{"id":23579,"date":"2017-03-24T10:46:12","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T15:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.crowdspring.com\/?p=23579"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:24:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T18:24:11","slug":"successful-entrepreneurs-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/successful-entrepreneurs-books\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Successful Entrepreneurs and the Books That Changed Their Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-23581\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131955\/rsz_tamarcus-brown-134928.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131955\/rsz_tamarcus-brown-134928.jpg 550w, https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131955\/rsz_tamarcus-brown-134928-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\n<div class='header-cta' style='display:none'>\n  <span>Discover your unique leadership style.<\/span>\n  <a href='https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/leadership-style-quiz\/' class='btn btn-primary' target='_blank'>Unlock your potential with our free quiz!<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>People who love to read know that cracking open a new book often leads to a new adventure.<\/p>\n<p>A good book is memorable long after you finish reading it.\u00a0<strong>A great book can change your life.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We wanted to know what books helped to shape the lives of some of the world\u2019s best entrepreneurs. If you\u2019re ready to reinvent your life, these six books may be a good place to start.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Steve Jobs \u00a0(Apple Inc.)<\/b><\/h2>\n<h4><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Autobiography-Self-Realization-Fellowship-Paramahansa-Yogananda\/dp\/0876120796\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1490144649&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=autobiography+of+a+Yogi\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Autobiography of A Yogi<\/span><\/a><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Paramahansa Yogananda<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-23572\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/steve_jobs_cover.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/steve_jobs_cover.png 550w, https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/steve_jobs_cover-300x218.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Steve Jobs was best known for being the visionary behind Apple Inc. But, we now know that there was a visionary behind the visionary- Paramahansa Yogananda, author of <em>Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em>. Walter Isaacson shares\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=8U2oAAAAQBAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=jobs+isaacson&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=sts7VOemGqa1sQSlj4HYAw#v=onepage&amp;q=%22yogi%22&amp;f=false\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in his biography Steve Jobs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that Jobs read the book for the first time as a teenager and re-read the book every year until his death. In fact, Jobs\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/steve-jobs-gave-yoganandas-book-as-a-gift-at-his-memorial-2013-9\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gave a copy to each guest <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">who attended his funeral as a parting gift.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em> is exactly what it claims to be; but, Yogananda was not only a yogi. He was also a businessman. The book discusses yoga, meditation, and spiritual matters. But, it also talks about how business intersects with an insightful, intuitive life. It\u2019s easy to see how Yogananda&#8217;s teachings might resonate with the young man who grew to become one of the world\u2019s most inspired entrepreneurs:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Most of you have had the feeling that you could be great, and do great things; but because you have lacked intuitive power, that potential has, for the most part, remained dormant. To progress and avoid the misery of mistakes, you have to find what is the truth in everything\u2026 In your relationships with others, in your business, in your married life, in every part of your life, intuition is essential.&#8221; &#8211; Paramahansa Yogananda, <em>Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><div class=\"subscription-hero-snippet image-on-left\" style=\"background: #DA6D5A\"><div class=\"title centered\">Discover your leadership style.<\/div><div class=\"main-content\"><div class=\"image-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.crowdspring.com\/marketing\/landing-page\/leadership-style-hero-560.png\" alt=\"illustration of different types of leaders\"\/><\/div><div class=\"form-wrapper\"><div class=\"subtitle\">Take our free quiz and find out what kind of leader you are. Get 15 actionable insights to make you a better leader and discover five iconic leaders who share your style.<\/div><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"btn btn-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/leadership-style-quiz\/\">Start the quiz - completely confidential and free!<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n<h2><b>Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks, AXS tv)<\/b><\/h2>\n<h4><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Fountainhead-Publisher-Plume-CENTENNIAL\/dp\/B004TMWD1O\/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1490144991&amp;sr=8-5&amp;keywords=rand+fountainhead\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Fountainhead<\/span><\/a><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Ayn Rand<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-23573\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/mark_cuban_cover.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/mark_cuban_cover.png 550w, https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/mark_cuban_cover-300x218.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to \u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aynrand.org\/about\/about-ayn-rand\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AynRand.org<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand\u2019s books, \u201cportray businessmen, inventors, architects, workers and scientists as noble, passionate figures.\u201d Is it any wonder then, that a some successful entrepreneurs and\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2014\/10\/06\/the_stunning_weirdness_of_ayn_rand_why_her_newfound_popularity_makes_no_sense_partner\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">politicians have embraced<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> her books?