Podcast
Leila Hormozi's book list: the books mentioned on Build with Leila Hormozi
Key facts
- 28 books have been mentioned on Build with Leila Hormozi, as of September 2, 2026.
- 26 episodes of Build with Leila Hormozi mention at least one book, as of September 2, 2026.
- 4 people brought up a book on the show, as of September 2, 2026.
- The 3 books mentioned in the most episodes of Build with Leila Hormozi, as of September 2, 2026: Rich Dad, Poor Dad, The Hard Thing About Hard Things and $100M Offers.
- The latest episode of Build with Leila Hormozi with a book mention aired on September 2, 2026.
Updated
How can you create an unshakeable business? My name is Leila Hormozi and I crossed $100M by the age of 28. Now I’m growing acquisition.com into a billion-dollar portfolio. In this podcast, I share the lessons I’ve learned in scaling big businesses and helping our portfolio companies do the same. Buckle up, Let's BUILD. New Episodes Every Monday & Wednesday!
Books from the latest episodes
Most recommended on Build with Leila Hormozi
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Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter's Rich Dad, Poor Dad was discussed by Leila Hormozi on Build with Leila Hormozi. Hormozi shared that reading the book while working as a personal trainer in her twenties fundamentally shifted her mindset about money. She frequently cited the book's core lesson distinguishing between buying assets and purchasing liabilities.
Discussed“Okay, Robert Kiosaki, he wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad. One of the first books I read on money, he put it very simply. He said, "The rich buy assets, the middle class buys liabilities thinking they are assets."”
Where to get it
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The Hard Thing About Hard Things
On Build with Leila Hormozi, Leila Hormozi recommended and discussed Ben Horowitz's book The Hard Thing About Hard Things. She cited the book as a favorite that addresses the realities of running a company and used its concepts to explain the difference between peacetime and wartime leadership in business.
Discussed“Another way that I think about seasons is you have peace time and wartime. Ben Horwitz talked about this in his book, A Hard Thing About Hard Things.”
Where to get it
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$100M Offers
On Build with Leila Hormozi, Alex Hormozi's book $100M Offers was recommended and discussed across multiple episodes. Leila Hormozi suggested listeners pick up the book to learn effective methods for developing and pricing business offers. Hosts Sam and Soma also mentioned the text, explaining that its practical philosophies and systems significantly improved their sales conversion rates and inspired them to implement customer guarantees within their respective businesses.
Discussed“and especially uh focusing on that conversion mechanism conversion percentage at the end uh has been especially using the philosophies in 100 million offer et cetera um like you see a huge conversion rates when you actually Implement that system fully”
Where to get it
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Crush It!
On Build with Leila Hormozi, Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk was discussed by the hosts in relation to their early inspirations and business journeys. Caleb recalled reading the book at age 15, noting that it predicted content creation as a viable full-time career. Leila Hormozi also shared that she read the book in her early 20s upon the suggestion of a gym owner, highlighting how it taught her that social media would become integral to modern business.
Discussed“when I was like 15 I read a book it was called crushit by Gary vaynerchuk and it basically predicted that people would be able to make videos and content and talk about things they're interested in for a full-time living”
Where to get it
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The Peter Principle
Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull's book The Peter Principle was discussed by Leila Hormozi on Build with Leila Hormozi in July and December 2024. Hormozi brought up the principle to explain how employees in a hierarchy continue to receive promotions until they reach a level where they are no longer competent.
Discussed“there's a principle that really extrapolates this out it's called the Peter Principle and what it states is that in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to the level of their incompetence”
Where to get it
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How to Win Friends and Influence People
On Build with Leila Hormozi, Leila Hormozi recommended How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie as one of the key books that shaped her in her twenties. She highlighted two main takeaways, emphasizing that encouragement always works better than criticism when leading teams.
Recommended“so the first book is probably not a surprise to you it's how to win friends and influence people however there's two takeaways that i had from that book”
Where to get it
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Man's Search for Meaning
On Build with Leila Hormozi, host Leila Hormozi featured Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl in an episode about books that shaped her early twenties. Hormozi recommended the book, explaining that it fundamentally changed her perspective by teaching her that circumstances do not dictate how individuals feel about themselves. She also connected the book's teachings to her advice on confronting fears and learning to be comfortable with risk.
