The 25 Books Startups and Founders Bought Most in the First Half of 2026, According to Brex Spend Data
Brex’s ranking of 25 top founder purchases shows technical textbooks and builder biographies overtaking self-help titles.
- In the first half of 2026, founders increasingly prioritized biographies and technical books over operating manuals, according to Brex card purchase data released Thursday, with a biography of Alex Karp, cofounder and CEO of Palantir, topping the list.
- The 'founder mode' trend has animated two years of discourse, leading founders to abandon 'optimize-yourself' titles like Atomic Habits in favor of material about the work they cannot delegate.
- Stripe Press titles are outperforming long-established publishers, with The Scaling Era debuting at #10, while High Output Management by Andrew Grove climbed 12 spots, proving foundational management insights endure.
- Founders are focusing on hard skills like feedback and negotiation, as The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz climbed five spots to #9, marking a shift toward practical expertise.
- Brex card data shows founders voting with their corporate spending to acquire books defining how machines and companies are built, with this analysis of first-half 2026 purchases distributed by Stacker.
16 Articles
16 Articles
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The 25 books startups and founders bought most in the first half of 2026, according to Brex spend dataIf founder mode says the pure people manager is finished, that means the founder has to build the thing and negotiate the deal, close the skeptical buyer, deliver the feedback nobody wants to give, and more. That's a lot to learn. So, how are founders doing it? They’re hitting the bookstore.In this article, Brex examined book spend data across a…
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The 25 books startups and founders bought most in the first half of 2026, according to Brex spend data
Brex reports on the 25 books most purchased by founders in the first half of 2026, highlighting a shift towards biographies and essential management skills.
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The 25 books startups and founders bought most in the first half of 2026, according to Brex spend dataIf founder mode says the pure people manager is finished, that means the founder has to build the thing and negotiate the deal, close the skeptical buyer, deliver the feedback nobody wants to give, and more. That's a lot to learn. So, how are founders doing it? They’re hitting the bookstore.In this article, Brex examined book spend data across a…
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The 25 books startups and founders bought most in the first half of 2026, according to Brex spend dataIf founder mode says the pure people manager is finished, that means the founder has to build the thing and negotiate the deal, close the skeptical buyer, deliver the feedback nobody wants to give, and more. That's a lot to learn. So, how are founders doing it? They’re hitting the bookstore.In this article, Brex examined book spend data across a…
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