100 Best Lean Startup Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

Eric Ries

5.0

Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.

Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned profes

Recommended by Sheryl Sandberg, Andrew Chen, Ben Horowitz, and 75 others.

Sheryl Sandberg

COO/Facebook

Provides a great inside look at how the tech industry approaches building products and businesses. [source]

Ben Horowitz

Co-founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Great. [source]

Dustin Moskovitz

Co-founder/Facebook and Asana

At Asana, we've been lucky to benefit from the author's advice firsthand; this book will enable him to help many more entrepreneurs answer the tough questions about their business. [source]

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2

Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz

4.5

Preview Summary

Recommended by Nir Eyal, Eric Ries, Ken Norton, and 14 others.

Eric Ries

Founder/Long-Term Stock Exchange

A fantastic, proven formula for moving from idea to prototyping to decision making within five days, based on a process he developed while working at Google and later GV. [source]

Cat Williams-Treloar

Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky & Braden Kowitz "Sprint" - the go-to guide on how to sprint. You may not follow everything to the tee, but it's simple, clean and full of great examples of how to move fast with structure. [source]

Javed Khatri

This book details the "sprint" process used at Google Ventures. We follow a similar process at Kustard to validate business ideas and to solve problems without wasting much time, money and energy. If you want to quickly validate an idea, this is a proven model and a must read. [source]

3

The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

Clayton M. Christensen

4.5

Preview Summary

The bestselling classic on disruptive innovation, renowned author Clayton M. Christensen.

His work is cited by the world’s best-known thought leaders, from Steve Jobs to Malcolm Gladwell. In this classic bestseller—now updated with a fresh new package—innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market leadership. Read th

Recommended by Jeff Bezos, Malcolm Gladwell, Steve Jobs, and 38 others.

Jeff Bezos

Founder/Amazon

Brad Stone's new book, The Everything Store, describes how Bezos developed this strategy after reading another book called The Innovator's Dilemma by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. [source]

Steve Jobs

Founder/Apple

It's important that we make this transformation, because of what Clayton Christensen calls "the innovator's dilemma," where people who invent something are usually the last ones to see past it, and we certainly don't want to be left behind. [source]

Drew Houston

CEO/Dropbox

About how businesses get disrupted, and a lot of those themes are why startups can succeed and thrive even when there are big competitors who you would think would just wipe ’em out. [source]

4

Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers

Geoffrey A Moore

4.4

Preview Summary

The bible for bringing cutting-edge products to larger markets--now revised and updated with new insights into the realities of high-tech marketing

In Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey A. Moore shows that in the Technology Adoption Life Cycle--which begins with innovators and moves to early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards--there is a vast chasm between the early adopters and the ea

Recommended by Andrew Chen, Drew Houston, Ev Williams, and 28 others.

Drew Houston

CEO/Dropbox

It’s about how do technology products make their way from early adopters t the mainstream. [source]

Ron Conway

Bestselling guide that created a new game plan for marketing in high-tech industries. [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

This is a key component in my Purple Cow thinking, but with a twist. I'm not as worried about the chasm as I am about the desire of marketers to go for the big middle. [source]

5

Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers

Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur

4.4

Preview Summary

Business Model Generation is a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers striving to defy outmoded business models and design tomorrow's enterprises. If your organization needs to adapt to harsh new realities, but you don't yet have a strategy that will get you out in front of your competitors, you need Business Model Generation. Co-created by 470 -Business Model Canvas- practitione

Recommended by Nir Eyal, Steve Blank, Alexandra Stroe, and 3 others.

Alexandra Stroe

I'd recommend The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur and Zero to One by Peter Thiel when they are in the starting phase of a business that needs to validate its business model. [source]

Ashley Hathaway

I could probably name a dozen books here, but I’ll point out The Business Model Generation and Value Prop Design from Strategyzer. I steal from these constantly and are engrained in my work process. These books put into practice really taught me how to think. As soon as I saw that everything should have a foundation of empathy, what good user-testing looks like, how to test and iterate it changed everything. After that any problem could be solved. It wasn’t solving one big monolithic problem. It was going through a process. [source]

Kaci Lambe Kai

This was a great book, because it opened up the idea of what a business model is supposed to be vs what it can be. It doesn't have to be a stuffy, boring document. [source]

6

Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works

Ash Maurya

4.3

We live in an age of unparalleled opportunity for innovation. We’re building more products than ever before, but most of them fail—not because we can’t complete what we set out to build, but because we waste time, money, and effort building the wrong product.

What we need is a systematic process for quickly vetting product ideas and raising our odds of success. That’s the promise of Running Lean.

In

Recommended by Ash Maurya, Garrett Moon, and Ola Olusoga.

Garrett Moon

Running Lean by Ash Maurya: Learn to build products the lean way! [source]

Ola Olusoga

For business, I've read Influence by Robert Cialdini 3 times, and Traction by Gabriel Weinberg twice, so if number of times read indicates favor, then those are it. There are a whole bunch of others, like The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman, Confession of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy, The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, and Running Lean by Ash Maurya, that I've also enjoyed and recommend to people. [source]

7

The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company

Steve Blank, Bob Dorf

4.3

Now a decade after the Four Steps to the Epiphany
sparked the Lean Startup revolution, comes its sequel…
The Startup Owner's Manual

The Manual incorporates 10 years of learning and best practices
that have swept the startup world. It:

Incorporates the "Business Model Canvas" as the organizing principle for
startup hypotheses
Provides separate paths and advice for web/mobile products versus
physical p

Recommended by Steve Blank, Bill Earner, and Stephen Jeske.

Bill Earner

The Startup Owner's Manual by Steve Blank is a more full on version of the Lean Startup and is a real how to manual for customer development [source]

8

The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you

Rob Fitzpatrick

4.3

Preview Summary

The Mom Test is a quick, practical guide that will save you time, money, and heartbreak.

