Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?
31–40 of 43 posts
Re: Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?
#32If you are a philosophy person like me, this one is for you:
Classic Drucker: Wisdom from Peter Drucker from the Pages of Harvard Business Review.
It shows you what and how a pioneer in the field of business thinks of business itself. Learn from his thinking and learning pattern. They are just like common sense for business (like DStruc and Algo in programming).
Re: Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?
#33Re: Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?
#34Pick up a copy of the tried and true, "How To Win Friends & Influence People". The rest of the fad business books come and go, but this one is a great start to learn how to interact with people when you're trying to sell them on "something".
for sales- frank bettger- How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling
I mention it as a comment of this- as frank regularly quotes this book
Re: Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?
#35Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham ;)
Re: Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?
#36I'd recommend "Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey A. Moore. It almost perfectly describes the lifecycle and challenges faced by the two software-product-based startups that I've worked for.
+1 The examples are a bit dated but this book still nails it!
Re: Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?
#37Most of the books I read are usually business profiles/bios of founders/companies. 1) iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business 2) The Google Story 3) The Perfect Store: Inside eBay 4) Paypal Wars 5) Barbarians at the Gate (not tech-related but one of the best business books of all time)
You might also like "The Qualcomm Equation" by Dave Mock. It is the story of a few engineers in San Diego who got together and used CDMA to transform the industry.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?
#38Three of my favorites are How Much Should I Charge Don't remember the author, but she reinforces the point that most small businesses are undercharging for their product/service and shows how to solve the problem.
The E-Myth Revisited kinda starts where the above one ends in that it points out the tragic flaw in many entrepreneurs: they want to practice their "craft" to the detriment of the actual business.
Growing A Business my copy of this disappeared over 10 years ago, but I still consider it one of the most important business books I've ever read.
And pick up one of the many editions of The Portable MBA at a used bookstore. Good, basic foundations in Finance, Accounting, Marketing and HR.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?
#39"Bootstrap" by Kenneth L. Hess and "The Knack" by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?
#40Pick up a copy of the tried and true, "How To Win Friends & Influence People". The rest of the fad business books come and go, but this one is a great start to learn how to interact with people when you're trying to sell them on "something".
I would add "Influence" by Cialdini under this category .