On the finish of each dialog on The GTMnow Podcast, I ask company which books have made the largest affect on their careers and lives.
It’s one in all my favourite questions as a result of it gives a window into how the highest 1% of operators, founders, and traders assume. Books are inputs. They’re psychological fashions, tales, and frameworks that compound over time. They reveal what somebody values, how they purpose, and which concepts have formed their worldview.
And if one perception has confirmed true throughout a whole lot of conversations, it’s this:
If you wish to elevate your output, it’s a must to improve your enter.
This version is constructed on that premise. It’s a tour via the books that formed a few of the finest minds in tech – a map of the concepts behind these performing on the highest degree. Hopefully it helps carry some inspiration into the brand new 12 months.
They deal with every little thing from venues to experiences, so you possibly can deal with the delights of assembly in individual, not the logistics.
Being a part of GTMnow, you’re eligible for full-service occasion planning for simply $99 per individual (phrases apply). Head to boompop.com/gtmfund to discover seamless assist in your occasions.
Paul Williamon (CRO at Heidi Well being, previously at Plaid):
So I discussed earlier than this concept of enhancing the enterprise and making as we speak just a bit bit higher than yesterday. I’ve talked about that idea for a very long time, but it surely wasn’t till I learn this ebook — I learn it a few years in the past — that it actually clicked. It was Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Primarily, it’s about find out how to construct repeatable habits inside a enterprise. It actually resonated with me. I had articulated variations of that concept for some time, however the ebook hit house personally. I do know it’s very talked-about, but it surely was really impactful. In truth, we introduced James Clear to our income kickoff in 2021 or 2022, and he frolicked with your complete Plaid workforce. That was extremely impactful.
Man Yalif (former founder / Chief Evangelist at Webflow):
I’m a giant fan of Atomic Habits. A basic.
Kyle Norton (CRO at Proprietor):
For private improvement, Atomic Habits is one thing I like to recommend to each rep and each chief.
Stevie Case (CRO at Vanta):
I feel lots about depth. Frank Slootman talks about this in Amp It Up — the concept most firms are working at half-speed with out realizing it. If you really elevate the requirements, enhance urgency, and trim the issues that don’t matter, every little thing begins to maneuver quicker. And other people rise to satisfy that bar.
That ebook actually formed how I take into consideration tempo and expectation-setting. You don’t ‘burn individuals out’ by working with depth, you burn them out by being unclear. When the mission is evident and the bar is evident, individuals really get vitality from velocity.
James Roth (CRO at ZoomInfo):
Bob Iger’s The Experience of a Lifetime (he was the Disney CEO) is one I liked. It’s full of fantastic tales and tons of helpful insights. I attempt to learn broadly throughout industries and completely different vocations, and I like mapping again what distinctive individuals do to my very own work.
Kyle Norton (CRO at Proprietor):
I feel everyone ought to learn is Considering, Quick and Sluggish by Daniel Kahneman. He and Amos Tversky are the creators of the sector of behavioral economics. It’s way more in our zeitgeist as we speak than it was after I learn it when it got here out over a decade in the past. Nevertheless it’s about how people function, and why we act in these very irrational methods typically
Ghazi Masood (CRO at Replit):
The ebook that’s made the largest affect for me not too long ago, at each of my final two firms, is The 5 Dysfunctions of a Staff.
It’s a extremely, actually good ebook to know the dynamics of a workforce and find out how to collaborate and work successfully as a management group. And it’s not only for the management workforce, it applies to your complete org.
It helps you set your operational self-discipline, the cadence for the way you run the enterprise, what you wish to prioritize, what you wish to deal with.
Tessa Whittaker (VP of Income Operations at ZoomInfo):
Ross Wealthy, he’s the CEO of Accord, sat down and gave me a ebook. It was The Alchemist, which I had by no means learn earlier than. And I don’t assume there’s been a single ebook in my life that has been extra impactful. I give it some thought each single day.
Chris Degnan (former CRO at Snowflake):
One of many books I at all times advocate, particularly for anybody working or constructing a gross sales group is The Certified Gross sales Chief by John McMahon. It’s the closest factor I’ve seen to a area handbook for contemporary enterprise gross sales.
John breaks down find out how to really run a deal, find out how to coach reps, find out how to qualify pipeline so that you’re not dwelling in fantasy-land, and find out how to drive a predictable enterprise movement. It’s the ebook I want I had 15 years in the past. Each chief who comes into my org reads it.
