So, you’ve got an idea. It’s a big one, and you know that if you can bring it into the world, your lofty dreams of entrepreneurship and a “unicorn” startup might really come true.
But before you get started, how can you learn from the creative, driven men and women who once stood in your shoes? That’s where we come in—and we recommend checking out the seven groundbreaking books below.
The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion
By Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell
The definitive story of the rise and fall of WeWork, by the real-life journalists whose Wall Street Journal reporting rocked the company and exposed a financial system drunk on the elixir of Silicon Valley innovation. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell, in the Next Big Idea App
Hangry: A Startup Journey
By Mike Evans
The founder of GrubHub reveals the inside story of how he grew a multibillion-dollar behemoth that changed the way we eat. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Mike Evans, in the Next Big Idea App
Build the Damn Thing: How to Start a Successful Business If You’re Not a Rich White Guy
By Kathryn Finney
For all the Builders striving to build their businesses in a world that has overlooked and underestimated them: this is the essential guide to knowing, breaking, remaking, and building your own rules of entrepreneurship. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Kathryn Finney, in the Next Big Idea App
Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind
By Andy Dunn
Burn Rate is an unconventional entrepreneurial memoir, a parable for the twenty-first-century economy, and a revelatory look at the prevalence of mental illness in the startup community. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Andy Dunn, in the Next Big Idea App
The Soul of an Entrepreneur: Work and Life Beyond the Startup Myth
By David Sax
An award-winning business writer dismantles the myths of entrepreneurship, replacing them with an essential story about the experience of real business owners in the modern economy. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author David Sax, in the Next Big Idea App
The Unicorn Within: How Companies Can Create Game-Changing Ventures at Startup Speed
By Linda Yates
Imagine if the multinational hotel groups had founded Airbnb, or the big auto companies had launched Uber, or Blockbuster had created Netflix. Large companies can start new ventures. You have ideas, talent, brand, and capital, and you can strike back. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Linda Yates, in the Next Big Idea App
Exit Path: How to Win the Startup End Game
By Touraj Parang
An exit strategy, if implemented early, is the surprising secret to ultimate startup success. Find out why—and how to develop one—in this comprehensive, practical guide from a veteran Silicon Valley dealmaker. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Touraj Parang, in the Next Big Idea App
The Key Ideas in 15 Minutes
“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books,” Roald Dahl once famously said. The only trouble is, reading even one book from cover to cover takes hours—and you may not have many hours to spare.
But imagine for a moment: What if you could read a groundbreaking new book every day? Or even better, what if you could invite a world-renowned thinker into your earbuds, where they personally describe the 5 key takeaways from their work in just 15 minutes?
With the Next Big Idea App, we’ve turned this fantasy into a reality. We partnered with hundreds of acclaimed authors to create “Book Bites,” short audio summaries of the latest nonfiction that are prepared and read aloud by the authors themselves. Discover cutting-edge leadership skills, productivity hacks, the science of happiness and well-being, and much more—all in the time it takes to drive to work or walk the dog.
Go Deeper with a Next Big Idea Club Membership
The Next Big Idea App is free for anyone to try—and if you love it, we invite you to become an official member of the Next Big Idea Club. Membership grants you unlimited access to Book Bites and unlocks early-release, ad-free episodes of our LinkedIn-partnered podcast. You also gain entry to our private online discussion group, where you can talk big ideas with fellow club members and join exclusive live Q&A sessions with featured authors.
For a more focused learning experience, we recommend a Hardcover or eBook Membership. Every few months, legendary authors and club curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink select two new nonfiction books as the must-reads of the season. We then send hardcover copies straight to your doorstep, or eBook versions to your favorite digital device. We also collaborate with the authors of selected books to produce original reading guides and premium video e-courses, 50-minute master classes that take you step by step through their most life-changing ideas. And yes, it’s all available through the Next Big Idea App.
Learn Faster, from the World’s Leading Thinkers
Whether you prefer to read, listen, or watch, the Next Big Idea is here to help you work smarter and live better. Wake up with an always-fresh Idea of the Day, the perfect shot of inspiration to go with your morning coffee. Then dive into one of our Challenges, hand-picked collections of Book Bites that form crash courses in subjects like communication, motivation, and career acceleration. Later, watch the playback of an interview with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, or philosopher John Kaag. And be sure to check the “Events” tab in the app, so that you can join an upcoming live Q&A and personally chat with the next featured thought leader.
If you’re hoping to grow as a person or as a professional, we hope you’ll join us and tens of thousands of others who enjoy the Next Big Idea. Get started by downloading the app today!
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