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Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers
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Re: Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers
#2https://bookreviews.lol has a daily list under Business and Money category
Re: Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers
#3Too many to name really. One of the most influential for me though was The Mom Test. Teaches you how to validate before you build.
Re: Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers
#4Best for what?
- Validating early ideas: The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
- Very early sales (not a book, but): https://stripe.com/en-us/guides/atlas/starting-sales
- Interviewing potential and current customers: Deploy Empathy by Michele Hansen
- Marketing ideas: Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
- Deeper marketing ideas: Forget the funnel by Claire Suellentrop and Georgiana Laudi
Re: Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers
#5https://readmake.com/ from @levelsio cheap and covers a lot of indie 101
Re: Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers
#6May I suggest a radical POV: time you spent reading books is time not spent validating & building & selling your ideas.
I don’t mean to be rude, but there is nothing special there, no secret sauce, no guaranteed path etc to write books about. It is mostly a common sense knowledge + a bit of inspiration.
But it’s the same inspiration you get from your favorite film heros or real books, like literature.
Re: Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers
#7My favorite is The Startup Owner's Manual by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf. It has a roadmap for internet business and a ton of checklists to help you validate your ideas and reach potential customers. The suggested path through the book also helps to get started without having to read through the whole book.
Re: Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers
#8The SaaS Playbook: https://saasplaybook.com/
Re: Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers
#9May I suggest a radical POV: time you spent reading books is time not spent validating & building & selling your ideas. I don’t mean to be rude, but there is nothing special there, no secret sauce, no guaranteed path etc to write books about. It is mostly a common sense knowledge + a bit of inspiration. But it’s the same inspiration you get from your favorite film heros or real books, like literature.
This is generally good advice. "Knowledge porn" is a waste of time. However, there are moments in a day when reading is one of the only things you can do. For example, while on a treadmill or 10-15 minutes before you sleep. As long as you read in those kinds of moments I don't see it as a waste of time.
On the other hand, if you're reading an hour or two a day when you could be building, showing or talking to someone then you're mismanaging your time.
Re: Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers
#10May I suggest a radical POV: time you spent reading books is time not spent validating & building & selling your ideas. I don’t mean to be rude, but there is nothing special there, no secret sauce, no guaranteed path etc to write books about. It is mostly a common sense knowledge + a bit of inspiration. But it’s the same inspiration you get from your favorite film heros or real books, like literature.
I agree with you up to a point.
The problem is that most people asking this question are already developers and what they really need is exposure to the things they haven't had to deal with before. Stuff like Marketing, making sales, customer support, staying profitable and general "business sense." A general introduction to small business book is probably enough to cover the basics there.