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.
10 books on Strategy for leading at scale
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The wildest corporate takeover battle of the 1980s, told in full.
Barbarians at the Gate is a detailed account of the 1988 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco, the largest of its era. It follows the egos, bankers, and executives who...
1 founder recommends Get the book ↗
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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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The messy, backstabbing birth of Twitter and its founders.
Nick Bilton tells the behind-the-scenes story of Twitter's founding by Ev Williams, Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass. The narrative centers on the shifting...
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How Google built a company around smart creatives.
Schmidt and Rosenberg explain the management principles that guided Google's growth, centered on attracting and empowering people they call smart creatives. They cover...
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Drucker's comprehensive encyclopedia of the manager's job.
This sweeping volume gathers Drucker's mature thinking into a single reference on what managers actually do. It covers the tasks of management (economic performance,...
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Win big deals by asking the right questions, not by pitching harder.
Based on a twelve-year study of thousands of sales calls, Rackham shows that techniques that work for small sales backfire in large, complex deals. He introduces the...
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The world is shifting from owning products to subscribing to outcomes.
Tzuo argues that customers increasingly prefer ongoing access over one-time ownership, pushing every industry toward subscription models. The first half traces the...
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Top reps win by teaching and challenging customers, not just building rapport.
Based on a study of thousands of sales reps, the authors identify five seller profiles and find that Challengers, who teach, tailor, and take control, consistently...
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Master the first three months of any new role.
Watkins lays out a structured plan for the critical first ninety days in a new leadership role, when momentum or failure is set early. He covers accelerating learning,...
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The book that turned management into a discipline.
Drucker's foundational text argues that management is a distinct, learnable practice rather than an accident of personality. It introduces management by objectives,...
Questions, answered
What books do founders recommend?
Founders on the eChai network recommend titles like Barbarians at the Gate, Dhandha: How Gujaratis Do Business, and Hatching Twitter. 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.
