Running a business means making decisions every day, usually without a playbook. The best entrepreneur books hand you one—the hard-won lessons of founders who already made the mistakes you're about to face. Reading is also more of an edge than it looks: the typical American reads only about five books a year (the median), according to the Pew Research Center, so a steady habit puts you ahead of most. It helps that reading has been shown to reduce stress by up to 68%—a great way to learn, de-stress, and reset.
Business and entrepreneurship books can help you strengthen your mindset, learn new business strategies, and level up your business skills. Everyone from small online business owners to top-level CEOs read these books, and with this guide, you'll be able to join them.
What makes a good entrepreneur book?
Good books about entrepreneurship are widely available. You should be able to access your book through your local library or stores such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Audible (for audiobooks). Additionally, book authors should be credible. Look for great leaders who are CEOs, co-founders, or successful people with their own businesses.
The best business books also cover multiple topics. In a book about entrepreneurship, you may see creativity, finances, and interpersonal relationships all analyzed in the same book. These books tend to produce actionable advice to allow you to go forth and prosper in your entrepreneurial ventures.
How do I choose the right entrepreneur book?
Start with the problem in front of you, not the bestseller list. The right book depends on what your business needs this quarter:
Mindset and motivation: if you're stuck or second-guessing the leap, start with Think and Grow Rich, Shoe Dog, or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Systems and operations: if the business depends too much on you, read The E-Myth Revisited or Atomic Habits to build repeatable systems.
Money and profitability: if cash is tight or unpredictable, Profit First gives you a concrete system for taking profit off the top.
Starting or scaling: if you're validating an idea or growing fast, The Lean Startup, Zero to One, and The Hard Thing About Hard Things speak directly to that stage.
One well-matched book you actually finish beats ten you buy and shelve. Pick the one that maps to your current bottleneck, then move to the next.
The top 10 entrepreneur books of 2026
We've compiled a list of the top 10 entrepreneur books that you should be reading here. The rating of each book is an average of its rating from GoodReads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Audible.
1. Zero to One by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Number of Pages: 225
About the Book: Zero to One details the incredible innovation capability of startups in today's modern world. It also goes through the four most important parts of any startup's product, which include proprietary technology, network effects, economies of scale, and branding. With advice such as "a bad plan is better than no plan", Zero to One was well-received at publication by successful and new entrepreneurs alike.
About the Author: German-American billionaire and co-founder of PayPal Peter Thiel was the first outside investor in Facebook in 2004. Now, he's a venture capitalist and entrepreneur with many marked successes including Palantir Technologies and Founders Fund.
Where to Buy: You can purchase Zero to One on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or on Audible.
2. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Rosa Lee Beeland
Average Rating: 4.45/5
Number of Pages: 290
About the Book: Think and Grow Rich is a classic 1937 entrepreneurial self-help book that lists Hill's "13 Steps to Riches", among other ideals. The book has a rich history as a national bestseller and remains a highly recommended book for entrepreneurs. Some of the 13 steps include having a strong desire to achieve a goal, organized planning to develop a business plan, and trusting your intuition or your "sixth sense".
About the Author: Napoleon Hill was born in southwest Virginia in 1883 and remains one of the bestselling self-help book authors of all time. He wrote several books aside from Think and Grow Rich, including The Law of Success. His many business ventures give him entrepreneurial experience.
Where to Buy: You can purchase Think and Grow Rich on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or on Audible.
3. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Average Rating: 4.43/5
Number of Pages: 163
About the Book: Advocating for the importance of financial literacy, financial independence, and wealth-building, Rich Dad Poor Dad has been a New York Times Bestseller for over half a decade. The book goes into author Robert Kiyosaki's upbringing with a "rich dad" (his best friend's father) and a "poor dad" (his own father), where the two had vastly different ideas about wealth. Anecdotes about Kiyosaki's life allow the reader to rework their feelings on how wealth is attained.
About the Author: Robert Kiyosaki is a Japanese-American businessman and author. His long history of business ventures and opinions gives his writing a fun flair. He founded Rich Global LLC and Rich Dad Company, the latter of which is a private financial aid company that provides financial education through books and videos.
Where to Buy: You can purchase Rich Dad Poor Dad on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or on Audible.
4. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Average Rating: 4.43/5
Number of Pages: 232
About the Book: While many people romanticize the life of company leaders and CEOs, The Hard Thing About Hard Things details the truly lonely and difficult life of people who own companies. Ben Horowitz goes step-by-step in building and leading a company, eventually selling his own company (Opsware) for $1.6 billion. The book shows how the dream of being a CEO meets reality and provides real-world advice.
About the Author: Ben Horowitz is the co-founder of the successful Andreessen Horowitz venture capital company in addition to a successful author. His career began at Silicon Graphics in Silicon Valley in 1994 and he was an engineer. He eventually worked his way up to managing thousands of employees and billions of dollars in revenue.
Where to Buy: You can purchase The Hard Thing About Hard Things on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or on Audible.
5. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Average Rating: 4.43/5
Number of Pages: 240
About the Book: How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. This makes it one of the best-selling books of all time. Dale Carnegie was initially reluctant to write the book, but he was eventually persuaded to let a stenographer take notes from his classes in New York. It's now known that almost every self-help book published since Carnegie's success has borrowed its style and marketing strategies.
About the Author: Dale Carnegie was a famous lecturer at Carnegie Hall in New York, where he conducted a sold-out show in 1916. This contributed to his decision to change the spelling of his last name from Carnagey to Carnegie. Before his death in 1955, his most well-known book How to Win Friends and Influence People sold 5 million copies.
