The Startup Caucus Community’s Favorite Business Books From 2021

The Startup Caucus community of entrepreneurs shares the books that shaped their approaches to business, technology, and politics in 2021.

Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Simon Sinek

“It's a great read to crystalize how you think about what you do, as well as how the market adopts innovative products and ideas. Knowing your why is not only great for marketing, it's important to pushing through challenges.” 

– Allen Fuller, Datrm.in 

Leading Without Power: Finding Hope in Serving Community

Max de Pree

“De Pree was the CEO of the Herman Miller office furniture company for many years and his at-that-time unorthodox leadership style led the company to be a powerhouse of innovation and great success.”

– Klaus Schneegans, Buzz 360

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

Geoffrey Moore

“This book is targeted at engineers and explains why great features and even great sales don’t lead to a successful mainstream product. He explains the target audience is split along a bell curve into different segments: early adopters, visionaries, pragmatists, conservatives, and skeptics. Each segment has their own goals and decision making processes, and these differences create a natural chasm between initial visionaries and mainstream pragmatists. Moore details each segment and provides a roadmap to cross the chasm.”

– Mike Stall, Voter Science

To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others

Daniel Pink

“These days, everyone is in sales in one capacity or another. I find this to be especially true of both early stage startups  and political teams. By changing our perspective and redefining ‘sales’ as adding value vs. extracting value, entrepreneurs and political communicators can learn to be more effective in moving others.”

– Dante Vitagliano, Trailmapper

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know

Adam Grant

“In today’s information overload, rethinking an assumption is an essential skill for making effective decisions. Specifically for politics and entrepreneurs, we need to understand the cognitive biases and shortcuts that dictate human behavior. From a campaigner’s perspective, what worked in 2010 might not work in 2020.”

– Eric Wilson, Managing Partner, Startup Caucus