Best books for founders & entrepreneurs

Alice Bentinck, Matt Clifford

*WINNER OF THE STARTUP/SCALEUP BUSINESS BOOK AWARD 2023* An essential guide to equip the next generation of founders with the mindset and tools they need to take the leap to become globally successful entrepreneurs. Featuring a foreword by Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, this fascinating handbook inspires potential founders and provides essential guidance and advice for people who want to create their own start-up and build a successful company. This book answers the question “how do I get started?” It takes the reader from making the decision to plunge into entrepreneurship, through the process of choosing and developing an idea and team, all the way to raising capital and working with VCs and angel investors. Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford are the co-founders of Entrepreneur First (EF). Over the last decade, they have worked with thousands of ambitious individuals across the world, supporting them to become founders. Those individuals have now built companies worth billions of dollars that are taking on some of the world's biggest challenges, including finding hard-to-spot cancers, tackling climate change and building new financial platforms. In How to Be a Founder, the authors share advice, insights and lessons from their decade of experience working with individuals to become successful founders. The book covers what you need to do today to start your journey as a founder and the steps to take to maximise your chances of building a high-growth, scalable company. You'll also hear advice from some of the world's best investors and entrepreneurs who have built some of most iconic technology companies of our time.

Dave Parker

This is a handbook for founders and the community that supports them to help them navigate the treacherous waters of early stage startups and live to tell the tale.

Arooj Sheikh

How do you raise startup capital to bring your vision to life? The Fundraising Strategy Playbook teaches you how to deliver a compelling pitch, generate investor demand, negotiate your terms, and determine your founder/funder fit. You’ll learn how to build your funding stack and get creative with how you source capital to achieve different milestones in your company’s journey. Written by a founder for founders, this book empowers entrepreneurs to know their options and take charge of their company’s financial future whether it’s by supercharging early revenue generation, sourcing non-dilutive financing (equity free money!), or raising venture capital. Packed with insights from entrepreneurs with $600M+ exits, legendary VCs (Kleiner Perkins, Accel, Techstars, 500 Startups, and more), and innovation enthusiasts like Jason Feifer (Entrepreneur Magazine), this book is filled with answers to the questions you wish you could ask the most accomplished entrepreneurial minds. This is the smart entrepreneur’s playbook on how to intelligently raise capital for the long haul success of a startup. The contents of this book include: • Part 1) Fundraising Fundamentals (sources of capital, venture capital fundraising process, and more) • Part 2) Elements + Design Principles of a Pitch Deck • Part 3) The Art of Persuasive Pitching • Part 4) Fundraising Strategy (how to plan a raise, types of investments, designing your funding stack, evaluating founder/funder fit, and more) • Part 5) Fundraising Strategy for Female Founders • Part 6) Fundraising Strategy for International Companies

Rajat Bhargava, Will Herman

Get the real guidance you need to create and build your first startup company from founders who have been there many times before. The first run printing of The Startup Playbook SOLD OUT! So, we revised, expanded, and improved this second edition, including a new foreword by Brad Feld, author of Venture Deals. We still give our personal, how-to guide for building your startup from the ground up. You'll find a collection of the major lessons and shortcuts we've learned that will shift the odds in your favor. We're sharing our tips, secrets, and advice in a frank, founder-to-founder discussion with you. We make no bones about our bias. We're on your side, the founder's side. While venture capitalists, investors, and accelerators/incubators can add great value in the startup ecosystem, this book isn't about their points of view. We'll tell you where our interests as founders diverge from those on the other side of the table—investors, bankers, advisors, board members, and others—and what to do when that happens. The Startup Playbook is not a recipe, it's not a template, it's not a list of tasks to do. It's our insider's guide to starting a company and running it successfully in those critical early months. Between us, we've started over a dozen high-tech software companies and raised over $500 million in investment capital. We've acquired over thirty-five companies, had three of our startups go public, sold six of them, and we made billions of dollars for shareholders. We've also invested in over eighty startups, advised and mentored over two hundred companies and actively worked with venture capitalists (VCs), incubators, and accelerators to help launch many other new startups. We've had plenty of failures, too. And we've probably learned more from those than from the successes. We share those lessons as well. The Startup Playbook is full of our advice, guidance, do's, and don'ts from our years of experience as founders many times. We want to share our hard-earned knowledge with you to make success easier for you to achieve. "This book is extraordinarily fresh and exciting. In an accessible, straight talk fashion, this book is a manual, and an inspiration. The Startup Playbook is smart and avoids the 'I am so smart' over-writing endemic to the genre. Read this as it is presented. You'll be doing yourself a tremendous favor." —Amazon Reviewer

