Business

Top 5 business books entrepreneurs should be reading on World Book Day 2022

Published

4 years ago

March 7, 2022

Table of Contents

Prolific children’s author Roald Dahl once said, ‘If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books.’ So, budding entrepreneur – what are you waiting for?

If you’re a business owner, CEO or entrepreneur with kids, you’ll no doubt be very aware that today is World Book Day.

You’ve more than likely either spent the last week making a costume for your kid(s) that (roughly) resembles their favourite fictional character, or done a double take at the money you’ve just spent ordering a costume online.

But regardless of your view on World Book Day, it’s hard to deny the immense impact reading has on our lives. And this celebration is not just for our children, though they definitely learn and develop through the power of reading.

World Book Day is also for us adults and business owners to recognise the personal and professional development books provide us. Plus, as an entrepreneur, you don’t have to dress up to celebrate!

Based on over 20 years of experience interviewing CEOs, founders and successful business owners, Startups has identified the top five business books any future leader should read.

So what books are they, and how can they help you become a success?

How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

Ask any successful business owner, and they will tell you the key to their success is largely due to the relationships they’ve developed with their employees, business partners, and customers.

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This is likely why Dale Carnegie’s prolific and timeless classic makes it onto our list of the best business books for entrepreneurs.

Carnegie’s advice and guidance is instrumental to running a successful business, as it teaches the reader how to deal with people, which according to Carnegie himself is the ‘biggest problem founders are faced with’.

The book advises how to:

Make friends quickly and easily
Increase your popularity
Persuade people to follow your way of thinking
Win new clients and customers
Become a better speaker
Boost enthusiasm among your colleagues

You’ll need all of these skills as you navigate the startup world, and the importance of each is reiterated time and time again by successful entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed at Startups over the years.

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, Gino Wickman

Gino Wickman’s 2012 guide to running your business is seen as a bible to many successful entrepreneurs. It is centered around the Entrepreneurial Operating System, a practical approach to achieving business success by strengthening six key components of your business.

These components are:

Vision
People
Data
Issues
Process
Traction

There are similar books that scratch the surface of business management, but none delve quite as deep as Wickman’s Traction. It is a true ‘how to achieve business success’ guide that will help you keep control of your business as it scales without losing your sense of direction.

Sophie Baron, founder of Mamamade:

“The book Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman was recommended to me by a mentor, and now I recommend it to every new hire we bring on. It’s an important reminder to stay focused on what works – and keep an eye out for what doesn’t.”

Tools of Titans, Tim Ferriss

Tim provides several great tips on how to start a business in the video below:

Tim Ferriss is highly regarded in the business community, not only for his incredibly successful podcast The Tim Ferriss Show but also for his self-help book series, which includes the No.1 New York Times bestseller The 4-Hour Work Week.

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Making his millions as an early-stage technology investor, Tim has made angel investments in companies such as Uber and Shopify, which have earned him a reputation as one of the most innovative business people in the world.

His 2016 effort Tools of Titans earns a place on our list of the top business books for entrepreneurs. In it, Ferriss takes the teachings, lessons, and tactics of successful CEOs and founders he’s interviewed over the past few years and explores them further, applying them to his own idea of business success.

The result is, as Ferriss calls it, ‘an ultimate notebook of high-leverage tools that will ensure you make the most out of your day and excel in high-stakes negotiations, environments and business dealings’.

Cathy Moseley, CEO of Boundless:

“I refer to Tools of Titans every day. Tim’s book is full of great insights, and in my opinion it should be a startup’s bible.”

The Culture Map, Erin Meyers

For entrepreneurs and startups aiming to operate on an international scale, Erin Meyers’ pivotal guide to breaking through the cultural boundaries of global business is a must-read.

Working with other businesses in the UK alone can be an arduous task, but even more challenges arise once you start operating internationally and dealing with clients and employees from across the globe.

The Culture Map provides a field-tested, practical model for understanding how cultural differences impact businesses that have entered the international business space. Meyer’s guide is full of actionable advice that is integral to the success of your business overseas.

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Drawing on her own experiences in the business world, Meyers explains how to increase your organisation’s success by improving your ability to understand the behaviours of employees, clients and suppliers from different countries.

‘The Culture Map’ is Sprout.ai founder Niels Thone’s favourite book about leadership and management.

Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Building Leaders by Breaking the Rules, David Marquet

One of the biggest challenges facing founders and business leaders today is burnout.

Instead of building a team of independent free thinkers, many business owners are surrounded by followers that they are in charge of.

This can make running a business challenging and exhausting, particularly when the weight of responsibility is placed on you as the leader.

