Top Business books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Business books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Business

Understanding the concepts of Business starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

"The Hard Thing About Hard Things" by Ben Horowitz is a guide for entrepreneurs and leaders that offers practical advice on managing difficult situations in business, including laying off employees, handling investor relationships, and making tough decisions.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The Outsiders : Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success

A book that received high praise from Warren Buffett, The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success chronicles the unconventional techniques that led eight CEOs to outperform the S&P 500 by an astounding twenty times. The best CEOs are not managers, but capital allocators.

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Blue Ocean Strategy

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY is the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost to open up a new market space and create new demand. It is about creating and capturing uncontested market space, thereby making the competition irrelevant.

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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

The five dysfunctions discussed are absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. At the end of the story, the main points are summarized, and clearly written suggestions and exercises are offered to help, bring about change.

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Good Charts: The HBR Guide to Making Smarter, More Persuasive Data Visualizations

A good visualization can communicate the nature and potential impact of information and ideas more powerfully than any other form of communication. For a long time

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Rework

Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you're looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf. Read it and you'll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don't need outside investors, and why you're better off ignoring the competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You don't…

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Additional Business Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Business, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things

Hidden Potential offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Adam Grant weaves together groundbreaking evidence, surprising insights, and vivid storytelling that takes us from the classroom to the boardroom, the playground to the Olympics, and underground to outer space.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Trajectory: Startup: Ideation to Product/Market Fit

Trajectory: Startup removes the mystery from the startup process and outlines a roadmap of tasks and timeframes, with monthly milestones and resources. This pre-accelerator program will help you get the momentum you need.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The World Is Flat

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century is a book by Thomas L. Friedman that analyzes globalization, primarily in the early 21st century. The title suggests the world has a more level playing field for commerce in which most competitors, except for labor, have an equal opportunity.

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Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

Book Summary – Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know. The way we think affects not just our ability to succeed in a dynamic, fast-changing world; it also affects how we make sense of things around us. This book by Adam Grant is about improving your mental agility and the ability to rethink.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The innovator's dilemma

The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen explains how successful companies fail by sticking to their established business models, overlooking disruptive innovations. It offers a framework to help managers anticipate and respond to market changes.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Zero to One

Going from zero to one means going from nothing to something. This is the greatest leap possible — greater than going from one to 10 or even from one to 100. To go from zero to one is to conjure something into existence from the dark void of oblivion. This is the essence of true innovation.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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