7 books you must read before starting up Malavika Velayanikal | April 13, 2014 at 12:30

pm 451 Are you an aspiring entrepreneur? If youre planning to start up your own
business, you are about to enter a whole new world full of highs, lows and numerous
challenges at every corner. You could do with all the help you can to figure out how to
get to the heart of the matter, clear obstacles, build relationships and push your startup
to success. Here are 7 books, we believe, every aspiring entrepreneur should read
before starting up.
1. Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
Youre either a Purple Cow or youre not. Youre either remarkable or invisible. Make
your choice, Seth Godin writes. The checklist of tired Ps marketers have used for
decades to get their product noticed Pricing, Promotion, Publicity, to name a few-arent
working anymore. Theres an exceptionally important P that has to be added to the list.
Its Purple Cow. Cows, after youve seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow,
thoughnow that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal,
something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. Every day, consumers
come face to face with a lot of boring stuff-a lot of brown cows-but you can bet they
wont forget a Purple Cow. And its not a marketing function that you can slap on to your
product or service. Purple Cow is inherent. Its built right in, or its not there. Period. In
Purple Cow, Seth Godin urges you to put a Purple Cow into everything you build, and
everything you do, to create something truly noticeable. Its a manifesto for marketers
who want to help create products that are worth marketing in the first place.
2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
by Stephen R. Covey Even after decades since it was published, this book is full of
wisdom and ideas that every entrepreneur could do with. This book has been a top-
seller for the simple reason that it ignores trends and pop psychology for proven
principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity. Celebrating its fifteenth year
of helping people solve personal and professional problems, this special anniversary
edition includes a new foreword and afterword written by Covey exploring the question
of whether the 7 Habits are still relevant and answering some of the most common
questions he has received over the past 15 years. The book first introduces the concept
of Paradigm Shift and prepares the reader for a change in mindset. It helps the reader
understand that a different perspective exists, a viewpoint that may be different from his
or her own, and asserts that two people can see the same thing and yet differ with each
other. Once the reader is prepared for this, it introduces the seven habits. Covey
presents an approach to being effective in attaining goals by aligning oneself to what he
calls true north principles of a character ethic that he presents as universal and
timeless. Former US President Bill Clinton read the book and invited to counsel him on
how to integrate the book into his presidency.
3. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, PhD People skills
are very important for an entrepreneur to succeed. For that he needs to master
persuasion. Getting people to say yes is one of the most challenging tasks an
entrepreneur has to undergo. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion explains the
entire psychology behind why people say yes and how to make them say it. Dr. Robert
Cialdini presents us with his experience of 35 years of research and the three years of
extensive study on this subject where the author applied for jobs at various
organizations to get a first-hand experience of real-life situations involving persuasion.
The six universal principles which are the key to master the skill of persuasion are
explained in detail. It also provides the reader tips and tricks to defend oneself against a
persuader. These principles are designed in such a way that it can be used by people in
all professions and also their personal lives. This book also serves as a guide to people
for bringing about personal changes in themselves and behavioral changes in those who
need it the most.
4. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie It is hard to believe
that a self-help book written close to 100 years ago can still be relevant today. Since its
release in 1936, How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold more than 15 million
copies. It is packed with rock-solid advice that has carried thousands of now famous
people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. In it, he shares
valuable insights about how to read, charm and influence people and couples them with
historical anecdotes. Thought leaders like Warren Buffet called it a life-changing read.
Warren Buffett took the Dale Carnegie course How to Win Friends and Influence
People when he was 20 years old, and to this day has the diploma in his office. Its
been reported that Charles Manson used what he learned from the book in prison to
manipulate women into killing on his behalf.
5. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell This is one of the best books
that will help you assess your aspirations and strategize. In Outliers, Gladwell examines
the factors that contribute to high levels of success. To support his thesis, he examines
the causes of why the majority of Canadian ice hockey players are born in the first few
months of the calendar year, how Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates achieved his extreme
wealth, how The Beatles became one of the most successful musical acts in human
history, how Joseph Flom built Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom into one of the
most successful law firms in the world, how cultural differences play a large part in
perceived intelligence and rational decision making, and how two people with
exceptional intelligence, Christopher Langan and J. Robert Oppenheimer, end up with
such vastly different fortunes. Throughout the publication, Gladwell repeatedly mentions
the 10,000-Hour Rule, claiming that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent,
a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours.
6. Rework by Jason Fried and David Hansson Rework shows you a better, faster,
easier way to succeed in business. Read it and youll know why plans are actually
harmful, why you dont need outside investors, and why youre better off ignoring the
competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You dont need to be a
workaholic. You dont need to staff up. You dont need to waste time on paperwork or
meetings. You dont even need an office. Those are all just excuses. What you really
need to do is stop talking and start working. This book shows you the way. Youll learn
how to be more productive, how to get exposure without breaking the bank, and tons
more counterintuitive ideas that will inspire and provoke you. With its straightforward
language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone whos
ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners,
people stuck in day jobs they hate, victims of downsizing, and artists who dont want to
starve anymore will all find valuable guidance in these pages. Seth Godin endorses it as
one of his favourite books.
7. The Start-Up Playbook by David S. Kidder In this, Kidder interviews hundreds of
glorified founders asking them about their path to success and how they managed to
build their multi-million (or billion) dollar enterprises. Going insider to insider with
unprecedented access, Kidder, shares the hard-hitting experiences of some of the
worlds most influential entrepreneurs and CEOs, revealing their most closely held
advice. Face-to-face interviews with 40 founders give readers key insights into what it
took to build PayPal, LinkedIn, AOL, TED, Flickr, and many others into household
names. Special sections include topics ranging from how to select the right idea to
pursue to finding funding and overcoming inevitable obstacles. In an economy
demanding change, The Startup Playbook is the go-to for entrepreneurs big and small.
The book is divided into mini chapters and offers invaluable advice on how to avoid
pitfalls, scale responsibly, develop quality products, find innovative solutions and target
the right audience. These 7 books have powerful entrepreneurial know-how that has
worked for countless entrepreneurs. Try them and tell us what you think. ... read more
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