Alejandro Cremades

Startup money is moving online, and this guide shows you how it works. The Art of Startup Fundraising takes a fresh look at raising money for startups, with a focus on the changing face of startup finance. New regulations are making the old go-to advice less relevant, as startup money is increasingly moving online. These new waters are all but uncharted—and founders need an accessible guide. This book helps you navigate the online world of startup fundraising with easy-to-follow explanations and expert perspective on the new digital world of finance. You'll find tips and tricks on raising money and investing in startups from early stage to growth stage, and develop a clear strategy based on the new realities surrounding today's startup landscape. The finance world is in a massive state of flux. Changes are occurring at an increasing pace in all sectors, but few more intensely than the startup sphere. When the paradigm changes, your processes must change with it. This book shows you how startup funding works, with expert coaching toward the new rules on the field. Learn how the JOBS Act impacts the fundraising model Gain insight on startups from early stage to growth stage Find the money you need to get your venture going Craft your pitch and optimize the strategy Build momentum Identify the right investors Avoid the common mistakes Don't rely on the "how we did it" tales from superstar startups, as these stories are unique and applied to exceptional scenarios. The game has changed, and playing by the old rules only gets you left behind. Whether you're founding a startup or looking to invest, The Art of Startup Fundraising provides the up-to-the-minute guidance you need.

Patrick Flesner

There is a graveyard full of startups that did not manage to get from initial traction to sustainable high growth. Many of the founders tried to sprint through the growth valley of death by focusing solely on top line growth. But until you reach a strategic inflection point where you need to prioritize speed over efficiency, you can pursue the FastScaling approach to growth described in this book. You lead and scale your business fast, predictably and efficiently on the basis of a solid high growth foundation. If you FastScale, it may take you a bit longer to create a massively valuable business. But the probability that you succeed is significantly higher.If you are a founder or an aspiring founder, reading this book will enable you to become a successful high growth leader. A strong leader who pursues a smart growth strategy and focuses relentlessly on execution. In this growth handbook for founders, you may find your smart path to building a massively valuable business.

Sam Wong

Thousands of entrepreneurs aspire to start and build companies that disrupt markets and transform the business landscape. Most start with a novel idea, assemble a team of founders, fashion a business model, and begin the long road to raise funds. Unfortunately, 95% of startups fail or dramatically miss expectations. However, industry analysts, advisors and investors agree that great execution maximizes the likelihood of success. After serving as an executive for five different startups, Silicon Valley advisor Sam Wong can provide unique execution guidance for founders, entrepreneurs and leaders. 21 Secrets of Successful Startups draws upon the battle scars of 30 years of victories and defeats to present actionable advice, guidance, and frameworks spanning numerous topics related to startup execution, fundraising, talent and lifestyle. Whether you are thinking of launching a company or are currently working to grow, fund, and scale your startup, 21 Secrets of Successful Startups provides a playbook to build your startup and achieve success.

