The Personal MBA Recommended Reading List: The 99 Best Business Books

by Josh Kaufman
|
99 books
MBA programs don’t have a monopoly on advanced business knowledge: you can teach yourself everything you need to know to succeed in life and at work. The Personal MBA features the very best business books available, based on over ten years and thousands of hours of research. So skip business school and the $150,000 loan: you can get a world-class business education own your own at very low cost by reading the best business books. This page lists all Personal MBA recommended books and resources for easy printing, bookmarking, and reference.
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See the source list and commentary at personalmba.com

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Business Creation

Go It Alone!

The Secret to Building a Successful Business on Your Own
Bruce Judson, 2009

The Lean Startup

How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
Eric Ries, 2011

Street Smarts

An All-Purpose Tool Kit for Entrepreneurs
Norm Brodsky, Bo Burlingham, 2010

Ready, Fire, Aim

Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat
Michael Masterson, 2008

Escape From Cubicle Nation

From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur
Pamela Slim, 2009

Bankable Business Plans

Edward G. Rogoff, 2007
Value-Creation & Testing
Marketing

All Marketers are Liars

The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works--and Why Authenticity Is the Best Marketing of All
Seth Godin, 2009

Permission Marketing

Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers
Seth Godin, 2012

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

Al Ries, Jack Trout, 1994

Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got

21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Earn the Competition
Jay Abraham, 2001
Sales

The Psychology of Selling

How to Sell More, Easier, and Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible
Brian Tracy, 2006

Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal

Oren Klaff, 2011

The Ultimate Sales Machine

Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies
Chet Holmes, 2007

Value-Based Fees

How to Charge - and Get - What You're Worth
Alan Weiss, 2008

SPIN Selling

Neil Rackham, 1988
Value-Delivery
Finance & Accounting

Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs

What You Really Need to Know about the Numbers
Karen Berman, Joe Knight, John Case, 2008

Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!

4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential
Greg Crabtree, 2011

The 1% Windfall

How Successful Companies Use Price to Profit and Grow
Rafi Mohammed, 2010

Accounting Made Simple

Accounting Explained in 100 Pages Or Less
Mike Piper, 2012

How to Read a Financial Report

Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers
John A. Tracy, Tage C. Tracy, 2020

Venture Deals

Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
Brad Feld, Jason Mendelson, 2016
The Human Mind
Productivity & Effectiveness

Getting Things Done

The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
David Allen, 2001

The Power of Full Engagement

Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal
Jim Loehr, James E. Loehr, Tony Schwartz, 2005

StrengthsFinder 2.0

Tom Rath, 2007

Bit Literacy

Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload
Mark Hurst, 2007

10 Days to Faster Reading

The Princeton Language Institute, Abby Marks-Beale, 2001
Problem Solving
Behavioral Change

The Power of Less

The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life
Leo Babauta, 2009

The Path of Least Resistance

Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life
Robert Fritz, 2014

Re-Create Your Life

Transforming Your Life and Your World with the Lefkoe Method
Morty Lefkoe, 2003

Self-Directed Behavior: Self-Modification for Personal Adjustment

David L. Watson, Roland G. Tharp, 2013
Decision-Making
Communication

On Writing Well

An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction
William Knowlton Zinsser, 1994

Presentation Zen

Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery
Garr Reynolds, 2009

Made to Stick

Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Chip Heath, Dan Heath, 2007

The Copywriter's Handbook

A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing That Sells
Robert W. Bly, 1990

Show Me the Numbers

Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten
Stephen Few, 2012
Influence
Negotiation
Management

First, Break All the Rules

What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently
Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman, 2014

12: The Elements of Great Managing

Gallup, James Harter, 2014

Growing Great Employees

Turning Ordinary People Into Extraordinary Performers
Erika Andersen, 2006

Essential Drucker

Peter Drucker, 2020

The Halo Effect

. . . and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers
Phil Rosenzweig, 2014
Leadership
Project Management
Systems
Analysis

Thinking Statistically

Uri Bram, 2017

Turning Numbers Into Knowledge

Mastering the Art of Problem Solving
Jon Koomey, 2008

How to Lie with Statistics

Darrell Huff, 2010

Marketing Metrics

The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance
Paul W. Farris, Neil T. Bendle, Phillip E. Pfeifer, David J. Reibstein, 2010

The Economist Numbers Guide

The Essentials of Business Numeracy
The Economist Staff, Richard Stutely, 2013
Corporate Skills
Corporate Strategy

Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies

Nikos Mourkogiannis, 2014

Competitive Strategy

Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors
Michael E. Porter, 1998

Blue Ocean Shift

Beyond Competing - Proven Steps to Inspire Confidence and Seize New Growth
W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, 2017

Seeing What's Next

Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change
Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, Erik A. Roth, 2004
Creativity & Innovation
Design
Consulting
Personal Finance

Your Money Or Your Life

9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence
Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, Monique Tilford, 2008

The Millionaire Next Door

The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy
Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko, 1996

I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Ramit Sethi, 2009

Fail-Safe Investing

Lifelong Financial Security in 30 Minutes
Harry Browne, 1999
Personal Growth