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The Top 35 Business Audiobooks for Entrepreneurs in 2024
From 2013 to 2019, the worldwide shipments for headphones increased by almost 50%. It’s no surprise that people love to spend their free moments listening to some quality content – regardless if it’s their favorite album, insightful podcasts, or interesting audiobooks.
Many entrepreneurs, particularly, love business audiobooks – it’s easier to listen to an inspiring book and just do anything else than focusing entirely on print-books without being able to multitask.
That’s why we decided to curate a full list of business audiobooks. But not just any books - the best audiobooks for entrepreneurs - easy on the ear, memorable, and thought-provoking. Your commute to work is about to get really interesting and productive at the same time ;)
Description: Most entrepreneurs have new ideas every day – whether that’s organizational changes that will increase the productivity or entering a new market – the ideas are countless! However, many of them never get to see the light of day or worse, they fail.
This audiobook can change all that for you. Written by two highly-capable businessmen, The 4 Disciplines of Executions offers practical tips that you can implement the moment you finish listening to this book. The countless positive feedbacks from founders who’ve tried this tactic are enough to prove the effectiveness of the shared tips in this book.
Description: Would you like to hear the story of how the wealthiest man on Earth has made his fortune by selling books online?
The Everything Store is on Jeff Bezos, his unmeasurable ambition and relentless spirit, and how he used all of his attributes to build the Amazon we know today.
Brad Stone really outdid himself with this business audiobook - you’ll hear all kinds of stories here – from previous employees to more private details shared by family members, unknown to the general public. If you’d like to know more about the history of Amazon and how important it is for the founder to have a business vision, this book is a great choice.
Length: 13 hours
Price: $28.50
3) Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
Name of Audio Book:Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
Description: Lean In is considered a cultural phenomenon. Sheryl Sandberg did an excellent job portraying the life of women in the business world and the everyday challenges of living in a gender-bias world. Aside from that, she addresses the work/family balance issue, as that’s still one of the most important questions in any woman's life.
In those six hours, you’ll hear her thoughts on feminism, equal pay, women in the business world, and many others. It’s a provocative audiobook, but if you look at the reviews and the movement it has created, this book is a must for any entrepreneur.
Description: Creativity, Inc is a book that will satisfy the child in you, but at the same time, teach the leader in you. It’s an audiobook for entrepreneurs eager to improve their management skills by no one else, but the founder of Pixar, Ed Catmull.
Together with the best-selling author Amy Wallace, Ed tells the story on building Pixar from scratch – the struggles, the winnings, and what made it all possible – working together.
Team cohesion, teamwork, communication styles, leadership styles, innovations - Ed shares his knowledge on all this and more, so be sure to listen carefully to the man that changed the world of animation!
Description: A classic from 1937 by Napoleon Hill, this audiobook is a 13-steps philosophy guide to becoming rich, told by some of America’s most successful people. For this book, Hill interviewed over 500 of the most dominant people in the USA such as Rockefeller, Edison, Ford, and three US presidents.
Think And Grow Rich is more than an ordinary business audiobook. As a future founder, it can serve you not only as a roadmap to success but also as an inspiration and motivation to become a better leader.
Description: Have you ever thought about the effect a healthy habit has on your personal and professional life? Well, if you haven’t, this book is right for you.
Charles Duhigg, an award-winning New York Times business reporter, does a remarkable job portraying the habits of numerous successful people - Michael Phelps and Martin Luther King Jr. are some of them.
In his audiobook, he explores the science behind the existence of habits and how they can be changed. The Power Of Habit is a lifestyle and business manual that can help you understand better the power of habits and how they can transform you. From exercising regularly to being more productive, it all depends on building healthy habits.
Description: Gary Vaynerchuk is a four-time New-York Times best-selling author, a brilliant businessman, and a media personality. Anything Gary does is superb so his audiobook isn’t an exception. Crushing It is a guide to building your own business path and living life according to your own terms.
He narrates the book - and knowing his strong voice, there’s your motivation right there! However, aside from that, Gary shares practical tips and lessons on how anyone can use social media platforms to build a personal brand. He shares the
the experiences of dozens of influencers and entrepreneurs who chose an unconventional path and pursued their dreams, so you’ll be able to learn from the best.
Description: In the sequel of The 80/20 Principle, Richard Kochexplains the science behind the success of some companies and the failure of others. He shares 92 natural laws that are easy to implement and can make your business thrive. The sequel is the best audiobook for entrepreneurs who search for clear reasoning backed by evidence; science applied to business.
Description: The most common problems and dilemmas of any founder-to be are tackled in this audiobook. Written by Noam Wasserman, The Founder’s Dilemma is a compilation of a decade worth of research talks on the most common mistakes new founders make and ways to avoid them.
