10 Best Business Books of 2025, According to Founders and Business Leaders

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10 Best Business Books of 2025, According to Founders and Business Leaders

By Chris Morris | Inc | December 23, 2025

2 key takeaways from the article

1. Inc. surveyed an assortment of founders and business leaders and dug through dozens of lists to find recommendations of some of the best business books around today. If nothing in your backlog of books is calling to you today, any of these could be a good place to start.
2. 10 Best Business Books of 2025, According to Founders and Business Leaders. A) Breakneck by Dan Wang.  Looks at China’s rapidly expanding technological and geopolitical profile, “one of the  better explanations of the gap        between an engineering-driven society and a lawyer-driven one.”  B) Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams.  It’s a memoir that looks at one woman’s career at Facebook. Wynn-Williams, and the stories she conveys, which include alleged misconduct and harassment at the company, are ones Meta did not want told. C) When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows by Steven Pinker.  Its about how people communicate.  D) Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson.  It is a must-read for progressives who want a  blueprint for reforming government so it can deliver for working people.  E)  The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom.  Finance isn’t the only sort of wealth, he writes. There’s also time wealth, social wealth, mental wealth, and physical wealth. He discusses how to achieve each of these.  F)  Reset by Dan Heath.  Reset explores how to    become unstuck and to find leverage points, where a little effort can yield large rewards, while putting an end to wasteful actions.  G)  Source Code by Bill Gates.  It’s a chance to look at the very early history of a founder who would go on to revolutionize an industry.  H)  1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin draws parallels between Great          Depression and modern financial markets as well as the roles that greed, policy, and psychology did (and continue to) play.   It also offers interesting case studies on leadership during a    crisis. I)  Algospeak by Adam Aleksic looks at how internet algorithms are transforming how we communicate with one another.  And J)  The Sweaty Startup by Nick Huber argues that you don’t need a revolutionary idea and       significant financial backing to succeed. By        focusing on skills like sales, hiring, and delegation, you can succeed by executing a proven idea better than your competition.
    

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  Books, Entrepreneurship, Language, Biography, Governance, Great Depression, Crisis Management

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read | Listen

One of the nicest things about the holiday season is that you’re able to sneak in some me time. That gives founders a chance to unplug and catch up on their reading.

The right book for you depends on your interests, your tastes, and your mood. But with so many options on shelves, where should you start? Inc. surveyed an assortment of founders and business leaders and dug through dozens of lists to find recommendations of some of the best business books around today. If nothing in your backlog of books is calling to you today, any of these could be a good place to start.

1. Breakneck by Dan Wang.  Mercury co-founder and CEO Immad Akhund calls this look at China’s rapidly expanding technological and geopolitical profile “one of the better explanations of the gap between an engineering-driven society and a lawyer-driven one. It’s a thought-provoking look at why the U.S. struggles to build things and how we could fix it. It’s not hand-wavy. It’s grounded in engineering reality. If you care about how things actually get made, it’s worth reading.”
2. Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams.  Steve Blank, widely regarded as the father of modern entrepreneurship and the creator of the lean startup movement, lists this as one of his top books of 2025. It’s a memoir that looks at one woman’s career at Facebook. Wynn-Williams, a former U.N. diplomat for New Zealand, was the director of public policy at the company from 2011 through 2017. And the stories she conveys, which include alleged misconduct and harassment at the company, are ones Meta did not want told.
3. When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows by Steven Pinker.  Bill Gates included this look at how the concept of common knowledge shapes human behavior on his list of must-read holiday books for 2025. “Few people explain the mysteries of human behavior better than Steven Pinker, and his latest book is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about how people communicate,” he wrote.
4. Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson.  Former president (and co-founder of Higher Ground, the award-winning media production company) Barack Obama, in his 2025 reading list, called Abundance “a must-read for progressives who want a blueprint for reforming government so it can deliver for working people.” It looks at progress in the U.S. through a different lens, illustrating how rigidly clinging to beliefs can sometimes prevent you from achieving what you want.
5. The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom.  There are plenty of business books about risk. Bloom looks at a different sort, though—the risk of chasing the wrong dreams. Finance isn’t the only sort of wealth, he writes. There’s also time wealth, social wealth, mental wealth, and physical wealth. He discusses how to achieve each of these. “Bloom broadens the definition of what wealth is and reminds us of the kinds of wealth that actually impact our happiness.
6. Reset by Dan Heath.  Founders can sometimes suffer from tunnel vision, remaining so focused on the day-to-day business of running their companies that they fail to see when it’s not working. Reset explores how to become unstuck and to find leverage points, where a little effort can yield large rewards, while putting an end to wasteful actions.
7. Source Code by Bill Gates.  This is the first of three planned memoirs by Gates. He discusses his childhood and early struggles to fit in with other kids. He covers meeting Paul Allen and wraps up with stories of the founding of Microsoft. It’s a chance to look at the very early history of a founder who would go on to revolutionize an industry, and Blank lists it as one of his top books of the year.
8. 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin.  Sorkin’s detailed narrative of the 1929 stock market crash that launched the Great Depression has been winning praise since it was published. Critics have noted how it draws parallels between that event and modern financial markets as well as how Sorkin discusses the roles that greed, policy, and psychology did (and continue to) play.   It’s obviously a detailed account of a transformative moment in American economic history, but it also offers interesting case studies on leadership during a crisis.
9. Algospeak by Adam Aleksic.  Etymologists don’t always make it onto business book lists, but with Algospeak, Adam Aleksix looks at how internet algorithms are transforming how we communicate with one another. Among the words and phrases the online world has given us are “brainrot,” incel slang, and adding “-core” to various words. Aleksic looks at how language has changed and how societal changes have reflected that.
10. The Sweaty Startup by Nick Huber.  A finalist for one of the 2025 Porchlight Business Book Awards (which have recognized the best in the genre since 2007), The Sweaty Startup argues that you don’t need a revolutionary idea and significant financial backing to succeed. By focusing on skills like sales, hiring, and delegation, you can succeed by executing a proven idea better than your competition.