Listener Login

password

Register
Login
Remember me

Selected Reading

Please see our Integrity Promise.

Guy Kingston's recommendations:
(click here for John Richards's list)

	Poor Charlie's Almanack Edited by: Peter Kaufman Buy from Amazon US	If you only read one more book in your life make sure this is the one!
	The Essays of Warren Buffet Selected, arranged and introduced by Lawrence Cunningham Buy from Amazon US	Brilliant and wise counsel about how to run a business really well.
	The Economist magazine Subscribe at Amazon UK Subscribe at Amazon US	Pretty much everything you need to know about what's going on in the world. Offers great material and insights into areas not normally covered by the mainstream press.
	Influence: Science and Practice Robert Cialdini Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US	Fascinating insights about universal human psychological flaws, with some tips on how to avoid being a victim.
	New Scientist magazine Subscribe at Amazon.com	Those who understand the way the world works are better equipped to survive in it. Discover technological advances before your competitors.
The Hidden Traps in Decision Making	The Hidden Traps in Decision Making. Harvard Business Review article Purchase	Just what it says in the title! A very useful article about common human decision making errors. Builds on the work of Cialdini (see above)
	Please Understand Me David Keirsey, Marilyn Bates Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US	A book about character and temperament types Helps you understand why you are the way you are, and why others are different. I prefer it to the more recent second edition Please Understand Me II, though both are worthwhile.
	The Road Less Travelled M. Scott Peck Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US	A fantastic book for getting more out of life and enjoying better interactions with other people. As one Amazon reviewer wrote: “The book opens with the words "Life is difficult." Once you accept that, it becomes a lot easier!” Don't be put off by the New Age sounding subtitle.
	Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps Allan and Barbara Pease Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US	Another great book for understanding why some people are good at some things and others good at other things. A book for people interested in truth rather than ideology. It debunks much politically correct nonsense of the last 30 years or so.
	The Bluffer's Guide to Small Business John Winterson Richards Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US	A super, quick read with plenty of insights into what life's really like running your own business. You won't find any pretentious business school-speak, just sound, practical advice
	The Complete Guide to Quick and Easy Marketing That Works David N. Russell Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US	Sensible, practical marketing that isn't going to cost you money you don't have!
	How the Mind Works Steven Pinker Buy from Amazon UK Buy From Amazon US	Deep insights into the way people think. Useful guide to help avoid errors of judgement.

John Richards's recommendations:

I cannot think of a good book I can recommend on being an entrepreneur. Books fall into 3 categories:

Academic books on management.
Biographies of successful entrepreneurs - most of them useless to anyone else, either deliberately or because they lack reflection.
General books which might help the entrepreneur.

In the first category, I would recommend Business: The Ultimate Resource (Buy UK / US) - both in itself, as a neat summary of so much else, and for its list of management classics.

For management theorists, I would recommend the works of Professors Charles Handy (Buy UK / US) and John Adair (Buy UK / US) .

In the last category, Business: The Ultimate Resource includes fun things like Sun Tzu (Buy UK / US) and Machiavelli (Buy UK / US), and so would I.

It also includes Adam Smith: (Buy UK / US) part from the economic theory, it gives a lot of detail on commerce which might provoke ideas.

Curiously Marx's "Kapital" (Buy UK / US) might do the same, even if the economics is not in the same league as Smith.

In general, I would recommend the entrepreneur reads - if he has time - not books on business, but books on history. Books on subjects like the British Empire often have a lot of insight into commerce and leadership.

On business ethics, there is the Bible - which also has some brilliant things to say about human nature: check out the Book of Proverbs in particular.

Finally, there is one book that really sums up the mindset one needs to be an entrepreneur: "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe (Buy UK / US), himself a serial if unsuccessful entrepreneur.

I would recommend Smith, Defoe, and the Bible before any specifically business book.