Book · 2007
Made to Stick
by Chip Heath
Chip and Dan Heath take apart six ideas that lasted centuries and explain the structural reasons your last presentation was forgotten by Tuesday.
What does Reddit think of Made to Stick?
Three mentions, all on r/Entrepreneur, one per year from 2022 through 2024. The ↑35 comment recommends it alongside Ogilvy on Advertising as a copywriting foundation; the ↑34 comment puts it at the top of a ranked personal reading list above Zero to One and Black Box Thinking. The highest-upvoted post (↑76) doesn't actually mention the book by name — it's the parent thread where a later reply surfaces it. That's the data. Made to Stick sits in a particular zone on r/Entrepreneur: well-regarded enough to anchor a best-of list, specialized enough that nobody's opening a thread to argue about the SUCCESs framework by name. The Heath brothers' mnemonic — Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credentialed, Emotional, Story — shows up in copywriting and marketing conversations, but Reddit's version of those conversations is thin. You won't find anyone disputing whether the "Curse of Knowledge" chapter is the right diagnosis. They just recommend the book and move on.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · The SUCCESs framework for sticky ideas
- · Storytelling and narrative structure
- · Copywriting and messaging clarity
- · The Curse of Knowledge problem
- · Behavioral psychology applied to communication
Common praise
- + The r/Entrepreneur commenter (↑34) puts Made to Stick above Zero to One and Black Box Thinking on their personal list, which is a real claim about relative value.
- + The copywriting context (↑35) — alongside Ogilvy — anchors the book in practical application rather than abstract theory.
- + The SUCCESs acronym is the kind of framework that actually survives team meetings, which is why copywriters keep recommending it.
Common criticism
- − Three mentions over three years with no debates, no dissents, and no named concepts from the book suggests it's being recommended on reputation rather than recent reading.
- − The r/Entrepreneur audience uses Made to Stick as a copywriting primer — which undersells the book but also means nobody's engaging with its deeper behavioral science.
- − No commenter in the tracked data argues about the framework itself, which means there's no Reddit-native signal on which chapters actually hold up.
Who it's for
Marketers and copywriters who need a structural reason to explain why some messages stick and others don't. The r/Entrepreneur commenter pairing it with Ogilvy on Advertising (↑35) is the right mental model for the primary audience. Founders who write their own copy, pitch decks, or investor memos will find the Curse of Knowledge chapter alone worth the read. If you already have a communications background and you're looking for academic depth, the book will feel like a well-organized introduction.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Made to Stick?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“With 0$ is pretty hard, but with under 100$ you could start pretty much any business, which is online or reselling. I am biased towards reselling, cause thats how I started. Find something undervalued on your local marketplace and resell it for more, pretty basic, but most likely won't turn into a b…
“Start with the basics. Learn by study famous copywriters. Read books. Example ( Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath), (Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy) Apply what you learned with your own approach.
“1. Made to Stick - Chip & Dan Heath 2. Zero to One - Peter Thiel 3. What I learned losing $1M - Brendan Moynihan and Jim Paul (interchangeable with Fooled by Randomness, tbh) 4. Black Box Thinking - Matthew Syed 5. Power: Why Some Have It & Others Don't - Jeffrey Pfeffer.
Convinced? Pick up Made to Stick
What else does r/Entrepreneur read?
Other books mentioned in the same sub, ranked. Shared-sub overlap with this title breaks ties.
The E-Myth Revisited
Michael E. Gerber
Michael Gerber's diagnosis: most small business owners don't own a business — they own a job, and they're the worst boss they've ever had.
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
Eric Ries tells founders to ship a broken version on purpose, collect data, and repeat until the market stops ignoring them.
Never Split the Difference
Chris Voss
A former FBI hostage negotiator teaches the same tactical empathy he used to talk down kidnappers — applied to salary talks, vendor deals, and difficult bosses.
Zero to One
Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel argues that copying what already works produces competition and thin margins, and that building a monopoly is the only business worth starting.
The 4-Hour Workweek
Timothy Ferriss
Tim Ferriss's 2007 case for outsourcing your life and working 4 hours a week has become a meme, but 18 Reddit mentions suggest the Pareto principle chapter still lands.
Shoe Dog
Phil Knight
Phil Knight recounts selling Japanese running shoes out of a car trunk in 1962 and the 26-year scramble to turn that bet into Nike.
Made to Stick — frequently asked
Is Made to Stick the right starting point for learning copywriting?+
Yes, as a structural foundation. The r/Entrepreneur commenter (↑35) recommends it alongside Ogilvy on Advertising as a two-book primer for copy — Ogilvy for craft and instinct, Made to Stick for the underlying logic of why messages work. All 3 tracked mentions come from r/Entrepreneur, and none of them qualify the recommendation.
What does Reddit think of Made to Stick compared to other communication books?+
The ↑34 r/Entrepreneur comment is the clearest signal: it places Made to Stick first on a ranked list above Zero to One and Black Box Thinking. That's a substantive claim about relative value, not a generic endorsement. All 3 mentions across r/Entrepreneur are positive; none surface a counterargument.
Is Made to Stick still relevant in 2026 for marketers dealing with AI-generated content?+
The book's core argument is about human cognition, not channel tactics — which makes it relatively insulated from platform shifts. The Curse of Knowledge problem (experts can't remember not knowing something) is, if anything, more acute when AI tools make it easier to produce volume without clarity. The 2024 r/Entrepreneur mention confirms it's still appearing on current reading lists.
Should I read Made to Stick or just read the Heath brothers' Switch instead?+
Different books for different problems. Made to Stick is about making ideas memorable and persuasive; Switch is about changing behavior under resistance. Reddit's 3 tracked mentions all reach for Made to Stick in communication and copywriting contexts. If your problem is messaging clarity, this is the one.