The Ultimate Female Founders Reading List
This last month we set out to create something special, a reading list curated by female founders, for female founders.
The Female Founders Reading List is packed with books that have shaped businesses, sparked new ideas, and transformed mindsets. From leadership and resilience to creativity and strategy, these recommendations come straight from the founders who have lived it.
It’s been a privilege to read through the recommendations. There are familiar books, but what I am most struck by is how different they are from the bestselling business books. I’ve been keeping a track of books mentioned or recommended to me on my founder journey and this list is very different. What a joy! Delighted that we have also had some fiction recommendations.
To everyone who contributed: thank you. Your insights are now part of a resource that will support and uplift fellow founders for years to come.
This isn’t just a reading list, it’s a collection of wisdom, experience, and game-changing insights from founders just like you.
We hope it inspires your next step, big idea, or breakthrough moment.
— Jen Drabble, Verse
Mindset is everything - by far the biggest category, books like Let Them by Mel Robbins and Playing Big by Tara Mohr were highly recommended to support overcoming beliefs and embracing full potential
Practical wisdom wins - Start with Why by Simon Sinek and The Service Organisation by Katie Tarling offer clear frameworks for building purpose-driven businesses
Creativity & resilience matter - Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer highlight the importance of letting go, taking risks, and trusting the journey
Building a better world - The Solutionary Way by Zoe Weil and Humankind by Rutger Bregman show how business and leadership can create meaningful impact
The top recommended books
Let Them by Mel Robbins
The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer
Playing Big by Tara Mohr
Start with Why by Simon Sinek
The List
This is broken into themes:
All inclusions credit and link to the founders who shared their insights — please do follow, connect and support.
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Verse helps you discover books you'll love, recommended by people you trust. We are a community-driven space where readers can discover, buy, sell and share books while supporting authors. Our mission is to make reading more personal, social and sustainable. > Explore our newsletter and reading lists
Female Founders Rise is a community of 8,750+ female and non-binary founders founded by Emmie Faust. A pending BCorp, our purpose is financial freedom for women through entrepreneurship. We recently launched an online directory Femalefoundersdirectory.com helping to highlight women-led businesses and a community platform Female Founders Circle. > Join the waitlist here
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