---
title: "The bookshelf"
description: "These are the 46 business books in Tom Sharman's library, each read by Claude in his Brain and linked to the 18 of Tom's own lessons they back or argue with."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# The bookshelf

> These are the 46 business books in Tom Sharman's library, each read by Claude in his Brain and linked to the 18 of Tom's own lessons they back or argue with.

On the page: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/

Every framework in a book has its steps and a 24 second animation, 509 in all. The frameworks belong to their authors and the covers to their publishers; Tom's own methods are his playbooks and his lessons.

## What the reading backs

- [People online are selfish, so lead with what they get](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/people-online-are-selfish-so-lead-with-what-they-get/index.md): 28 books back it, one argues with it
- [A brand that compounds has a mission and an enemy](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/a-brand-that-compounds-has-a-mission-and-an-enemy/index.md): 19 books back it
- [Turn down anyone unclear about their commitment](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/turn-down-anyone-unclear-about-their-commitment/index.md): 16 books back it
- [Assumptions made too fast, and risk avoided](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/assumptions-made-too-fast-and-risk-avoided/index.md): 14 books back it
- [Signals show before numbers, and numbers come at month four](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/signals-show-before-numbers-and-numbers-come-at-month-four/index.md): 13 books back it
- [Move the people you have before you hire](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/move-the-people-you-have-before-you-hire/index.md): 12 books back it, three argue with it
- [The intake question is why, and what it is costing them](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/the-intake-question-is-why-and-what-it-is-costing-them/index.md): 10 books back it
- [It is about their business, told as what the audience learns](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/it-is-about-their-business-told-as-what-the-audience-learns/index.md): 8 books back it
- [Macro and micro at the same time](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/macro-and-micro-at-the-same-time/index.md): 7 books back it, two argue with it
- [Find the voice in what already worked for them](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/find-the-voice-in-what-already-worked-for-them/index.md): 6 books back it
- [Two to three a day, LinkedIn five times a weekday](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/two-to-three-a-day-linkedin-five-times-a-weekday/index.md): 5 books back it, two argue with it
- [Content is how a company wins talent](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/content-is-how-a-company-wins-talent/index.md): 4 books back it
- [Sam Stoffel: rebuild the team, then find the formats](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/sam-stoffel-rebuild-the-team-then-find-the-formats/index.md): 4 books back it
- [The brand is the argument](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/the-brand-is-the-argument/index.md): 4 books back it
- [Short form first, LinkedIn on winners, YouTube last](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/short-form-first-linkedin-on-winners-youtube-last/index.md): 3 books back it, two argue with it
- [Week one is an audit, and two formats are never up for testing](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/week-one-is-an-audit-and-two-formats-are-never-up-for-testing/index.md): 3 books back it
- [They quit when there is an easier route to the same revenue](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/they-quit-when-there-is-an-easier-route-to-the-same-revenue/index.md): 2 books back it
- [Agencies over-index on the founder's journey](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/agencies-over-index-on-the-founders-journey/index.md): 1 book backs it, five argue with it