David Marquet, an experienced Navy officer, realised this whilst serving as Captain on the U.S. Navy’s Santa Fe ship.

He decided to make radical changes to his leadership style, and before long the Santa Fe skyrocketed from the worst to best ship in the fleet.

Turn the Ship Around is Marquet’s account of how he took matters into his own hands and challenged the U.S. Navy’s traditional leader-follower approach.

Instead of maintaining a culture of followers, Marquet pushed for leadership at every level. His guidelines for leadership are now adopted by countless successful entrepreneurs, who run businesses where every individual takes responsibility for their actions.

This book is great for any business owner who wants to use Marquet’s lessons and teachings in leadership to help propel their business forward.

Stephen Covey, author of one of the most highly regarded business books ever published (7 Habits) argued that Captain Marquet’s model of leadership was the ‘finest I have seen’.

If you want to learn how to manage a team of leaders rather than followers, look no further than Turn the Ship Around.

Alex Young, founder of Virti:

“[This is] a great book which focuses on empowering your people to think like mini-CEOs. As we bring more amazing people into our business, surrounding myself with people I can directly learn from is really important, whereas previously I figured things out by myself.”

Via Startups

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Aviation

LAX Passenger Volume Surge Today, Nov 23: Exploring the 500% Increase

Published

4 days ago

November 23, 2025

Abdul Rahman

If you are reading this from the floor of Terminal 4 near the American Airlines check-in, I’m sorry. If you are reading this from the comfort of your couch, stay there.

Today, November 23, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) isn’t just busy; it is a kinetic experiment in human density. Early reports and viral social media metrics are tossing around a staggering figure: a 500% increase in passenger volume. While the statisticians will eventually smooth that number out against year-over-year averages, the feeling on the ground is undeniable.

We aren’t just seeing a holiday rush. We are witnessing a “perfect storm” of logistics, psychology, and policy collision.

Table of Contents

The “Why”: Anatomy of a Super-Surge

To understand why the 500% figure feels real, you have to look at the calendar. We are sandwiched between two massive pressure points.

The Post-Shutdown Rebound: We are barely ten days out from the end of the 43-day government shutdown. For over a month, flight restrictions and FAA staffing shortages throttled capacity. Today represents the breaking of that dam. The “500%” isn’t just normal traffic; it’s the release of six weeks of pent-up business and leisure travel that was artificially suppressed until mid-November.
Thanksgiving Proximity: It is the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Historically, this is a “yellow alert” day, ramping up to the “red alert” of Wednesday. But combined with the post-shutdown floodgates, today has effectively become the busiest travel day of the decade.
The Infrastructure Gap: Construction on the Central Terminal Area curbside improvement just began. This means lanes are closed exactly when volume is quintupling.

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The Reality Check: A Terminal-by-Terminal Breakdown

The raw numbers (82 million Americans traveling this week) are abstract. The reality at LAX today is visceral.

The Loop (World Way): It is currently a parking lot. The “horseshoe” design of LAX, finalized in an era when a 500% surge was mathematically impossible, is failing. Ride-shares are cancelling en masse because they simply cannot enter the central terminal area without losing an hour of revenue.
TSA Checkpoints: This is where the “500% surge” hits hardest. With TSA staffing still restabilizing post-shutdown, PreCheck lines are bleeding into general boarding. The unspoken social contract of the airport queue is fraying.
The Lounge Economy: Even the sanctuaries are overrun. The Delta Sky Club and the Star Alliance Lounge are reportedly operating “one-in, one-out” policies. When you can’t even buy your way out of the crowd, you know the system is saturated.

The Verdict: Is This the New Normal?

Is the “500% increase” a fluke or a forecast?

My verdict is that this is a warning shot. The aviation industry has been celebrating the “return to travel” since 2022, but today proves we have returned with a vengeance that our infrastructure cannot handle. We are trying to pour a gallon of water into a shot glass.

If you are traveling today, you are not a passenger; you are a participant in a logistical stress test. The infrastructure is crumbling not under neglect, but under sheer, unpredicted demand. The “Revenge Travel” narrative was supposed to end last year; instead, it has mutated into “Habitual Travel,” where flyers are willing to endure almost any level of friction to move.

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Survival Guide: Navigating the Surge

If you must fly out of LAX in the next 24 hours, standard advice no longer applies.

Abandon the Loop: Do not get dropped off at your terminal. It is a trap. Get dropped off at the LAX-it lot or a nearby hotel (like the Hyatt Regency) and walk. The 15-minute walk will save you 45 minutes of gridlock.
Digital Sentry: Watch your flight status like a hawk. With this volume, one delayed inbound aircraft creates a domino effect that will wipe out the entire evening board.
Pack Patience (and Snacks): The food court lines are currently longer than the security lines. If you didn’t bring food, you are fasting.