Questions like: is it a good idea to work with friends and family, should you start the business alone or search for co-founders, and many more are answered in this audiobook.
Length: 13 hrs, 28 minutes
Price: $24.95
10) Radical Candor: How To Be A Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
Name of Audio Book: Radical Candor: Be A Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity Fully
Description: It’s not easy to be a leader. On one hand,it’s vital to have a good relationship with your coworkers without being a pushover and on the other, you shouldn’t become a tyrant either. This business audiobook is all on becoming the leader your employees need; one that doesn’t spare praise but doesn’t refrain from a well-meant critique either.
Kim Scott is the author of the book and as he says, it’s all on finding the right balance between touch and amiability and becoming a leader who guides employees to grow.
Description: Out with the old, in with the new - founders are always faced with this dilemma. In his book, Clayton M. Christensen specifically talks on the pitfalls of previously-successful companies that lost their market leadership after making the wrong business decisions.
By using the successes and failures of leading companies as a guide, Christensen brings the concept of disruptive technology closer to any future founder and provokes outside-of-the-box thinking with his business audiobook.
Length: 8 hours and 37 minutes
Price: $20.99
12) Built To Last
Name of Audio Book:Built To Last - Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
Description: This audiobook has become a coherent blueprint for longevity, as it’s about people who want to build visionary companies, from start to finish.
As the name suggests, it’s about building companies that will thrive long into the 21st century. After lengthy research and comparison of truly successful companies and their direct competitors, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras gave the business world the recipe for standing the test of time. The authors did a thorough analysis of 18 companies, from their struggling beginnings to their best days as industry leaders. Their insights can help businesses of all sizes to create a long-lasting and profitable business.
Length: 6 hours and 16 minutes
Price: $45.63
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Description: When we are at our lowest point, we are also the most innovative and hungriest for success. The Power Of Broke is one of the best audiobooks for entrepreneurs starting from zero and having a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
This audiobook talks about just that; the innovation and creativity that comes out of being broke. Following the example of his own company’s success, Draymond John teaches entrepreneurs how to turn something as unfortunate as being broke into the greatest competitive edge.
Description: Nike, a globally recognized brand that has been around since the ’60s, has one of the most compelling founding stories. The mastermind behind the company, Phil Knight, talks about his humble beginnings, setbacks and struggles, and his early triumphs. In his audiobook, he goes into detail on his initial partners and co-workers and all that went into setting up a company of these proportions.
Length: 13 hours, 21 minutes
Price: $27.99
15) The Organized Mind
Name of Audio Book:The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in The Age of Information Overload
Description: Every aspiring entrepreneur should possess impressive organizational skills. However, between managing the business and having a fulfilled personal life, this can become a bit of a challenge - even for the sharpest minds.
In this book, Daniel J. Levitin explains the latest brain science and gives readers methods to organize everything - from their own minds to their own homes. A good read, especially for entrepreneurs thinking of starting a business. The organization is everything!
Length: 16 hours, 19 minutes
Price: $35
16) Bold
Name of Audio Book:Bold: How To Go Big, Make Bank, and Better The World
Description: Just like the name suggests, listening to this audiobook can quickly boost your motivation to do greater things with your business!Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler did an excellent job explaining the power of the latest technological innovations, the making of Fortune 500 companies, and tips on how to turn any business into an influential company.
Bold is one of the best audiobooks for entrepreneurs who, besides wanting to make it big with their company, want to leave a trace and positively impact the world. Bold serves as a guide on how to build an outstanding business, using all the tools and technologies that affect billions of people around the world.
Description: This book by Dale Carnegie, is a classic in the self-help category. Being sociable and knowing how to influence people are two very important things for any hopeful entrepreneur. By listening to this, you’ll learn the 6 ways to make people like you, the 12 ways to win people to your way of thinking, the 9 ways to change people without arousing resentment, and much more.
Description: David J. Schwartzwrote The Magic of Thinking Big with one goal in mind: to improve the lives of people around the world with his timeless advice on how to think big. According to his insights, you don’t need the talent to become successful as much as you need to learn how to think and behave in order to get there.
This audiobook will help you get into the right mindset by changing the way you think and will give you easy-to-follow advice on how to work better, earn more, and live a fuller and happier life.
Length: 9 hours, 31 minutes
Price: $20.99
19) Work Rules
Name of Audio Book:Work Rules! Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead
Description: This book contains a very powerful lesson on how to build an amazing company from within, not from above. Lazslo Bock was the head of People Operations at Google, arguably one of the best places to work in the world. Using the latest research on behavioral economics and his deep knowledge of human psychology, Bock illustrates the importance of valuing and listening to your employees.
