We are often taught from a young age how valuable reading is. While we start with stories and fairy tales, many lose sight of the importance of books as they grow older.
Sometimes, it’s hard to find the motivation to pick up a book, but when we do, it’s easy to get hooked. For any entrepreneur, one key to success is reading books. They provide many insights and benefits for the mind of a successful entrepreneur. However, carrying physical books isn’t always convenient, which is why audiobooks have become so popular.
According to GrandView Research, the global audiobooks market size was estimated at USD 6.83 billion in 2023 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 26.2% from 2024 to 2030.
If you are a business leader that has written or is planning to write a book, make sure to realize the importance on creating your audiobook. Although it can be a hard task, you can work with an audiobook production company that can handle the entire process for you.
Below we will highlight 11 audiobooks that you must listen to as an entrepreneur.
1) Tribes by Seth Godin
Tribes have existed for millions of years. They are groups of people connected through a leader. With the rise of the internet, barriers to these groups being formed have been eliminated. Now, tribes span all over the world. But, someone still needs to lead these tribes. Seth Godin’s book talks about tribes and who will lead them. Leaders can be made from so many people. Find your group and lead them.
2) Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount
This book will teach you all about prospecting. You’ll learn about methodologies that will work on real people in the real world. Reading this book will help you to keep the pipeline full with qualified opportunities. The key to any successful entrepreneur is knowing how to tell a story to attract new leads.
3) How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
This book will give you the foundation to be a successful entrepreneur. It covers various topics and has helped many business leaders prosper. This book will teach you how to make people like you, sell your way of thinking, change people without resentment, and more. How to Win Friends & Influence People is all about making your way to the top by knowing how to influence people.
4) Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
As you make your way to the top, it’s easy to become overconfident. Many times, arrogance is a threat to success. It’s often the leaders who are humble that will prosper. This book will teach you all about how ego’s have taken down leaders in the past and how to achieve success while avoiding overconfidence.
5) Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Think and Grow Rich is an inspirational book for those who have big goals in their lives by learning from important figures in history. Napoleon Hill interviewed 504 people to write this book which goes through the 13 Steps to Riches. This book has served as a motivator and path to success for many throughout history.
6) Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
This book dives into how to make a team successful told through the experiences of SEAL officers who have led in combat and business. Having to lead teams in very intense and violent environments, these officers have learned exactly how to make a successful team. They have started their own business to train many businesses and business leaders around the world.
7) Zero to One by Peter Thiel
Zero to One is all about innovation. It’s about adding value to the world in new and surprising ways. Nowadays, with the technological advancements we have, there are endless possibilities for what we can do. Those that will be most successful and bring the most value to our world, are those that can think outside the box. The goal is to escape competition, and do something that no one else has done before.
8) Before Happiness by Shawn Achor
Happiness is the precursor to success, but what comes before happiness? Before we can be happy, we need to see that positive changes are possible. If we can change our perspective to a positive light, we will be more motivated to achieve our goals. This book highlights 5 ways to change our lens to positive.
9) Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Unbroken is a World War II story about Louis Zamperini who’s bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean. This book takes us on a journey with Louis into extreme circumstances which test the resilience of the human mind, body and spirit. This teaches entrepreneurs the importance of perseverance through challenges in order to achieve success.
10) The One Thing by Gary Keller
Being an entrepreneur can be overwhelming especially when starting. There seems to be a million things to do and no time to do it. This book will teach you how to handle the clutter, manage stress, achieve results in less time, and more.
11) Blue Ocean Strategy by Renee Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the competition around you. You might think the best way to succeed is to beat your rivals, but the truth is, you should forget them. The idea is to create “blue oceans” of untapped new market spaces. This book touches on 150 studied strategies to render rivals obsolete and unleash new demand.
Conclusion
Reading books won’t guarantee success as an entrepreneur but it’s a step in the right direction. There are many factors that come into play but every entrepreneur should actively read as it sharpens the mind and provides valuable advice.
Written by Kaitlin Duong
-
Jony Studios is a content marketing agency specializing in B2B podcasting and audiobook services. They have worked with many clients, from startups to larger organizations such as Penguin Random House, Amazon, University of Waterloo, Freakonomics Radio, and many others.