The bottom line: The 500% surge is real in impact, if not in exactitude. Today, LAX is not an airport; it is a city under siege. Proceed with caution, and if you can, maybe wait until Tuesday.

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Startups

🌐 The Global Blockchain Show 2025 Is Coming to Abu Dhabi – December 10–11, 2025

Published

7 days ago

November 20, 2025

Abdul Rahman

The blockchain world is converging in Abu Dhabi this December for one of the most anticipated Web3 events of the year: the Global Blockchain Show 2025, taking place December 10–11, 2025. With over 7,000+ attendees, 250+ global speakers, and 350+ pioneering companies, this summit promises to be a powerhouse of innovation, networking, and strategic insight globalblockchainshow.com Cointelegraph.

Table of Contents

🚀 A Premier Web3 & Crypto Conference

Organized by VAP Group and powered by Times of Blockchain, the Global Blockchain Show is more than just a conference—it’s a launchpad for the future of decentralized technology. Held at a world-class venue in Abu Dhabi, the event will spotlight the UAE’s bold leap into blockchain adoption across government, enterprise, and finance Cointelegraph.

🔍 What to Expect

1. Global Thought Leadership

Hear from 250+ blockchain pioneers, founders, and policy shapers driving the next wave of innovation. Topics will span:

Web3 infrastructure
Tokenization and DeFi
Blockchain regulation and compliance
Enterprise integration and smart contracts

2. Elite Networking

Rub shoulders with:

Top-tier investors
Tech giants
Startups and developers
Government officials and regulators

This is your chance to forge partnerships that could shape the next decade of blockchain evolution.

3. Immersive Exhibitions

Explore cutting-edge solutions from 350+ companies showcasing the latest in crypto, NFTs, metaverse, and enterprise blockchain applications.

🌍 Why Abu Dhabi?

Abu Dhabi is rapidly emerging as a global blockchain hub, with progressive regulation, strong institutional support, and a thriving tech ecosystem. The city’s commitment to digital transformation makes it the perfect host for a summit of this scale and ambition.

🎯 Who Should Attend?

This event is ideal for:

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Blockchain founders and developers
Crypto investors and analysts
Web3 startups and entrepreneurs
Government and enterprise leaders
Legal and compliance professionals

Whether you’re building the next unicorn or shaping policy, the Global Blockchain Show offers unparalleled access to insights, capital, and community.

📅 Save the Date

Global Blockchain Show 2025
🗓️ Dates: December 10–11, 2025
📍 Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Ready to be part of the future?
Visit the official website to register, explore the agenda, and secure your spot among the world’s top blockchain minds globalblockchainshow.com.

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Events

🌍 World School Summit 2026 – Malaysia

Published

1 week ago

November 20, 2025

Abdul Rahman

34th Edition | 24th January, 2026

Table of Contents

Introduction

Education is evolving faster than ever, and the leaders shaping tomorrow’s schools must stay ahead of global trends. The World School Summit, now in its 34th edition, is set to take place in Malaysia on 24th January, 2026. This prestigious gathering will unite the world’s top educators, school owners, principals, directors, and institutional leaders for a transformative day of learning, networking, and collaboration.

Why the World School Summit Matters

The summit is more than just an event—it’s a global platform for innovation in education. With participants from across continents, the summit fosters dialogue on the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing schools today.

Key highlights include:

🌐 Global Networking: Connect with principals, directors, and school owners from diverse regions.
💡 Thought Leadership: Hear from pioneering educators and experts on the future of learning.
📈 Strategic Insights: Explore new models of school management, leadership, and institutional growth.
🤝 Collaborative Opportunities: Build partnerships that extend beyond borders.

Who Should Attend

The World School Summit is designed for:

Principals and School Leaders
Directors and School Owners
Educators and Teachers
School Management Professionals
Education Institutes and Policy Makers

Whether you’re leading a single institution or shaping national education policy, this summit offers actionable strategies and global perspectives to elevate your impact.

Malaysia: The Perfect Host

Malaysia, with its rich cultural diversity and growing reputation as a hub for international education, provides the ideal backdrop for this global summit. Attendees will not only gain professional insights but also experience the country’s vibrant culture and hospitality.

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Looking Ahead

As the 34th edition of the World School Summit, this event builds on decades of success, continually adapting to the changing landscape of education. The 2026 summit promises to be one of the most impactful yet, setting the tone for the future of schools worldwide.