For would-be entrepreneurs and veteran business leaders, nothing beats the uncooked, unedited wisdom of an excellent autobiography. Indian business leaders and startup founders frequently pick up these personal accounts, some global, others homegrown, to draw inspiration, strategic frameworks, and, more than anything, the psychological armor necessary to survive the inevitable ‘dark times’ of a scaling firm.
Ritesh Agarwal (OYO), Falguni Nayar (Nykaa), and Nithin Kamath (Zerodha)have a bias towards memoirs that speak about resilience, ethical leadership, and the life-altering personal sacrifices it takes to build a long-lasting venture. These are the books that take off the shiny topcoats and show you the grime, luck, and sweat behind success.
Here is a curated guide to the autobiographies that Indian business leaders recommend the most.
I. Global Narratives of Resilience and Scale
These worldwide journeymen offer timeless lessons in innovation, brand building and managing extraordinary growth that find real relevance among Indian leaders who dream of the global stage.
1. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight
- Introduction: This is a wildly honest and deeply personal account of the co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight’s story of the unauthorized tomfoolery which led to the company’s volatile formative years. (And yes, these are the same people who 20 years later turned MySpace into a seedy, hit-and-run site for scammy ads and identity theft.) It’s a tale of how a Crazy Idea started an online business selling high-quality, inexpensive running shoes from Japan, which can lead through near financial collapse after another, and eventually to a global brand, on the strength of faith alone. Knight traces the offbeat and tightly knit group of “misfits” who comprised his first employees, and the countless near bankruptcy scares, aggressive lawsuits, and other crises that threatened the company and his vision.
- Why Indian leaders recommend it: Founders often mention Shoe Dog as a counter to pinkwashed success narratives. It gives a voice to the chaotic, cash-starved version of the early startup journey. For many Indian founders, the book’s teachings on bootstrapping, landing early partners, and the sheer madness needed to chase a dream are much-needed inspiration. Nayar (Falguni Nayar, Nykaa) has touted its emphasis on brand, grit, and braving through existential threats.
2. Made in America: My Story by Sam Walton
- Introduction: Walmart’s founder’s autobiography provides an example of how frugality, relentless curiosity, and obsessive attention to a customer’s needs can create a business empire. Walton leads readers through his modest roots in Arkansas to becoming the world’s largest retailer. He lays out the principles that made Walmart so successful: a ruthless focus on cost reduction, a constant feedback loop with employees and customers, and innovative logistics and inventory management.
- Why Indian leaders recommend it: Many Indian leaders, particularly those in consumer retail and logistics, admire Walton’s well-disciplined playbook for scale in a value-conscious market. The book is praised for the way it addresses unit economics and operationalizing from a very basic level, mandatory for Indian success.
3. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
- Introduction: Written in the 1700s, Franklin’s memoir has been hailed as a classic manual of personal discipline, self-cultivation, and public-spiritedness. He tells the story of his life as a runaway apprentice and struggling printer who becomes a successful printer, inventor, scientist, and statesman. Focusing on the pragmatic ethic that guided his life and on his famous thirteen virtues (such as Temperance, Industry, and Frugality).
- Why Indian Leaders Recommend It: This title goes beyond business and contains lessons on the character of the founder. Nithin Kamath (Zerodha), known for his interest in keeping fit and being mentally strong, has vouched for Franklin’s rigorous roadmap for personal development. Indian leaders admire its focus on self-mastery as the premise for managing a great organization.
4. The Ride of a Lifetime: What I Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger
- Introduction: Robert Iger recounts his five years at the head of the most powerful media conglomerate in the world, leading through an extraordinary industry disruptor, and driving historic growth via daring acquisitions (Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Fox). Iger narrows his own leadership down to four core traits: Optimism, Courage, Focus, and Decisiveness, and shares the story of how he rescued a faltering media giant.
- Why Indian Leaders Recommend It: Both Indian leaders and entrepreneurs find Iger’s strategic courage lessons particularly meaningful as some of their own startups expand and encounter competition from global markets. Ritesh Agarwal (OYO) has cited books with similar themes of bold expansion and visionary leadership as key drivers behind OYO’s rapid global scaling.
II. Homegrown Wisdom: Indian Voices of Experience
These are the business memoirs penned by Indian business leaders that contain context-specific wisdom, insight into the challenges of conducting business in the Indian economic and political landscape, and how to create ethical, scalable enterprises.
5. Go Kiss the World: Life Lessons for the Young Professional by Subroto Bagchi
- Introduction: Subroto Bagchi, co-founder of a successful IT consulting firm, Mindtree, narrates his inspiring path from obscurity to a global organization celebrated for its culture and ethical practices. The book is less a narrative and more a curated collection of philosophical and practical lessons on leadership, integrity, and the pursuit of excellence. It stresses rates of characters rather than rates of competences, and how one accents a sustainable legacy.
- Why Founders Recommend It: This book is a staple for second-generation Indian entrepreneurs and leaders. Especially relevant in the Indian services industry, it focuses on creating a culture of high integrity and high performance. Bagchi’s focus on “soft” leadership principles, trust, values, and humility, is a beacon to entrepreneurs who want to create enduring organizations.
6. Dream With Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey by Ronnie Screwvala
- Introduction: Ronnie Screwvala, the pioneer of Indian media and entertainment, traces a single line through multiple industry transmutations – from cable TV to filmmaking and then to digital media and gaming – seeking to bring order to chaos. He is a serial entrepreneur; his story isn’t just about a successful exit. He provides practical answers to questions like: when to pivot, how to maintain control, the art of exit, and the tranquility of having a clear, long-term view.
- Why Leaders Recommend It: Screwvala was a trailblazer in Indian media and technology long before it became popular, and his journeys through navigating local regulations, raising capital in an immature ecosystem, and sustaining organizational culture through exponential growth and strategic exits offer vital, context-specific insight.
7. Connect the Dots by Rashmi Bansal
- Introduction: After the phenomenal success of Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, this book is about first-generation Indian entrepreneurs, the ones who never had the luxury of an IIT or IIM education. It is a compilation of motivating stories that reiterate the importance of passion, pure determination, and ingenuity, among other things, to start a business from the ground up, showing that anyone can be an entrepreneur.
- Why Founders Recommend It: This book honors the nontraditional path, proving (with tangible proof) that vision and grit can get you further than conventional resources or a top education. It is often recommended by founders as a motivational read that resonates with a significant portion of entrepreneurs doing their best to build businesses outside of major metropolitan hubs.
Also check:- The CEO’s Bookshelf: Insights on Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and India’s Story
Conclusion: The Wisdom of Experience
The autobiographies that India’s top business leaders recommend are not simply the ones to look out for in terms of reading material; they are also your go-to source for motivation and practical advice. This illustrates a shared belief among successful leaders that the path was about more than just product innovation or market timing; it was about resilience, how the founder behaved ethically, and the capacity for personal development.
Whether it’s Phil Knight’s brutal candor about financial crunch or Subroto Bagchi’s insights on cultural integrity, these recollections provide essential, personalized maps, a reminder that the greatest dilemmas are always human, and solutions frequently rest in the elemental virtues of character and courage. These are the books that these leaders use to keep their long-term vision clear, even if their daily hands get a little chaotic.