Description: Good To Great is a book you’ll keep coming back to when you’ll need guidance, inspiration, or motivation to run your business. Jim Collins did extensive research on 28 companies and their way to the top – or sadly, to the bottom. Written and narrated by Jim himself, in this book he shows why some companies are more prone to taking risks, winning big, or being more successful in general, while others are stuck in their unproductive days for months.
Aside from this, you’ll find out the key ingredient to every successful company – selfless leadership. If you’re a leader who’s always looking for new ways to improve its leadership style, this is the best business audiobook to teach you just that.
Description: “A good idea is worth nothing if you don’t know how to sell it.” Truer words have never been spoken. Luckily, Oren Klaff is here to guide you through the process of becoming one of the best pitchers ever. You’re going to listen to the words of a man who over the last decade, managed to raise over $400 million with pitches only - so better take notes!
Aside from mastering the art of pitching a brand new idea, you’ll learn more on the power of negotiation and not-so-common negotiating techniques you’ll need to succeed in the business world.
Description: There are many business audiobooks that will provoke you to think deeper and see the bigger picture of your business. But Small Giants is slightly different. Just like the name implies, this audiobook is all on the little guys in the business world - the not-so-popular businesses that fight for more satisfying goals than making more money.
Written by Bo Burlingham, Small GIants includes the stories of 14 exceptional companies. Each one of these companies breaks the common definition for success (material possessions) and chooses their own way of leaving a print in society - by creating better work conditions, giving back to the community, providing exceptional customer service, etc.
In ten hours, you’ll listen to many versatile stories that can inspire you to create something different and better for your business as well.
Description: Not many people on Earth are as empowering as Oprah. She has become the symbol of rags-to-riches stories and has been a motivation for everyone, both in the business world and outside of it.
What I Know For Sure is her audiobook where she speaks on the things she knows the best: overcoming adversities, facing challenges, going against all odds, staying humble in life. Her voice makes listening much more soothing and enjoyable, and her sense of humor can make you forget you’re listening to a book at all!
Length: 3 hours, 55 minutes
Price: $17.49
24) Getting to Yes
Name of Audio Book:Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
Description: Everything in life is negotiation – and this fact becomes clearer once you start running a business. If you master the art of negotiating sooner rather than later, you might cut down potential personal and business challenges to a minimum.
Here’s the audiobook that can simplify your life in many ways – Getting A Yes. As the title says, this book is all about learning to close any deal in your favor. Roger Fisher and William Ury share insightful and practical tips on negotiation, ones that you can use both in your professional and personal life.
Description: Fanatical Prospecting is the book you ought to listen to if you’re having trouble getting new clients, or prospecting. Although it may sound exhausting at times, the truth is, the bigger your pool of potential clients, the bigger the chances for you to find the most suitable one.
But to get there, learning how to properly sell your business is the first step and this book has all the knowledge you need. It’s written and narrated by Jeb Blount, who has written 10 other books on mastering the sales and prospect techniques – his insights are golden. Jeb also offers practical templates you can use for your business – don’t miss out on them!
Description: Would you like to know the mindset of one of the most successful people of today? Zero To One is an audiobook by Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Paypal and his approach in the business world is unlike anything else you’ve seen before.
Through his words, Peter motivates every future founder to think outside of the box – meaning outside of the current market demand. Launching the same products all the time won’t move the world forward – but creating something completely new will definitely put you upfront. It’s definitely an out-of-the-ordinary book, and it can spark your imagination extremely well!
Description: This audiobook is for any entrepreneur who feels a bit stuck between today’s achievements and tomorrow’s goals. It’s normal for any business-owner to feel stuck from time to time and this book is a perfect reminder, as From Impossible to Inevitable contains details on how some of the most successful companies have managed to grow from 0 to multimillion-dollar companies in just a few years.
It’s one of the best audiobooks for entrepreneurs who want to scale their business faster and better, but don’t know the right way. Aaron Ross and Jason Lemkin have written this book with one goal in mind – to lend a hand to any entrepreneur who struggles to scale the business properly.
Description: The title says it all – Romi Neustadt just elaborates it more during the 6 hours of listening. Get Over Your Damn Self is an audiobook for entrepreneurs who, well, for lack of better words, feel sorry for themselves. Romi is here to remind you that you don’t have time for that – you have a business to run!
Her approach is pretty straight-forward, no sugar-coating whatsoever. She’ll help you not only to become a better leader and develop a better team atmosphere but also to develop a positive mindset and let go of all the negative thoughts that are probably bringing you down more than usual.
