13+1 Best Business Books Entrepreneurs Can Read For 2016

In this book compilation you will find the 13+1 best business books entrepreneurs car read for 2016 in my humble opinion. Before you ask, I’ve read them all 🙂

I believe that reading books can help you travel into a different world of opportunities, examples, stories and ideas. Especially if you are looking for the best business books entrepreneurs can read then this means you are on the right path to success if not already there.

This is because through these books, you and me, as entrepreneurs can learn many new techniques, ideas or even skill sets that can help us avoid mistakes with our businesses or even give us a new perspective about creating more value for our customers and eventually selling more.

How cool can this be?

You don’t need to manage a billion dollar company to get access to these kind of experiences. Just pick a book from the list below, buy it on Amazon and start reading it for real 🙂

Before you read on, here is my read book compilations from earlier years:

• 13+1 Best Motivational Books You Can Read For 2015
• 12+1 Top Self Improvement Books You Should Sleep With (2014 Edition)

Aspiring to become an entrepreneur? Here are the best business books you can read

• January

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) – Seth Godin (Part – 1)

The old saying is wrong—winners do quit, and quitters do win. Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point—really hard, and not much fun at all. And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Here is a review of The Dip by Kerry K. Taylor on Squawkfox

This book is so inspiring to read, and very true to life. The dip is what separates great success from giving up and mild exposure. – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

The Dan Sullivan Question – Dan Sullivan (Part – 2)

Everyone today is competing with everyone else to have the cleverest, most persuasive “answer”. So, in a world where everybody is competing with their answers, how do you differentiate yourself from everybody else? This is one of the best business books I’ve ever read, even though it is small — it is straight to the point.

Great Book and an even better Framework. Reading the book is one thing. But using the framework is where the magic happens. Learn it. Use it. You’ll be glad you did. I am. – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• February

All Marketers are Liars – Seth Godin

All marketers tell stories. And if they do it right, we believe them. We believe that wine tastes better in a $20 glass than a $1 glass. We believe that an $80,000 Porsche is vastly superior to a $36,000 Volkswagen that’s virtually the same car. We believe that $125 sneakers make our feet feel better—and look cooler—than a $25 brand. And believing it makes it true. Although small this is a must for any best business books compilation out there.

It’s a must read book for every marketer and every consumer. Marketers might be able to improve their performance, and consumer will understand why they do (and buy) what they do… – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• March

Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation – Sally Hogshead

In Fascinate, advertising and media personality Sally Hogshead explores what triggers fascination—one of the most powerful ways to attract attention and influence behavior—and explains how companies can use these concepts to make their products and ideas irresistible to consumers. Marketing professionals of every ilk will find much of use in the pages of Fascinate. Here is a review of the book by Nick Morgan on Public Words

Each of us is fascinated by some one, some thing, or some place. We know this. But – why? What does this person/thing/place do to tap into our psyche? This is the one thing that you are definitely going to get out of this book. – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• April

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants – Malcolm Gladwell

Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palestine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone and a sling, and ever since then the names of David and Goliath have stood for battles between underdogs and giants. David’s victory was improbable and miraculous. He shouldn’t have won. Or should he have?

Brilliant! It shows outcomes not ideas or ideals! Loved the book! Lots of great info and stories but in a wonderful reading style that made it easy to read! – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• May

The Effective Executive – Peter F. Drucker

The measure of the executive, Peter F. Drucker reminds us, is the ability to “get the right things done”. This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive job without the acquired habits of mind that mold them into results.

Every knowledge worker, manager or executive should read this book. Although old, it felt like a breath of fresh air , because it doesn’t follow the formula of today’s business. – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• June

The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy

No gimmicks. No Hyperbole. No Magic Bullet. The Compound Effect is based on the principle that decisions shape your destiny. Little, everyday decisions will either take you to the life you want or to disaster by default. Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine, presents The Compound Effect, a distillation of the fundamental principles that have guided the most phenomenal achievements in business, relationships, and beyond.

This easy-to-use, step-by-step operating system allows you to multiply your success, chart your progress, and achieve any desire. This book is amongst the top 10 best business books ever written! Here is a review of it from Brad Campbell on The WordPress Millionaire.

Easy and fast reading. Darren Hardy gives many good examples. At the end of each chapter there are a few “to-do” items to help us implement what we learned. – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• July

What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures – Malcolm Gladwell

What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard-but only one variety of ketchup? What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers? What does hair dye tell us about the history of the 20th century?

Great insights into marketing and entrepreneurial successes. All business entrepreneurs should read this cover to cover. Great insights into marketing and entrepreneurial successes. – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• August

No B.S. Direct Marketing – Dan S. Kennedy

Kennedy dares marketers to dramatically simplify their marketing, refocusing on what works. Updated to address the newest media and marketing methods, this marketing master plan — from marketing master Kennedy — delivers a short list of radically different, little-known, profit-proven direct mail strategies for ANY business.

