Seven books that shaped one entrepreneur's life and business

Executive overview

Most business books teach the same frameworks. These seven stand out because each one changed a specific behaviour — how Noah Kagan runs his company, manages energy, makes decisions, and takes on risk.

The books span leadership, consulting, energy management, and living deliberately. Together they form a practical reading list for founders who want unconventional leverage.

The best investment you can make is a book that forces you to act differently.

Living an interesting life — A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

• Interesting people attract interesting experiences — choose your circle deliberately.
• A Hail Mary works one in ten times; the upside of that one time justifies nine failures.
• Use the book as a prompt: what story do you want to be able to tell?

Scaling by letting go — Maverick

• Ricardo Semler gave employees control over goals, rules, offices, and salaries.
• Hire adults: if people ask you what to do, you haven't hired adults.
• Stepping away from the company for months reveals which cracks prevent growth.
• Question every rule — remove the ones that exist by habit rather than purpose.

Energy over time management — The Power of Full Engagement

• The scarce resource is energy, not hours.
• Schedule recovery time — sauna, walks, anything offline — as seriously as meetings.
• Identify your peak energy window and protect it for deep work.
• Places and people that drain energy compound over time; cut them.

Saying yes to what life offers — The Surrender Experiment

• Michael Singer said yes to unexpected requests and built a nine-figure company almost by accident.
• Facing loneliness directly reduces the fear of it.
• "Say yes to some things you'd normally say no to" is the operating principle.

Consulting at a higher level — Million Dollar Consulting

• Distinguish what the client wants from what they need — solving the latter removes price competition.
• Improving written communication is one of the highest-leverage skills regardless of role.

Controlling inputs, not outcomes — The Score Will Take Care of Itself

• Bill Walsh rebuilt the 49ers by obsessing over practice, culture, and small details — not the scoreboard.
• Small visible details (a comma, a clean desk) signal standards that propagate to larger decisions.
• Build a professional team, not a collection of rock stars.

Fewer options, better decisions — The Paradox of Choice

• Barry Schwartz shows that more choice produces worse outcomes and more anxiety.
• Reducing options is a design decision, not a compromise.