Recommended“the second book that changed my perspective in my early 20s was man's search for meaning there are two things i really got from this book our circumstances do not dictate how we feel about ourselves”
Where to get it
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Managing Oneself
Peter F. Drucker's book Managing Oneself was recommended by Leila Hormozi on an episode of Build with Leila Hormozi released on August 25, 2022. Hormozi highlighted the book as one of five that transformed her in her twenties, explaining that it taught her the fundamental principle that true professional success begins with deeply knowing and managing oneself.
Recommended“the third book that i read in my 20s that was incredibly helpful for me was managing oneself by peter drucker and the reason this book was so good is it taught me one fundamental principle”
Where to get it
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Overcoming Overeating
On the April 11, 2025 episode of Build with Leila Hormozi titled The Celebrity Trainer: From Food Lines to Fitness Empire (Senada Greca), guest Senada Greca discussed her past struggles with restrictive eating and binge eating. She mentioned that a therapist in college recommended the book Overcoming Overeating by Jane R. Hirschmann and Carol H. Munter to help her navigate those patterns, and host Leila Hormozi confirmed that she had also read it.
Recommended“And at the time again I saw another therapist in college who who I spoke to about that restrictive and binging pattern. Um who who gave me like this really good book overcoming overeating because I now had turned into it had gone from like anorexia like starving yourself to now binge eating.”
Where to get it
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Wooden on Leadership
On Build with Leila Hormozi, Leila Hormozi discussed John Wooden’s Wooden on Leadership during an episode about the highest-paid CEOs. Hormozi used insights from the book to frame a leadership exercise, explaining that she found its sports-focused lessons directly relevant to business. She highlighted the management concept of working through others and introduced the book's pyramid of success as a primary takeaway.
Recommended“he's wrote a book on leadership and i find it it's a great book i guess if you're in sports i don't know because i've not um i don't have time experience in sports but it is one for one relevant for business”
Where to get it
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CU Love and Respect Anconnect Readerlink
On Build with Leila Hormozi, Alex and Leila Hormozi discussed Emerson Eggerichs's CU Love and Respect Anconnect Readerlink. Alex brought up the book to explain a relationship dynamic, noting that it helped him understand that men want to solve problems while women want to be heard, which made communication easier. Leila added that the book helped her realize she needed to constantly ask what Alex wanted from her and evaluate whether that aligned with what she wanted to give.
Discussed“have you read the book love and respect it talks about like men want to solve problems and women want to be heard and listened so it's just like ever since we got that frame I was just like it's so much easier”
Where to get it
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Love and Respect
Dr. Emerson Eggerichs's book Love and Respect was discussed on Build with Leila Hormozi by hosts Alex and Leila Hormozi. Alex brought up the book to explain how its framework regarding male and female communication dynamics helped simplify interactions between them, while Leila noted that the book helped her better understand how to identify and support her spouse's needs.
Discussed“have you read the book love and respect it talks about like men want to solve problems and women want to be heard and listened so it's just like ever since we got that frame I was just like it's so much easier”
Where to get it
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Antifragile
On Build with Leila Hormozi, Leila Hormozi recommended Nassim Nicholas Taleb's concept of antifragility from his book "Antifragile." She used the book's core premise to argue that exceptional leaders must go beyond mere resilience and actually grow stronger through adversity.
Recommended“and I think it was one of the best books I ever read was about anti fragility the best leaders are not just resilient they are antifragile”
Where to get it
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Crushing It!
Leila Hormozi discussed Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk on Build with Leila Hormozi. She shared that the book was assigned to her by her former gym owner during her early twenties, and explained that reading it in her spare time prompted her to study social media and business platforms.
Recommended“the last book that i read in my early 20s was crushing it and actually when i went to go work this small gym the owner had me read this in my spare time”
Where to get it
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From Impossible To Inevitable
On Build with Leila Hormozi in June 2023, Leila Hormozi recommended From Impossible To Inevitable by Aaron Ross and Jason Lemkin. She suggested the book as a helpful resource for understanding outbound strategies, though she cautioned listeners that the material might be somewhat outdated and did not focus specifically on LinkedIn.
Recommended“one I mean there's a really good book that I wouldn't like it might be outdated now it's called impossible to inevitable talking about outbound it's not gonna be direct to LinkedIn”
Where to get it
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Pour Your Heart Into It
Howard Schultz's book Pour Your Heart Into It was brought up by Leila Hormozi on Build with Leila Hormozi. Hormozi recommended the book to listeners while describing Schultz's return to Starbucks and the specific leadership steps he took to turn the company around, highlighting his philosophy that success is built through a thousand small efforts rather than a single silver bullet.
