01

The 4-Hour Work Week

Timothy Ferris

In many ways, this has become a classic with an equal number of ardent fans and detractors who consider this book a lazy person’s manual. However, the lessons in this book are not so much about working less but about working efficiently and putting systems in place to be more effective.

Buy it here.

02

The $100 Startup

Chris Guillebeau

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a huge bank loan or an inheritance to start a business. Guillebeau postulates, and then proves using examples from all over the world, including India, that you can create a very successful business with $100 or less. This book is perfect if you are looking to translate your passion into a full time business with minimal investment.

Buy it here.

03

The Personal MBA

Josh Kaufman

Kaufman has distilled 2 years of MBA education in 500 easy-to-read, jargon-free pages. This book is a primer on business and will teach you all about sales, marketing, finance as well as human psychology and teamwork. It has everything you need to get started on your business or to advance your career.

Buy it here.

04

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

Seth Godin

For Seth Godin, the only way to ensure job security is to be indispensable to your organisation- to be a linchpin. This is a handbook on how you can become a linchpin and explains why it’s critical to do so sooner rather than later. Use the lessons in this book to improve your performance at work and get your pick of jobs.

Buy it here.

05

Anything You Want

Derek Sivers

Derek Sivers ‘accidentally’ built a business, sold it for $22 million and gave it all away to charity. In this book, he distills the lessons he learnt from his entrepreneurial journey into less than 100 pages. Unlike most authors, he focusses as much on what he got wrong as he does on what he got right. This is a good book to read if you manage a lot of people or have trouble delegating work.

Buy it here.

06

Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell

This book will change the way you look at success. Gladwell summarises the principles of what it takes to be successful focusing on where high-achievers come from and not on who they are. Read this book to find out why The Beatles were a huge success and why Asians are good at math.

Buy it here.

07

Start With Why

Simon Sinek

Sinek believes that what sets successful businesses apart from others is that they all have immense clarity on their purpose. They don’t focus on the WHAT and HOW of what they do, but on Why they do it. Starting with Why enables you to inspire others to follow you because they want to and not because they have to. This book will teach you how to become an inspiring leader.

Buy it here.

08

Never Eat Alone

Keith Ferrazzi & Tahl Raz

Everyone knows how powerful a good network can be and yet networking has negative connotations for some. This book will teach you how to network by building meaningful relationships with people. An important lesson from this book is to never keep score on who owes you and instead to be helpful. Read this book to learn how to network in a way that everyone wins.

Buy it here.

09

How To Think Like An Entrepreneur

Philip Delves Broughton

This book explores the mindset of an entrepreneur and what it takes to convert a vision into reality. The entrepreneurial mindset is an important skill to develop irrespective of whether you intend to start your own business or not. This book will teach you how to think like an entrepreneur and apply those principles in your daily life.

Buy it here.

10

The 80/20 Principle

Richard Koch

The Pareto Principle or the 80/20 Principle is simple: 20% of your efforts yield 80% of the results. And yet, we end up focussing a large chunk of our efforts on the 80% which isn’t that effective. In this book, Koch explains the intricacies of the Principle and how to put it to use. This book will help you direct your energy in a more effective and efficient manner.

Buy it here.