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Ask HN: Suggest good books on bootstrapping a startup

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Re: Ask HN: Suggest good books on bootstrapping a startup

#21

Post by mostlystatic »

serjester wrote: post #20
armenarmen wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to suggest IH, great place to hangout for solo and bootstrap folk

My one gripe with the IH forum is it seems like everyone on there is doing the millionth note taking / project management / web analytics app. Or even worse, a product for other Indie Hackers. I wish there was more originality, better yet solving real problems for real people - not other indie hackers. Not that it doesn't exist, it just seems the signal to noise ratio is so low.

Since Indie Hackers generally don't take external funding, all the risk is concentrated on the founders. That makes it attractive to focus on established product categories with known demand.

Funded startups are in a better position to take risks and work on innovative products. You don't know if you're building the right thing, and even if you are your potential customers might not see the value right away. Funding allows founders to take a salary while trying to find a market.

I had lots innovative ideas I started working on my product. But in practice the few users I had were all asking for the same types of standard functionality. So I started trying to more directly compete with existing successful businesses.

Re: Ask HN: Suggest good books on bootstrapping a startup

#23

Post by XCSme »

serjester wrote: post #20
armenarmen wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to suggest IH, great place to hangout for solo and bootstrap folk

My one gripe with the IH forum is it seems like everyone on there is doing the millionth note taking / project management / web analytics app. Or even worse, a product for other Indie Hackers. I wish there was more originality, better yet solving real problems for real people - not other indie hackers. Not that it doesn't exist, it just seems the signal to noise ratio is so low.

I am on IH and I am indeed building another web analytics app [0], but I do try and feel like I solve a real problem, help real people and have a positive impact in the self-hosted movement.

I have 100x other "original" ideas, but it's very likely that only few of them would generate enough income to sustain the IH life.

Also, as you mentioned, most of the products there seem to be targeted at other indie-hackers, but that's mostly because the people building those things are more vocal because they can generate leads this way. If someone locally sells flowers and is an indie-hacker, it wouldn't make any sense for him to also try to promote his business on IH. That being said, I still saw a lot of original ideas (cookie delivery, services, products, etc.).

[0]: http://usertrack.net/

Re: Ask HN: Suggest good books on bootstrapping a startup

#25

Post by Reebz »

mindhash wrote: post #9

I was in similar state a few of years back. Read these, and used them to a good extent. Lean analytics. (must read) Product-Led growth. (must read) 22 Laws of marketing (must) One million followers If you like scientific approach: Influence by Robert Cialdini Contagious (Jonah Berger) This resource is also gold: https://brianbalfour.com/essays/customer-acquisition I am also documenting my learnings in a book [1]. [1]…

Brian Balfour is a good resource for growth topics. I took his Reforge program many years ago, and it was useful and quickly applied.

Re: Ask HN: Suggest good books on bootstrapping a startup

#26

Post by rahimnathwani »

Unsimplified wrote: post #22

The Great CEO Within. Free ebook. Popular (1K+ HN points). Good methods. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnw... Unicorns vs Horses. Article. Good perspective. https://medium.com/@awilkinson/unicorns-vs-horses-f81d8dd61f...

The Great CEO Within is now available in print and on Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Great-CEO-Within-Tactical-Building/dp...

If you want to support the author, buy the book and/or write a review.

Re: Ask HN: Suggest good books on bootstrapping a startup

#27

Post by webmaven »

Rivosa wrote: post #2

- The Four Steps to the Epiphany - The Lean Startup

> - The Four Steps to the Epiphany

Good (even great) book, but has some flaws and focuses mostly on enterprise costumers. The revised version The Startup Owner's Manual is more polished and covers a wider range of business models.

> - The Lean Startup

An excellent recommendation. The other books in the series (especially IMO Running Lean and Lean Analytics) are also worth a look:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/7509FE4F-9888-4384-ACBC-D...

Re: Ask HN: Suggest good books on bootstrapping a startup

#28

Post by saran945 »

Unsimplified wrote: post #22

The Great CEO Within. Free ebook. Popular (1K+ HN points). Good methods. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnw... Unicorns vs Horses. Article. Good perspective. https://medium.com/@awilkinson/unicorns-vs-horses-f81d8dd61f...

Thanks for sharing the book link, I went through table of content. I am looking for bootstrapping a startup with few (5 to 10) customers. which hacks typically work to acquire initial customers, how to find them for an idea that I have, or The problem I found is faced by many other people ? if so how to find and engage them to provide solution. what type of users usually come forward to give feedbacks. how to attract them ? where are they ? how they are searching a solution to their problem ? I need books that gives me a framework and list of hacks to solves this problem.

Re: Ask HN: Suggest good books on bootstrapping a startup

#30

Post by talvi »

saran945 wrote: post #11
serjester wrote: post #8

Besides all the typical startup recommendation, I’ll advocate for something about talking to customers. Everything else is secondary. - Mom Test

Talking with customers is great start - partly an art and science. Unfortunately I did it wrong. In 2012, I had an idea and found two initial customers after calling 40+. talked with these two continuously till the product matures. They are super supportive, they gave all problem they face, exited to use the product as well. gave us good feedbacks and improvements, After 3 months of development, we showed a demo to o…

You should read the book that was recommended. Mom Test is about how to talk to customers without doing what you did.

It’s also the most practical business book I’ve ever read. It actually tells you how to execute the ideas than just the ideas.

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