10 Business Books To Read During The 1st Year Of Your Career

Below is a list of ten books that I have read during my first year out of college, which have helped me get a foundational understanding of how businesses work. Hopefully, one of the book reviews below will resonate with you and spark a flame of curiosity for you to find out more. Each book has its own unique value and I hope they will help you in the same manner that they have done for me.

1. Sur-Petition: Creating Value Monopolies When Everyone Else Is Merely Competing

By Edward De Bono

I would like to preface this book review by sharing that although it is short, I am going to have to read this book at least three more times to truly grasp all the lessons that Edward gives. It's just that good.

“Competition is Latin for seeking together,?sur/petition is Latin for seeking above.”?Edward goes into great detail as to why businesses need to stop thinking about surviving against the barrage of competitors in your market and figure out ways to create value monopolies (this is very reminiscent of what Peter Thiel highlights in Zero to One when he talks about why Google is able to dominate the search engine market). The main function of a business besides housekeeping, creating products and services of high quality, the importance of having a team dedicated to creating concepts that aren’t necessarily solutions to problems but, creative hit-points that enhance any part of your business, and more.

I still feel like this review doesn’t do this book true justice so I will leave this one here and rewrite a new one after I read this book a second time, so stay tuned.

2. Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success

by Shane Snow

Smartcuts by Shane Snow (CEO of Contently) is the first book I ever gave to a mentor of mine—and he read the whole thing. This is a personal testament to how valuable this book is, it’s jam-packed with useful knowledge. And this isn’t your typical business book; Shane has written it in such a way that anyone can relate to it. The biggest takeaway I got from reading this book is—no matter the profession, having a mentor guide you along the path of success greatly increases your mental output and ability to create and do great things.

Other anecdotes that he provides value through are:

• The story of Skrillex and his rise to fame both in screamo and EDM, teaching the concept of “Riding waves.”
• How to be a super-connector (taken directly from Malcolm Gladwell). To help generate a valuable network (ethically).
• Thinking 10x, using Elon Musk as the prime example. Showing how he managed to launch the first private space rocket successfully and what it took to get there.
• As previously mentioned, mentorship and how, if done organically, it can help anyone master a skill (or set of competencies) faster than the average person. Additionally, showing how one can learn how to save time by removing unnecessary distractions from your learning process.
• Rapid feedback and how to shift our paradigm of failure so we can use it as a tool. He uses the story of surgeons learning from each other’s successes and mainly failures, as the example.

I highly recommend reading this if you’re interested in learning how to optimize your work and sustain habits of learning—making them faster and more efficient.

3. Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: How I Went from Gang Member to Multimillionaire Entrepreneur

By Ryan Blair with Don Yaeger

Now, this is an autobiography about a true badass. In this book, Ryan Blair recounts his childhood, young adolescent life as a gang member, and life as a businessman growing companies, tying it into a great manual on business that all entrepreneurs have to read. He covers hiring the right people, creating the right business plan, how to create a good exit strategy when selling your company, a founder’s responsibility to shareholders and much more. His story is inspiring and humbling, showing that anyone, with any background, can become a successful entrepreneur so long as they use their past to strengthen themselves and not deter them from greatness. If you are looking for a good read to learn the basics of entrepreneurship and to gain firsthand accounts of the challenges that entrepreneurs face, please read this book! You won’t regret it.

4. Unthinking: The Surprising Forces Behind What We Buy

By Harry Beckwith

Harry Beckwith’s fantastic book brings light to several of the strategies marketers use to affect our buying habits and our culture. From how our childhood will always influence our buying habits, how stories drive us to engagement, and how reputations alter the experience with our products such as Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi. Harry allows us to see behind the scenes how history unfolded in the media, pop, culture and much more (for example: how the Beatles should have never been underestimated and why they were and much more).?The main purpose for reading this is to understand how marketers influence our daily decisions and why understanding how ads work on social media affect how we interact with the world and other humans as a whole. “In every conversation, someone is selling, and someone is being sold to, ” -paraphrasing a dear friend.

5. The Lean StartUp?

By Eric Reis

Eric’s pragmatic approach to building a successful and sustainable business has helped me tremendously. It has helped me understand how to approach testing an idea and how to learn from customers. The biggest takeaway that this book provided me with was that all entrepreneurs must prioritize learning goals over performance goals. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur or just someone who has a good idea but does not know how to implement it, I extremely recommend reading this book. This should be the essential employee manual for all startups who want to survive the uncertainty of the entrepreneurial universe.

6. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

By Patrick Lencioni

The way that Lencioni uses storytelling in order to drive home the lessons of this book is amazing. He perfectly defines the reasons why so many teams fail to reach success together. From lack of trust to inattention to details, Lencioni clearly describes all the issues any team in any setting could face if they are not all working towards the same goal and are aware of what is holding them back. This book should be mandatory reading for anyone who is currently working with a team (which is the majority of the workforce). As a leader, you will gain insightful information on how to tackle any challenges you may be encountering working with a new team. The most important thing to read in this book is the team building exercises that are in the end. You won’t regret practicing one in at least one of them in your next team meeting.

7. How Google Works

By Eric Schmidt

Executive Chairman and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg show in this book the power of a new style of leadership. When a company’s employees are entirely comprised of?smart creatives?(a?term coined by the author), one must approach the challenge of leading them to success in new and innovative ways. This book has taught me a lot about entrepreneurship and how the future will be quite different than what any of us could expect. From how to hold a proper meeting, to the importance of interviewing, and how to create the perfect career plan, this book helps shine a?light?on anyone interested in learning more about the internet search company that has become the center of innovation for the entire world.

8. Zero to One

By Peter Theil?

This book has truly made me rethink starting a business at least fourteen times. Before anyone endeavors into creating a startup, consider reading this book. Peter covers topics such as “The Founders Paradox,” seven essential questions you need to be able to answer for your business to be successful, the difference between a monopoly and competition, and much more. The part that had the biggest impact on me was about product distribution. His insights on how to create a successful business are unparalleled and his experience creating PayPal certainly help. If you want to see a new perspective on startups definitely read this book.

9. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

By Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell has forever changed how I view marketing and how ideas are spread. His in-depth analysis on social epidemics is second to none as he shows a new perspective on how they are started and how they can be stopped. From teenage smoking throughout the years?to the New York crime sprees in the 20th century, his revolutionary ideas from 2000 still have profound relevance today. He enlightens his reader on how social groups can be used to spread ideas through the rule of 150, the law of the few, the power of context, and much more. If you are interested in merely understanding how humans influence each other on a mass scale, I highly suggest this book.

10. Ego Is The Enemy

By Ryan Holiday

Ego Is The Enemy truly is one of the best books to read after achieving a great accomplishment (such as graduating college). Life is a cycle of three stages: aspiration, success, and failure. Ego is present across all three stages and this book helps with providing exercises and key considerations for auditing your thoughts and actions while your ego is present. Ryan's storytelling is incredible, and the advice he offers is extremely practical.?

My favorite part of the book covers the topic of the Canvass Strategy. It's the same as "managing up." Ryan presents several stories on what it means to be an anteambulo ("one who clears the path") for those above you. When you clear paths for them, you create new ones for yourself. The act of seeking opportunities for other people, especially those hierarchically above you definitely pays dividends over time. After reading this great book, you'll begin to see a manifestation of change within yourself that is immediately apparent.?

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