## Where the books disagree with Tom

- **Elon Musk**, on [Macro and micro at the same time](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/macro-and-micro-at-the-same-time/index.md): Musk runs at the micro everywhere, desk-siding code and walking to the red, which Mueller and Baglino say demoralises teams and leaves him the bottleneck, the opposite of building self-sufficient teams.
- **Elon Musk**, on [Move the people you have before you hire](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/move-the-people-you-have-before-you-hire/index.md): Musk's habit is to fire and replace leaders (four heads of Tesla Energy, three production quality chiefs, 75 percent of Twitter) instead of redeploying the people he inherits.
- **Expert Secrets**, on [Agencies over-index on the founder's journey](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/agencies-over-index-on-the-founders-journey/index.md): Brunson makes the founder's Epiphany Bridge origin story the lead element of every presentation and tells experts to document their journey, which cuts against the claim that agencies over-weight the journey.
- **Gambling Man**, on [Move the people you have before you hire](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/move-the-people-you-have-before-you-hire/index.md): Masa kept hiring outside stars such as Omori, Arora, Misra and Claure at high prices, and the results included feuds, exits and a failed succession.
- **Gambling Man**, on [Macro and micro at the same time](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/macro-and-micro-at-the-same-time/index.md): The book shows a leader who stayed at the macro, became the bottleneck and was told he was being asked to do too much, so the team never became self sufficient.
- **Invention**, on [Agencies over-index on the founder's journey](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/agencies-over-index-on-the-founders-journey/index.md): In America the founder's story of 5,127 prototypes was the thing that struck home with consumers, though it did not travel to Europe and the ads still explained the technology.
- **Key Person of Influence**, on [Agencies over-index on the founder's journey](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/agencies-over-index-on-the-founders-journey/index.md): The book puts the founder's own story at the centre, saying it is what people buy into, while the concept warns agencies to focus on mission and what the audience gets.
- **KNOWN**, on [Short form first, LinkedIn on winners, YouTube last](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/short-form-first-linkedin-on-winners-youtube-last/index.md): Schaefer says to pick one form of rich content such as a blog, podcast or video series and stay with it for at least a year rather than start with short form testing.
- **KNOWN**, on [Two to three a day, LinkedIn five times a weekday](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/two-to-three-a-day-linkedin-five-times-a-weekday/index.md): Schaefer treats one piece of rich content a week as a reasonable start and warns that being everywhere is unsustainable for one person.
- **Leaders Eat Last**, on [People online are selfish, so lead with what they get](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/people-online-are-selfish-so-lead-with-what-they-get/index.md): Sinek argues humans thrive by serving others and respond most when they see who their work helps, which cuts against the claim that people online engage only for their own gain.
- **Oversubscribed**, on [Move the people you have before you hire](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/move-the-people-you-have-before-you-hire/index.md): He says a team covering the key roles must exist from day one and, in bigger companies, recruit the new A players first before growth arrives.
- **The Personal Branding Playbook**, on [Agencies over-index on the founder's journey](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/agencies-over-index-on-the-founders-journey/index.md): Sordell treats the founder's story and failures as the reason people buy, with personal posts on Monday and Friday, where Tom says agencies lean too hard on journey over mission and audience benefit.
- **The Personal Branding Playbook**, on [Short form first, LinkedIn on winners, YouTube last](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/short-form-first-linkedin-on-winners-youtube-last/index.md): She built on LinkedIn alone for around three years because that is where her buyers are, where Tom tests short form first and promotes only winners to LinkedIn.
- **Superfans**, on [Agencies over-index on the founder's journey](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/agencies-over-index-on-the-founders-journey/index.md): Flynn's Break the Ice chapter tells creators to share personal details, even outside their niche, because that is what builds rapport.
- **Wealthy and Well-Known**, on [Two to three a day, LinkedIn five times a weekday](https://tomsharman.com/lessons/two-to-three-a-day-linkedin-five-times-a-weekday/index.md): The Content Diamond builds around one anchor video a week split into smaller assets, a far lower cadence than several posts a day.