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks and ABC\u2019s Shark Tank is one of the world&#8217;s most successful entrepreneurs. Cuban is a self-professed fan of Rand\u2019s work, choosing<em> The Fountainhead<\/em> as his\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/news_and_politics\/college_week\/2005\/11\/my_first_literary_crush.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">first literary crush<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <em>The Fountainhead<\/em> follows protagonist Howard Roarke, an architect who seeks to remain true to this creative integrity in the face of social adversity.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn Howard Roark, she presented for the first time the uniquely Ayn Rand hero, whose depiction was the chief goal of her writing: the ideal man, man as \u2018he could be and ought to be.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211;\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aynrand.org\/novels\/the-fountainhead\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AynRand.org<\/span><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Rand\u2019s vision of the ideal man clearly resonated with Cuban. He said of the book,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It was incredibly motivating to me. It encouraged me to think as an individual, take risks to reach my goals, and responsibility for my successes and failures. I loved it. I don&#8217;t know how many times I have read it, but it got to the point where I had to stop because I would get too fired up.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><b>Brian Chesky (Airbnb, Inc.)<\/b><\/h2>\n<h4><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove\/dp\/0679762884\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1490145045&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=high+output+management\">High Output Management<\/a><\/strong><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Andy Groves<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-23574\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/brian_chesky_cover.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/brian_chesky_cover.png 550w, https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/brian_chesky_cover-300x218.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Brian Chesky is largely self-taught in the world of business. He didn&#8217;t train to become an entrepreneur- rather, he dove in and then taught himself the ropes on the go. So, it&#8217;s no wonder that one of his favorite books is a practical guide on management.<\/p>\n<p>Fortune\u2019s Leigh Gallagher describes Chesky&#8217;s self-education in &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/brian-chesky-airbnb\/\">The Education of Airbnb\u2019s Brian Chesky.<\/a>&#8221; She notes, \u201cHis primary book source on management technique is Andy Grove\u2019s <em>High Output Management<\/em>.\u201d Grove&#8217;s book is known for its down-to-earth practical management advice.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/on-leadership\/wp\/2015\/11\/18\/how-a-business-book-from-the-80s-became-a-cult-classic-in-silicon-valley\/?utm_term=.f5f3e6d28d1e\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Washington Post\u2019s Jena McGregor<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> describes the book as,<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Void of the pop theory and formulaic fads that make up so much of the genre, it&#8217;s written by an iconic CEO who has a PhD in electrical engineering and a lifetime of experience\u2026 It takes on the day-to-day stuff of management\u2014meetings, performance appraisals, interviews, compensation\u2014and deconstructs the process and goals of being a manager.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is also a fan. In a\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7B7EEvbUcWQ\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tribute video<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> honoring Groves, Zuckerberg said:\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHis book really played a big role in shaping my management style.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Oprah Winfrey (Harpo Productions)<\/b><\/h2>\n<h4><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/147675540X\/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&amp;me=\">The Seat of the Soul<\/a><\/strong><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Gary Zukav<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-23575\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/oprah_winfrey_cover.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/oprah_winfrey_cover.png 550w, https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131957\/oprah_winfrey_cover-300x218.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oprah Winfrey has been very open about her love for Gary Zukav\u2019s book<em> The Seat of the Soul<\/em>. In fact, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/seatofthesoul.com\/interviews\/oprah-and-gary\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zukav has joined Oprah<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on her show 34 times since their first interview together in 1998. What is it about Zukav\u2019s work that keeps Oprah coming back? And how did it impact her life as an entrepreneur?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seat of the Soul <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">posits that humanity is in a place of transition between external power based on our physical senses and what Zukav calls \u201cauthentic power\u201d based on spiritual insight and empathy.\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/seatofthesoul.com\/interviews\/oprah-and-gary\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oprah\u2019s favorite quote<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the book reflects her desire to embrace Zukav\u2019s concept of authentic power,<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every action, thought, and feeling is motivated by an intention, and that intention is a cause that exists as one with an effect\u2026 In this most profound way, we are held responsible for every action, thought, and feeling, which is to say, for our every intention.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a 2015\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/my-interview-oprah-jeff-weiner\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">interview with LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Winfrey explains how she translated that quote into an actionable business philosophy:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The number one principle that rules my life is intention, and I probably discovered that around 1989, after reading Gary Zukav&#8217;s book and then bringing him on the show\u2026 After reading Gary&#8217;s books, I literally had a big meeting with all my producers, and I said, &#8216;We&#8217;re now going to be an intentional television show\u2026 &#8216;We&#8217;re only going to do shows that come from a motivation that we&#8217;re going to show people the best in themselves\u2026 the idea behind it&#8211;the vision&#8211;is that we&#8217;re going to be a force for good &#8230; that&#8217;s the bottom-line intention.