Skip to main content
Founding FuelFounding Fuel

Books

Visual stories and presentations. Explore our curated books on business, leadership, and innovation in an engaging format.

Celebrate authentic failures
·Product & Innovation

Celebrate authentic failures

In his new book ‘A Biography of Innovations’ R Gopalakrishnan, former Tata Sons executive director, talks about learning from mistakes and the importance of intellectual curiosity, collective ingenuity and storytelling

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

Get Smart: Making effective decisions
·High Performance Individuals and Teams

Get Smart: Making effective decisions

Think long term, plan for success based on real facts, and have clear goals, says Brian Tracy in his book ‘Get Smart!: How to Think and Act Like the Most Successful and Highest-Paid People in Every Field’

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

‘Playing boldly is a philosophy’: Life lessons from golf legend Arnold Palmer
·Personal Reinvention

‘Playing boldly is a philosophy’: Life lessons from golf legend Arnold Palmer

Nicknamed The King, Arnold Palmer played a big role in making golf popular and not just a game for the elite. His rivalry with Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus is legendary. In his memoir ‘A Life Well Played’, he shares his experiences

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

How Nokia rewrote its story
·Corporate Strategy

How Nokia rewrote its story

In his book ‘Against All Odds’, Nokia’s former CEO Jorma Ollila chronicles how a troubled conglomerate engaged in rubber, cable, forestry, electronics and power generation businesses became a global mobile phone behemoth, but lost out to the iPhone

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

Making tough calls in business and life
·Behavioural Science, Mental Models and Decision Making

Making tough calls in business and life

In his book ‘Managing in the Gray’, HBS ethics professor Joseph L Badaracco presents a framework to arrive at the best possible decisions in a hard situation

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

When growth leads to a slowdown, how do you tackle the paradox?
·Leadership Practice and Development

When growth leads to a slowdown, how do you tackle the paradox?

In their book ‘The Founder’s Mentality’, Chris Zook and James Allen, partners in Bain & Company, talk about what leaders can do for sustainable and profitable growth

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

When Nike just did it
·Founder Journeys

When Nike just did it

Quick takes from the book ‘Shoe Dog’, Phil Knight’s account of creating Nike

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

The secret of power: Not ruthlessness, but empathy
·Leadership Practice and Development

The secret of power: Not ruthlessness, but empathy

American psychologist Dacher Keltner says, those who gain power are the ones who work for the good of others. But paradoxically, power can lead to selfishness—and loss of power

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

Building a business in complicated times
·Leadership Practice and Development

Building a business in complicated times

Dynamic times call for dynamic leadership. Here are some insights from the book ‘The Hard Thing About Hard Things’ by Ben Horowitz, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

What a fable about meerkats tells us about innovation
·Product & Innovation

What a fable about meerkats tells us about innovation

Discipline and maverick ideas—both are necessary for dealing with rapid change and coming out ahead, say John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber in their book ‘That’s Not How We Do It Here’

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

Are you persuadable?
·Leadership Practice and Development

Are you persuadable?

An ability to change decisions is not about inconsistency, it is about flexibility. Insights from Al Pittampalli’s book ‘Persuadable: How Great Leaders Change Their Mind to Change the World’

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

What makes a winner
·Leadership Practice and Development

What makes a winner

Insights from Larry Weidel’s book ‘Serial Winner: 5 Actions to Create Your Cycle of Success’

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

Indian e-commerce in 10 charts
·Development & State Capacity

Indian e-commerce in 10 charts

A snapshot of what is happening in online retail

NR
N S Ramnath

N S Ramnath

Senior Editor | Founding Fuel

How we think and how we can get better at collaboration
·Leadership Practice and Development

How we think and how we can get better at collaboration

Insights from Dawna Markova and Angie McArthur’s book, ‘Collaborative Intelligence: Thinking with People Who Think Differently’

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International