The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich - Expanded and Updated

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas:

An Entrepreneur’s Guide (272 pages)

BY DAN S. KENNEDY

This is a menu of options for converting ideas into millions. I read this when I was in high school and have read it five times since. It is like steroids for your entrepreneurship cortex. The case studies, from Domino’s Pizza to casinos and mail-order products, are outstanding, even if outdated in a few instances.

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It (288 pages)

BY MICHAEL E. GERBER

Gerber is a masterful storyteller and his classic of automation discusses how to use a franchise mind-set to create scalable businesses that are based on rules and not outstanding employees. It is an excellent road map— told in parable—for becoming an owner instead of constant micromanager. If you’re stuck in your own business, this book will get you unstuck in no time.

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel (224 pages)

BY ROLF POTTS

Rolf is the man. This is the book that got me to stop making excuses and pack for an extended hiatus. It covers bits of everything but is particularly helpful for determining your destination, adjusting to life on the road, and re-assimilating back into ordinary life. It includes great little excerpts from famous vagabonds, philosophers, and explorers, as well as anecdotes from ordinary travelers. This is the first of two books (the other was Walden, below) that I took with me on my first 15-month mini-retirement.

Reducing Emotional and Material Baggage

Walden (384 pages)

BY HENRY DAVID THOREAU

This is considered by many to be the masterpiece of reflective simple living. Thoreau lived on the edge of a small lake in rural Massachusetts for two years, building his own shelter and living alone, as an experiment in self-reliance and minimalism. It was both a huge success and a failure, which is what makes this book such a compelling read.

Less Is More: The Art of Voluntary Poverty—An Anthology of Ancient and Modern Voices in Praise of Simplicity (336 pages)

EDITED BY GOLDIAN VANDENBROECK

This is a collection of bite-sized philosophies on simple living. I read it to learn how to do the most with the least and eliminate artificial needs, not live like a monk—big difference. It incorporates actionable principles and short stories ranging from Socrates to Benjamin Franklin and the Bhagavad Gita to modern economists.

The Monk and the Riddle: The Education of a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur (192 pages)

BY RANDY KOMISAR

This great book was given to me by Professor Zschau as a graduation gift and introduced me to the phrase “deferred-life plan.” Randy, a virtual CEO and partner at the legendary Kleiner Perkins, has been described as a “combined professional mentor, minister without portfolio, in-your-face investor, trouble-shooter and door opener.” Let a true Silicon Valley wizard show you how he created his ideal life using razor-sharp thinking and Buddhist-like philosophies. I’ve met him—he’s the real deal.

The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less (288 pages)

BY RICHARD KOCH

This book explores the “nonlinear” world, discusses the mathematical and historical support for the 80/20 Principle, and offers practical applications of the same.

Muse Creation and Related Skills

Harvard Business School Case Studies www.hbsp.harvard.edu (click on “school cases”)

One of the secrets behind Harvard Business School’s teaching success is the case method—using real-life case studies for discussion. These cases take you inside the marketing and operational plans of 24-Hour Fitness, Southwest Airlines, Timberland, and hundreds of other companies. Few people realize that you can purchase these case studies for less than $10 apiece instead of spending more than $100,000 to go to Harvard (not that the latter isn’t worth it). There is a case study for every situation, problem, and business model.

“This business has legs”: How I Used Infomercial Marketing to Create the $100,000,000 Thighmaster Craze: An Entrepreneurial Adventure Story (206 pages)

BY PETER BIELER

This is the story of how a naive (in the best sense of the word) Peter Bieler started from scratch—no product, no experience, no cash—and created a $100-million merchandising empire in less than two years. It is a mind-expanding and often hysterical case study that uses real numbers to discuss the fine points of everything from dealing with celebrities to marketing, production, legal, and retail. Peter can now finance the media purchases for your product: www.mediafunding.com.

Secrets of Power Negotiating: Inside Secrets from a Master Negotiator (256 pages)

BY ROGER DAWSON

This is the one negotiating book that really opened my eyes and gave me practical tools I could use immediately. I used the audio adaptation. If you’re hungry for more, William Ury’s Getting Past No and G. Richard Shell’s Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People are outstanding. These are the only negotiating books you’ll ever need.

Response Magazine (www.responsemagazine.com)

This magazine is dedicated to the multibillion-dollar direct response (DR) industry, with a focus on television, radio, and Internet marketing. How-to articles (increasing sales per call, lowering media costs, improving fulfillment, etc.) are interspersed with case studies of successful campaigns (George Foreman Grill, Girls Gone Wild, etc.). The best outsourcers in the business also advertise in this magazine. This is an excellent resource at an excellent price—free.

Jordan Whitney Greensheet (www.jwgreensheet.com)

This is an insider secret of the DR world. Jordan Whitney’s weekly and monthly reports dissect the most successful product campaigns, including offers, pricing, guarantees, and ad frequencies (indicative of spending and, thus, profitability). The publication also maintains an up-to-date tape library from which infomercials and spot commercials can be purchased for competitive research. Highly recommended.

Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big (256 pages)

BY BO BURLINGHAM

Longtime Inc. magazine editor-at-large Bo Burlingham crafts a beautiful collage