Where to Buy: You can purchase How to Win Friends and Influence People on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or on Audible.
6. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Number of Pages: 150
About the Book: The E-Myth Revisited dispels preconceived notions about entrepreneurship and leadership, and emphasizes working on businesses, not just in them. It notes that most businesses don't age past adolescence and that businesses need processes and systems in place to succeed.
About the Author: Called "the World's #1 Small Business Guru" by Inc. Magazine, Michael E. Gerber has written a dozen books on entrepreneurship and business. He's written 19 industry-specific versions of E-Myth Vertical books, allowing people of all backgrounds to benefit from his knowledge.
Where to Buy: You can purchase The E-Myth Revisited on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or on Audible.
7. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Average Rating: 4.38/5
Number of Pages: 317
About the Book: If you come from a scientific background, you'll likely enjoy The Lean Startup, where Eric Ries applies scientific theory to entrepreneurship. He introduces topics like "just-in-time scalability" and starting small and simple. Eventually, he notes, you'll be expanding and growing through learning, testing, and measuring.
About the Author: An entrepreneur, blogger, and author, Eric Ries started documenting lean startup culture on his blog in 2008. This eventually blossomed into a massive movement. Ries eventually became a subject matter expert in lean startups and gave talks about his knowledge. He was offered a position as entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School.
Where to Buy: You can purchase The Lean Startup on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or on Audible.
8. Start With Why by Simon Sinek
Average Rating: 4.35/5
Number of Pages: 258
About the Book: Start With Why is a book based on Simon Sinek's TED Talk of the same name. It calls on business leaders to understand the power of the word "why", diving into assumptions, "carrots and sticks", and Sinek's concept of the "Golden Circle", which is a way to understand the "why".
About the Author: Simon Sinek has his own company, Sinek Partners, and has spoken at TEDx conferences several times as a motivational speaker. He's been an instructor of strategic communications at Columbia University, in addition to an adjunct staff member of the RAND Corporation.
Where to Buy: You can purchase Start with Why on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or on Audible.
9. The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
Average Rating: 4.25/5
Number of Pages: 306
About the Book: A guide for aspiring entrepreneurs, The $100 Startup offers case studies and valuable insights on starting and growing a business on a thin budget. It shows readers that getting away from your corporate job and starting your own business is easier than you'd think and focuses on understanding your customers and your product.
About the Author: Founder of the blog "The Art of Non-Conformity", Chris Guillebeau is an entrepreneur and world traveler. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in two and a half years, starting graduate school at 20 years old. He's also a philanthropist, having much of his book proceeds being donated to charities and volunteering for several non-profits over his life.
Where to Buy: You can purchase The $100 Startup on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or on Audible.
10. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
Average Rating: 4.15/5
Number of Pages: 322
About the Book: The 4-Hour Workweek is a step-by-step guide to escaping the corporate life and living the lifestyle you desire. Although many people measure productivity by work time, Tim Ferriss measures it by time spent effectively. Important lessons from the book include validating your business ideas and being effective rather than efficient.
About the Author: Tim Ferriss is a lifestyle guru, podcaster, author, and investor. Some of his projects include working with companies like TaskRabbit and Uber. He's also the host of The Tim Ferriss Show, an interview-centered podcast about leadership and entrepreneurship.
Where to Buy: You can purchase The 4-Hour Workweek on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or on Audible.
Newer entrepreneur books worth adding
The classics above earn their place, but a few more recent titles have become staples of reputable business-book lists, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 2026 roundup. Add these to round out your shelf:
Profit First by Mike Michalowicz (2014). Flips the usual math from Sales − Expenses = Profit to Sales − Profit = Expenses, so you take profit off the top and run the business on what's left. It's the most directly practical money book on this list—and the system behind Relay's own Profit First method guide.
Atomic Habits by James Clear (2018). Small, compounding 1% changes beat big goals; Clear makes the case that systems, not willpower, drive results—useful for any owner trying to build repeatable operations.
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (2016). The Nike founder's candid memoir of near-failure on the way to an iconic brand—widely cited as the best founder memoir for what building a company actually feels like.
The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom (2025). A bestselling recent release that reframes success across financial, physical, mental, time, and social wealth—a useful counterweight when the business is consuming everything else.
More ways to grow as an entrepreneur
Improvement as an entrepreneur is an ongoing pursuit.
If you're looking for more ways to grow as an entrepreneur, podcasts about entrepreneurship are a fun way to learn.
Another great way to learn from entrepreneurs is to read case studies. Places like The Harvard Business Review publish case studies about real-life companies that provide valuable insights and takeaways on what to do (and usually, what not to do). Learning from case studies is a great way to improve your entrepreneurial knowledge.
Stay on the money with Relay
Relay is an online banking and money management platform that lets small business owners open multiple business checking and savings accounts with no monthly maintenance fees.
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Frequently asked questions
What's the best entrepreneur book for a first-time founder?
If you're just starting, The E-Myth Revisited (why owners get trapped working in the business) and The Lean Startup (how to validate an idea before you overbuild) are the two most useful starting points. Add Profit First early so your money system is in place from day one.
How many business books should I read a year?
There's no magic number—the typical American reads about five books a year (the median), per Pew Research, so even one well-chosen business book a quarter puts you ahead. Consistency and applying what you read matter more than volume.
Are audiobooks as good as reading?
For most business books, yes—the ideas transfer either way, and audiobooks let you learn during commutes or workouts. Every book on this list is available on Audible if that fits your routine better.
