Libraries Of Leaders: What The Sharks Like To Read
Libraries of Leaders: Shark tank investors give their book recommendations
Popular reality TV show, Shark Tank has helped turned many entrepreneurial dreams into reality. It gives aspiring entrepreneurs a platform to pitch their ideas to a panel of high profile investors such as Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary and Daymond John. Here are some of the books they have read, enjoyed and learnt from.
Mark Cuban
Billionaire investor, Mark Cuban has shared several book recommendations in interviews he has done in the recent past. Here are a few interesting picks.
1. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
He says that this is required reading for every entrepreneur, and has even named his yacht after it.
The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop meMark Cuban talking about The Fountainhead to Business Insider
2. The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms To Fail by Clayton M. Christenson
This book has also been recommended by Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz.
3. Rework by Jason Fried
If given a choice between investing in someone who has read Rework or has an MBA, I’m investing in Rework every time. This is a must read for every entrepreneur.Mark Cuban’s review of the book
Daymond John
Daymond John is the founder of FUBU, a pioneer in the street wear fashion movement He doesn’t let being dyslexic stop him from reading, and he often reads the same book twice or thrice, according to an interview he did with Entrepreneur magazine. Here are some of his favorite picks.
1.Think And Grow Rich by Napolean Hill
First published in 1937, the author of this book interviewed over 500 of the most successful leaders of the time, whose insights he condensed into this 200 page book. Interviewees include Henry Ford, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
2. Freakonomics by Stephen J. Dubner, Steven Levitt
This book uses economic theories to explain unconventional subjects, such as the economics of cheating, applied to teachers and sumo wrestlers.
3. The One Minute Manager by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
The book is about how to manage others in order to increase their confidence and productivity with three one minute ‘management’ secrets.
Kevin O'Leary
Kevin O’Leary is a prominent investor who co-founded Softkey, which he then sold to Mattel. He recommends some books to Dividend.com. He is a master salesman and here are some of the books he says he learnt from.
1.The Psychology Of Selling by Brian Tracy
Tracy gives easy-to-apply ideas and techniques to help improve sales.
2. How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carneige
This was one of the first self-help books ever published and was included in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential books published.
3. Zig Ziglar’s Secrets Of Closing The Sale by Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar is an internationally renowned authority on high-level performance. He is an inspirational speaker whose course is taught in more than 3000 schools. In the book, he teaches the art of persuasion, and how best to sell ideas.