They say you shouldn't ask your mom whether your business is a good idea, because she loves you and will lie to you. This is technically true, but it misses the point. You shouldn't ask anyone if your business is a good idea. It's a bad question and everyone will lie to you at least a little . As a matter of fa

Recommended by Chandini Jain, Mikhail Dubov, and Roxana Bitoleanu.

Chandini Jain

Very recently, I read The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you. The book talks about how to design user interviews to make sure you're not asking users/customers leading questions and get unbiased feedback. [source]

Mikhail Dubov

One of the five books recommends to young people interested in his career path. [source]

Roxana Bitoleanu

I would definitely start my list with The Mom Test because there is no resource on how to ask questions without being too eager or too revealing. I think this skill should be trained, be it an entrepreneur or not. [source]

9

UX for Lean Startups

Laura Klein

4.3

Great user experiences (UX) are essential for products today, but designing one can be a lengthy and expensive process. With this practical, hands-on book, you’ll learn how to do it faster and smarter using Lean UX techniques. UX expert Laura Klein shows you what it takes to gather valuable input from customers, build something they’ll truly love, and reduce the time it takes to get your product t

Recommended by Dan Olsen, Laura Klein, Steve Krug, and 1 others.

10

Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

Jeff Sutherland

4.3

Preview Summary

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11

The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win

Steve Blank

4.3

The bestselling classic that launched 10,000 startups and new corporate ventures - The Four Steps to the Epiphany is one of the most influential and practical business books of all time. The Four Steps to the Epiphany launched the Lean Startup approach to new ventures. It was the first book to offer that startups are not smaller versions of large companies and that new ventures are different than

Recommended by Andrew Chen, Ron Conway, Azeem Azhar, and 5 others.

Ryan Hoover

Too much (good) info but thankfully there's a summary in the Appendix. [source]

Antonio Eram

This book was recommended by Antonio when asked for titles he would recommend to young people interested in his career path. [source]

Craig Pearce

If you are reading to learn skills that can be implemented in your startup, I’d recommend The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful by Eric Reis and actually avoid its predecessor The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win by Steve Blank until later in your career. [source]

12

Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want

Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, and Alan Smith

4.3

If you liked "Business Model Generation," you'll love "Value Proposition Design." The sequel builds on the same visual format and practical tools that made the first one so useful. It shows you how to use the Value Proposition Canvas, a practical business tool to design, test, create, and manage products and services customers want. It compliments and perfectly integrates with the Business Model C

Recommended by Nir Eyal, Steve Blank, Ashley Hathaway, and 2 others.

Ashley Hathaway

I could probably name a dozen books here, but I’ll point out The Business Model Generation and Value Prop Design from Strategyzer. I steal from these constantly and are engrained in my work process. These books put into practice really taught me how to think. As soon as I saw that everything should have a foundation of empathy, what good user-testing looks like, how to test and iterate it changed everything. After that any problem could be solved. It wasn’t solving one big monolithic problem. It was going through a process. [source]

Chandini Jain

One of the five books Chandini would you recommend to young people interested in her career path. [source]

13

The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback

Dan Olsen

4.3

The missing manual on how to apply Lean Startup to build products that customers love"The Lean Product Playbook" is a practical guide to building products that customers love. Whether you work at a startup or a large, established company, we all know that building great products is hard. Most new products fail. This book helps improve your chances of building successful products through clear, ste

Recommended by Nir Eyal, Ken Norton, Dan Olsen, and 2 others.

Julia Enthoven

For people interested in designing or building software products: The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman and The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen. Both books have informed my product sense and helped me make decisions about great UX. [source]

14

Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Steve Krug

4.3

Since Don’t Make Me Think was first published in 2000, over 400,000 Web designers and developers have relied on Steve Krug’s guide to help them understand the principles of intuitive navigation and information design.

In this 3rd edition, Steve returns with fresh perspective to reexamine the principles that made Don’t Make Me Think a classic-–with updated examples and a new chapter on mobile usabil

Recommended by Brian Armstrong, Jeff Atwood, Ken Norton, and 13 others.

Anoop Anthony

Krug was teaching usability two decades ago when UX wasn't a buzzword, and the WWW was still in its nascent stages. (The first edition of this book was published in 2000!) I cut my teeth on Don't make me think back when I first started out in the industry. It is now in its third edition and still relevant — it offers compelling insights into building great user experiences into websites and applications. [source]

Auston Bunsen

I’m actually a self-taught programmer, so these books have really helped me with practical skills that I could put to use & yield results. The return on investment for these kinds of books is off the charts for me! [source]

Chris Goward

Here are some of the books that have been very impactful for me, or taught me a new way of thinking: … Don't Make Me Think. [source]

15

Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster

Alistair Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz

4.3

Whether you’re a startup founder trying to disrupt an industry or an intrapreneur trying to provoke change from within, your biggest challenge is creating a product people actually want. Lean Analytics steers you in the right direction.

This book shows you how to validate your initial idea, find the right customers, decide what to build, how to monetize your business, and how to spread the word. Pa

Recommended by Ash Maurya, Marty Cagan, Ola Olusoga, and 4 others.

Ola Olusoga

Like Charlie Munger once said: “I’ve long believed that a certain system - which almost any intelligent person can learn - works way better than the systems most people use to understand the world. What you need is a latticework of mental models in your head. And, with that system, things gradually fit together in a way that enhances cognition. Just as multiple factors shape every system, multiple mental models from a variety of disciplines are necessary to understand that system". You can read this book to start building a "latticework of mental models in your head". [source]

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16

Lean UX: Designing Great Products with Agile Teams

Jeff Gothelf, Josh Seiden

4.2

Lean UX has become the preferred approach to interaction design, tailor-made for today's agile teams. In the second edition of this award winning book, leading advocates Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden expand on the valuable Lean UX principles, tactics, and techniques covered in the first edition to share how product teams can easily incorporate design, experimentation, iteration, and continuous lear

Recommended by Andy Budd and Laura Klein.