## The books

- [$100M Leads](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/100m-leads/index.md): Alex Hormozi, 46 frameworks
- [$100M Leads, 2 Bonus Chapters](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/100m-leads-2-bonus-chapters/index.md): Alex Hormozi, 4 frameworks
- [$100M Lost Chapters](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/100m-lost-chapters/index.md): Alex Hormozi, 14 frameworks
- [$100M Money Models](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/100m-money-models/index.md): Alex Hormozi, 17 frameworks
- [$100M Offers](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/100m-offers/index.md): Alex Hormozi, 7 frameworks
- [48 Laws of Power](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/48-laws-of-power/index.md): Robert Greene, 27 frameworks
- [The Algorithm](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-algorithm/index.md): Jon McNeill, 7 frameworks
- [Biological War](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/biological-war/index.md): Annie Jacobsen, 3 frameworks
- [The Courage To Be Disliked](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-courage-to-be-disliked/index.md): Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, 6 frameworks
- [Day Trading Attention](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/day-trading-attention/index.md): Gary Vaynerchuk, 6 frameworks
- [Ego Is the Enemy](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/ego-is-the-enemy/index.md): Ryan Holiday, 5 frameworks
- [Elon Musk](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/elon-musk/index.md): Walter Isaacson, 7 frameworks
- [Empire of AI](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/empire-of-ai/index.md): Karen Hao, 7 frameworks
- [Entrepreneur Revolution](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/entrepreneur-revolution/index.md): Daniel Priestley, 13 frameworks
- [Expert Secrets](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/expert-secrets/index.md): Russell Brunson, 28 frameworks
- [Extreme Ownership](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/extreme-ownership/index.md): Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, 6 frameworks
- [The Flow Multiplier](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-flow-multiplier/index.md): Jared S. Quoyeser, 4 frameworks
- [Gambling Man](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/gambling-man/index.md): Lionel Barber, 8 frameworks
- [Good to Great](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/good-to-great/index.md): Jim Collins, 15 frameworks
- [The Great CEO Within](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-great-ceo-within/index.md): Matt Mochary, 15 frameworks
- [Gym Launch Secrets](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/gym-launch-secrets/index.md): Alex Hormozi, 33 frameworks
- [If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/if-anyone-builds-it-everyone-dies/index.md): Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, 5 frameworks
- [Invention](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/invention/index.md): James Dyson, 4 frameworks
- [Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/jab-jab-jab-right-hook/index.md): Gary Vaynerchuk, 9 frameworks
- [Key Person of Influence](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/key-person-of-influence/index.md): Kevin Harrington and Daniel Priestley, 11 frameworks
- [KNOWN](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/known/index.md): Mark Schaefer, 19 frameworks
- [Leaders Eat Last](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/leaders-eat-last/index.md): Simon Sinek, 6 frameworks
- [Let It Go](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/let-it-go/index.md): Stephanie Shirley, 7 frameworks
- [The Lost Chapter](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-lost-chapter/index.md): Alex Hormozi, 2 frameworks
- [Love, Pain & Money](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/love-pain-and-money/index.md): John Caudwell, 7 frameworks
- [Man's Search for Meaning](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/mans-search-for-meaning/index.md): Viktor Frankl, 4 frameworks
- [Never Split the Difference](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/never-split-the-difference/index.md): Chris Voss, 9 frameworks
- [One to Many](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/one-to-many/index.md): Jason Fladlien, 8 frameworks
- [Oversubscribed](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/oversubscribed/index.md): Daniel Priestley, 21 frameworks
- [The Personal Branding Playbook](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-personal-branding-playbook/index.md): Amelia Sordell, 10 frameworks
- [Play Nice](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/play-nice/index.md): Jason Schreier, 15 frameworks
- [The Ride of a Lifetime](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-ride-of-a-lifetime/index.md): Robert Iger, 7 frameworks
- [Scorecard Marketing](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/scorecard-marketing/index.md): Daniel Priestley and Glen Carlson, 7 frameworks
- [So You've Been Publicly Shamed](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/so-youve-been-publicly-shamed/index.md): Jon Ronson, 4 frameworks
- [Start With Yourself](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/start-with-yourself/index.md): Emma Grede, 14 frameworks
- [Superfans](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/superfans/index.md): Pat Flynn, 15 frameworks
- [Thinking in Systems](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/index.md): Donella Meadows, 7 frameworks
- [The Third Door](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-third-door/index.md): Alex Banayan, 11 frameworks
- [Trust Me, I'm Lying](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/trust-me-im-lying/index.md): Ryan Holiday, 5 frameworks
- [Unreasonable Hospitality](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/unreasonable-hospitality/index.md): Will Guidara, 15 frameworks
- [Wealthy and Well-Known](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/wealthy-and-well-known/index.md): Rory Vaden and AJ Vaden, 9 frameworks

## On the shelf, not read yet

- Atomic Habits, James Clear

## Categories

- **Offers and pricing.** What is sold, how it is priced and what makes it hard to say no to.
- **Lead generation.** Getting strangers to raise a hand: funnels, lead magnets, lists and demand.
- **Paid ads.** Meta, Google and the rest: accounts, creative, signals and scaling.
- **Content and packaging.** What gets made, how it is titled and framed, and how often it goes out.
- **Personal brand.** Being known for one thing, to one person, in one place.
- **Storytelling.** The shape of a story and how to tell it so it lands.
- **Sales and negotiation.** The conversation that turns interest into a yes.
- **Hiring and teams.** Who to hire, when, and how the team runs.
- **Leadership.** Feedback, decisions, culture and the founder's own seat.
- **Founder mindset.** Keeping your head: discipline, fear, obsession and the hard times.
- **Systems and operations.** The rhythms, boards and processes that make the work repeat.
- **Money and finance.** Cash, raising, the numbers and what to do with the profit.
- **Exits.** Selling the company, and what comes after.
- **AI.** What AI changes in the work, the team and the market.
- **Growth and strategy.** Finding the idea, the fit and the one lever that moves it.
- **Life and thinking.** How to think, what to want, and the lives behind the methods.