24 great books on startups and entrepreneurs that I must read in 2016

One of my favorite activities at the start of the year is to list out books I intend to read – and I do read some of them too eventually! For those of us caught up in the swirl of startups, especially, good books are an anchor for our thoughts, to make sense of this exciting, fast-changing scene.

So here’s my new reading list for the year. They range from all-time greats to new ones catching attention, as well as books to be published later in the year which I’m looking forward to. Do pitch in with your suggestions too in the comments section below. Now, let’s dive in without further ado:

Originals, by Adam Grant

Adam Grant is one of the most highly rated professors at Wharton and author of a bestseller Give and Take, which shifted the focus from ourselves to our interactions with others as the key to business success. His new book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, which is due out on February 2, promises to tackle an equally fundamental issue for startups and entrepreneurs. Grant uses examples from wide-ranging industries to illustrate the resistance many great new ideas faced when they first surfaced, and makes a case for going against the grain.

One of the oft-repeated criticisms of Asian startup ecosystems is that there are too many copycat businesses and me-too startups. The Wharton professor’s book will give heart to those entrepreneurs who dare to build something unique and valuable that leverages a local advantage for either the domestic or world market. As such, it is the first in my reading list.

Platform Revolution, by Sangeet Paul Choudary, Geoffrey G Parker, and Marshall Van Alstyne

INSEAD entrepreneur-in-residence Sangeet Paul Choudary, who is co-chair of MIT’s Platform Strategy Summit, wrote a readable and insightful book last year on how the new asset-light plug-and-play models of Uber and Airbnb are transforming traditional businesses, leading to a wave of Uber for X and Airbnb for Y startups. But many of these startups bite the dust because they don’t have a full grasp on the fundamentals underpinning the successes of a YouTube or Instagram. His book Platform Scale, reviewed on Tech in Asia, laid out a theoretical framework for building such startups.

Now Sangeet Paul Choudary, in collaboration with MIT research scientists Geoffrey G Parker and Marshall Van Alstyne, is coming out with a second book on March 28 on the same theme. Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy – and How to Make Them Work for You promises to be a more practical guide. Startups and entrepreneurs will learn strategies to identify markets and monetize networks like a Tinder or SkillShare.

Superbosses, by Sydney Finkelstein

Here’s another management guru’s book due out in February. Sydney Finkelstein is Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business. His book Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent draws on scores of interviews with great leaders in a variety of industries to find out what makes them click. He then distills their experience into takeaways for us to emulate them.

How to Have a Good Day, by Caroline Webb

The Happiness Track: How to Apply the Science of Happiness to Accelerate Your Success, by Emma Seppala

The Power of Broke, by Daymond John

The Third Wave, by Steve Case

Sprint, by Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Braden Kowitz

The Age of Cryptocurrency, by Michael J Casey and Paul Vigna

The Industries of the Future, by Alec Ross

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future, by Kevin Kelly

Wired to Create, by Scott Barry Kaufman and Caroline Gregoire

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