17

The Practice of Management

Peter F. Drucker

4.2

A classic since its publication in 1954, The Practice of Management was the first book to look at management as a whole and being a manager as a separate responsibility. The Practice of Management created the discipline of modern management practices. Readable, fundamental, and basic, it remains an essential book for students, aspiring managers, and seasoned professionals.

Recommended by William Hopper.

William Hopper

Well, my interest was first stimulated by my elder brother and co-author Ken. As an engineer, he had worked for many different companies in Britain and the US and been struck by the enormous differences which existed in managerial styles between these two countries. Although each enjoyed strengths and weaknesses, the American version was, in his opinion, much superior. This started him off on a lifelong study of what you might call ‘comparative national managerial cultures’. He began to write a book about it way back in the 1970s, but regrettably took ill and became a chronic invalid soon after. As a result, his book would be put on hold for many years. About seven years ago, I said to him that it was a very important book and persuaded him that we should try to produce it together and so we co-wrote our book, The Puritan Gift. [source]

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18

The Startup Way: Making Entrepreneurship a Fundamental Discipline of Every Enterprise

Eric Ries

4.2

Entrepreneur and bestselling author of The Lean Startup Eric Ries reveals how entrepreneurial principles can be used by businesses ranging from established companies to early-stage startups to grow revenues, drive innovation, and emerge as truly modern organizations poised to take advantage of the enormous opportunities of the 21st century.

In The Lean Startup, Eric Ries laid out the practices of

Recommended by Reid Hoffman, Aaron Levie, Arianna Huffington, and 5 others.

Reid Hoffman

CEO/LinkedIn

Continuous innovation is the key to long-term impact and success. Eric shows how organizations of all kinds—not just startups—can be built to learn and adapt. In the pivot-or-perish networked world of twenty-first-century business, this is mission critical reading. [source]

Aaron Levie

Co-founder/Box

The Startup Way teaches companies of all sizes how to effectively incubate and maintain an entrepreneurial culture through growth by allowing employees to find their inner entrepreneur. A must read, especially, by all leaders burdened by legacy organizational baggage and processes. [source]

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

In The Startup Way, Eric Ries uses his years of work with companies like GE and Toyota to show us what the company of the future will look like. If you want to know how companies can become more agile, more innovative, and more resilient in the face of today’s relentless pace of change, this is the book for you. [source]

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19

Scaling Lean: Mastering the Key Metrics for Startup Growth

Ash Maurya

4.2

A hands-on guide to the metrics that matter most to young tech startups.

In the early stages of a tech startup's life, it's hard to decipher the meaningful
metrics from the distractions. How do you know if your product is working? Is it
the number of new signups? Average amount of time spent on the site? Revenue,
even if you don't have a revenue model yet?

In Scaling Lean, serial entrepreneur and autho

Recommended by Eris Ries, Ash Maurya, and Dan Olsen.

Eris Ries

Founder/Long-Term Stock Exchange

Follow up to his book Running Lean, that shows how to successfully make the leap from startup to sustainable business. [source]

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20

Talking to Humans: Success starts with understanding your customers

Giff Constable

4.2

Recommended by Ron Conway, Steve Blank, Ash Maurya, and 1 others.

Ron Conway

Explains how to do the customer development interviews in a way that will get you the most accurate and actionable feedback. [source]

21

Lean Customer Development: Building Products Your Customers Will Buy

Cindy Alvarez

4.2

How do you develop products that people will actually use and buy? This practical guide shows you how to validate product and company ideas through customer development research--before you waste months and millions on a product or service that no one needs or wants.

With a combination of open-ended interviewing and fast and flexible research techniques, you'll learn how your prospective customers

Recommended by Thomas Graziani.

Thomas Graziani

I am currently reading two business books: Radical Candor by Kim Scott which I expect can help me build better relationships with my colleagues, and Lean Customer Development by Cindy Alvarez which helps me have more open conversations with clients and better define our product roadmap. [source]

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22

The Lean Entrepreneur: How Visionaries Create Products, Innovate with New Ventures, and Disrupt Markets

Brant Cooper, Patrick Vlaskovits, Eric Ries

4.2

Leverage the framework of visionaries to innovate, disrupt, and ultimately succeed as an entrepreneurThe Lean Entrepreneur, Second Edition banishes the "Myth of the Visionary" and shows you how you can implement proven, actionable techniques to create products and disrupt existing markets on your way to entrepreneurial success. The follow-up to the New York Times bestseller, this great guide combi

Recommended by Ash Maurya and Brant Cooper.

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23

The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth

Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor

4.2

A seminal work by bestselling author Clayton M. Christensen, now updated with fresh examples.

In the international bestseller The Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton Christensen exposed the Achilles’ heel of many companies: by ignoring the disruptive technologies that evolve to displace them, they help initiate their own demise. In The Innovator’s Solution, Christensen and Michael Raynor take the idea of

Recommended by Steve Blank, Ken Norton, Ashley Hathaway, and 2 others.

Ashley Hathaway

When it comes to work books I definitely like to ask my leaders what their favorite books are. There are lots of repeats (Crossing the Chasm, Innovator's Dilemma & Solution, Lean Startup, etc), but every now and then someone will have a really unique one that I’ll read. I always read those right away. I’ve also taken book recommendations & then not read the book for like a year. I’ll go back and say, “Hey I finally read that book you recommended forever ago.” It’s fun. [source]

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24

The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: A cheat sheet to The Four Steps to the Epiphany

Brant Cooper, Patrick Vlaskovits

4.2

"This is a must read for all startups and stakeholders."
- Steve Blank, author of The 4 Steps to the Epiphany, creator of Customer Development methodology

"The Entrepreneur's Guide is an easy read. It is written in a conversational tone, doesn't take itself too seriously, and avoids extraneous fluff."

