My path into entrepreneurship didn’t start with a grand plan. It started with a push.
When a series of unexpected opportunities opened up, I saw a path worth taking and co-founded my first startup, Sirius Energy. We had a clear vision and strong momentum—but six months in, the world changed. The COVID-19 pandemic hit, and like many others, we were forced to adapt, rethink, and navigate through chaos. After two intense years, that chapter slowly wound down, leaving me with some of the most valuable lessons of my entrepreneurial journey so far.
What came next was different.
Before starting Planno, I didn’t rush. I went back to the corporate world for a while, giving myself space to reflect, recalibrate, and prepare more thoughtfully. There was still something pushing me forward, but this time, I chose to get ready in a more deliberate way: mentally, strategically, and personally.
A big part of that preparation came from books. They didn’t hand me a blueprint, but they helped shape how I think. Some gave me frameworks, others gave me confidence. A few simply helped me stay grounded.
Here are the 10 books that had a real impact on that journey.
They’re divided into three types: the basics, inspiring stories, and all-around fundamentals. Each of them played a different role, but together, they formed the mental toolkit I needed to build Planno with more clarity, resilience, and purpose.
1. Zero to One – Peter Thiel
A must-read for any tech entrepreneur aiming to create something truly new.
Thiel’s core idea is simple but profound: going from 0 to 1, creating something from nothing, is radically different from going from 1 to 100. This book helped shape my belief that if you’re trying to innovate, there will be no map. You’ll be venturing into the unknown, and that’s a good thing! I read it early on and it stayed with me as a compass, especially when competition was low and uncertainty high.
2. The Lean Startup – Eric Ries
The mindset of continuous improvement, failing fast, and learning faster.
This book rewired how I think about progress. It’s not about getting everything right from the start: it’s about iterating, listening to feedback, and moving quickly with purpose. It helped me see Planno not as a product to finish, but as a living system that must evolve constantly with our users.
3. Subscribed – Tien Tzuo
The shift from products to relationships: building recurring value instead of one-time sales.
This book is essential for anyone navigating the modern SaaS landscape. It helped me unlearn old business habits and think in terms of long-term relationships, not transactions. It showed me how everything from pricing to product design to customer success must align around delivering value over time, not just at the point of sale.
4. Venture Deals – Brad Feld & Jason Mendelson
A plain-English manual for understanding the not-so-complicated world of venture capital.
When you’re starting out, the fundraising world can feel mysterious, almost deliberately complex. This book demystified that. It gave me the confidence to walk into investor discussions knowing the terms, the dynamics, and what really matters in a deal.
5. The Startup Owner’s Manual – Steve Blank
The practical handbook behind the Lean Startup theory.
While The Lean Startup gave me the main concepts and directions, this book gave me the execution. It’s structured like a manual, step by step, and incredibly helpful when you’re trying to build something from scratch with real users and real feedback. I’ve returned to it many times while building Planno.
6. Shoe Dog – Phil Knight
An inspiring story about pushing through adversity, staying humble, and believing in the long game.
This memoir was raw and real. Knight’s journey building Nike wasn’t smooth, and he doesn’t pretend it was. It taught me the power of persistence and reminded me that even giants were once fragile. I finished the book feeling a bit more ready for the rollercoaster of startup life.
7. The Founders – Jimmy Soni
Behind-the-scenes stories of PayPal‘s chaotic rise—where even icons doubted, failed, and rebuilt.
Reading about the early struggles of people like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel gave some perspective. It reminded me that even the most visionary founders had moments of near-collapse. This book helped me normalize uncertainty and find inspiration in perseverance, not perfection.
8. Startupland – Mikkel Svane
A refreshing outsider’s story of building a billion-dollar company, without the Silicon Valley playbook.
Mikkel Svane’s story building Zendesk from Denmark was deeply relatable. He wasn’t chasing hype, he was building something useful. This book gave me confidence that success doesn’t require a perfect pitch deck or being based in San Francisco. It requires grit, patience, and users who care.
9. How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
An evergreen classic for anyone in business—or life, really.
This one is not just for entrepreneurs. It’s for humans. It’s the kind of book you reread every few years and still find new insights. For me, it helped shape the way I engage with customers, partners, and my own team. Empathy, listening, and sincerity never go out of style.
10. Start With Why – Simon Sinek
Go back to the beginning. What’s your purpose? What drives you?
Sinek’s book challenged me to slow down and ask the harder questions—why are we doing this? Why does it matter? It shaped how I communicate Planno’s mission and helped align our team around something bigger than features or revenue.
These books didn’t give me a blueprint, they gave me perspective.
Each one helped shape how I think, how I lead, and how I build. If you’re somewhere along your own entrepreneurial path, maybe one of them will spark something for you too.