It’s really the audiobook to listen to if you feel like you’re getting a bit rusty and you need some reality check – Romi will do it for you.
Length: 6 hours, 51 minutes
Price: $19.95
29) Meaningful
Name of Audio Book:Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly
Description: Are we living in a world where a laptop and an internet connection are enough to bring something meaningful to the world? This is the question that the author Bernadette Jiwa tries to answer in her book. After having countless meetings and conversations with many successful business people, she discovered that the true meaning of any business lies in how that business helps the society, the community, or the people in general.
Every business defines the idea of success for itself, but with this audiobook, she wants to inspire everyone to think in a different way, and in her view, successful businesses are those that become meaningful to the others by creating something of value for them. She even narrated the book, to make sure you got the right message!
Description: How to learn to become better and admired by your employees’ leader? Learn from one of the best leaders, the CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, as he tells his story in his audiobook Jack.
It has everything – from the very beginnings as an engineer in GE in 1960 to becoming the leader of GE is all in there. But he didn’t forget his struggles and his investment dilemmas, that’s all there too. It’s really a remarkable story to listen to, one that won’t leave you indifferent and will inspire you to follow the lead of one of the greatest managers ever.
Description: Is multitasking really effective – that’s the question you’ll be asking yourself while listening to this audiobook. The One Thing is an audiobook that elaborates only one thing – pun intended - focusing your entire business mission, visions, and goals around a single point. As Gary Keller, the author of the book says – it doesn’t matter what the one thing is, but it’s crucial to remain constant so that the entire business is built around that one thing.
It’s one of those business audiobooks that puts things into perspective for you and can turn out to be helpful – especially if it’s a challenge for you to find your business focus or one common goal!
Description: Arvid Kahl founded, grew, and exited FeedbackPanda, an online teacher productivity SaaS that reached $55k MRR. After selling the business, he wanted to tell his story and help other entrepreneurs with an actionable guide through the four stages of a bootstrapped business: Preparation, Survival, Stability, and Growth.
By focusing on your niche, finding their critical problem of your target users, and solving it with a product that your customers can't resist to pay for, you will learn how to create a recurring revenue that will make you financially independent.
Description: This book is a comprehensive guide to persuasion techniques.
Robert Cialdini blends scholarly research with a narrative style, drawing on evidence from experimental work as well as his own experiences working as a salesperson, fundraiser, advertiser, and other roles within organizations that frequently employ compliance tactics.
Cialdini does a great job of categorizing compliance techniques into six groups based on psychological principles that influence human behavior such as reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity.
Length: 12 hours and 25 minutes
Price: $24.44
34) Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order
Description: This book offers practical guidelines for preparing for future historical economic events. Ray Daliodraws on his extensive experience as a hedge fund manager for over 50 years. In the book, he provides insights into the critical factors determining whether countries and their markets succeed or fail.
The book provides perspectives on how to navigate the changing world order and make informed decisions in a global landscape that is constantly changing.
Description:Morgan Housel provides a thorough guide to understanding the ways humans think about money.
The book focuses on 19 stories where individuals actually make financial decisions in the real world, whether at the dinner table or in a conference room, where factors like ego, pride, marketing, and incentives all come into play.
Length: 5 hours and 48 minutes
Price: $19.50
What Business Audiobooks Have You Listened To?
Were you looking for ways to make your morning jogging routine more bearable?
Or some business motivation to start your day?
We have just the list you were looking for - 35 best audiobooks for entrepreneurs. Listening to the minds of these business geniuses, their struggles, and their innovative ways to overcome them can excite, motivate, and fuel you toward making things greater for your business too.
Each one of these business audiobooks is carefully picked and analyzed for the benefit of every founder-to-be out there, so don’t miss out on listening to these stories.
Take your headphones and start your journey of becoming a better entrepreneur. Don’t hesitate to write to us if we missed the one that changed your business principles!
Questions About Business Audiobooks
Why Listen To Audiobooks?
Listening to audiobooks has lots of benefits over reading books: 1) You can read without the physical process of books; 2) There’s a lot of daily commute; 2) You won’t need a dull moment; 3) They have great narrators (imagine listening Amazon’s story narrated by Jeff Bezos!)
What Are The Best Audiobooks For Small Business Owners?
The 80/20 Principle, by Richard Koch, is a good one. It’ll teach you how to apply Pareto’s Principle in business and achieve more with fewer resources. Small Giants, by Bo Burlingham, is another good one. It shares the stories of 14 exceptional companies.
What Are The Best Startup Audiobooks?
Zero to Sold, by Arvid Kahl, is a really good one. It’s an actionable guide on how to transition the four stages of a bootstrapped business, which are Preparation, Survival, Stability, and Growth.
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