Last minute present ideas for the current or would-be entrepreneur in your life
Timothy Barnes, CEO, Centre for Entrepreneurs
14 December, 2023
We asked some of CFE’s staff, trustees, partners and donors for their thoughts on must-read books they have encountered this year on relevant topics such as entrepreneurship, business strategy, economics or wider trends that might be driving new opportunities and here they are.
Dee Stirling, CFE Trustee:
“I have so many books to mention but sending just one here, Let My People Go Surfing by Yves Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia. He is an entrepreneurial titan, who followed his heart and his passion for climbing and the environment and who has built one of the most environmentally friendly businesses of our times.
Carolyn Dawson, CEO of Founders Forum Group and CFE Trustee:
“I can take ages to get through them but still they keep stacking up on my desk! I heard two people raving about this book on a flight so I have dutifully bought, read page one and looking forward to the rest: Shoe Dog, the memoir of the Nike Founder.”
Oliver Pawle, Korn Ferry and CFE Co-founder and Chair of Trustees:
“I strongly recommend The Power Law. Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption by Sebastian Mallaby. This is the best book on entrepreneurship and venture capital, beautifully written by a brilliant author. Required reading for business graduates at Stanford and by all VC employees in Silicon Valley.”
Masha Feigelmen, Co-Foudner of Cardo Health and CFE Trustree:
“I’d say two three – two are not new but I only read them recently. Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown, is s a must read for scaling companies. It is super practical (and fun to read – at least for me) on how to set up Growth Squads and run them. In general, it’s very much about NEW marketing which is very ideas, product and numbers driven. The AI revolution in Medicine: GPT 4 and Beyond by Peter Lee, Carey Goldberg and Zak Kohane is a fascinating read that gives you a very good glimpse into AI potential. Peter is an AI veteran and a VP at Microsoft that has been working closely with OpenAI during GPT creation. Isaac “Zak” Kohane, has worked on medical AI since the 1990s. And third is Contagious: How to Build Word of Mouth in the Digital Age. It’s about how to make products and businesses go viral. Very entertaining and is fully based on behavioural science. Author Jonah Berger is a marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, specialising in social influence and consumer behaviour.”
Sarah Perrott, Cresco Consulting and CFE’s Lead Business Coach:
“My top pick is Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark Winters is all about harnessing the value of personality differences to make a business succeed. And if you would like two…. Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine is a body of knowledge and training that is a real game changer in building mental fitness and positivity. So necessary in creating thriving businesses.”
Dr Alastair Moore, UCL School of Management and Co-Founder of The Building Blocks:
“Has to be The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman. The world is about to change rapidly. Perhaps it might seem a bit statist for “entrepreneurial reading” but it’s good summary of the impending headwinds.”
Claire Renwick, CFE Community Lead:
“The Minimalist Entrepreneur: How Great Founders Do More With Less by Sahil Lavingia – strip away all the unnecessary, implement instinctive ideas and build a profitable, sustainable business with a community as its heart that people love and has genuine impact rather than chase.”
Ed Haddon, Haddon Consulting and CFE fundraiser:
A Financial Times’ Book of the Month, back in April, Ed recommended The Modern Maverick: Why writing your own rules is better for you, your work and the world. To be fair, it is Ed’s own book! The FT summarised the main takeaway as being “to look for internal measures of success rather than relying on external validation.”
Timothy Barnes, CEO, Centre for Entrepreneurs:
And finally… For my part, I would strongly suggest Paul Johnson’s Follow the Money: How Much Does Britain Cost?, which puts in to context the taxes of every entrepreneur, business and worker and why we need to grow the economy to pay for all the things we collective agree we need – a real motivator for all of us to rev up the UK’s entrepreneurial engine!