100 Books Like The $100 Startup

This book made me laugh out loud more than once. I relate to Brooks’ story completely—like him, I built a career not by being the absolute best at anything but through sheer effort, stubborn grit, and the simple fact that I was the last man standing. But then age enters the equation. Suddenly, I couldn’t outwork or outrun people anymore—at least not as many. My old strategy no longer worked.

Brooks tells this same story with humor and insight, then takes you on a journey to discover how to compete differently in the second half—or last third—of your career (depending on when you pick up this book!). He makes a compelling case that life is, in fact, kind of fair: when you lose one thing, you gain something else. And in this case, you gain wisdom.

What struck me most is how undervalued wisdom is in the workplace. Anyone who… show more.

Full disclosure: I work with Luke Burgis at the university. But it was him—and this book—that introduced me to René Girard, and my world has never been the same. It unpacks Girard’s concept of mimetic desire in a way that is both deeply insightful and immediately practical. It explains so much about human behavior—my own included—both inside and outside of business.

What struck me most is the weight of responsibility this places on business leaders. Desire is not neutral; it can be cultivated in ways that either elevate human dignity or exploit it. Burgis makes a compelling case that when leaders engage with the desires of their employees and customers responsibly, the result isn’t just business success—it’s human excellence and lasting happiness.

Beyond the ideas, it is simply a beautifully written book. I’ve had the privilege of seeing Luke’s storytelling ability in the classroom and as a friend, but he… show more.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a better book on management than this one. Charles Koch is, of course, no ordinary business leader—his results speak for themselves. Building one of the largest private companies in the world requires not just strategic brilliance but a deep understanding of human nature, incentives, and organizational design.

What sets Koch’s approach apart is his profound respect for human excellence. His Market-Based Management (MBM) system is one of the most person-centered frameworks I’ve encountered. Unlike the rigid structures of traditional corporate hierarchies, Koch embraces dynamic, self-organizing teams. There are no job descriptions or top-down mandates—teams select their own members and redefine roles based on each individual’s strengths, experiences, and comparative advantages. It’s simple, obvious in hindsight, yet uncommon and revolutionary in practice.

His philosophy aligns closely with my own conviction that true value creation is rooted in empowering individuals to operate at their highest… show more.

Few leadership books genuinely challenge you to rethink not just how you lead but why. This is one of them. It’s not a book of trendy management techniques or quick-fix strategies—it’s a guide to becoming a leader who truly serves others with intentionality, wisdom, and, yes, love.

I’ve known Randy for over a decade and have personally benefited from his insights on leadership. His writing is as practical as it is profound, offering ideas that aren’t just meant to be read but lived. Leadership, as he sees it, is not a career-award but a continuous journey of growth, reflection, and service. His book invites leaders to pause—to be deliberate about their impact and to lead with a mindset that values human excellence over mere efficiency.

What resonates deeply with me is his emphasis on why we lead. The best leaders don’t just pursue financial or operational success; they seek the… show more.

I loved this book because it appealed to my all-important keep marketing simple criteria. I used the book to create a straightforward marketing plan for my own business at the time, and I shared it with my clients. I found it to be brilliantly clear, straight to the point, and full of insight and wisdom. It really made me think as I was putting my plan together. 

I think the main idea that a simple marketing plan, laid out on a single page, can be more effective than a complicated multi-page strategy document is a good one. This way of thinking certainly appealed to many of the small business owners I was working with at the time. 

Creativity in Business was the book that started it all for me in terms of creativity in business. I had just graduated from The Wharton School with my MBA, and I had no idea that business creativity was even a thing. Or even a possibility. I thought they were entirely different worlds, and never the twain shall meet. In this book, authors Michael Ray and Rochelle Myers made me want to go take their course at Stanford. As soon as they started talking about business as art and silencing the “voice of judgment,” I was hooked.

My favorite business school professor gave me this book on a whim that I might be interested in the work of What If? I took it home and devoured it in a matter of hours. It’s captivating in its accessibility to normal people and probably more relevant today than it was twenty years when it was published as creative catalysts and design thinkers refocus on behaviors over process and habits over tools. By adopting the six creative behaviors outlined in the book: freshness, greenhousing, realness, momentum, signalling, and courage, innovators can increase their creative capacity and even more importantly, their creative confidence. 

Key Person of Influence (KPI) is a system which helps entrepreneurs to develop their businesses through 5 key principles, or methods - Pitch, Publish, Product, Profile and Partner.

Priestley talks about the importance of a number of business activities, including developing your entrepreneurial pitch and refining the way that you position your business in order to make an impact. Visibility and credibility are also critical for building trust with prospective customers, and through partnering and building relationships with other business owners, an organisation can accelerate its results.

At Purposeful Group, we have our own system, the App Map 2.0 model designed to help aspiring tech startup founders to create digital products from scratch via our Tech Startup Academy programme.

I found this book wonderfully confronting! We’ve all heard the cliché that when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade (grrr!), but this book helped me figure out HOW. It provoked me to reframe problems simply as contexts and celebrate constraints as clarity, helping me move forward.

Although it is very much a business book—full of plenty of corporate examples (I particularly loved the ones about growing crops and selling beer!)—I’ve found techniques like the ‘propelling questions’ useful more broadly, too. 

I love this book because it nails the essentials of entrepreneurship. The author is a serial entrepreneur, venture investor and philanthropist who has set up and scaled up enterprises in Silicon Valley and India. He presents a set of principles, values and strategies to help entrepreneurs gain a lasting advantage – as opposed to a temporary one. He writes in simple English without resorting to jargon. The fact that he delivers his wisdom in nuggets makes it engaging and useful for the reader. At a time when most of the world merely skims the surface of anything, Desh Deshpande advocates depth — a philosophy I follow, too.