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Whether you’re looking for advice on boosting revenue for your business or kickstarting your entrepreneurial journey, it is always helpful to heed the words from those residing successfully in the entrepreneurial landscape. They know how to navigate the tumultuous quicksand, make a profit and rock a grand French exit.

One of my favorite things to ask a successful entrepreneur is what are the best business books and podcasts for entrepreneurs that they recommend. It is helpful to know which influences have planted the seed of inspiration for them, deepened their cranial folds and escorted them from surviving to thriving.

BEST BUSINESS BOOKS AND PODCASTS FOR ENTREPRENEURS

I was lucky enough to organize an Entrepreneurial Night at CAA for my alma mater late last year with top notch panelists – entrepreneurs at the top of their respective games. They have risen, fallen, risen again and gained insight throughout the process. I asked a few of them which books and podcasts they recommend to help guide us in our path for success. Grab one, grab all – they make the perfect gifts for our upcoming graduates.

Here is what they suggested.

HERNAN LOPEZ | Founder and former CEO of Wondery (one of the largest podcast publishers, acquired by Amazon in 2021)

“From Zero To One” (Peter Thiel)

“The Lean Startup” (Eric Ries)

and the audiobook version of “Masters Of Scale” by Reid Hoffmann

(Or the podcast for that matter.)

“How I Built This – with Guy Raz” (Podcast)  – “It happens to be on Wondery, but I had nothing to do with its success.” – Hernan Lopez

PETER KIM | Founder of Hudson Jeans, Golden Circle Group and D-R-G-N

“Positive Intelligence” (Shirzad Chamine)

“The Whole-Brain Child” (Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. & Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.)

“Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” (Yuval Noah Harari)

“The Hero’s Journey” (Joseph Campbell)

“The Power of Myth” (Joseph Campbell)

“Relentless” (Tim S. Grover)

“The Hard Thing About Hard Things” (Ben Horowitz)

“Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World” (Mo Gawdat)

“Shoe Dog” (Phil Knight)

ADAM FRIEDMAN | CAA Executive and Investor at Connect Ventures

“Business Wars” (podcast)

MARINA GORDON AFSHAR | Founder of soon to be announced chic lifestyle brand

“Think and Grow Rich” (Napoleon Hill)

“Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude” (Napoleon Hill)

“Most importantly, are biographies, as an entrepreneur. They are more important than the other books. They make the dream more feasible to attain and simply to be inspired keeps most people going. These are my non negotiables if you want to be an entrepreneur.” – Marina Afshar

“Inventing Joy” (Joy Mangano – founder and creator of the Miracle Mop QVC Queen)

“Built From Scratch” (Bernand Marcus and Arthur Blank, founders of Home Depot)

….and in agreement with Peter Kim, “Shoe Dog” (Phil Knight)

“Read 500 pages every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest.” – Warren Buffett

And there you go. Thank you for reading. Now, go read.