Randy Komisar, Jantoon Reigersman

"Straight Talk for Startups memorializes age-old best practices and empowers both experienced and new investment professionals to beat the odds."—David Krane, CEO, Google Ventures "Straight Talk for Startups is filled with real, raw, and fact-based ‘rules of the road’ that you need to know when diving into our ultra-competitive startup world. A must read and a re-read!"—Tony Fadell, Coinventor of the iPod/iPhone & Founder of Nest Labs Veteran venture capitalist Randy Komisar and finance executive Jantoon Reigersman share no-nonsense, counterintuitive guidelines to help anyone build a successful startup. Over the course of their careers, Randy Komisar and Jantoon Reigersman continue to see startups crash and burn because they forget the timeless lessons of entrepreneurship. But, as Komisar and Reigersman show, you can beat the odds if you quickly learn what insiders know about what it takes to build a healthy foundation for a thriving venture. In Straight Talk for Startups they walk budding entrepreneurs through 100 essential rules—from pitching your idea to selecting investors to managing your board to deciding how and when to achieve liquidity. Culled from their own decades of experience, as well as the experiences of their many successful colleagues and friends, the rules are organized under broad topics, from "Mastering the Fundamentals" and "Selecting the Right Investors," to "The Ideal Fundraise," "Building and Managing Effective Boards," and "Achieving Liquidity." Vital rules you’ll find in Straight Talk for Startups include: The best ideas originate from founders who are users Create two business plans: an execution plan and an aspirational plan Net income is an option, but cash flow is a fact Don’t accept money from strangers Personal wealth doesn’t equal good investing Small boards are better than big ones Add independent board members for expertise and objectivity Too many unanimous board decisions are a sign of trouble Choose an acquirer, don’t wait to be chosen Learn the rules by heart so you know when to break them Filled with helpful real-life examples and specific, actionable advice, Straight Talk for Startups is the ideal handbook for anyone running, working for, or thinking about creating a startup, or just curious about what makes high-potential ventures tick.

Evan Baehr, Evan Loomis

“Anyone who comes to pitch on Shark Tank should read this book first!” —Barbara Corcoran, ABC's Shark Tank “I have seen literally thousands of companies trying to raise capital and know that a great pitch deck is critical. This book gives you the playbook for creating yours.” —Naval Ravikant, cofounder and CEO, AngelList “I raised twice the amount of money I set out to in a mere five weeks. I’m naming my firstborn child after the Evans.” —Slava Menn, cofounder and CEO, Fortified Bicycle HOW DO YOU LAUNCH THE VENTURE OF YOUR DREAMS? Get Backed isn’t just about startup fundraising. It’s a handbook for anyone who has an idea and needs to build relationships to get it off the ground. Over the last 3 years, entrepreneurs Evan Loomis and Evan Baehr have raised $45 million for their own ventures, including the second largest round on the fundraising platform AngelList. In Get Backed, they show you exactly what they and dozens of others did to raise money—even the mistakes they made—while sharing the secrets of the world’s best storytellers, fundraisers, and startup accelerators. They’ll also teach you how to use “the friendship loop”, a step-by-step process that can be used to initiate and build relationships with anyone, from investors to potential cofounders. And, most of all, they’ll help you create a pitch deck, building on the real-life examples of 15 ventures that have raised over $150 million. What’s in the book? • The original pitch decks and fundraising strategies of 15 ventures that raised over $150 million • Email scripts that will get you a meeting with angel investors, venture capitalists, and potential board members • Pitching exercises developed by startup talent beds like Stanford University’s d.school and Techstars • A breakdown of the 10 essential pitch deck slides, how to create them, and what questions you should answer with each • An overview of the 5 main funding sources for startups, the pros and cons of each, and who the big players are • A crash-course in visual and presentation design that will make any deck beautiful • Templates for 4 stories every entrepreneur should know how to tell • The story of one entrepreneur who showed up in Silicon Valley with no network and six months later had investments from Fred Anderson, Bono, and Peter Thiel Get Backed will show you exactly what it takes to get funded and will give you the tools to make any idea a reality.

Andy Sparks

With input from over 60 entrepreneurs, investors, and legal experts, this in-depth resource is your companion as an entrepreneur. Filled with practical pitching advice, term sheet details, real-world scenarios, and pitfalls to avoid.