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If you listen to The Daily Bolster, you’ve probably noticed that our guests are constantly reading and recommending phenomenal books. We love a good recommendation, so we’ve compiled a list of books discussed on the podcast. Tag us on LinkedIn to let us know which ones are your favorites!
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
The Business of Venture Capital: The Art of Raising a Fund, Structuring Investments, Portfolio Management, and Exits by Mahendra Ramsinghani
Now in its third edition, this market-leading text explains the multiple facets of the business of venture capital, from raising venture funds, to structuring investments, to generating consistent returns, to evaluating exit strategies.
Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice by Clay Christensen
The foremost authority on innovation and growth presents a path-breaking book every company needs to transform innovation from a game of chance to one in which they develop products and services customers not only want to buy, but are willing to pay premium prices for.
Decide and Conquer: 44 Decisions That Will Make or Break All Leaders by David Siegel
Access the decision framework David Siegel used when he took over as CEO of Meetup, the world's leading platform for making connections and finding your community… Decide and Conquer helps all leaders navigate the big decisions that will impact their future and make their organizations a success.
Don't Get Mad at Penguins: And Other Ways to Detox the Conflict in Your Life and Business by Gabe Karp
An indispensable tool kit for engaging and harnessing healthy conflict to drive success and happiness, and eliminate the pain and stress of toxic conflict.
Founder Vs Investor: The Honest Truth about Venture Capital from Startup to IPO by Elizabeth Zalman & Jerry Neumann
How many world-changing startups will fail because the founders and investors never figure out how to work together? Founder Elizabeth Zalman and Investor Jerry Neumann square off in this one-of-a-kind book, exposing how startups are built, broken, and fought over.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, offers essential advice on building and running a startup—practical wisdom for managing the toughest problems business school doesn't cover.
The Imperfectionists: Strategic Mindsets for Uncertain Times by Robert McLean & Charles Conn
The world is changing faster and faster, with increasing uncertainty and threat of disruption in every business and nonprofit segment… Based on a decade of research and 30 new case studies, The Imperfectionists posits a dynamic approach to developing organizational direction under uncertainty.
Inflection Points, How to Work and Live With Purpose by Matt Spielman
Renowned executive coach and speaker Matt Spielman delivers an energizing and hands-on existential navigational tool that walks you through how to identify what really matters in life and how to achieve it.
Lead Upwards: How Startup Joiners Can Impact New Ventures, Build Amazing Careers, and Inspire Great Teams by Sarah E. Brown
Startup marketing leader Sarah E. Brown delivers an illuminating and accessible guide to maximizing your impact and delivering results in a startup leadership role. The author draws on over a decade of experience scaling SaaS companies as she explains how to prepare for, earn, and succeed in an executive role at a startup company.
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
In her famed TED talk, Sheryl Sandberg described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers… Lean In continues that conversation, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change the conversation from what women can't do to what they can.
The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin
This life-changing manifesto shows how you have the potential to make a huge difference wherever you are.
Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World by Rand Fishkin
Rand Fishkin, the founder and former CEO of Moz, reveals how traditional Silicon Valley "wisdom" leads far too many startups astray, with the transparency and humor that his hundreds of thousands of blog readers have come to love.
LOVED: How to Rethink Marketing for Tech Products by Martina Lauchengco
Most tech companies get marketing wrong because they don't know how to do product marketing right… LOVED shows what leaders like Apple, Netflix, Microsoft, and Salesforce do well and how to apply it to transform product marketing at your company.
The Myth of the Nice Girl: Achieving a Career You Love Without Becoming a Person You Hate by Fran Hauser
Hauser proves that women don't have to sacrifice their values or hide their authentic personalities to be successful.
One Life to Lead: Business Success Through Better Life Design by Russell Benaroya
This is a business leadership book, but it's not about how to lead others. It's about how to lead yourself… Complete with exercises, strategies, and first-hand experiences, One Life to Lead will give you the tools you need to clearly and confidently design your life.
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz
A social critique of our obsession with choice, and how it contributes to anxiety, dissatisfaction and regret.
Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
Radical Candor is about caring personally and challenging directly, about soliciting criticism to improve your leadership and also providing guidance that helps others grow.
Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna
Reboot is a journey of radical self-inquiry, helping you to reset your life by sorting through the emotional baggage that is holding you back professionally, and even more important, in your relationships.
Recalibrate: Navigating the Winding Road to Success by Jeremy Bloom
A pragmatic guide penned by Jeremy Bloom, a former NFL player and two-time Olympic skier… explores the notion that failure is an inevitable component of the journey towards success, and by mastering the art of navigating and leveraging moments of failure, we can better align ourselves towards our desired destination.
The Referral of a Lifetime: Never Make a Cold Call Again! by Tim Templeton
Nobody likes cold calls. And nobody really needs to make them. The Referral of a Lifetime teaches a step-by-step system that will allow anyone to generate a steady stream of new business through consistent, qualified referrals while retaining and maximizing business with existing customers.
The Resilient Founder: Lessons in Endurance from Startup Entrepreneurs by Mahendra Ramsinghani
Mahendra Ramsinghani gathers insights from over a hundred founders to deliver an intuitive and insightful guide to understanding our psychology and navigating the psychological pressures of startup leadership.
Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong by Jerry Colonna
Jerry Colonna encourages leaders to consider the ways they have been complicit in, and benefitted from, the conditions in the world they say they'd like to change and shows them the path to creating new systems of inclusion for everyone.
Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by Claire Hughes Johnson
A detailed roadmap for company builders to put the right operating systems and structures in place to scale the most important resource a company has: its people.
The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team by Patrick M. Lencioni
The 6 Types of Working Genius is the fastest way to help people identify the type of work that brings them joy and energy, and avoid work that leads to frustration and burnout.
The Song of Significance: A New Manifesto for Teams by Seth Godin
A soulful re-envisioning of what work and leadership can be, from the visionary mind of renowned author and thought leader, Seth Godin.
Speak-Up Culture: When Leaders Truly Listen, People Step Up by Stephen Shedletzky
Speak-Up Culture is for leaders at all levels― from senior executives who believe in putting people and purpose first; to mid-level supervisors who wish to lead better and nurture the voice of their people; to aspiring leaders who want to uncover their strengths and better provide support to those in their span of care.
Startup Boards: A Field Guide to Building and Leading an Effective Board of Directors by Brad Feld, Matt Blumberg, and Mahendra Ramsinghani
A comprehensive guide on creating, growing, and leveraging a board of directors written for CEOs, board members, and people seeking board roles.
Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business by Matt Blumberg
Startup CEO is a thoughtful CEO-focused book that provides first-time CEOs with advice, tools, and approaches for the situations that startup CEOs will face.
The Startup Playbook: Secrets of the Fastest-Growing Startups from Their Founding Entrepreneurs by David Kidder
Going insider to insider with unprecedented access, New York Times bestselling author and Clickable CEO, David Kidder, shares the hard-hitting experiences of some of the world's most influential entrepreneurs and CEOs, revealing their most closely held advice.
Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World by General Stanley McChrystal
A manual for leaders looking to make their teams more adaptable, agile, and unified in the midst of change.
Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist by Brad Feld
Help take your startup to the next step with the new and revised edition of the popular book on the VC deal process—from the co-founders of the Foundry Group.
Why Startups Fail: A New Roadmap for Entrepreneurial Success by Thomas Eisenmann
A must-read for founders at any stage of their entrepreneurial journey, Why Startups Fail is not merely a guide to preventing failure but also a roadmap charting the path to startup success.
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