- Eric Ries, Author & Creator of the Lean Startup methodology

"Get the CustDev book to dive deep in

25

The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer

Jeffrey Liker

4.2

"This book will give you an understanding of what has made Toyota successful and some practical ideas that you can use to develop your own approach to business."--Gary Convis, Managing Office of Toyota

Fewer man-hours. Less inventory. The highest quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer. In factories around the globe, Toyota consistently raises the bar for manufacturing, p

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26

Lean Enterprise: How High Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale

Jez Humble, Joanne Molesky, Barry O'Reilly

4.1

How well does your organization respond to changing market conditions, customer needs, and emerging technologies when building software-based products? This practical guide presents Lean and Agile principles and patterns to help you move fast at scale—and demonstrates why and how to apply these methodologies throughout your organization, rather than with just one department or team.

Through case st

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27

Will It Fly?: How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don't Waste Your Time and Money

Pat Flynn

4.1

Stop rushing into businesses born from half-baked ideas, misguided theories, and other forms of self-delusion. A lack of proper validation kills more businesses than anything else. As Joel Barker says, “Speed is only useful if you’re running in the right direction.” Will It Fly? will help you make sure you are clear for takeoff. It answers questions like:

- Does your business idea have merit?
- W

Recommended by Vincent Pugliese and 1 others.

Vincent Pugliese

Question: What books would you recommend to young people to be prepared for the future workplaces? Answer: So many! So many by Seth Godin (Linchpin, The Icarus Deception, Purple Cow) Essentialism by Greg McKeown, Deep Work by Cal Newport, The Choice by Og Mandino, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, No More Dreaded Mondays and 48 Days To The Work You Love by Dan Miller, The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran, Will It Fly by Pat Flynn, The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews, QBQ by John Miller, The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. Wow, there are so many more, but that’s a start. [source]

28

A Redneck's Guide to Kaizen: How to See Waste, Fix Work, and Cut Through Improvement Theater

Jason Hall

4.1

Every plant has a cart that pulls left.At Clear Fork Works they called it Ol' Lefty, and they had been steering it by hand so long that steering it by hand had become the job.Then somebody set an empty coffee can beside it and dropped in one steel washer every time a person corrected what the cart could not do for itself. By the end of the shift, fifty-three.Nobody had lied about the cart. Nobody

29

The Lean Six SIGMA Pocket Toolbook: A Quick Reference Guide to Nearly 100 Tools for Improving Quality and Speed: A Quick Reference Guide to 70 Tools for Improving Quality and Speed

Michael L. George

4.1

Provides the tools for implementing Lean Six Sigma - what they are, how they work, and which to use. This book presents the tools and concepts needed to understand, implement, and leverage Lean Six Sigma. It provides analyses of nearly 100 tools and methodologies - from DMAIC and Pull Systems to Control Charts and Pareto Charts.

30

Toyota Production System: Beyond large-scale production

Taiichi Ohno

4.1

In this classic text, Taiichi Ohno--inventor of the Toyota Production System and Lean manufacturing--shares the genius that sets him apart as one of the most disciplined and creative thinkers of our time. Combining his candid insights with a rigorous analysis of Toyota's attempts at Lean production, Ohno's book explains how Lean principles can improve any production endeavor. A historical and phil

Recommended by Grey Baker.

Grey Baker

Perhaps the only business book I’ve read and truly loved is Taiichi Ohno’s “The Toyota Production System”. It’s referenced a lot as the origin of the “Lean” movement, but it’s a much more enjoyable read than that makes it sound. Rather than management guru speak, it’s a wonderful book about the hard-won lessons Taiichi Ohno learned on the factory floor at Toyota. It won’t teach you what kanban means in modern management, but learning about Ohno’s desire to build an information nervous system for Toyota’s plants is so much more interesting! [source]

31

The Goal: A Business Graphic Novel

Eliyahu Goldratt and Dwight Zimmerman

4.1

Alex Rogo is a harried plant manager who has been given 90 days to save his failing factory. If he doesn't improve the plant's performance, corporate headquarters will close it down and hundreds of workers will lose their jobs. It takes a chance meeting with Jonah, a former professor, to help him break out of his conventional thinking and figure out what needs to be done. As Alex identifies the pl

32

The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership: Achieving and Sustaining Excellence through Leadership Development

Liker

4.1

About the Book: The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership Despite the fact that companies worldwide have adopted Lean production, none has sustained the same levels of excellence as Toyota. Why? Leadership. In The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership, Jeffrey Liker and Gary L. Convis, a former Executive Vice President at Toyota, help executives and senior managers get employees to refocus their efforts-from simp

Recommended by Yaro Starak.

