Business owners buy books. We sometimes pay too much and often buy books we don't read. I'm in a new phase I call wise. I don't like wasting money on things I can get elsewhere either cheaper or free.
Acting on advice in a podcast I listened to tonight, I am reading a book by Amar Bhidé called The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses. Although Amazon has several copies available through used retailers, from his website, completely free.
Read it in three parts: part1, part2, part3.
He tells you where to buy his book then offers these PDF files free of charge. Why? Well in his words:
My contract with Oxford now precludes me from continuing to offer free drafts. You may still download drafts from the indicated links but you are not allowed to print them -- I've switched on a feature in Acrobat that's supposed to prevent you from doing so. If you somehow get around this feature, you will be violating all kinds of copyright laws, and make my publisher very cross.
See, he protected them so you can't print them. So, it's protected and... well, no it doesn't make sense if you're in the publishing business. But, I guess some people just like to buy the hard covered version. I can read the PDF just fine.
It's amazing how many professors will publish (for pay), then offer their complete works on their personal website at no charge. Not all published material is worth your time, but its amazing how much information I've downloaded free and much of it in audio format.
Librivox is my latest find for all sorts of free audio books, including Sun Tzu's The Art of War.
Most of the old classics and many more recent publications (over 20,000 publications) are available through the Gutenberg Project. They are downloadable in text format, readable on practically any device.
A quick search, a few conversations, and I save money. It's a sound way to expand your knowledge quickly without shrinking your wallet.