Sam Adams founder says these 10 books helped him build a billion-dollar company

Courtesy of the Boston Beer Company

When Jim Koch left a comfortable career at Boston Consulting Group in 1984 to start the Boston Beer Company, his father told him he was making a terrible mistake.

The Kochs are a family of brewers, but Koch's dad thought the idea of trying to enter an industry dominated by brands like Budweiser and Coors was destined for failure.

Koch, however, started by aiming at a niche market. Today craft breweries produce 10% of all the beer in the United States, and Sam Adams is at the head of the pack, accounting for a full 1% of that slice, and bringing in more than a billion dollars in annual revenue.

In his new book "Quench Your Own Thirst," Koch shares 10 books he finds have had the most impact on his success. He previously explained the value of the first two selections in an interview with Business Insider last year, saying they helped him develop a philosophy of prioritizing customers over shareholders and using constant innovation as an advantage.

These are the titles he recommends you pick up if you're an aspiring entrepreneur or leader.

'Out of the Crisis' by W. Edward Deming

Deming was an American statistician who spent a decade in Japan after World War II. His lectures, consultation, and training contributed significantly to the country's postwar economic boom and the emergence of fine Japanese products on the global market.

In 1951, the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers created the Deming Prize for exceptional achievement in industry, but Deming didn't gain notoriety in the US until the '80s.

His 1986 book "Out of the Crisis," which Koch said is written in charming colloquial language, outlines 14 management points that advocate for the need to forecast, stay innovative, and empower employees.

"Long-term commitment to new learning and new philosophy is required of any management that seeks transformation," Deming wrote. "The timid and the fainthearted, and the people that expect quick results, are doomed to disappointment."

Koch said he takes this approach to his business, ignoring the daily ups and downs of the Boston Beer Company's stock price and prioritizing long-term growth over short-term results.

"So I'm worried about, where are we in two years? In five years? How do I make this the best, strongest, healthiest company I can?" Koch told us.

Find it here »

'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions' by Thomas S. Kuhn

The late physicist's book has become "one of the most cited academic books of all time" since its initial publication in 1962, establishing Kuhn as "perhaps the most influential" philosopher of science in the 20th century, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Kuhn's book is best remembered for introducing the phrase "paradigm shift," representing instances in scientific history when a perspective was fundamentally shifted, like when quantum physics replaced Newtonian mechanics.

The paradigm shift theory can be applied to aspects of business as well, such as the way Americans expanded their beer consumption past huge brands like Budweiser and Heineken over the past two decades.

"The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" helped Koch "think about removing the blinders and not think within constraints," Koch told us.

"To be able to say, 'I know this is the way the world is, but why can't it be different and better?'"

Find it here »

'Accidents in North American Mountaineering' by the American Alpine Club

Before returning to Harvard to finish the dual MBA/JD program in 1978, Koch took a break and spent a few years as an Outward Bound instructor. Outward Bound is organization dedicated to fostering personal development through team building exercises outdoors.

In his book, Koch writes that his Harvard classmates may have turned up their noses at his decision, but he considers it pivotal to his success as an entrepreneur. "I found it invigorating to have no real responsibilities except to myself — life was now a blank canvas, every day a new choice."

One of the guides he came across during this time was the annual safety guide from the American Alpine Club, which uses the year's worst mountain climbing accidents to explain how such mistakes can be avoided. Koch later internalized it as a metaphor for business.

"Most fatalities begin as small mistakes that get compounded by unexpected conditions and bad judgment," he wrote. "There is usually a point where the right decision needs to be made and, if not made, fatality can only be avoided with unusually good luck (which rarely happens)."

Find it here »