Yaro Starak

One of the books I got a lot out of and I haven’t mentioned yet is called “The Toyota Way” which is a book that essentially looks at the Toyota car manufacturing process and why it was so revolutionary, talking about some concepts like kaizen and theory of constraints that came out of that process that Toyota developed and the book about it will give you such an insight into manufacturing, but also just general productivity, like kaizen became a concept that was almost as important as the 80-20 rule to me with my own business but with my own life as well. By the way, kaizen means, it’s like a philosophy of continuous improvement that the Japanese follow or, at least Toyota certainly follows in their business with the car manufacturing. So, that’s something that I think can make a difference perhaps to any entrepreneur but certainly if you’re looking at something to do with like an assembly line, if that’s your business plan, if it included an assembly line then you’ve gotta get yourself “The Toyota Way” book because that’s gonna be so relevant to what you’re doing and will probably give you a head start instead of just trying to figure it out by yourself. So that’s another recommendation. [source]

33

Construction Genius: Effective, Hands-On, Practical, Simple, No-BS Leadership, Strategy, Sales, and Marketing Advice for Construction Companies

Eric Anderton

4.1

34

Machine that Changed the World

James P. Womack

4.1

Today, the industrial world is experiencing the most revolutionary change since Henry Ford's assembly line -- which forever changed the way things are made. Japanese companies are sweeping the world, as Western companies and governments struggle to find ways to emulate them.
The Machine That Changed the World points for the first time to a positive way out of this dilemma. It shows that being defe

Recommended by Robin Sloan and 1 others.

Robin Sloan

I got this book because I am lately into 1980s "business book" time capsules , but in fact it is beautifully written and dizzyingly interesting, even in 2019!! https://t.co/5R8o4MWhpk [source]

35

Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results

Mike Rother

4.1

"How any organization in any industry can progress from old-fashioned management by results to a strikingly different and better way."--James P. Womack, Chairman and Founder, Lean Enterprise Institute. This game-changing book puts you behind the curtain of Toyota, providing new insight into the legendary automaker's management practices and offering practical guidance for leading and developing pe

36

Output to Outcome: An Operating Model for the Age of AI

Mik Kersten

4.1

In the Age of AI, the constraint has shifted from producing outputs to delivering outcomes.As AI automates knowledge work at unprecedented scale, most organizations remain trapped measuring the wrong things—lines of code, features delivered, and other outputs that AI can now produce almost for free. The real constraint has shifted to organizational structure and the ability to turn strategy into m

37

The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development

Donald G. Reinertsen

4.1

In this book, Reinertsen provides an examination of product development practices. He explains why invisible and unmanaged queues are the underlying root cause of poor product development performance. He shows why these queues form and how they undermine the speed, quality, and efficiency in product development.

38

Mind Your Business: Plan Your Business and Turn Your Creative Passion Into Your Full-Time Gig

Ilana Griffo

4.1

This is not your mama's business plan. Mind Your Business is created for entrepreneurial women (and men--you're welcome too!) who want to turn their creative passions into a full-time job. If you dream of building a business doing what you love, this book is for you. So you're sick of the hustle, and ready to take your talents to the next level, but the thought of taking the "leap" is intimidating

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39

Kaizen: The Complete Guide to Implementing the Smart Concept of Continuous Improvement of All the Strategic Operations in the Development Process Involving the Lean and Agile Startup Team

Josh Wright

4.1

40

The Lean Marketplace: a Practical Guide to Building a Successful Online Marketplace Business

Juho Makkonen and Cristóbal Gracia

4.1

Inspired by the success of platforms such as Airbnb, Etsy or Fiverr? Want to know how to build an online marketplace business?

You've come to the right place. In this step by step guide, we will go through everything you need to know about developing your idea into a sustainable business, offering lots of practical advice and actionable ideas along the way.

This book is the result of two experts put

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41

Validating Product Ideas: Through Lean User Research

Tomer Sharon, Noam Lamdan

4.1

Recommended by Steve Krug.

42

Lean Production Simplified: A Plain-Language Guide to the World's Most Powerful Production System

Pascal Dennis

4.1

Following in the tradition of its Shingo Prize-winning predecessors, Lean Production Simplified, Third Edition gives a clear overview of the structure and tools of the Lean production system. Written for the practitioner by a practitioner, it delivers a comprehensive insider's view of Lean management. The author helps readers grasp the system as a whole, as well as the factors that animate it, by

43

The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work

Ben Hartman

4.1

A practical, systems-based approach for a more sustainable farming operation

To many people today, using the words "factory" and "farm" in the same sentence is nothing short of sacrilege. In many cases, though, the same sound business practices apply whether you are producing cars or carrots. Author Ben Hartman and other young farmers are increasingly finding that incorporating the best new ideas f

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44

(C)lean Messaging: A framework to help startup founders talk to humans

Scott Brown

4.1

What if your startup messaging for customers & investors was as clean as your code? The Lean Startup movement revolutionized how we build a modern startup. And yet, startup founders continue to struggle with how to talk about their amazing idea in a way that will generate media coverage, sales and social buzz. The (C)lean Messaging framework helps startup founders perfect their sales, marketing &

45

The Winning Link: A Proven Process to Define, Align, and Execute Strategy at Every Level

Billy Ray Taylor

4.1

46

The Toyota Way Fieldbook

JeffreyLiker and David Meier

4.1

The Toyota Way Fieldbook is a companion to the international bestseller The Toyota Way. The Toyota Way Fieldbook builds on the philosophical aspects of Toyota's operating systems by detailing the concepts and providing practical examples for application that leaders need to bring Toyota's success-proven practices to life in any organization. The Toyota Way Fieldbook will help other companies learn

47

The Lean Micro Farm: How to Get Small, Embrace Local, Live Better, and Work Less

Ben Hartman

4.1

48

The Origins of Efficiency

Brian Potter

4.1

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49

The Lean Enterprise: How Corporations Can Innovate Like Startups

Trevor Owens and Obie Fernandez

4.1

Discover the methods of lean startups that can revolutionize large organizations and their products

Even in a tough economic climate, the startup business community has found a way to create innovative, game-changing products in shockingly short timeframes. So why should larger, more established companies take notice? Because they have everything to gain when they examine and adopt the strategies,

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50

Value Stream Mapping: How to Visualize Work and Align Leadership for Organizational Transformation

Karen Martin

4.1

The first of its kind—a Value Stream Mapping book written for those in service and office environments who need to streamline operations

Value Stream Mapping is a practical, how-to guide that helps decision-makers improve value stream efficiency in virtually any setting, including construction, energy, financial service, government, healthcare, R&D, retail, and technology. It gives you the tools

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51

Lean Six Sigma: The Complete Guide to Combine the Six Sigma Process and Lean Production Speed to Instantly Grow Your Start Up

Homer Herring

4.1

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52

Lean from the Trenches

Henrik Kniberg

4.1

Lean from the Trenches is all about actual practice.

