization that can stand the test of time. I regularly pull
from it as we are building Flow Kana to sit in that category of “great.”
Also, Innovators Dilemma has been a
great guide for me and a great way to ground our business as we quickly grow
and scale. –Michael Steinmetz, CEO of cannabis startup Flow Kana
RAISING THE FLOOR: HOW A UNIVERSAL
BASIC INCOME CAN RENEW OUR ECONOMY AND REBUILD THE AMERICAN DREAM BY
ANDY STERN
The former head of the Service Employees International Union–now a
friend–writes about Universal Basic Income (UBI). Andy Stern predicts machines
will replace half of all American jobs in the next 20 years, aggravating
economic inequality even further. With the rise of automation, if you want to
end poverty or solve short-term crises (like the increasing number of man-made
or natural disasters), giving people money and letting them make their own
choices offers greater dignity, increases efficiency, and delivers better
economic results. –Daniela Perdomo, CEO of hardware startup GoTenna
BY PAVITHRA
MOHAN
https://www.fastcompany.com/90287861/the-future-of-the-13b-food-delivery-industry-rests-on-better-shelves
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