T he most inspiring books for anyone starting a business are autobiographies by entrepreneurs. They are far more uplifting than any management texts or self-help manuals because they are real. Such memoirs of successful founders are rarely great literature and frequently superficial – many are almost extended puff pieces for their companies. But the best stories can be enlightening and instructive. Moreover, when they are written by the entrepreneurs themselves, they are always more authentic than any biography – even if they use a ghost writer.
I have read hundreds of business memoirs over the decades and many are boastful, self-serving and dull. But the books I recommend here have all encouraged me at different points in my business life, and for anyone who wants to understand what drives entrepreneurs and study examples of how various tycoons made their way in the world, here are my 10 favourites of the genre:
● Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s by Ray Kroc. The tale of how a man of 52 bought a single hamburger restaurant and made it into the world’s largest fast food empire. A reminder that McDonald’s is really a franchise and property business first, and a catering corporation second.