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><b>Bill Gates ( Microsoft, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)<\/b><\/h2>\n<h4><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Business-Adventures-Twelve-Classic-Street\/dp\/1497644895\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1490145408&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=business+adventures\">Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street<\/a><\/strong><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; John Brooks<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-46649\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/07132332\/gates.png\" alt=\"Bill Gates with Business Adventures book\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/07132332\/gates.png 700w, https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/07132332\/gates-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/07132332\/gates-400x267.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bill Gates and fellow billionaire Warren Buffet both agree that John Brooks\u2019<em> Business Adventures<\/em> is the best book on business they have ever read. The book is a collection of twelve stories featuring iconic companies such as Ford Motor Company, General Electric and Xerox at critical moments in their history. In addition to entertaining, Brooks offers insight into human nature through each of the included tales.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gates avows his appreciation for the work in his post,\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatesnotes.com\/Books\/Business-Adventures\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Best Business Book I\u2019ve Ever Read<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Gates asserts:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Brooks\u2019s work is a great reminder that the rules for running a strong business and creating value haven\u2019t changed. For one thing, there\u2019s an essential human factor in every business endeavor. It doesn\u2019t matter if you have a perfect product, production plan, and marketing pitch; you\u2019ll still need the right people to lead and implement those plans.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He goes on to say that:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Business Adventures is as much about the strengths and weaknesses of leaders in challenging circumstances as it is about the particulars of one business or another. In that sense, it is still relevant not despite its age but because of it. John Brooks\u2019s work is really about human nature, which is why it has stood the test of time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><b>Jeff Bezos \u00a0(Amazon.com)<\/b><\/h2>\n<h4><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Remains-Day-Kazuo-Ishiguro\/dp\/0679731725\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1490145512&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+remains+of+the+day\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Remains of the Day<\/span><\/a><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Kazuo Ishiguro<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-23580\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131955\/Jeff_bezos_cover.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131955\/Jeff_bezos_cover.png 550w, https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/27131955\/Jeff_bezos_cover-300x218.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIf you read <em>The Remains of the Day<\/em>, which is one of my favorite books, you can&#8217;t help but come away and think, I just spent 10 hours living an alternate life and I learned something about life and about regret.\u201d &#8211; Jeff Bezos<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>The Remains of the Day<\/em> is not a business book; but, it \u00a0had a profound impact on Jeff Bezos\u2019 life and business. <em>The Remains of the the Day<\/em> is a novel that investigates how one defines a life well-spent. The book takes you on an introspective journey touching on themes of self-doubt and regret as it examines the life of a retired English butler named Stevens.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s easy to see reflections of <em>The Remains of the Day\u00a0<\/em>in Bezos&#8217; own life. When trying to decide whether to take the leap and found Amazon.com he considered what he called in a\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/the-jeff-bezos-of-1999-nerd-of-the-amazon\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">60 Minutes interview<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a \u201cregret minimization framework,\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and say, &#8216;Okay, now I&#8217;m looking back on my life. I want to have minimized the number of regrets I have\u2026 I knew that when I was 80 I was not going to regret having tried this. I was not going to regret trying to participate in this thing called the Internet that I thought was going to be a really big deal. I knew that if I failed I wouldn&#8217;t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried. I knew that that would haunt me every day, and so, when I thought about it that way it was an incredibly easy decision.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey and Jeff Bezos may seem like they are cut from a different cloth than the rest of us. But, like every other human, they learn and they grow. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each of these six books helped to create some of the world&#8217;s smartest and most successful entrepreneurs. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can these books change <strong>your<\/strong> life?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/how-it-works\/?utm_source=csblog&utm_medium=entrepreneurship&utm_campaign=cta\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-35262\" src=\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/06164948\/startup-blog-master-cta.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We look at the books that helped to shape the lives of some of the world\u2019s best entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25522,"featured_media":23575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3156],"tags":[429],"class_list":["post-23579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entrepreneurship","tag-leadership"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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