Top SA tech personalities on the books every entrepreneur should read in 2018

If there’s one thing that all successful entrepreneurs have in common it’s that they are all avid readers. But with so many books out there, which ones should you pick up and read in 2018 — to grow your business?

Ventureburn asked four top personalities in the South African tech startup ecosystem what their top reads are and why they reckon every entrepreneur should read them — from recently released titles.

Bob Skinstad: Former Springbok rugby player and Knife Capital partner

Principles, Ray Dalio: It’s an outstanding account of a very wealthy man’s life, including the hard work to get there, the redesign of his entire appreciation of what it means to get and stay wealthy — how crafting a set of principles helped him define himself and his incredibly successful business.

Barking up the wrong tree, Eric Barker: A really nicely written book that takes you on a journey through the science of success, who makes it, who doesn’t and a lot of whys. I found it counter intuitive, and extremely enlightening — rugby players and pirates have a lot in common!

The 80/20 Principle, Richard Koch: The simplest management principle I know still rings so true, even after more than 25 years of success as one of the most sold management books of all time, Richard Koch lives and breathes his defining explanation of the Pareto principle through his owns life, and insists on its application all throughout our own search and journey towards success.

Sandras Phiri, Startup Grind Cape Town chapter head

The Startup owner’s manual, Steve Blank: This is the best book for anyone starting a new business or trying to create a new product. It’s the book that must be taught in all entrepreneurship schools.

Bold, Peter Diamandis: This book gives the mindset and technologies one needs to go big and create bold disruptive organisations using exponential technologies. It’s a must read for entrepreneurs who want leave a mark in the world.

Keet van Zyl: Knife Capital co-founder ‘s four top reads for 2018

Finish big: How great entrepreneurs exit their companies on top, Bo Burlingham: Every journey ends. Entrepreneurs who plan for this eventuality by building an asset of value, well… they finish big and leave a legacy behind!

Venture deals: Be smarter than your lawyer and venture capitalist, Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson: Not all investors have an entrepreneur’s best interests at heart. Understand the key legal terms affecting startups.

Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup, Bill Amulet: Turns out: Entrepreneurship can be taught. This is MIT Sloan “paint-by-numbers” for creating a successful startup through developing an innovative product.

Simodisa managing director Matsi Modise

Disrupting Africa: The rise and rise of African innovations, Nnamdi Oranye: In case you are wondering this book looks into African innovations that have made their mark on the continent and abroad. It also shows how modern tech and digital payments services bring it all together to create a new kind of African infrastructure

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a fantastic future, Ashlee Vance: This book gets into the mind of one of the most dynamic entrepreneurs and futurists of our time. Elon talks about his early years and how he cracked it in Silicon Valley and got started in the business world with companies like PayPal.

Lean StartUp, Eric Ries: This is a must read for anyone that wants to start a business and learn more about the lean methodology of doing things.

Featured image: DariuszSankowski via Pixabay