Entrepreneurship essentials

Did you know that Bill Gates reads 50 books a year? He credits his incredible knowledge to his love of reading and taking in and retaining information. We agree that books are the key to unlocking many skills and insights integral to being a successful entrepreneur. Here are just a few of our recommendations, but head down to the Imperial Enterprise Lab Library and see what else we have on the shelves.

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.

The follow up to Yuval Noah Harari’s cult read Sapiens looks at the future of humanity and explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century and beyond – from overcoming death to creating artificial life.

Building a Better Business Using the Lego Serious Play Method.

Love Lego? So do we! And it’s even better when it counts as actual work. Unleash your imagination and let your creativity run free with these innovative methods to improve your team, business and approach.

Draw To Win: A Crash Course on How to Lead, Sell and Innovate with your Visual Mind.

Anyone can communicate great ideas through images, even if you can’t draw! Follow author Dan Roam’s top tips for telling your story, getting people onside and making that pitch deck the best it can be!

Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies and Symbols.

To imagine the future is one thing, but getting others to share that vision and drive it forward is quite another. This book, or the YouTube video if you’d prefer, will give you the secret to getting people onside by harnessing the power of persuasive communication to turn your idea into a movement.

Enchantment.

Ever heard of delighting your customers? Well, this is where the term comes from. Guy Kawasaki, venture capitalist and former marketer at Apple, explains why you should be seeking to enchant your customers to create affinity, commitment and loyalty, and describes exactly how to do it.

The Unicorn’s Shadow: Combating the Dangerous Myths that Hold Back Startups, Founders and Investors.

Ethan Mollick uses hard data to dispel the myths around successful founders and change the way we think about entrepreneurial success. Not every successful startup was created by a hoodie-wearing genius spending long nights working out of his garage, you know! (Catch our interview with Ethan on page 50).

Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works.

Ash Maurya takes you through an exacting strategy for achieving a ‘product/market fit’ for your fledgling venture, based on his own experience in building a wide array of products, from high-tech to no-tech. Throughout, he builds on the ideas and concepts of several innovative methodologies, including the lean startup, customer development and bootstrapping.