Five business books that I recommend to my friends – not only for businesspeople.

If you graduated from university with the firm conviction that you no longer need to read books and learn things, I’ve got news for you. However, the truth is that you must keep reading and learning throughout your entire life, and especially if you want to achieve something more significant than working for a salary, no matter how high it is.

Are you seriously considering starting your own business? Perfect, here’s a list of books for your summer reading list (crossed out) for all time that will bring you closer to your goal:

• Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Black Swan – this is a classic book that explains why knowledge of patterns that worked in the past doesn’t guarantee that you will predict the future.
• Jim Camp, Start with No: a famous American negotiation coach breaks down the stereotype of ‘the customer is always right.’
• Richard Branson, Losing my virginity: almost everyone recommends this book about the story of creating the Virgin Group empire, and for good reason because if you’re going to learn, why not learn from the best?
• Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz, Never Eat Alone, and Other Secrets to Success: they say that Ferrazzi, one of the most connected people in the world according to Forbes, has over 5000 contacts in his phone. Who else can teach you to make good connections?
• Adam Grant, Give and Take: it’s no longer trendy to step on people to achieve success. Check out Grant’s book to find out why people who bring value to others are the ones who make it big.

There are millions of books out there, and I know what you might say, sure, why limit yourself to five? Well, I totally agree, once you’ve read these, keep going and find your own. After all, you can never read too many books!

Yes, you can build a business without books, but why, when you have the opportunity to use other people’s experience, and therefore shorten your path to success?

Good luck!