The entrepreneurial journey is shaped by all sorts of backgrounds—some come from affluence, while others carve paths from less privileged beginnings. Some studied at the best schools and universities, and others didn’t.*

What's one commonality that levels the playing for all that apply it? The answer is reading.

Today we have a treat for you: the top ranked reads from the great business people of our time, their individual recommendations, and to make it easy, a checklist database to track and manage on your own. Click in any of the links to subscribe to Open Source CEO and download the database.* Enjoy!

The Top 10

1. Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari

2. Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

3. Principles, Ray Dalio

4. Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman

5. Zero to One, Peter Thiel

6. The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss

7. Influence, Robert B. Cialdini, PhD

8. The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz

9. Shoe Dog, Phil Knight

10. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand

Steve Jobs

• The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton M. Christensen

• Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda

• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas S. Kuhn

Melanie Perkins

• The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, Robin Sharma

• Designing the Obvious, Robert Hoekman

Bill Gates

• Shoe Dog, Phil Knight

• The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande

• Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari

Sam Altman

• The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch

• Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman

• Meditations, Marcus Aurelius

Oprah Winfrey

• Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

• The Road, Cormac McCarthy

• Becoming, Michelle Obama

Brian Chesky

• High Output Management, Andrew S. Grove

• The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger

• Blitzscaling, Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh

Sheryl Sandberg

• Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling

• The Lean Startup, Eric Ries

• Play Nice But Win, Michael Dell

Download

The majority of this essential reading list is sourced from GoodBooks, but this time it’s been upgraded into a trackable database, so that you can check out the best reads from the worlds top minds, and start curating your own favorites. You can subscribe to Open Source CEO and download it here.

Summary

Charlie Munger once said, "I've never met a wise person who didn't read constantly." And it’s true, all top entrepreneurs share one trait: a relentless pursuit of knowledge. Hopefully, this tool empowers you with the insights necessary to not just compete, but to lead and excel.

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*Sponsored by Athyna. We have equity in the company.

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