Folks speak about ‘MEDDICC’ prefer it’s a guidelines, however McMahon explains the why behind every half — the psychology of champions, figuring out actual ache, understanding how your buyer buys. That’s the distinction. It’s not a course of ebook, it’s a management ebook.
Christina Cordova (COO at Linear):
Claire Hughes-Johnson, who was Stripe’s COO and is now a company advisor, wrote a ebook known as Scaling Folks. It’s lots about organizational progress: what are we doing to construct the corporate as we’re additionally attempting to develop the enterprise?
It’s a improbable ebook about lots of the issues we did at Stripe. A few of it I noticed firsthand, however numerous it I didn’t because it was the behind-the-scenes pondering, the reasoning. So I discover myself going again to chapters after I really feel: Okay, we’ve hit that time in our journey the place one thing wants to vary. Understanding the psychological fashions in that ebook has been actually useful.
Stevie Case (CRO at Vanta):
Proper now I’m studying a ebook known as Endurance. It’s not a enterprise ebook, however form of a management ebook. It’s nice. It’s a few shipwreck and the way in which the crew led themselves out of this very dire state of affairs. In order that’s what I’m having fun with proper now.
Brian Weinberger (CRO at Sisense):
One ebook modified me whereas I used to be managing at Salesforce. I had simply gotten promoted — I used to be working a workforce, we have been going upmarket. I got here from SMB to upmarket, and I used to be like, ‘Oh my God, this can be a little overwhelming…what am I going to do?’
And I got here throughout this ebook known as What Nice Salespeople Do, and that modified every little thing I considered. It actually dissected why 20% of your sellers do 80% of your gross sales. And that was the entire thing. You had numerous underperformers, and so they dissected the 20% — and what it got here all the way down to was the power to inform tales.
Tales have been the historical past of life. Folks sit round a campfire, they hear… and tales beget different tales. I inform a narrative, and then you definately’re like, ‘Oh, that jogs my memory of a narrative.’ So the artwork of promoting is getting individuals to open up. As a result of when you’re attempting to resolve an issue, you actually need to know what the issue is.
We ended up bringing within the writer of the ebook. We did 200 workshops at Salesforce. It began in my world after which went all the way in which as much as the most important enterprise groups. I turned a facilitator of this, it was phenomenal. Whole recreation changer.
Chris Degnan (former CRO at Snowflake):
I simply learn a ebook — actually extra of a life ebook — concerning the financial system and issues like that, known as Abundance, which I feel is a brilliant cool ebook.
Peter Grant (CRO at You.com):
I appreciated Lou Gerstner’s ebook Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? from many, a few years in the past. It’s the IBM one and it’s transformative.
Kyle Norton (CRO at Proprietor):
I feel there are a bunch of attention-grabbing issues within the behavioral economics world that, when you begin to perceive them, you’re like: oh yeah, that’s why my reps do that, that’s why individuals function this fashion.
Brian Weinberger (CRO at Sisense):
A terrific ebook is about being good to individuals in enterprise, and the way that turns into a extra sustainable long-term technique to function.
It talks about being pleasant with the doormen in buildings. As a result of in New York, after we used to promote in New York, it was vertical. You needed to get right into a constructing after which go knock on each door. And to do this, you needed to be associates with everyone within the constructing. So The Energy of Good is one other one I simply take with me.
Peter Grant (CRO at You.com):
The Laborious Factor About Laborious Issues is just a extremely actually good ebook.
Brian Weinberger (CRO at Sisense):
A terrific ebook is Sacred Hoops. I’m a giant basketball fan, and it’s Phil Jackson’s ebook.
It principally dissects what it took when he needed to coach the best participant to ever play (Jordan) and get Jordan to purchase into your complete system and this system. There’s numerous psychology behind it, and that’s the teaching aspect for me.
James Roth (CRO at ZoomInfo):
I’m at all times a giant fan of enterprise biographies. I like studying about individuals who’ve really finished nice issues and studying from their tales. I simply completed Name Signal Chaos, which was nice.
Peter Grant (CRO at You.com):
The Grasp Algorithm is nice. It’s about having all of the completely different 5 core algorithms and one grasp algorithm that might resolve actually each single form of drawback on this planet.
Stevie Case (CRO at Vanta):
I nonetheless assume The Challenger Sale is among the most vital frameworks in fashionable gross sales. Not since you comply with it dogmatically, however as a result of the core concept is timeless: your job is to show, tailor, and take management. Particularly in safety and compliance, clients don’t at all times know what attractiveness like. They want somebody who can carry perception, not simply take an order.
