words Al Woods

If you’re new to business or the tech industry — or both — you need to read up on how to make a success of your new company. Knowledge is power in business, and in the rapidly evolving sector of technology, staying ahead is critical.

Knowing what works and what doesn’t will help you guide your interesting startup ideas to success. From how to create the optimum working environment for creative minds, to the world’s next consumer-changing trends, there’s a lot you don’t know yet about entrepreneurship and the tech industry. So, let this list of the top nine books for tech startup entrepreneurs by Where The Trade Buys — provider of quality roll up banners, help you.

The Industries of the Future

This New York Times bestseller is a page turner for anyone moving into a new business or industry. Alec Ross, to author, delivers an extensive insight into your industry’s most important advances, from cybersecurity and robotics to genomics and big data, using input from global leaders. Another great guide to help you start your next venture is Explore Startups website, providing practical advice and personal stories of successful entrepreneurs. Here, you will find a wealth of topics from marketing, finance, and operations to customer service, online presence, and legal considerations.

Perhaps you’re wondering how Ross has amassed so much knowledge about business. Well, Ross was once the senior advisor for innovation to the former Secretary of State in the US, Hilary Clinton. His extensive travel has given him access to the some of the most powerful people in business, and his book is packed with astute observations regarding opportunities for growth and the unknown tech forces that are changing — or will change — the world.

Networking Like a Pro

Many people who are new to a sector or running a company have apprehensions and fret about making a mistake that could harm their business in the early stages. Networking Like a Pro by Ivan R. Misner is specifically for new-to-the-industry people and is created to enhance your knowledge of overcoming various hurdles that could hold you back as your company develops.

Making contacts is essential, both from a consumer and business associate perspective. From making useful contacts to develop your business, to implementing an effective referral marketing campaign; Networking Like a Pro offers tools, templates and a results-measuring system to help you action your networking strategy and make valuable business connections.

The Lean Tech StartUp

The Lean Start-Up by Eric Ries is an extremely helpful book for people who want to learn how other companies have succeeded in their given industries. This book looks at how new companies can launch, adapt and grow within an industry that has fierce competition. Offering real examples of setting up a new business, you get a great insight into how to make a success of your business and avoid the typical snags and errors.

How Google Works

How has Google managed to stay one step ahead, overcome errors and generally maintain a sense of innovation over so many years? How Google Works is an exciting read that tells you everything you’d want to know about the firm. Written by Google executives, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, you can find out about the corporate strategy, workplace culture, decision-making, and management philosophy of the brand.

The best thing about this book is that it doesn’t hold back from detailing moments that didn’t quite work out (remember Wave?). This glimpse into the birth and evolution of Google is a must for anyone who wishes to emulate even a part of its success.

Your One Word

Sometimes, you just want to read about how an entrepreneur grew their business from nothing to a major success. If this sounds like you, give Your One Word a try. Author, Evan Carmichael, launched and sold his biotech company at just 19 years old, and here, he details how to analyse your businesses, verify your aims and unlock your potential — an excellent confidence and motivation boost!

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future

In the world of tech, tomorrow could look completely different from today, with new trends and gadgets launching and becoming hits in minutes. The Inevitable, written by the former executive editor of Wired magazine, looks at how multiple tech trends will transform how we live over the next three decades. The best part of The Inevitable is how it paints a picture of ways in which technological forces will overlap, mix and come to co-depend on each other — crucial to know if any of these trends relate to your business.

So, what type of things do you look at in this book? From home-based virtual reality to manufacturing-focused AI, author, Kevin Kelly, analyses the long-term effects of various technology and discusses how they could affect the generations to come.

The Upstarts

Often, the best way to learn is by looking at real-life examples — which is exactly how Brad Stone’s The Upstarts is written. The best thing about this book is the incredibly detailed account of two global companies: Uber and Airbnb. Reading this book, you find out how these giants began and developed to become two of the most respected and innovative brands in the world.

From how people travel to what they expect from accommodation, humans are susceptible to adapting if a better service or product comes along. What can your business do to change the world?

Conscious Capitalism

Capitalism isn’t just for the money-maker — it can benefit everyone. That’s the argument put forward by author, Raj Sisodia, and CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, in this book.

Being aware of how you should treat your staff, handle your business associates and deal with your customers could be the key to your success growing and improving. Referencing several other leading companies — such as UPS, Google and Amazon — Conscious Capitalism gives an insightful and expert analysis of how you can infuse your business environment with positivity for the optimum workplace culture (an essential component of Google’s success and almost expected by many people working within the innovative tech industry today).

Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World

Authors, Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler, have done a phenomenally impressive job with this must-read book. If you want to get off on the right foot in business, this book — which is split into three captivating parts — is perfect. The first section gives you an incredible insight into how start-up companies are today going from ‘initial concept’ to ‘multi-million-pounds status’ quicker than ever, and how tech — like 3D printing and androids — might be influencing this trend.

How did the likes of Richard Branson come to be the magnate he is today? Is there an industry secret you don’t know about? Answering these questions is part of Bold, where you read extraordinary comments and trade secrets from successful business people before you reach the section that might interest you the most. Bold’s finale discusses the various, actionable ways you can build your company, with tips on creating lucrative campaigns designed to rocket your start-up to the top. A must-read for the big dreamer.

Choose your favourite titles or work your way through the full list to make sure your tech company is a  success.