Vellum Star 2025 Award Winner List

2025 Award Winners

Business Strategy, Theory & Commentary

GOLD

 Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
(Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster)

Silver

How Progress Ends by Carl Benedikt Frey
(Princeton University Press)

Bronze

Breakneck by Dan Wang
(W. W. Norton & Company)

Economics & Markets

GOLD

Chokepoints by Edward Fishman
(Portfolio)

Silver

1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin
(Viking)

Bronze

How Countries Go Broke by Ray Dalio
(Avid Reader Press)

Career Development & Workplace Success

GOLD

All the Cool Girls Get Fired by Laura Brown and Kristina O’Neill
(Gallery Books)

Silver

Smart Careers by Jess Annison
(Bloomsbury Business)

Bronze

The Career Edge by Kaushik Mitra
(Penguin Business)

Sales, Negotiation & Customer Growth

GOLD

Never Ask for the Sale by Sue Heilbronner
(Balance)

Silver

Outgrow by Alex Goldfayn
(Matt Holt Books)

Bronze

A Story Is a Deal by Will Storr
(Little, Brown Book Group)

Leadership & Organizational Culture

GOLD

Reset by Dan Heath
(Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster)

Silver

Strong Ground by Brené Brown
(Random House)

Bronze

The Win-Win Workplace by Angela Jackson
(Berrett-Koehler Publishers)

Business Communication & Networking

GOLD

When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows by Steven Pinker
(Scribner)

Silver

A Story Is a Deal by Will Storr
(Little, Brown Book Group)

Bronze

The Storyteller’s Advantage
by Christina Farr
(Basic Venture)

Business Ethics & Responsible Leadership

GOLD

No More Tears by Gardiner Harris
(Random House)

Silver

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
(Flatiron Books)

Bronze

Empire of AI by Karen Hao
(Penguin Press)

Innovation & Business Transformation

GOLD

The Creative Shift by Andrew Robertson
(Basic Venture)

Silver

How Progress Ends by Carl Benedikt Frey
(Princeton University Press)

Bronze

Reset by Dan Heath
(Avid Reader Press)

Operations & Organizational Growth

GOLD

Reset by Dan Heath
(Avid Reader Press)

Silver

Make Work Fair  by Iris Bohnet & Siri Chilazi
 (Harper Business)

Bronze

The Octopus Organization by Phil Le-Brun & Jana Werner
(Harvard Business Review Press)

Human Resources & Talent Development

GOLD

The Win-Win Workplace by Angela Jackson
(Berrett-Koehler Publishers)

Silver

Evolving the Employee Experience edited by Rose Mueller-Hanson
(Oxford University Press)

Bronze

Human Resource Management for Organisational Success Volume I by Neema Gupta and Ashish K. Gupta
(Palgrave Macmillan)

Entrepreneurship & Small Business

GOLD

The Sweaty Startup by Nick Huber
(Harper Business)

Silver

What’s Your Dream? by Simon Squibb
(Crown Currency)

Bronze

The Storypreneur’s Playbook by Prateek Roy Chowdhury & Nitin Babel
(Penguin Business)

Sustainability, Nonprofit & Social Impact

GOLD

Consumed by Saabira Chaudhuri (Blink Publishing)

Silver

For the World’s Profit by Homi Kharas
(Brookings Institution Press)

Bronze

Reaping What She Sows by Nancy Matsumoto
(Melville House)

International Business & Global Markets

GOLD

Apple in China  by Patrick McGee
(Scribner)

Silver

Our Dollar, Your Problem  by Kenneth Rogoff
(Yale University Press)

Bronze

How Progress Ends by Carl Benedikt Frey
(Princeton University Press)

Finance, Investing & Wealth Management

GOLD

1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin
(Viking)

Silver

How Not to Invest by Barry Ritholtz
(Harriman House)

Bronze

The Second Estate  by Ray D. Madoff
(University of Chicago Press)

Business Technology, AI & Future Trends

GOLD

The Thinking Machine by Stephen Witt
(Viking)

Silver

Empire of AI by Karen Hao
(Penguin Press)

Bronze

The Technological Republic by Alexander C. Karp & Nicholas W. Zamiska
(Crown Currency)

Professional Growth, Coaching & Performance

GOLD

The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom
(Ballantine Books)

Silver

The Price of Nice by Amira Barger
(Berrett-Koehler Publishers)

Bronze

The Nurturing Quotient by Nirupama Subramanian & Rajesh Ramakrishnan
(Penguin Business)

Marketing, Advertising, Branding & PR

GOLD

The Storyteller’s Advantage by Christina Farr
(Basic Venture)

Silver

A Story Is a Deal by Will Storr
(Little, Brown Book Group)

Bronze

The Future of Storytelling by Charles Melcher
(Artisan)

Corporate History & Legacy

GOLD

House of Huawei by Eva Dou
(Portfolio)

Silver

No More Tears by Gardiner Harris
(Random House)

Bronze

Bag Man by Lew Frankfort
(Harvard Business Review Press)

Real Estate Business & Investment

GOLD

Stuck by Yoni Appelbaum

(Random House)

Silver

Smarter Short-Term Rentals by Avery Carl
(BiggerPockets Publishing)

Bronze

Commercial Real Estate Investing  
by Randall Zisler, Ph.D.

Business Reference, Legal & How-To

GOLD

Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business, 19th Edition
by Editors of Nolo
(Nolo)

Silver

Business Law The Ethical, Global, and Digital Environment
by Jamie Darin Prenkert
(McGraw Hill)

Bronze

Artificial Intelligence and Taxation Law by Enrico Gallo
(Routledge)

Business Memoir & Biography

GOLD

Source Code My Beginnings by Bill Gates
(Alfred A. Knopf)

Silver

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
(Flatiron Books)

Bronze

Bag Man by Lew Frankfort
(Harvard Business Review Press)

Business Narrative & Fable

GOLD

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams (Flatiron Books)

Silver

The Optimist by Keach Hagey

(W. W. Norton)

Bronze

Charlatans by Moisés Naím & Quico Toro
(Basic Books)

Productivity, Time Management & Work-Life Balance

GOLD

Digital Exhaustion by Paul Leonardi
(Riverhead Books)

Silver

The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom
(Ballantine Books)

Bronze

The Hustle Cure by Sophie Cliff
(Blue Star Press)

Audiobook – Business

GOLD

The Next Conversation by Jefferson Fisher
(Penguin Audio)

Silver

How Countries Go Broke by Ray Dalio
(Simon & Schuster Audio)

Bronze

The Sweaty Startup by Nick Huber
(HarperAudio)