Entrepreneurship Lab

Recommended
Reading.

Lecturas
Recomendadas.

A curated bookshelf of the titles our guests would hand a young person about to start university — on habits, building businesses, and thriving in the age of AI.

Picked by our guests

Books from the people
who've done it.

Each shelf below reflects what a leader of that profile would most likely recommend to an ambitious student. Read them, and you'll carry the same foundations into your own journey.

C
Citibank
CEO, Central America & Caribbean

Leading a major bank across a region demands character and relationships above all. These two classics build the personal foundation every business leader stands on.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Stephen R. Covey

A timeless framework for personal and professional effectiveness, built on character and principles like being proactive and beginning with the end in mind.

How to Win Friends & Influence People
Dale Carnegie

The classic on building genuine relationships, communicating with empathy, and earning trust — foundational skills for any leader or banker.

C
CEAL
Vice President, Latin American Business Council

Building enduring companies in Latin America takes vision and grit. These books show how great organizations are really built — and what perseverance looks like.

Good to Great
Jim Collins

A landmark study of what separates merely good companies from truly great ones — disciplined people, thought, and action over flashy strategy.

Shoe Dog
Phil Knight

The candid, gripping memoir of Nike's founder — a real-world lesson in perseverance, risk, and building a global brand from nothing.

M
McKinsey
Managing Partner, Central America Office

Strategy consulting rewards clear thinking and disciplined habits. These two books sharpen how you build systems and focus — the engine behind consistent performance.

Atomic Habits
James Clear

The definitive guide to building good habits and breaking bad ones through tiny 1% improvements. You don't rise to your goals — you fall to your systems.

Deep Work
Cal Newport

Why the ability to focus without distraction is becoming rare and immensely valuable — and how to cultivate it in a noisy, AI-saturated world.

M
Migo Payments
CEO & VP, Guatemala Fintech Association

Fintech sits at the crossroads of startups, money, and technology. These three books cover how to build something new, test it lean, and harness AI from day one.

Zero to One
Peter Thiel

PayPal co-founder's contrarian playbook on building startups that create something genuinely new, rather than copying what already works.

The Lean Startup
Eric Ries

The methodology behind modern startups: build, measure, learn. How to test ideas fast and cheaply before betting everything — essential for fintech founders.

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI
Ethan Mollick

By a Wharton professor: the most practical guide to working alongside AI as a collaborator. The single best starting point to build real AI fluency today.

P
Peter Diamandis
Founder of XPRIZE & Singularity University

A pioneer of exponential thinking, Diamandis would point an ambitious young person toward the future: how technology compounds, and how bold entrepreneurs can shape it.

Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think
Peter H. Diamandis & Steven Kotler

Diamandis's own optimistic manifesto: how exponential technologies like AI and robotics will solve humanity's biggest challenges within our lifetime.

Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World
Peter H. Diamandis & Steven Kotler

A practical playbook for entrepreneurs who want to use exponential technologies to build big and impact billions. "A book every entrepreneur should read."

The Future Is Faster Than You Think
Peter H. Diamandis & Steven Kotler

How converging technologies — AI, robotics, biotech — are accelerating change and reshaping every industry faster than anyone expects.

A note on this list: since these specific recommendations are illustrative — thoughtfully imagined based on each guest's profile rather than quotes from real interviews — they represent the kind of books such leaders typically champion. Every title, however, is a genuine, widely respected work. The "Library" links go to Open Library (read or borrow for free where available); the "Amazon" links are for purchase. Once we feature real guests on the podcast, we'll replace these with their actual picks.

Reading is where it starts.

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