Find out how the Swedish police combined XP, Scrum, and Kanban in a 60-person project. From start to finish, you'll see how to deliver a successful product using Lean principles.

We start with an organization in desperate need of a new way of doing things and finish with a group of sixty, all working in sync to develop a scalable, complex system

53

Creating a Lean Culture: Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions, Third Edition

David Mann

4.1

Winner of a Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award

The new edition of this Shingo Prize-winning bestseller provides critical insights and approaches to make any Lean transformation an ongoing success. It shows you how to implement a sustainable, successful transformation by developing a culture that has your stakeholders throughout the organizational chart involved and invested in the o

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54

Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model

John Mullins and Randy Komisa

4.1

You have a new venture in mind. And you've crafted a business plan so detailed it's a work of art. Don't get too attached to it.

As John Mullins and Randy Komisar explain in Getting to Plan B, new businesses are fraught with uncertainty. To succeed, you must change the plan in real time as the inevitable challenges arise. In fact, studies show that entrepreneurs who stick slavishly to their Plan A

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55

Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit

Mary Poppendieck / Tom Poppendieck Poppendieck / Poppendieck

4.1

Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit

Adapting agile practices to your development organization
Uncovering and eradicating waste throughout the software development lifecycle Practical techniques for every development manager, project manager, and technical leader Lean software development: applying agile principles to your organization

In Lean Software Development, Mary and Tom Poppendieck id

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56

Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights

Steve Portigal

4.1

Interviewing is a foundational user research tool that people assume they already possess. Everyone can ask questions, right? Unfortunately, that's not the case. Interviewing Users provides invaluable interviewing techniques and tools that enable you to conduct informative interviews with anyone. You'll move from simply gathering data to uncovering powerful insights about people.

Interviewing Users

Recommended by Laura Klein.

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57

Slicing Pie Handbook: Perfectly Fair Equity Splits for Bootstrapped Startups

Mike Moyer

4.1

Entrepreneurs and early-stage company participants get taken advantage of so frequently that we hardly notice. Bad equity deals are the rule, not the exception. The Slicing Pie Handbook outlines a framework for perfectly fair equity splits for early-stage, bootstrapped startup companies. Based on model popularized by the book Slicing Pie. The Slicing Pie Handbook will help you determine the right

58

The High-Velocity Edge: How Market Leaders Leverage Operational Excellence to Beat the Competition

Steven J. Spear

4.1

Generate Better, Faster Results-- Using Less Capital and Fewer Resources!

"[The High-Velocity Edge] contains ideas that form the basis for structured continuous learning and improvement in every aspect of our lives. While this book is tailored to business leaders, it should be read by high school seniors, college students, and those already in the workforce. With the broad societal application of t

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59

The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Writing a Business Plan

John Mullins

4.1

The New Business Road Test shows how to assess market opportunities. Building on lessons learned by studying numerous entrepreneurs, the book details the author's seven domains model for assessing new business ideas. The model is comprised of four market and industry domains and three related to the entrepreneurial team. These seven domains address the central questions in the assessment of any ma

60

Lean B2B: Build Products Businesses Want

Étienne Garbugli, Annemarie Vander Veen, François Maisonneuve

4.0

www.leanb2bbook.com

« This is a must read for every B2B entrepreneur, SaaS creator or consultant and business school student. It's the kind of book you don't read once, you go back to it on a regular basis. » - Carmen Gerea, CEO & Co-founder, UsabilityChefs

Lean B2B helps entrepreneurs and innovators quickly find traction in the enterprise.

Used by thousands around the world and packed with more than

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61

Intercom On Starting Up

Des Traynor, Eoghan McCabe, et al.

4.0

With the insane volume of startup literature already out there writing this book wasn’t a no-brainer for us. No one wants to add to the scrap heap. But if you restrict yourself to only reading articles from people who have actually created a business, hit some revenue target, or broken out of the MVP-in-an-incubator stage, there’s very few books and blogs left. This is why we hope this book is rel

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62

The Toyota Engagement Equation: How to Understand and Implement Continuous Improvement Thinking in Any Organization

Tracey Richardson

4.0

From two Toyota insiders--a practical, proven formula for developing a successful Lean culture in any organization

In 1986, Toyota opened a factory in rural Kentucky and unveiled TPS, its revolutionary management system. While most manufacturers and organizations now use Lean methods, the application is almost always superficial and confined within existing management frameworks. Consequently, the

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63

Testing with Humans: How to Use Experiments to Drive Faster, More Informed Decision Making.

