Books of Interest: Great Summer Reading for Business Owners

Photo courtesy:  ©Laurel Delaney 2012, "Steve Jobs"

Start up or beyond, these books will help you brush up on everything from modern marketing to leadership to innovation.  A terrific book list.

A List of Must-Read Books For Startups and Entrepreneurs

Photo -- "Steve Jobs - Biography" -- courtesy of Laurel Delaney and featured as No. 5 on the book list under Inspiration.


Related posts.

Blog Post of Interest: How to Think and Act Different

This one's for Steve ... reflecting on his 2005 Stanford commencement address ... lessons we can all learn as we grow our businesses.

Reflecting on Steve Jobs' Words of Wisdom

Are you putting a ding in the universe?  What are you going to do about it?

Note:  Authorized biography on Steve Jobs coming out soon.

Photo credit here.

Article of Interest: Are You in Pursuit of Perfection?

As you grow your business, are you in constant pursuit of perfection, new opportunities and new possibilities?

Then this little BIG article will fuel your desires.

Read: Steve Jobs: Master of Innovation

Find out how he changed the way we work, play and communicate -- with the best yet to come.

Are you stirring the pot to build a business of common good and lasting value? Let us hear from you. We welcome your thoughts and ideas.

Interview of Interest: Two of the Luckiest Guys on the Planet ...

... because they found what they love to do.

What's this? Talking up men on the Women Presidents' Organization Chicago blog? You bet. In case you missed it, this weekend (6/2) the WSJ ran a great interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates about how they paved the way for the personal computer revolution. Here's the question that was asked by the audience that I learned the most from:

You approached the same opportunity so very differently. What did you learn about running your own business that you wished you had thought of sooner or thought of first by watching the other guy?

Mr. Gates: I'd give a lot to have Steve's taste -- in terms of intuitive taste, both for people and products. We sat in Mac product reviews where there were questions about software choices, how things would be done, that I viewed as an engineering question -- that's just how my my mind works. And I'd see Steve make the decision based on a sense of people and product that is even hard for me to explain. The way he does things is just different, and I think it's magical.

Mr. Jobs: Because Woz and I started the company based on doing the whole banana, we weren't so good at partnering with people. And, you know, actually, the funny thing is, Microsoft's one of the few companies we were able to partner with that actually worked for both companies. And we weren't so good at that, where Bill and Microsoft were really good at it because they didn't make the whole thing in the early days, and they learned how to partner with people really well.

And I think if Apple could have had a little more of that in its DNA, it would have served it extremely well. And I don't think Apple learned that until a few decades later.

In looking back, what do you wish that you would have thought of sooner and taken action on? Do you feel like the luckiest gal on the planet?

Read more here including another interview, a podcast, other blog entries and transcripts from their talk.

Shortcut: Straight to The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital executive conference.