Business books that actually work

Hi everybody,

More than 200,000 business books come out every year. 

And most of them should have been a pamphlet. Say, 35-50 pages. Straight to the point.

Unfortunately, these days publishers and bookstores don’t make enough money on one-chapter books, so they pump up the page count to command a higher price. 

But once in a while, a book earns its pagecount. There are some gems out there packed with systems, tools, and frameworks that have made a concrete difference in how I operate day to day. 

Here are a few best-of-the-best titles.

This book is like paint-by-numbers for great marketing. 

It walks you through how to build incredibly effective marketing from the “hero’s journey” story structure that resonates with everyone — think Star Wars, Harry Potter, the Odyssey, etc.

A few years ago, I wrote a whole post on how I implemented this system for my media company. You can get a sense for the system here.

I’ve run hundreds of interviews for countless people across my companies. At first, I would trust my gut. Then I learned Topgrading, and never looked back.

These books both outline a data-backed, deep-dive interview style that gets to the heart of who somebody is, and how their personality and skills map to the requirements of the job. 

But I have to be honest: while the method is terrific, it’s a tough read. It’s kind of stuck in its ways. It’s not the best writing. 

(In other words, Steve’s AI prompt library for Topgrading is probably a better starting point than the book itself.)

I’ll be honest: this book has fluff, but it’s entertaining fluff. Chris Voss was an FBI hostage negotiator, so he’s got pretty wild work stories to illustrate the negotiating tactics he’s teaching. 

But the techniques work. And like it or not, you negotiate every day in your business, your friendships, your relationship, everywhere. 

It’s worth a read.

Michael Porter is the GOAT of business strategy. But his stuff is so dense I usually recommend starting with a translation like Magretta’s. 

Another path into understanding Porter: Steve’s interactive versions of his key books Competitive Strategy and Competitive Advantage. 

He’s broken out the books into 18 different interactive tools / audits / frameworks so you can actually wrap your head around it.

Learn how to value a company using multiple approaches. If you’re going to buy, sell or refinance a business, you need to know what it’s worth.

The leadership profiles in this book are terrific. Great CEOs need to have both an operator’s and an allocator’s mindset. You need a relentless focus on long-term value creation, without being distracted by optics or growth for growth’s sake. 

That’s all for today!

Thanks for reading,

Michael

P.S. If you missed the link above, check out my friend Steve’s prompt library for hundreds of all-time-greatest business books here. He’s making it completely free for my audience. Log in and go to the AIMBA section in the bottom left. (By the way: he’s not paying me for this, I just think it’s a cool tool.)