The Founder Bookshelf
Books founders recommend to each other. Browse by topic or by where you are as you grow, mark what you've read, and add what's next.
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The instinct, grit, and trading sense behind Gujarati business success.
Dhandha profiles several successful Gujarati entrepreneurs, including a diamond merchant, a New York Life insurance agent, a motel owner, and hotel and manufacturing...
1 founder recommends Get the book ↗
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Twenty-five IIM graduates who chose the hard road of building businesses.
Stay Hungry Stay Foolish tells the stories of 25 MBAs from IIM Ahmedabad who left secure, lucrative jobs to become entrepreneurs. Through their journeys, the book...
1 founder recommends Get the book ↗
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An insider's account of the reforms that powered India's growth.
Backstage is part memoir and part economic history, recounting Ahluwalia's role in India's liberalization and high-growth years. He offers a behind-the-scenes view of...
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Twenty Indian entrepreneurs who built ventures without an MBA.
Connect the Dots profiles 20 entrepreneurs who succeeded without an MBA, organized into three sections the author calls Jugaad, Junoon, and Zubaan. The book argues...
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Make better choices with what you already have instead of chasing the next big thing.
A thinking guide for founders who are already building but feel stuck or unclear on direction. Rather than tactics or growth hacks, it walks through the foundational...
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A purported account of the Patanjali consumer brand's rise.
This title could not be verified as a published book through available sources. The details provided suggest a business narrative about Patanjali, the Indian FMCG and...
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Indian society read through fifty years of its advertising.
Ambi Parameswaran analyzes over a hundred Indian advertisements to trace how the country's culture, politics, and economy evolved over fifty years. He shows how...
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Eight inside stories of how Tata built bold businesses on values.
Harish Bhat narrates eight first-hand stories of strategic and operational challenges across Tata Group companies over two decades. The cases span the Tata Nano,...
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How a small-town outsider built India's first private TV empire.
The Z Factor is the autobiography of Subhash Chandra, founder of Zee TV and the Essel Group. He recounts his rise from a family grain-trading business in Haryana to...
Questions, answered
What books do founders recommend?
Founders on the eChai network recommend titles like Dhandha: How Gujaratis Do Business, Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, and Backstage: The Story Behind India's High Growth Years. The bookshelf ranks books by how many founders have read them.
Where can I find a startup reading list?
The eChai founder bookshelf is a curated, founder-recommended reading list you can browse by topic (fundraising, product, hiring) and by stage.
How is the bookshelf ordered?
By recommendation: the more founders mark a book read, the higher it ranks. You can also sort by newest or A to Z.