Strategies are illustrated by case history examples from an elite team of consultants — all phenomenally successful at borrowing direct marketing strategies from the world of mail-order, TV infomercials, etc., to use in ’ordinary’ businesses including retail stores, restaurants, and sales.

This book by Dan Kennedy was simply amazing. The way he introduce you to this new concept of marketing is simple and easy to understand he outline his entire book into 10 rules. – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• September

Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions – Guy Kawasaki

Enchantment, as defined by bestselling business guru Guy Kawasaki, is not about manipulating people. It transforms situations and relationships. It converts hostility into civility and civility into affinity. It changes the skeptics and cynics into the believers and the undecided into the loyal. Enchantment can happen during a retail transaction, a high-level corporate negotiation, or a Facebook update. And when done right, it’s more powerful than traditional persuasion, influence, or marketing techniques.

Guy does another fine job of outlining the major points and blending in anecdotal evidence to support his claims. – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• October

The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves – Matt Ridley

In a bold and provocative interpretation of economic history, Matt Ridley, the New York Times-bestselling author of Genome and The Red Queen, makes the case for an economics of hope, arguing that the benefits of commerce, technology, innovation, and change—what Ridley calls cultural evolution—will inevitably increase human prosperity. This is not one of the best business books BUT it is definitely a must read to see things positive and find opportunities where there are only problems.

Matt Ridley really shows you that there is a bright future ahead in this book. He has stats to show you why to be an optimists and has a ton of logic with it. – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• November

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies – Jerry I. Porras & Jim Collins

“This is not a book about charismatic visionary leaders. It is not about visionary product concepts or visionary products or visionary market insights. Nor is it about just having a corporate vision. This is a book about something far more important, enduring, and substantial. This is a book about visionary companies.”

So write Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in this groundbreaking book that shatters myths, provides new insights, and gives practical guidance to those who would like to build landmark companies that stand the test of time. Here is a book review by Paula Pant on Afford Anything.

Excellent insight into visions of successful companies. Provided talking points for discussion and review for future business owners (large and small). – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

• December

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us – Seth Godin

A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads). It’s our nature. Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time.

All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, they’re enabling countless new tribes to be born—groups of ten or ten thousand or ten million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming.

Change is hard but worth it. Tribes is an easy read. The examples will ruffle some feathers. This book shows that everyone can, and should, lead something. Be brave. – Vasilis

Buy it on Amazon

Bonus Book For Best Business Books Entrepreneurs Can Read For 2016

Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World – Peter Diamandis & Steve Kottler

Bold is definitely amongst the best business books for entrepreneurs. It unfolds in three parts.

1. Part One focuses on the exponential technologies that are disrupting today’s Fortune 500 companies and enabling upstart entrepreneurs to go from “I’ve got an idea” to “I run a billion-dollar company” far faster than ever before. The authors provide exceptional insight into the power of 3D printing, artificial intelligence, robotics, networks and sensors, and synthetic biology.
2. Part Two of the book focuses on the Psychology of Bold, drawing on insights from billionaire entrepreneurs Larry Page, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and Jeff Bezos. In addition, Diamandis reveals his entrepreneurial secrets garnered from building fifteen companies, including such audacious ventures as Singularity University, XPRIZE, Planetary Resources, and Human Longevity, Inc.
3. In Part Three, Bold closes with a look at the best practices that allow anyone to leverage today’s hyper-connected crowd like never before. Here, the authors teach how to design and use incentive competitions, launch million-dollar crowdfunding campaigns to tap into ten’s of billions of dollars of capital, and finally how to build communities—armies of exponentially enabled individuals willing and able to help today’s entrepreneurs make their boldest dreams come true.

This book is not for everyone. Many people happy with their lives as they are and are seeking some minor improvements. If you are the other sort of person who asks, “Why not?”, then you may find this book useful. You may have already read much of the stuff in this book if you are really, really into changing the world. If not, then this book may motivate, energize, and encourage you. – Vasilis



Buy it on Amazon




To sum up this best business books compilation I would like to add one of my personal stories. Last year I went into professional business & marketing consulting starting from $1.000, to do basic marketing stuff for my customers. As 2015 reaches to its end, I am able to negotiate contracts up to $35.000 per customer for business & marketing consulting projects.

That’s a 500% increase in the value of the contracts I’m negotiating with potential customers and all of it came from reading books and learning new skill sets. So be sure to go check the other two compilations below and I’m sure you are going to discover very important things.

• 13+1 Best Motivational Books You Can Read For 2015
• 12+1 Top Self Improvement Books You Should Sleep With (2014 Edition)

Signing off…