In his book 'Super Founders', Ali Tamaseb analysed over 200 unicorn founders (founders of companies worth $1bn+). One of the most significant trait correlations found in these founders was their ability, and willingness, to learn new skills. As a founder, you should try to follow this trend.
Here are five books I found most useful on my journey, and I've aligned them with each stage of start-up growth. All of these are available as books or audiobooks.

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Early Stage (idea > pre-seed)

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1. Venture Deals 4th Edition, by Brad Feld & Jason Mendelson

Over 90% of unicorn companies raise investment. The chances are that if you want to scale your start-up whilst outperforming competition, you'll need to raise capital too.

Venture Deals (4th edition) is your introduction, glossary, and how-to guide on everything funding. Funding stages, deal terms & terminology, funding types, cap tables, vesting, share options, board seats, valuations, crowdfunding, venture debt, deal negotiation, deal fees, deal legals... It's got everything you need and should know as a founder.

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2. The Lean Start-up, by Eric Ries

Investing significant resources into a product without clear product market fit signals often leads to failure. The Lean Start-up is your playbook for building a minimum-viable product, launching it, and finding product market fit as quickly as possible (or failing as quickly as possible so you can pivot). Learn about rapid experimentation, continuous innovation, and customer feedback cycles in the earliest stages of your start-up. Launch > Learn > Adapt.

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2.5 (Bonus resource): Y combinator's Start-up School

https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/startup-school-lectures-are-now-available-as-a-podcast/

https://www.startupschool.org/

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Quick, digestible, relevant content from the world's most successful start-up accelerator.

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Scaling Stage (Seed > Series A)

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3. The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz

By this stage, you have product market fit, £1m+ in the bank after your seed round, and institutional investors on your cap table and at your board meetings. They're backing you to build a viable business, more than just a product or feature.
Ben Horowitz Co-founded and exited Opsware to HP for $1.65bn. In this book, he shares his personal experiences of building, managing, and leading a startup. He provides practical advice and insights on a range of topics, including hiring and firing executives, managing cash flow, and dealing with the stress and uncertainty of running a business.

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4. Blitzscaling, by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh

Reid Hoffman Co-founded LinkedIn which was acquired by Microsoft for $26.2bn. The book outlines the key principles of Blitzscaling, a rapid and aggressive form of growth that prioritizes speed over efficiency. It provides practical advice on how to build and manage teams, raise capital, and scale your business to a global level.

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Exits

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5. The Exit Strategy Playbook + The Private Equity Playbook, by Adam Coffey

I always wondered what an exit strategy was exactly... The Exit Strategy Playbook provides an overview of the various types of liquidity/exit events available to companies, and it takes the reader through processes and consideration involved in each. From being strategically acquired through to IPO. Your potential investors need to know how they will get their return, and this book is a great way to learn the lingo.

Lastly, the Private Equity Playbook is a must read. Private Equity firms are involved in around 40% of all M&A transaction, globally. Chances are, when it's time to exit, private equity is going to be around the table. The earlier you can speak their language, the better, as they will start to cover you 18 months before you're ready to exit.

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