Recommended“he talks about this in this book it's really really good it's called pour your heart into it he talks about you know there's no silver bullet there's just a thousand lead bullets”
Where to get it
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Topgrading
On the March 9, 2025 episode of Build with Leila Hormozi, Mike Salguero brought up Bradford D. Smart's book Topgrading. He discussed it while explaining how utilizing the threat of reference checks works well to uncover the truth about a candidate's resume.
Recommended“there's a book called top grading which is all about like finding the best people uh they talked and this has worked really well too they talk about um the threat of reference check”
Where to get it
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$100M Leads
On Build with Leila Hormozi in August 2024, Leila Hormozi mentioned Alex Hormozi's book $100M Leads while reflecting on the rigorous writing process behind it. She discussed how he had to write consistently for six to eight hours a day without early positive reinforcement to successfully complete the book.
Discussed“when Alex wrote his book $100 million do leads it took him a long time of writing every day for six to eight hours he got no reinforcement from that writing in the beginning to get started”
Where to get it
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Ask Albert Ellis
Leila Hormozi mentioned Ask Albert Ellis by Albert Ellis on an episode of Build with Leila Hormozi in October 2023. She brought up the book while discussing self-therapy, noting that she had studied Albert Ellis's work extensively and read all of his books.
Discussed“and then I think that there's also self therapy which is that you can therapize yourself now who I've studied the most for this has probably been Albert Ellis I've read like all of his books”
Where to get it
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Awaken The Giant Within
On Build with Leila Hormozi, Leila Hormozi brought up Tony Robbins's Awaken The Giant Within while reflecting on her past relationships and the kind of partner she wanted to attract. She described a specific exercise from the book that involved listing desired partner traits and personal non-negotiables as a way to gain clarity in her dating life.
Discussed“so the first time that I recognized this was I was reading a book it was actually Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within and I was reflecting on why was my last relationship so shitty and not so shitty”
Where to get it
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Conscious Capitalism, Updated and Expanded
On the March 9, 2025 episode of Build with Leila Hormozi titled How He Lost $30M, Then Built a $550M Business | Mike Salguero, Leila Hormozi referenced Conscious Capitalism, Updated and Expanded by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia. Hormozi brought up the book when discussing how Whole Foods founder John Mackey outlines win-win outcomes for the community, customers, and employees.
Discussed“have you read um John Mackey's book founder of Whole Foods yes where he talks about win win Winn you know win for the community win for the customer”
Where to get it
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Eat that Frog
On Build with Leila Hormozi, Leila Hormozi brought up Brian Tracy's Eat That Frog as a foundational productivity principle. She explained that Tracy popularized the idea, which she still uses to this day, of tackling the hardest and highest-leverage task first.
Discussed“There's somebody that's probably before your time if you're watching this video, but his name is Brian Tracy, and he popularized this idea, and I remember it to this day, which is called Eat the Frog.”
Where to get it
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Guinness Book of World Records
On Build with Leila Hormozi, an unidentified guest mentioned the Guinness Book of World Records in a March 2026 episode while discussing a major business milestone. The guest described setting an ambitious goal to break a world record and recounted successfully achieving it after generating one hundred six million dollars in sales over a seventy-two-hour period.
Discussed“So we had the most audacious goal of beating the Guinness World Record. We sold $106 million in 72 hours and we were fortunate to beat the Guinness Book of World Records.”
Where to get it
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Gym Launch Secrets
On Build with Leila Hormozi, host Leila Hormozi discussed Alex Hormozi's book Gym Launch Secrets during the episode "From Bumble to $100M Business." Leila Hormozi recalled visiting her boyfriend's apartment a few weeks after they began dating and finding a large book sitting on his glass table. Opening it to discover the title Gym Launch Secrets, she realized he was serious about starting a company, marking a significant milestone in their early relationship and business journey.
Discussed“I don't know if anyone here's read the book gym launch Secrets but we have what we call the five Horsemen of retention”
Where to get it
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling was brought up on Build with Leila Hormozi. Alex Hormozi referenced the Sword of Gryffindor as a metaphor for relationships, explaining that the enchanted sword serves as an example of absorbing traits that can either strengthen or weaken a person.
Discussed“I love the the sword of Gryffindor from Harry Potter. I say it again but it it had a enchantment on it which was uh it only drinks in that which makes it stronger.”
