The 7 best business books of 2020 (that I read)
By: Levi Borba
Tags: Management, Entrepreneurship, Business, Startup, Money

The 7 Best Business Books of 2020 (That I Read)

Of the 46 books I read in 2020, these are the best for entrepreneurs and managers.

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

It was a tough year for most of us. As an entrepreneur in the hospitality area, my business was on the verge of the abyss. One thing that helped us to survive were ideas from a book I read some time ago.

As much as it is good to keep hope and some optimism, we should be cautious about prospects. Many of the problems faced this year will not magically disappear at midnight of 31/12/2020. Therefore, I am listing to you the 7 best books for entrepreneurs, managers, and business-related professionals. One of the few positive points of this year was that, with my business closed during part of the year, I could read more.

After 46 books (you can see my reviews for all of them on my Goodreads page, feel free to add me there too), these are the 7 I recommend for you to read in 2021. Put them on your bucket list, you will not regret it.

The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd

During my years at the business school, we had plenty of Marketing classes. Most of them used material from superstar-authors like Philip Kotler and Michael Porter. I will not deny that it was useful and even inspiring, but they focus more on the big-corporation game instead of the new and smaller business.

This book, written by Allan Dib, resolved many knowledge gaps I had about marketing for startups and small businesses. If you are an entrepreneur with a new project in mind, it should be on your must-read list.

The pages have the perfect combination of being simultaneously entertaining and informative. Allan Dib’s writing-style makes it easier to assimilate the content by using trivial, everyday examples. The paragraphs about building a mailing list felt like an anchor on me, to the point I questioned why I didn’t build my company mail list three years ago.

If you are a big-corp marketing manager, maybe this book will not be the most useful for you. But possibly, after reading it, you will end up wanting to start your own business.

Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive

It would not be an exaggeration to say that this is one of the most practical non-fiction books that I ever read.

Kevin Horsley has very good credentials: a 2nd place in a world memory contest, for example. This book is all about mnemonics — tools that help us remember certain facts or large amounts of information. One many think that in the age of Google, to improve our memory performance is a waste of time. Nothing more distant from the truth: even to use google, you need to know what you want to know.

Besides, to remember all the names and tastes of your co-workers and clients may impress everyone and bring competitive advantages.

In 136 pages, Kevin Horsley delivers to us methods like The Journey, The Car, The Body, The Peg, and Mind-Mapping. Down-to-earth, workable techniques that, after you learn, may look like you are even cheating. The first two methods (The Journey and The Body) sounded to me almost like magic, since in a few minutes you can store in perfect sequence a considerable amount of information.

If you think that your struggle with explaining the financial numbers to your partners is because of poor memory, I bet you are wrong. You were just never shown how powerful your memory really can be.

High Output Management

Another masterpiece from an author with respectable credentials. Andrew Grove was the 3rd employee of Intel — after both founders- later its CEO and turned to be one of the most legendary Silicon Valley executives.

High Output Management is originally from 1983, so it could be considered old for our current standards, but it is not. In fact, this is probably what makes this book a must-read.

Andrew Grove does not save words or is afraid of crushing sensibilities. He, straightforwardly, wrote what he really applied over his brilliant career. In another article, I listed 9 management lessons I took from his writings. Teachings like:

How to understand why your team is not achieving good results.

For every indicator, have a counter indicator. This one is especially helpful when defining your business goals, as explained here.

This one is especially helpful when defining your business goals, as explained here. How monitoring should be done.

Answer correctly to “Do you have a minute?” and do not lose your talents.

It is a book with great, priceless lessons for anyone managing a team, either a single summer intern or a multinational with thousands of employees.

Never Split the Difference

If you are a budget hotel or hostel entrepreneur in Eastern Europe, stop reading this article right now.

I don’t want a potential competitor having such a competitive edge as the one provided by Never Split the Difference. And I am talking seriously because this book even helped me to cut the expenses of my company during the COVID-19 crisis!

The author, Chris Voss, served as one of the main FBI negotiators in dozens of crises, not only in the USA but also abroad. Like in the Philippines, where he negotiated with the members from Abu Sayyaf, an ISIS-affiliated terrorist organization.

With all his career expertise, he translates in 274 pages some brilliant insights, useful in multiple sorts of negotiations. There are important lessons to avoid the fight-or-flight mindset that eventually makes the parts lose.

When I read a good book, I take notes, but only from the most important points. From Never Split the Difference I took almost 5 pages of notes in A4 paper. This should put into perspective how many remarkable are there.

So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

If you are familiar with the concept of deep work, likely you are also acquainted with the name of Cal Newport.

This is another world-class publication from this young MIT Ph.D. Filled with great career examples, used as the basis for the careful development of his conclusion: the common-belief that passion should be the driver of a career change or choice is a bad idea.

Do not think this is the only takeaway from the almost 300 pages. Another interesting concept, the theory of career capital, may sound simple once you understand it, but often we neglect it in an era of lifestyle-design experts giving poor advice.

This theory foundation is that, instead of over discovering a true calling, one should master rare and valuable skills. Then you use these skills to build career capital. Later you invest this career capital to gain control over what you do and how you do it. Only then you identify and act on a life-changing mission.

As the author settles:

This philosophy is less sexy than the fantasy of dropping everything to go live among the monks in the mountains, but it’s also a philosophy that has been shown time and again to actually work.

Another excellent point made is against multitasking, as I explained in another article.

Starting Your Own Business Far From Home: What (Not) to Do When Opening a Company in Another State, Country, or Galaxy

Disclaimer: the author of this book is also the author of this article, but you still can check dozens of reviews from verified readers on the Amazon page.

Four years ago I dropped a promising career just after a promotion, to follow the dream of opening my own business. It was not easy, especially because it was a tourist hospitality business and we faced one of the worst crises in history in this sector during 2020.

As an additional obstacle, I opened this company in a country totally different from my culture and with a language that I barely speak (at the beginning).

But both I and my business survived. The lessons I learned, the mistakes I made, and the solutions I found are all in this book.

Because there is no better year to launch an entrepreneurial venture than 2021 — plenty of cash-strapped but promising business are for sales around, and if you look carefully, there will be excellent opportunities waiting for a risk-taking entrepreneur.

Moral Letters to Lucilius — Volume 1

It may surprise you I am listing a book with almost two thousand years among the best business-readings of 2020. But Moral Letters to Lucilius is one of the most brilliant survival manuals that I ever saw.

The first time I heard about Seneca was by reference in one of Nassim Taleb’s books.

After reading it, he turned to be y favorite Roman philosopher for a reason: All his letters and manuscripts have timeless advice about human nature, negotiation, and even physical exercise. Who would imagine that an ancient Latin philosopher made burpees in the morning?

Contrary to common (and often justified) preconceptions, it is an ancient book that is outstanding but also a pleasure to read. Or should I say “a joy”, since the term pleasure is not very welcome for stoics?

Bottom line: one of the best books I read, ever.