rsedmak

As a collector of business books both new and rare, I love reading biographies of entrepreneurs- and am fortunate to have in my collection some which I bet you’ve never heard of.  While many business books aren’t worth the paper they’re written on, the ones listed below have had a significant impact on my thinking:

1) The Making of a Blockbuster: How Wayne Huizenga Built a Sports and Entertainment Empire from Trash, Grit, and Videotape by Gail DeGeorge
In my opinion, Wayne Huizenga is one of the best entrepreneurs of all time. He’s started several multi-billion dollar companies, including Waste Management Inc, Blockbuster Video, Republic Services, Autonation, Extended Stay America, the Florida Marlins, the Florida Panthers, and owned the Miami Dolphins. Nobody in history has started more $1B+ companies, or taken more companies public. Get it, and read it today.

2) Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Peter Kaufman
You might not recognize the name Charlie Munger – but you probably recognize the name of his partner, Warren Buffett. Munger, a billionaire in his own right, has been partners with Buffett from very early on, and as Buffett says, no one has shaped his thinking more than Munger. This book has some really interesting stories about Buffett and essentially explores the evolution of the mental models of Munger and Buffett.

3) Golden Boy: The Harold Simmons Story by John Nance
You probably haven’t heard of Harold Simmons – but he’s long been a hero of mine. The father of the LBO (Leveraged Buy-out), this books explores how he started with a small drug store, turned it into a chain, sold to Jack Eckerd, and went on to build a huge portfolio of publicly traded companies.

4) Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton
Sam Walton, the pickup truck driving founder of Walmart, in his own words. Not so little known, but fantastic.

5) Richard Branson: Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
No one says it more simply than Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group (airlines, trains, music, mobile phones, financial, etc) The story of his life is inspirational, fun, and really unorthodox. Even if you dislike reading business books, you’ll lose track of time reading this one.

Honorable Mentions

Titan: The Life of John D Rockefeller, Sr by Ron Chernow
A very long book, but I think Chernow is one of the best biographers out there. Especially found fascinating the ways in which events from Rockefeller’s childhood and teenage years shaped him, and his early business successes. He was probably one of the most disciplined people who ever lived – and the richest – $350 Billion+ in 2010 dollars.

The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklinby H.W. Brands
Brands does a better job than any previous biographer, but I still hope the best Franklin biography has yet to be written. Franklin is in my view one of the best entrepreneurs of all time.

Any that you would add?

[photos:  nndb.com, underground value, flickr/modern luxury media,  flickr/marco senche ]