The Hard Thing About Hard Things. We bought a copy for every employee at my last company to help convey the messages that startups are not designed to be tons of fun but rather a tough (yet rewarding) grind. This was especially important for people who were coming from bigger companies to understand.
Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?
41–50 of 116 posts
Re: Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?
#42Lots of good suggestions here. One I don't see is Wotdke's "Radical Focus". It's about OKRs, but don't be put off by prior big-corp experiences with it. The book focuses on using them in an entrepreneurial context and it's great. Even if you decide to come up with your own system, this will help clarify what you want out of a way to set goals and make sure you're on track for them.
Re: Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?
#43How to get rich by Felix Dennis - at least it is entertaining.
Re: Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?
#44Small Giants
Re: Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?
#45“The Mom Test” by Rob Fitzpatrick - How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you. https://a.co/d/8KzUk8b It ended up saving us a lot of time.
I can't recommend this book enough. Even if you have a lot of experience with early stage customer development, you'll learn things from The Mom Test
Re: Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?
#46"The Art of Action" It has changed how I approach everything, not just how I run my business. Is applying approaches used in militaries to organize action around the leader's intent, taking action in the right general direction, and delegating the "what" (the intent) but not the "how" of the way it is actually achieved.
Re: Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?
#47Here are some suggestions on the more creative and less tactical spectrum.
How To Get Rich: Felix Dennis
Don’t be fooled by the title. A lifetime of insights and experience from a pioneering publishing magnate condensed into a light enjoyable read.
Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull
goes into great detail about the early days of Pixar. So many actionable lessons about entrepreneurship and operating a creative organization.
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Not just for artists this book is a bible for anyone who has difficulty getting out of their own way. provides useful frameworks to understand the concept of resistance and recognize negative self defeating thought patterns that many entrepreneurs struggle with.
Re: Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?
#48"Ready, Fire, Aim" by Michael Masterson. It's a bit cheesy, but it has a publishing industry slant which suited me and enough things resonated that filtered into decisions I made that I'm thankful for it. I never went it past the first half of the book as you're meant to be doing $10m revenue before you move on ;-)
Re: Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?
#49Hourly Billing Is Nuts by Jonathan Stark
From all the "business" books I've read this one is just packed with actionable advice instead of motivational gibberrish. I've built my productivized consulting offer based on these tips, and it helped me quit full-time job over 3 years ago. So far no plans to go back.
Re: Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?
#50Oh, one smaller but useful book:
Design is a job, by Mike Monteiro
Even though it's targeted towards designers, it's actually about businesses that happen to be small design shops. The same principles apply: value your work, don't do work for free, dealing with clients, contacts, etc.