All ambitious businessmen value the important information they gain through reading. Gaining new knowledge is crucial for the vitality of your business as well as for your personal development. To complete your summer reading list we’ve collected 5 books that will enrich your knowledge and broaden your perspective whether you’re an investor or an entrepreneur.

Books to read this summer for investors and entrepreneurs

1. Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist, by Brad Feld

Whether you’re an experienced or aspiring entrepreneur, venture capitalist, or lawyer who partakes in these particular types of deals, you will benefit from the insights found throughout this book. It’s engaging and informative, and it skillfully outlines the essential elements of the venture capital term sheet – from terms related to economics to terms related to control. It strives to give a balanced view of the particular terms along with the strategies to getting a fair deal. It also introduces you to the various participants in the process and discusses how fundraising works.

2. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, by Philip Fisher

Philip Fisher is definitely one of the most influential investors of all time. His investment philosophies, introduced almost forty years ago, are not only studied and applied by today’s financiers and investors but are also regarded by many as gospel. This book is invaluable reading and has been since it was first published in 1958. The updated paperback retains the investment wisdom of the original edition and includes the perspectives of the author’s son Ken Fisher, an investment guru in his own right in an expanded preface and introduction.

3. Investment: A History, by Norton Reamer and Jesse Downing

This entertaining history doubles as a sophisticated account of the opportunities and challenges facing the modern investor. It follows the rise of funded retirement; the evolution of investment vehicles and techniques; investment misdeeds and regulatory reform; government economic policy; the development of investment theory; and the emergence of new investment structures. Norton Reamer and Jesse Downing map these trends and profile the battle between low-cost index and exchange-traded funds, on the one hand, and the higher-fee hedge funds and private equity, on the other.

4. Rethink: The Surprising History of New Ideas, by Steven Poole

The Guardian columnist and contributor to The Atlantic talks about innovation not always being as innovative as it may seem. This is the story of how old ideas that were mocked or ignored for centuries are now storming back to the cutting edge of science and technology, informing the way we lead our lives. Drawing on examples from business to philosophy to science, Rethink shows what we can learn by revisiting old, discarded ideas and considering them from a novel perspective.

5. Open Data Now: The Secret to Hot Startups, Smart Investing, Savvy Marketing, and Fast Innovation, by Joel Gurin

This powerful, practical book shows you how to harness the power of Open Data in a variety of applications such as hot startups or innovation. Whether you’re a marketing professional who wants to stay on top of what’s trending, a budding entrepreneur with a billion-dollar idea and limited resources, or a struggling business owner trying to stay competitive in a changing global market–or if you just want to understand the cutting edge of information technology–Open Data Now offers a wealth of big ideas, strategies, and techniques that wouldn’t have been possible before Open Data leveled the playing field.

6. Radical Honesty: How to Transform Your Life by Telling the Truth, by Brad Blanton

If you’re wondering how to have lives that work, how to have relationships that are alive and passionate, and how to create intimacy where none exists, ‘Radical Honesty’ is the book for you. As we have been taught by the philosophical and spiritual sources of our culture for thousands of years, from Plato to Nietzsche, from the Bible to Emerson, the truth shall set you free.

What are your book recommendations for the summer?

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