I happened to make the following post on facebook and was amazed with the response I got there in 12 hours. Apart from the suggestions that came in, and some of them might be useful for venturewoods community, the level and timeliness of participation was great. Kinda makes blogging look like old world! Where is this going…

Trying to spot great books on entrepreneurship – yesterday, I went to my local bookstore and pointed the lack of books on this topic to the otherwise brilliant lady behind the counter. All she could respond with was Jim Collins! any suggestions (practical stuff please!) There are the biographies I liked – branson, ted turner etc – any other recommendations?

  • Kiruba Shankar: Alok, I really liked Subroto Bagchi’s Go Kiss The World. The first half was a bit of a drag but the second half was really engrossing. Thumbs up.
  • Dhruv Shenoy: Off the cuff, a few suggestions. a) Direct from Dell b) The Google story c) Bill and Dave – the HP story
  • Priyashmita Guha: lee iacocca
  • Subash Lingareddy: Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki & Nuts! Southwest Airlines’ Story
  • Rajesh Jog: You already have an impressive list. Here’s my fave – Guy Kawasaki’s “Rules for Revolutionaries”…
  • Alok Mittal: Nuts is great. Let me try out Guy Kawasaki stuff – is it practical though? He’s been writing and lecturing for the longest time now…
  • Arjun Seth: My pick will be “The monk and the riddle” by Randy Komisar. This book illustrates what’s wrong with the mainstream thinking that we should sacrifice our lives to make a living. P.S. Definitely not for serial entrepreneurs!
  • Akshat Choudhary: “Made in America” by Sam Walton
  • Kanwaldeep S Kalsi: Write one 🙂 Simple !
  • Vinod Keni: Alok, Subroto Bagchi has written a book on entrepreneurship, called The High Performance Entrepreneur. Besides Richard Branson, Guy Kawasaki has some good books too, though I personally feel that a couple of them may be dated. “Valley Boy” by Tom Perkins is, I believe, good; have not read it yet. Another entertaining read is Donald Trump, especially since they tend to audacious. There was also a book called Entrepreneur America; do not remember the author though. Friends recommended “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur”; have not read it though.
  • Arun Gupta: Flying High the story of David Neeleman of JetBlue is one i luv and the other i like is The Lenovo affair
  • Arun Gupta: The Spirit to Serve Marriott’s Way is also a good one
  • Saurab Nog: The Entrepreneurial Mindset
  • Vijay Shekhar Sharma: I loved Straight from gut by Jack. It was like a thriller to me!
  • Vijay Fernando: The best and more specific for Indian Eco-system http://www.amazon.com/High-Performance-Entrepreneur-Golden-Success/dp/0670999180
  • Laura Parkin: John Mullins and Randy Komisar are just coming out with new book: Getting to Plan B. Great cases/stories of different entrepreneurs working through business models. Plus really useful framework for business models. Best I’ve seen. Out in the US, due to be published in India this fall.
  • Sushil Bhasin: you could try ICon – steve jobs. very well written and a great description of the tech scene as it evolved
  • Aditya Khanna: alok, if you’re interested in reading practical entrepreneurship blogs, then http://blogmaverick.com/ is an excellent read. written by mark cuban. even better is http://blog.pmarca.com/ by marc andreesen, but the content is being refreshed currently so a must-check once its back live again.
  • Roshan D’Silva: Hi alok, not an autobiography but a book I would reccomend would be the star principle..a very simple book on how to recognize and build star businesses!! I’ve not seen it in bookstores in india though.
  • Animesh Bansriyar: Nothing beats the unauthorized biographies of Steve Jobs. “Icon” is something which is very close to my heart.
  • Sameer Pareek: “the origin and evolution of new business” by bhide has a super extensive bibliography that might have some good books listed. Many mentioned above are good too. High stakes no prisoners is good. Bransons bio is by far the best “live and learn” thriller to date I’ve read. Entrepreneurs are doers not readers so surprising you’re motivated to find such books
  • Sanjay Kadaveru: Sramana Mitra’s “Entrepreneur Journeys” — Volumes One & Two
  • Shiraz Kanga: Founders at Work – by Jessica Livingston. I also really liked eBoys when I read it – many years ago.
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