Giff Constable and Frank Rimalovski

4.0

Testing with Humans, the sequel to bestseller Talking to Humans, teaches entrepreneurs, innovation teams, and product teams how to run effective experiments. An experiment is a test designed to help you answer the questions

64

La Meta: 40th Anniversary Edition (Spanish Edition)

Eliyahu M. Goldratt Goldratt and Jeff Cox

4.0

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65

HYPERGROWTH: How the Customer-Driven Model Is Revolutionizing the Way Businesses Build Products, Teams, & Brands

David Cancel

4.0

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66

Traversing the Traction Gap: Developing a Market-First Mindset to Engineer Your Go-To-Market Success

Bruce Cleveland and Wildcat Venture Partners

4.0

Vision, groundbreaking ideas, total commitment, and boundless enthusiasm characterize most startups, but they require capital to go from promising product in a potential blockbuster category to scalable business. However scrappy they are, industry statistics show that more than 80 percent of all early-stage startups fail. Most can build a product, but the vast majority stumble when it comes time t

67

Kaizen Mastery: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Better Processes, Improving Daily Work, and Achieving Organizational Excelle

Steve M. Beauchamp

4.0

68

The Lean Turnaround: How Business Leaders Use Lean Principles to Create Value and Transform Their Company

Art Byrne

4.0

THE C-LEVEL GUIDE TO SUCCEEDING WITH LEAN "With 30 years of accumulated experience, Art Byrne is one of the rare few people who can speak with authority about the pitfalls of fi nancial measurement systems, the importance of respect for people, the power of Lean in the marketplace, and the leverage from organizing people around value streams. When he writes 'Go to the Gemba and Run Your Kaizen, '

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69

The Innovator's Guide to Growth: Putting Disruptive Innovation to Work

Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson, Joseph V. Sinfield, Elizabeth J. Altman

4.0

More than a decade ago, Clayton Christensen's breakthrough book The Innovator's Dilemma illustrated how disruptive innovations drive industry transformation and market creation. Christensen's research demonstrated how growth-seeking incumbents must develop the capability to deflect disruptive attacks and seize disruptive opportunities.

In The Innovator's Guide to Growth, Scott Anthony, Mark Johnson

70

Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More

Mark Graban

4.0

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71

Lean Analytics: How to Use Data to Track, Optimize, Improve and Accelerate Your Startup Business (Lean Guides with Scrum, Sprint, Kanban, DSDM, XP & Crystal Book 1)

Greg Caldwell

4.0

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72

The Start-Up J Curve: The Six Steps to Entrepreneurial Success

Howard Love

4.0

A predictable pattern of success
Entrepreneurs who have read early drafts of The Start-Up J Curve responded, ''I wish I had this book years ago.''

A start-up unfolds in a predictable pattern; the more aware entrepreneurs are of this pattern, the better able they will be to capitalize on it. Author Howard Love calls this pattern the start-up J Curve: The toughest part of the endeavor is the time bet

73

Lean Six Sigma Study Guide: Complete Review + 2600 Questions and Answer Explanations for the ASQ White, Yellow, Green and Black Belt Exams (Exam Simulator + E-Learning Access)

Newstone TP

4.0

Ace the Lean Six Sigma Exams on your first try!Our new innovative feature is Newstone's exam simulator online – you can hide the timer or keep it on when you try the tests on your computer or phone. You also have the option to see all questions at once or see one question at a time.This guide also includes important chapters on Scrum and Agile Project Management.This study bundle includes (Scan th

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74

Lean Out: The Struggle for Gender Equality in Tech and Start-Up Culture

Elissa Shevinsk

4.0

Why aren’t the great, qualified women already in tech being hired or promoted?

Should people who don’t fit in seek to join an institution that is actively hostile to them?

Does the tech industry deserve women leaders?

The split between the stated ideals of the corporate elite and the reality of working life for women in the tech industry—whether in large public tech companies or VC-backed start-ups,

75

The Toyota Kata Practice Guide: Practicing Scientific Thinking Skills for Superior Results in 20 Minutes a Day

Mike Rother

4.0

76

Learning Agile: Understanding Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban

Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene

4.0

Agile revolutionized the way people think about developing software, but there are literally dozens of ways that you can "go agile." While one team may find a particular agile practice easy to use, another team may find the same practice devilishly difficult. This book demystifies agile methodologies: why they’re designed the way they are, what problems they address, and the values, principles, an

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77

Edge: Value-Driven Digital Transformation

Jim Highsmith

4.0

Today's enterprises are achieving incremental outcomes in a world of exponential opportunities. Why are their digital transformations falling short? Poor execution: enterprise capabilities are proving inadequate in areas ranging from portfolio management to software delivery. Now, ThoughtWorks' pioneering digital transformation experts introduce EDGE: a powerful new operating model that closes the

78

The Design Thinking Playbook: Mindful Digital Transformation of Teams, Products, Services, Businesses and Ecosystems

Michael Lewrick, Patrick Link, et al.

4.0

A radical shift in perspective to transform your organization to become more innovative

The Design Thinking Playbook is an actionable guide to the future of business. By stepping back and questioning the current mindset, the faults of the status quo stand out in stark relief--and this guide gives you the tools and frameworks you need to kick off a digital transformation. Design Thinking is about ap

79

Understanding A3 Thinking: A Critical Component of Toyota's PDCA Management System

Durward K. Sobek II

4.0

Winner of a 2009 Shingo Research and Professional Publication Prize.

Notably flexible and brief, the A3 report has proven to be a key tool In Toyota's successful move toward organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and improvement, especially within its engineering and R&D organizations. The power of the A3 report, however, derives not from the report itself, but rather from the development of the

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80

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Entrepreneurship and Startups (featuring Bonus Article “Why the Lean Startup Changes Everything” by Steve Blank)

Harvard Business Review

4.0

81

Lean Six SIGMA for Dummies

John Morgan and Martin Brenig-Jones

4.0

Maximise the quality and efficiency of your organisation with Lean Six Sigma

Are you looking to make your organisation more effective and productive? If you answered "yes," you need to change the way it thinks. Combining the leading improvement methods of Six Sigma and Lean, this winning technique drives performance to the next level and this friendly and accessible guide shows you how. The third e

82

Wiring the Winning Organization

Gene Kim

4.0

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83

The Lean Practitioner's Field Book: Proven, Practical, Profitable and Powerful Techniques for Making Lean Really Work

Charles Protzman

4.0

While there are numerous Lean Certification programs, most companies have their own certification paths whereby they bestow expert status upon employees after they have participated in or led a certain number of kaizen events. Arguing that the number of kaizen events should not determine a person's expert status, The Lean Practitioner's Field Book: Proven, Practical, Profitable and Powerful Techni

