The business books founders recommend most
Seven business books that two of three founders rate on the reading lists each keeps on his own website, the books both give top marks first.
How this list was made
The rule: the most top marks, then the title A to Z
The panel is three founders who rate the books they read on their own websites: Derek Sivers, who founded CD Baby; Nat Eliason, who founded Growth Machine; and Patrick Collison, who co-founded Stripe and is its chief executive.
A founder gives a book his top marks when he rates it 8 or more out of 10 (Sivers), 4 or 5 stars out of 5 (Eliason), or marks it green or light blue, the marks his page uses for the books he liked most (Collison). Collison's page is a catalog of the books he owns, about half of them read, and says it has not been updated in around 10 years, so a book he owns without a mark carries no rating from him.
A book counts as a business book when Eliason files it under business, entrepreneurship, finance, leadership, management, marketing, sales or strategy.
A book is on this list when two of the three founders rate it: either both give it top marks, or one gives it top marks and the other rates it at least 6 out of 10 (Sivers) or at least 3 stars out of 5 (Eliason).
The order is the number of founders who give the book top marks, most first. Books with the same number are listed by title, A to Z, leaving out "The", with a title that starts with a number first.
https://www.nateliason.com/notes
The 4-Hour Workweek
Ferriss's case for working less and running a business by rules you set. Top marks from Sivers and Eliason.
Source: each founder's own reading list, read October 24, 2026
The Dip
Godin's short book on when to push through a hard stretch and when to quit. Top marks from Sivers and Eliason.
Source: each founder's own reading list, read October 24, 2026
The Psychology of Money
Housel's essays on how people behave with money. Top marks from Sivers and Eliason.
Source: each founder's own reading list, read October 24, 2026
Turning Pro
Pressfield's book on the change from amateur to professional in creative work. Top marks from Sivers and Eliason.
Source: each founder's own reading list, read October 24, 2026
The 48 Laws of Power
Greene's rules of power, each drawn from history. Top marks from Sivers, 3 stars from Eliason.
Source: each founder's own reading list, read October 24, 2026
The Magic of Thinking Big
Schwartz's book on thinking and planning on a larger scale. Top marks from Eliason, 7 out of 10 from Sivers.
Source: each founder's own reading list, read October 24, 2026
So Good They Can't Ignore You
Newport's case that rare and valuable skills, more than following a passion, build work you love. Top marks from Sivers, 3 stars from Eliason.
Source: each founder's own reading list, read October 24, 2026
Questions about this list
- Why these three founders?
- Each keeps a public list of the books he has read with his own rating, so the rule can be checked against his own words. The editors looked again on October 24, 2026 for other founders who rate books on their own sites and found none to add: other founders' reading pages list books without a rating, have been taken down, or would not load for a reader who is not signed in.
- Why is High Output Management not on the list?
- Eliason gives it 4 stars, but it is not on Sivers' list and Collison does not own it, so only one founder rates it. The same is true of The Hard Thing About Hard Things and Good to Great.
- Why is Zero to One not on the list?
- Eliason gives it 4 stars, but Sivers rates it 5 out of 10, under the 6 the rule asks of a second founder.
- Why are The Goal and Let My People Go Surfing not on the list?
- Eliason gives each 4 stars, and both are on Collison's shelf without a mark. His page is a catalog of the books he owns, so a book without his mark carries no rating from him. The same is true of How to Lie with Statistics and The Monk and the Riddle.
- How often is this list checked?
- Every quarter. The date at the top says when it was last checked, and a book moves the day a founder's page changes its rating.
- Can an author or a publisher pay to be added?
- No. Entries come from the rule and the founders' own pages, never from a request or a payment.
See a mistake? Write to the editors at editors@mysweetmags.com and the list is corrected with the date of the change.
