From The Greats
Steve Blank
Entrepreneur and customer-development author
37 matching recs across 37 booksBooks recommended by founders
Books founders have recommended in interviews, reading lists, public notes, and other documented sources. The page filters existing records rather than adding new claims.
Founder profilesDirect rec counts onlySources linked
132Matching recs
6Featured people
8Featured books
People in this collection
People are selected by existing catalog categories and shown only when they have matching source-backed recommendation rows.
Patrick Collison
Co-founder and CEO, Stripe
24 matching recs across 24 books
Sam Altman
CEO, OpenAI; former head, Y Combinator
17 matching recs across 17 books
Daniel Ek
Founder and executive chairman, Spotify
10 matching recs across 10 books
Drew Houston
Co-founder & CEO, Dropbox
10 matching recs across 10 books
Reid Hoffman
Co-founder, LinkedIn
8 matching recs across 8 booksBooks to inspect first
Book cards link to canonical profiles. Counts and labels still come from the underlying recommendation records.
Poor Charlie's Almanack
Recommended by Patrick Collison, Daniel Ek, Drew Houston.
High Output Management
Recommended by Ben Horowitz, Drew Houston.
The Lean Startup
Recommended by Steve Blank, Ben Horowitz.
Crossing the Chasm
Recommended by Steve Blank, Drew Houston.
Only the Paranoid Survive
Recommended by Drew Houston, Jensen Huang.
Sapiens
Recommended by Daniel Ek, Mark Zuckerberg.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Recommended by Steve Blank, Drew Houston.
The Innovator's Dilemma
Recommended by Steve Blank, Drew Houston.
Source-backed recommendation rows
These are direct recommendation-strength rows. Mentions and citation-only signals stay out of the collection count.
The Lean Startup
The Lean Startup is a must have for your shelf.
Exact quote verified
Strong recommendation
official
Books for Startups
Open source
We captured the recommendation language from the source.
Steve Blank · accessed 2026-06-21 · accessed 2026-06-21
Steve Blank's official Books for Startups page names these titles in startup reading sections and includes direct guidance such as must-have, must-read, essential reading, useful read, or listed book guidance.
Steve Blank
AmazonBookshop.orgAudibleAffiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission when you buy through some links. Recommendations are included because of the source, not because of the retailer. Details
High Output Management
the best management book I've ever read
Exact quote verified
Strong recommendation
article
How a business book from the '80s became a cult classic in Silicon Valley
Open source
We captured the recommendation language from the source.
The Washington Post · 2015-11-18 · accessed 2026-06-21
The Washington Post reports Horowitz calling High Output Management the best management book he had ever read and identifies him as the book's chief promoter.
Ben Horowitz
AmazonBookshop.orgAudibleAffiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission when you buy through some links. Recommendations are included because of the source, not because of the retailer. Details
Biodesign
Biodesign: The Process of Innovating Medical Technologies is a must have.
Exact quote verified
Strong recommendation
official
Books for Startups
Open source
We captured the recommendation language from the source.
Steve Blank · accessed 2026-06-21 · accessed 2026-06-21
Steve Blank's official Books for Startups page names these titles in startup reading sections and includes direct guidance such as must-have, must-read, essential reading, useful read, or listed book guidance.
Steve Blank
Business Model Generation
Make sure this one is on your shelf.
Exact quote verified
Strong recommendation
official
Books for Startups
Open source
We captured the recommendation language from the source.
Steve Blank · accessed 2026-06-21 · accessed 2026-06-21
Steve Blank's official Books for Startups page names these titles in startup reading sections and includes direct guidance such as must-have, must-read, essential reading, useful read, or listed book guidance.
Steve Blank
Regulatory Hacking
These two books, one by a practitioner, the other by an investor, are must-reads.
Exact quote verified
Strong recommendation
official
Books for Startups
Open source
We captured the recommendation language from the source.
Steve Blank · accessed 2026-06-21 · accessed 2026-06-21
Steve Blank's official Books for Startups page names these titles in startup reading sections and includes direct guidance such as must-have, must-read, essential reading, useful read, or listed book guidance.
Steve Blank
Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital
A must read to understand the long 50-year innovation cycle we're in.
Exact quote verified
Strong recommendation
official
Books for Startups
Open source
We captured the recommendation language from the source.
Steve Blank · accessed 2026-06-21 · accessed 2026-06-21
Steve Blank's official Books for Startups page names these titles in startup reading sections and includes direct guidance such as must-have, must-read, essential reading, useful read, or listed book guidance.
Steve Blank
Testing Business Ideas
Testing Business Ideas is the best summary of how to run Customer Discovery and Validation experiments in print.
Exact quote verified
Strong recommendation
official
Books for Startups
Open source
We captured the recommendation language from the source.
Steve Blank · accessed 2026-06-21 · accessed 2026-06-21
Steve Blank's official Books for Startups page names these titles in startup reading sections and includes direct guidance such as must-have, must-read, essential reading, useful read, or listed book guidance.
Steve Blank
The Fixer
These two books, one by a practitioner, the other by an investor, are must-reads.
Exact quote verified
Strong recommendation
official
Books for Startups
Open source
We captured the recommendation language from the source.
Steve Blank · accessed 2026-06-21 · accessed 2026-06-21
Steve Blank's official Books for Startups page names these titles in startup reading sections and includes direct guidance such as must-have, must-read, essential reading, useful read, or listed book guidance.
Steve Blank