10 books in this topic
Women and underrepresented founders face the same startup problems as everyone else, plus a few extra: smaller networks, harder fundraising and assumptions about who looks like a founder. The books on this shelf combine practical advice with stories from people who built companies anyway.
Fe/male Switch runs a women-first startup game and a free Startup School, so this shelf matters to us. Start with Dear Female Founder for breadth or Build the Damn Thing for a practical playbook.
The oldest book here is Black Faces in White Places (2010); the newest is Female Founders' Playbook (2024).
Randal Pinkett, Jeffrey Robinson and Philana Patterson
Apprentice winner Randal Pinkett and Jeffrey Robinson give Black professionals and entrepreneurs ten strategies for succeeding in workplaces and markets where they are the minority, and for changing the rules.
First published 2010Kathryn Finney
Investor and founder Kathryn Finney writes a no-nonsense startup guide for women, people of colour and anyone without wealth or connections, from first idea to raising money and growing a team.
First published 2022Lu Li
Lu Li collected letters from 66 women founders and investors, each writing the advice she wishes she had heard on day one. Candid, varied and easy to read one letter at a time.
First published 2016Anne Boden
Starling Bank founder Anne Boden gathers the experience of women founders and investors into a step-by-step guide, from first idea and co-founders to pitching, term sheets and later rounds.
First published 2024Cara Alwill Leyba
A short, upbeat pep talk for women who run their own business or side hustle. Alwill Leyba mixes her own story, interviews and exercises on confidence, jealousy and support between women.
First published 2015Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell
Facebook's former COO argues that women hold themselves back in small, learned ways and that workplaces and partners hold them back too. Part memoir, part research, part call to speak up.
First published 2013Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates mixes memoir and field reports from her philanthropy work to show how contraception, education, fair sharing of unpaid work and an end to bias lift women and whole communities.
First published 2019Rachel Rodgers
Business coach Rachel Rodgers argues that women, and women of colour above all, should aim to become millionaires, and that higher prices, support and a new money mindset matter more than thrift.
First published 2021Christine K. Jahnke
Speech coach Christine Jahnke, who worked with Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton's campaign, teaches women how to plan a message, use voice and body language and handle media, nerves and hard questions.
First published 2011Marlene Wagman-Geller
A collection of short biographies of women who launched companies, brands and causes against the odds. Easy to dip into, and best read as a source of role models for women starting out.
First published 2018Or browse the full directory of 100 startup books.