If you want a company, not just a startup: anything from Nolo press
Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?
11–20 of 40 posts
Re: Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
yeah shows how much I read. Hence why i like short lists . Take the time to also listen to CH on Carson Workshops [0] & this one [1]. Also check out the O'Reilly chapter from the book [2]. [0] Carson Workshops, 'The Future of Web Apps, carsonworkshops.com/summit, Cal Henderson' http://media.libsyn.com/media/carsonsystems/Cal_Henderson.mp3 [1] Carson Workshops, 'Building Enterprise Web Apps on a Budget How We Built…
Ahh, if only google notebook would actually structure the data in a pretty way just like your numbered citations
the question is ... can you extract your data?
Then you can do with it, what you like! This is the bane of my existence and I want to own this problem!
Re: Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?
#13About 14 months ago, I had little knowledge of how to execute a startup. In particular, I wasn't familiar with any online marketing tactics. The following books helped me a lot in that respective, and more: 1. Positioning, 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing/Branding, Focus, Marketing Warfare 2. Purple Cow, All Marketers are Liars, Permission Marketing (I didn't like "The Big Moo", "Free prize inside" or "Small is the new…
Very good list. I've been compiling a list for a while now using google notebook. Its a big mess and many of the books I have yet to read but it links to a few good lists such as the ones on joelonsoftware and onstartups. http://www.google.com/notebook/public/14636089903511277449/BDQiPSgoQ98yW0vQh Also python: long tail is a good read, drags out a bit though. Possibly more my attention span at fault there.
Dan, thank you for sharing that awesome list. Joel's recommended books are great; in fact, back when I was developing a micro ISV, I used to turn to Joel's website for advice. That is where I discovered Paul Graham's "Hackers and Painters". Since then, I have shifted my allegiance to a new mentor :) I think the book brought three major changes in how I think:
1. Think big: Since I was developing a micro ISV, I had never really considered scaling the business to millions of customers (aka users). "Hackers and Painters" entered my life just a few weeks before I was about to launch my product; and I realized I had to develop something that can scale. I took a leap of faith and decided to instead pursue web startups; the opportunities for growth were many times in magnitude.
2. There are others like me: Toronto, Canada is not exactly a Silicon Valley. So uptil then, I didn't know there were so many other young entrepreneurs pursuing the same goals as me. Eventhough I wasn't acquainted with other hackers, I could at least gain a sense of security that I am not alone.
3. The Art of the Start: The single most valuable lesson I learned from Paul's book was the governing dynamics of web startups. Before reading it, there was not much inspiration or reason to think big because even if I did venture into online startups, I wouldn't know what to do.
While I have read some excellent books, I can credit Paul's work for watering the first seeds.
Re: Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?
#14Tufte's Visual Display of Quantitative Information and Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People .
I had long pined to read Tufte's The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint, but couldn't convince myself to spend the money; when I arrived at university, I immediately found a copy, and greatly appreciated it (not to say I agreed with every point). I thence read Visual Display of Quantitative Information, and found it fascinating--for anyone who's ever taken an interest in typography, visualization, or the theory of communication, it's an excellent read. Even if none of that interests you, you'd still benefit from the book: it shows you how to think analytically about human factors, which is a relatively rare discipline.
Re: Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?
#15"Hackers and Painters" had an immense impact on me a couple of years ago. Like pg, I multiplex art and hackery (I suck at painting though--sculpture, printmaking, and theatrical design are my areas), so to read a book that validated and supported that duality was to find a good bit of clarity regarding my course in life. I still go back to H&P every few months, when I get worried about such things.
Just yesterday I started reading "Founders at Work", and from what I've gotten through, it's going to be great. More on that later, if this thread last.
Re: Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?
#16Agile Web Development with Rails was very helpful
Re: Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?
#17some that haven't been mentioned:
- the innovator's dilemma by clayton christensen
- blue ocean strategy (kim and mauborgne) -- these two books give you a little bit more of a framework to evaluate where your idea adds value and give you examples of how/why some successful companies have been successful
- high tech startup by nesheim -- a little dated, but lots of info
- negotiation/people books: getting to yes (fisher, ury) and getting past no (ury), influence by cialdini (useful for more than just startups)
- maybe some management books: peopleware (demarco and lister), the art of project management (berkun), first, break all the rules (buckingham)
- founders at work (livingston) to get inspired
+1 to crossing the chasm, and the godin & gladwell books, art of the start
blogs: onstartups.com, fred wilson, brad feld, seth godin, etc., guy kawasaki
-drew
Re: Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?
#187 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Re: Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?
#197 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
That is indeed an excellent book for personal development. Anyone who hasn't yet read it should certainly look into it.
Re: Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?
#20"Hackers and Painters" had an immense impact on me a couple of years ago. Like pg, I multiplex art and hackery (I suck at painting though--sculpture, printmaking, and theatrical design are my areas), so to read a book that validated and supported that duality was to find a good bit of clarity regarding my course in life. I still go back to H&P every few months, when I get worried about such things. Just yesterday I s…
Has anyone read "ANSI Common Lisp" by pg, yet? The painting on the front cover is actually by Paul :)
http://images.pearsoned-ema.com/jpeg/large/9780133708752.jpg
