"Pour Your Heart Into It" by Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, is a memoir that details the story of how Starbucks grew from a small coffee shop in Seattle into a global brand.
The book combines Schultz's personal journey with the principles and values that guided him in building Starbucks, emphasizing the importance of passion, perseverance, and authenticity in business.
"Mass advertising can help build brands, but authenticity is what makes them last. If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand." —Howard Schultz
Why should you read it?
You should read "Pour Your Heart Into It" because it's more than just a business book; it's an inspiring story of how a strong vision and unwavering commitment can transform a small idea into a global phenomenon.
Schultz's journey is filled with valuable lessons on leadership, innovation, and staying true to your core values, no matter how big you get.
It's a great read for anyone who believes in the power of passion and purpose in business.
Trump: The Art of the Deal is a memoir from Donald Trump that gives us an inside look at his earlier real estate career, building his empire that includes skyscrapers and casinos.
Whether you love or hate Trump, you'll learn a lot about business, publicity and negotiation.
"Good publicity is preferable to bad, but from a bottom line perspective, bad publicity is sometimes better than no publicity at all. Controversy, in short, sells." —Donald Trump
Sam Walton: Made in America shows how Walmart grew from one small store into the largest retail business in the world.
Sam Walton is often seen as one of the greatest entrepreneurs ever.
His journey was filled with risk, obstacles, adversity, failure... but also fun, discovery, passion and persistence.
"You've got to give folks responsibility, you've got to trust them, and then you've got to check on them." —Sam Walton
The Everything Store is about how Jeff Bezos grew Amazon—from a simple online bookstore into the 5th largest company in the world.
He did it with a mix of great timing, customer obsession, and relentless competition.
"They agreed on five core values [...]: customer obsession, frugality, bias for action, ownership, and high bar for talent. Later Amazon would add a sixth value, innovation." —Brad Stone
Grinding It Out is about how McDonald's grew to be one of the biggest companies in the world.
Ray Kroc did it through seizing the right opportunity, perfecting the fundamentals of the business, always emphasizing growth, and persisting until he found the successful strategy.
"As long as you're green you're growing, as soon as you're ripe you start to rot." —Ray Kroc
Zero to One is about the future of technology and a guide for startup business founders.
Peter Thiel is a billionaire entrepreneur and investor that shares many unconventional ideas.
He says entrepreneurs should avoid competition.
Instead build a (legal) monopoly selling something completely new and incomparable.
"The perfect target market for a startup is a small group of particular people concentrated together and served by few or no competitors." —Peter Thiel
Why should you read it?
If you're trying to come up with an innovative new business idea, or if you're struggling to stay afloat in an overcrowded market, Peter Thiel's "Zero to One" may be your life jacket.
Peter Thiel, the entrepreneur and investor behind major names like PayPal, Facebook and Palantir — challenges us to think about creating something so unique it goes from zero (nonexistent) to one (the first of its kind).
This isn't about following trends; it's about setting them.
This book urges you to look where others don't and think differently. 🏆
Made in Japan is the autobiography of Akio Morita, who co-founded Sony and grew it to become one of the largest electronics companies in the world.
Akio shares his advice for management, leadership and innovation.
He also explains many differences in the working culture between Japan and the West.
"No matter how good or successful you are or how clever or crafty, your business and its future are in the hands of the people you hire. To put it a bit more dramatically, the fate of your business is actually in the hands of the youngest recruit on the staff." —Akio Morita
Shoe Dog is an inspiring story of entrepreneurship from Nike's founder Phil Knight.
He started as a regular kid who loved running and built the largest sportswear brand ever.
But there were many challenging times that Nike barely survived.
"Let everyone else call your idea crazy... just keep going. Don't stop. Don't even think of stopping until you get there, and don't give much thought to where 'there' is. Whatever comes, just don't stop." —Phil Knight
Elon Musk is a biography of the man who led Tesla, SpaceX and PayPal.
Musk inspires many people with his futuristic plans for new technologies, and his seemingly unstoppable ability to overcome all obstacles.
But his employees are often pushed to their limit, trying to reach impossible deadlines.
"What Musk has developed that so many of the entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley lack is a meaningful worldview. [...] Musk wants to... well... save the human race from self-imposed or accidental annihilation." —Ashlee Vance