5 Strategy books that you need to read

Running a business takes a wide variety of skillsets and knowledge. There are are a great many books out there to choose from for inspiration and learnings on what to do, so we’ve curated the NOAN teams 5 favorites across all areas of strategy to give you somewhere to start.

Let My People Go Surfing

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s seminal book on his time building and running Patagonia is full of lessons for any business owner. The book covers everything from the key to defining a mission and soul of a company to the importance of treating employees well. Chouinard covers it all as only he could, with the great outdoors a constant companion on his journey.

On Grand Strategy

Yale history professor John Lewis Gaddis’ course On Grand Strategy was one of the most oversubscribed courses at the university. Luckily he turned it into a riveting, well thought through book. On Grand Strategy is the book you need to read to help with leadership, navigating difficult challenges and managing people. Gaddis takes lessons from history and makes them actionable for the individual leader.

Subscribed

Tien Tzuo’s book Subscribed was one of the earliest to drive home the importance of the subscription model in business. While it has been around a while, it’s chock full of learnings on how global companies develop successful approaches to recurring revenue. If you are running a membership or subscription business then you need to read this book.

The Cold Start Problem

There are several ways to grow a business, and VC partner Andrew Chen lays a great many of them out here, focusing on network effects, what they are, how to stimulate them and how difficult they can be. Plenty of examples and case studies to choose from, from the coal face of some of the world’s most iconic companies

The Forever Transaction

Yes, it’s another book about subscription models, but Robbie Kellman Baxter is a hired-gun growth whisperer for the leaders of companies like Strava and Nike. This book goes beyond the why of subscription models to the how of getting your projects to gain traction in your company, target them at the ideal customer groups, and make them stick - forever.