Where to get it
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The Comfort Crisis
The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter was discussed on Build with Leila Hormozi in November 2024. Leila Hormozi brought up the book to explain the concept of comfort creep, using its insights to illustrate how repeatedly choosing comfort or discomfort can build psychological and behavioral momentum in either direction.
Discussed“there's a book called The Comfort crisis and there's a concept in there that I think is really fantastic which is about Comfort creep the more that you do things that are comfortable the more you want to do things that are comfortable and the same is the opposite direction”
Where to get it
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The Paradox of Choice
Barry Schwartz's book The Paradox of Choice was brought up by Leila Hormozi on Build with Leila Hormozi. Hormozi referenced the concept to explain decision-making processes, noting that when individuals are confronted with an excess of options, they are statistically more likely to make poor choices or avoid making a decision altogether.
Discussed“the first reason is called the Paradox of choice given a situation where you have more options than less you're more likely to make a bad decision or no decision at all”
Where to get it
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The Start-up of You
Leila Hormozi brought up Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha's book The Start-up of You on an episode of Build with Leila Hormozi in April 2026. She referenced the book while explaining that a career is built through a series of strategic investments, noting that a job can serve as one of the best vehicles for compounding those career skills.
Discussed“Reid Hoffman's The Startup of You makes the same point in a different way, which he talks about how your career is a series of strategic investments, and your job is one of the best vehicles for compounding them.”
Where to get it
Guests who recommended books
Latest mentions
“Another way that I think about seasons is you have peace time and wartime. Ben Horwitz talked about this in his book, A Hard Thing About Hard Things.”
“Reid Hoffman's The Startup of You makes the same point in a different way, which he talks about how your career is a series of strategic investments, and your job is one of the best vehicles for compounding them.”
“So we had the most audacious goal of beating the Guinness World Record. We sold $106 million in 72 hours and we were fortunate to beat the Guinness Book of World Records.”
“Okay, Robert Kiosaki, he wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad. One of the first books I read on money, he put it very simply. He said, "The rich buy assets, the middle class buys liabilities thinking they are assets."”
“There's somebody that's probably before your time if you're watching this video, but his name is Brian Tracy, and he popularized this idea, and I remember it to this day, which is called Eat the Frog.”
“And at the time again I saw another therapist in college who who I spoke to about that restrictive and binging pattern. Um who who gave me like this really good book overcoming overeating because I now had turned into it had gone from like anorexia like starving yourself to now binge eating.”
“there's a book called top grading which is all about like finding the best people uh they talked and this has worked really well too they talk about um the threat of reference check”
“have you read um John Mackey's book founder of Whole Foods yes where he talks about win win Winn you know win for the community win for the customer”
“and I think it was one of the best books I ever read was about anti fragility the best leaders are not just resilient they are antifragile”
“there's a principle that really extrapolates this out it's called the Peter Principle and what it states is that in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to the level of their incompetence”
“there's a book called The Comfort crisis and there's a concept in there that I think is really fantastic which is about Comfort creep the more that you do things that are comfortable the more you want to do things that are comfortable and the same is the opposite direction”
“I love the the sword of Gryffindor from Harry Potter. I say it again but it it had a enchantment on it which was uh it only drinks in that which makes it stronger.”
“so the first time that I recognized this was I was reading a book it was actually Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within and I was reflecting on why was my last relationship so shitty and not so shitty”
“when Alex wrote his book $100 million do leads it took him a long time of writing every day for six to eight hours he got no reinforcement from that writing in the beginning to get started”
“I don't know if anyone here's read the book gym launch Secrets but we have what we call the five Horsemen of retention”
“have you read the book love and respect it talks about like men want to solve problems and women want to be heard and listened so it's just like ever since we got that frame I was just like it's so much easier”
“have you read the book love and respect it talks about like men want to solve problems and women want to be heard and listened so it's just like ever since we got that frame I was just like it's so much easier”
“when I was like 15 I read a book it was called crushit by Gary vaynerchuk and it basically predicted that people would be able to make videos and content and talk about things they're interested in for a full-time living”
“and then I think that there's also self therapy which is that you can therapize yourself now who I've studied the most for this has probably been Albert Ellis I've read like all of his books”
“and especially uh focusing on that conversion mechanism conversion percentage at the end uh has been especially using the philosophies in 100 million offer et cetera um like you see a huge conversion rates when you actually Implement that system fully”
Episodes
Link to this list from your show notes
Host or produce Build with Leila Hormozi? Give your listeners every book mentioned on the show, with the episode it came up in. New episodes are added as they come out.