84

Spend Analysis: The Window into Strategic Sourcing

Kirit Pandit and Haralambos Marmanis

4.0

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85

The Principles of Scientific Management

Frederick Winslow Taylor

4.0

It seems, at first glance, like an obvious step to take to improve industrial productivity: one should simply watch workers at work in order to learn how they actually do their jobs. But American engineer FREDERICK WINSLOW TAYLOR (1856-1915) broke new ground with this 1919 essay, in which he applied the rigors of scientific observation to such labor as shoveling and bricklayer in order to streamli

86

Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation

George Koenigsaecker

4.0

Updated with new information, illustrations, and leadership tools, Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation, Second Edition describes how the metrics used by Toyota drive every line item in a financial statement in the right direction. Rather than focus on Lean tools and principles, the new edition of this bestselling reference focuses on what may be the least understood and most critical aspec

87

Unlocking Lean Six Sigma: A Competency-Based Approach to Applying Continuous Process Improvement Principles and Best Practices (Competency Based Books for Structured Learning)

Dr. Wesley E. Donahue

4.0

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88

Lean Startups for Social Change: The Revolutionary Path to Big Impact

Michel Gelobter

4.0

For years, the lean startup has been revolutionizing both new and established businesses. In this eye-opening book, serial social entrepreneur Michel Gelobter shows how it can do the same for nonprofits.
Traditionally, whether creating a new business or a new program, entrepreneurs in all sectors develop a plan, find money to fund it, and pursue it to its conclusion. The problem is, over time cond

89

A Study of the Toyota Production System: From an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint

Shigeo Shingo, Andrew P. Dillon

4.0

This is the "green book" that started it all -- the first book in English on JIT, written from the engineer's viewpoint. When Omark Industries bought 500 copies and studied it companywide, Omark became the American pioneer in JIT.Here is Dr. Shingo's classic industrial engineering rationale for the priority of process-based over operational improvements in manufacturing. He explains the basic mech

90

Driving Honda: Inside the World's Most Innovative Car Company

Jeffrey Rothfeder

4.0

For decades there have been two iconic Japanese auto companies. One has been endlessly studied and written about, the other has been generally underappreciated and misunderstood. Until now.

Since its birth as a motorcycle company in 1949, Honda has steadily grown into the world's fifth largest automaker and top engine manufacturer, as well as one of the most beloved, most profitable, and most con

91

Agile IT Organization Design: For Digital Transformation and Continuous Delivery

Sriram Narayan

4.0

92

5S Mastery: A Step-by-Step Guide to Optimize Workplace Organization, Improve Morale, and Increase Productivity

Steve M. Beauchamp

4.0

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93

The ART of Avoiding a Train Wreck: Practical Tips and Tricks for Launching and Operating SAFe Agile Release Trains

Em Campbell-Pretty

4.0

In The ART of Avoiding a Train Wreck, Em and Adrienne share their "trade secrets" for launching and operating powerful and effective Agile Release Trains. There's a lot at stake when launching an Agile Release Train. When taking on an Enterprise Lean-Agile Transformation you only get one shot at a first impression. Runaway trains are expensive. Money gets wasted, time gets lost and the reputationa

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94

Agile Experience Design: A Digital Designer's Guide to Agile, Lean, and Continuous

Lindsay Ratcliffe, Marc McNeill

4.0

Agile development methodologies may have started life in IT, but their widespread and continuing adoption means there are many practitioners outside of IT--including designers--who need to change their thinking and adapt their practices. This is the missing book about agile that shows how designers, product managers, and development teams can integrate experience design into lean and agile product

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95

The Innovator's Hypothesis: How Cheap Experiments Are Worth More Than Good Ideas

Michael Schrage

4.0

Achieving faster, better, cheaper, and more creative innovation outcomes with the 5X5 framework: 5 people, 5 days, 5 experiments, $5,000, and 5 weeks.

What is the best way for a company to innovate? Advice recommending "innovation vacations" and the luxury of failure may be wonderful for organizations with time to spend and money to waste. The Innovator's Hypothesis addresses the innovation priori

96

The Lean Six SIGMA Black Belt Handbook: Tools and Methods for Process Acceleration

Frank Voehl

4.0

Although Lean and Six Sigma appear to be quite different, when used together they have shown to deliver unprecedented improvements to quality and profitability. The Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook: Tools and Methods for Process Acceleration explains how to integrate these seemingly dissimilar approaches to increase production speed while decreasing variations and costs in your organization.

Pres

97

Clarity First: How Smart Leaders and Organizations Achieve Outstanding Performance

Karen Martin

4.0

Award-winning business performance improvement and Lean management expert Karen Martin diagnoses a ubiquitous business management and leadership problem--the lack of clarity--and outlines specific actions to dramatically improve organizational performance.

Through her global consulting projects, keynote speeches, and work with thousands of leaders, Karen has seen first-hand how a pervasive lack of

98

Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together

James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones

4.0

In this landmark new book, James Womack and Daniel Jones deconstruct this broken producer-consumer model and show businesses how to repair it.

A massive disconnect exists between consumers and providers today. Consumers have a greater selection of higher quality goods to choose from and can obtain these items from a growing number of sources. Computers, cars, and even big-box retail sites promise t

99

The Basics of Process Improvement

Tristan Boutros and Jennifer Cardella

4.0

100

Operations Management for Dummies

Mary Ann Anderson

4.0

Score your highest in Operations Management Operations management is an important skill for current and aspiring business leaders to develop and master. It deals with the design and management of products, processes, services, and supply chains. Operations management is a growing field and a required course for most undergraduate business majors and MBA candidates. Now, Operations Management For D