My favorite books on the essentials of entrepreneurship

I love this book because it nails the essentials of entrepreneurship. The author is a serial entrepreneur, venture investor and philanthropist who has set up and scaled up enterprises in Silicon Valley and India. He presents a set of principles, values and strategies to help entrepreneurs gain a lasting advantage – as opposed to a temporary one. He writes in simple English without resorting to jargon. The fact that he delivers his wisdom in nuggets makes it engaging and useful for the reader. At a time when most of the world merely skims the surface of anything, Desh Deshpande advocates depth — a philosophy I follow, too.

This book advocates a way of life I took to a couple of years ago – and have tried to stick to, ever since. Across the world, we professionals find it a big problem to focus on something and get it done. Distraction — especially the online kind — has become the bane of our life, making it almost impossible to go deep into any one activity or project. This book comes as a welcome departure from the current norm and tells us how we can avoid flitting from one thing to another or being pulled in different directions by different priorities. I am the kind that likes to take up just one or two things at a time and finish them well before moving on to something else. This is the only way I can create something of consequence, something of value. If you too think this way, you’ll find this book damn useful.

It is easy to duplicate something that’s already out there in the market, or create something similar to it. It is when we try to do something absolutely new — create something original — that several stiff challenges arise. Noted entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s book throws some light on how we can tackle these and create an enterprise of consequence. He lays out the digital business landscape well and gives us strategies and ideas to set up something new and grow it in the new-age economy. I like how he draws unconventional references (e.g. The Mechanics of Mafia, Follow the Money, Late Mover Advantage) to make his point. And, of course, his no-fluff approach works, too!

I am a person branding coach. I help people build their person (aka individual) brands. I know that the single most potent asset of every entrepreneur is their person brand. The more distinctive this is, and the more convincingly the person communicates it, the better for them and their business. Your person brand signals who you are, what you do, your core values, and why someone should work with you, instead of with someone else. David McNally and Karl Speak examine this concept threadbare and, in simple language, explain how you can build your brand as an individual.