The place groups misread Challenger is that they assume it means being aggressive. It’s not. It’s about delivering perspective. The most effective reps at Vanta succeed as a result of they will problem constructively — they assist prospects see the price of doing nothing, the chance in establishment workflows, and the trail to a stronger posture. That’s Challenger finished nicely.
Man Yalif (Chief Evangelist at Webflow):
It’s about constructing merchandise, however I feel it’s about find out how to run groups. And it’s a lot about speedy iteration, fast studying, a lot of communication on small groups. And so the workforce that created Backpack and some different merchandise created this. And it’s not a protracted ebook — it’s a bunch of a paragraph on a web page, after which the subsequent thought and the subsequent thought and the subsequent thought. It’s very actionable.
James Roth (CRO at ZoomInfo):
Kim Scott is a favourite, particularly from a management standpoint. Radical Candor is nice.
Kyle Norton (CRO at Proprietor):
I like Made to Stick. That’s one which I like to recommend lots.
Michel Tricot (Co-Founder & CEO of Airbyte):
In 2014, possibly 2013, I used to be simply beginning to handle my first workforce. And my CTO gave me this ebook: Excessive Output Administration. I feel now it’s a regular.
If you go from being an IC to beginning to handle individuals, it’s very laborious to search out the suitable suggestions loop for ‘are you doing a great job or not?’ Like what does it imply to be doing a great job? And in addition how do you construct groups as methods?
And I feel that ebook was simply transformational for me as a result of I like good idea — and the speculation was very sturdy. It’s about the way you create, the way you construct the system, the way you monitor these methods, and the way you’re taking satisfaction within the work while you’re not the one doing the work your self.
That is on my management obligatory checklist!
Paul Williamson (CRO at Heidi Well being, ex-Plaid):
I feel it’s a extremely vital ebook for not solely founders to learn — it’s largely directed at founders — however I feel it’s additionally actually vital for go-to-market individuals to learn it, largely as a result of it helps you get into the thoughts of what it’s wish to work with a founder.
The pressures, the challenges, the problems they face every day, and the place our position as go-to-market management ought to match relative to founders. So I feel that’s an vital form of business learn for anybody.
Jenny He (Founder and GP of Place Ventures):
The primary ebook everybody ought to learn is Positioning: The Battle for Your Thoughts.
It’s an previous ebook, nearly 20 years previous, but it surely’s the 101 in all issues positioning and the go-to ebook.
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Extra in your eyeballs
At TechCrunch DISRUPT, GTMfund GP Max Altschuler joined leaders from Google Cloud and OpenAI to interrupt down how AI is reshaping go-to-market. AI provides you leverage, velocity, and precision, however the edge nonetheless comes from groups that perceive actual GTM fundamentals and know find out how to apply them.
Author – CEO Could Habib took the AWS re:Invent keynote stage to unveil the corporate’s new agent supervision suite, giving enterprises actual visibility, governance, and management as they scale AI brokers. The launch additionally deepens Author’s Amazon Bedrock integration, now supporting third-party and fine-tuned fashions throughout the platform.
GTM 172: Why Previous Playbooks Are Breaking and How AI Assisted GTM Truly Works | Dave Boyce
Get a sneak preview right here. For the total factor, hear on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts by looking out “The GTMnow Podcast.”
Startups to look at
Jeeva AI – raised $9 million to scale its agentic platform that automates your complete prime of funnel. The corporate’s AI finds and enriches leads, writes customized outreach, and builds ROI forecasts, giving gross sales groups leverage from day one.
Amper Applied sciences – was acquired by ECI Software program Options, bringing AI-powered manufacturing unit visibility and operational intelligence deeper into ECI’s manufacturing stack. Amper’s real-time insights assist producers spot bottlenecks, increase uptime, and drive effectivity on the store flooring, precisely the place margins are gained or misplaced.
Hottest GTM jobs of the week
- Vice President of Buyer Success at CaptivateIQ (Hybrid – Austin, TX / Menlo Park, CA)
- Senior Supervisor, Strategic Buyer Success at Vanta (Distant – US)
- Head of Buyer Success at Esper (Hybrid – Austin, TX / Denver, CO)
- Director, Income Operations at Pavilion (Distant – US)
- Account Government, SMB at Closinglock (Austin, TX)
See extra prime GTM jobs on the GTMfund Job Board.
GTM business occasions
Upcoming occasions you gained’t wish to miss:
- GTMfund 2026 schedule coming quickly!
- Above the Fold (for entrepreneurs): February September 11, 2026 (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
- Spryng (for entrepreneurs): March 24-26, 2026 (Austin, TX)
GTMnow group love
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