Ask HN : What are some great books an aspiring entrepreneur should read?

#1

Post by kaahne » Tue, Sep 04, 2012, 7:26 PM UTC

Over the summer, I've read several great books including "The Lean Startup", "Thinking, fast and slow", as well as design and marketing books.

During the next year, i'll try to follow up with a "challenge" : A book per week. Above all, I want to learn stuff concerning startups, computer science, design and marketing, but I'm willing to read just about anything as long as i'll learn something.

I've found several great lists, and started to cross-compile them for the best references. However, I felt like asking might yield interesting results.

So, what are, in your mind, the best books any aspiring entrepreneur should read ?

Re: Ask HN : What are some great books an aspiring entrepreneur should read?

#2

Post by sparkawk » Tue, Sep 04, 2012, 7:35 PM UTC

The Startup Owner's Manual

Re: Ask HN : What are some great books an aspiring entrepreneur should read?

#3

Post by dmix » Tue, Sep 04, 2012, 7:47 PM UTC

Pricing for Profit

Startup Owners Manual

Made to Stick

Getting Real (37signals first book)

Re: Ask HN : What are some great books an aspiring entrepreneur should read?

#4

Post by chadbartels » Tue, Sep 04, 2012, 8:00 PM UTC

Rework

Re: Ask HN : What are some great books an aspiring entrepreneur should read?

#5

Post by dglassan » Tue, Sep 04, 2012, 8:21 PM UTC

Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston

It's a collection of interviews with founders who started successful companies.

Re: Ask HN : What are some great books an aspiring entrepreneur should read?

#6

Post by mindcrime » Tue, Sep 04, 2012, 9:12 PM UTC

The Four Steps to the Epiphany - Steve Blank

The Art of the Start - Guy Kawasaki

Crossing The Chasm - Geoffrey Moore

Business Model Generation - Alex Osterwalder

The Personal MBA - Josh Kaufman

Blue Ocean Strategy - W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne

Also, see:

http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-must-read-books-for-entre...

http://www.quora.com/Business-Books/What-business-books-must...

http://www.quora.com/What-are-3-books-you-would-suggest-any-...

and

http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/

Re: Ask HN : What are some great books an aspiring entrepreneur should read?

#7

Post by mindcrime » Tue, Sep 04, 2012, 9:18 PM UTC

dglassan wrote: post #5

Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston It's a collection of interviews with founders who started successful companies.

There are several other good books in the "X at work" series as well. CIOs at Work, Venture Capitalists at Work, Coders at Work, etc.

Re: Ask HN : What are some great books an aspiring entrepreneur should read?

#8

Post by murz » Tue, Sep 04, 2012, 11:32 PM UTC

Have you checked out the handful of books listed on the YCombinator "Startup Library" page (http://ycombinator.com/lib.html)?:

Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People

Edward Tufte: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

Paul Graham: Hackers and Painters

Jessica Livingston: Founders at Work

Re: Ask HN : What are some great books an aspiring entrepreneur should read?

#9

Post by adetayo » Wed, Sep 05, 2012, 1:24 AM UTC

murz wrote: post #8

Have you checked out the handful of books listed on the YCombinator "Startup Library" page ( http://ycombinator.com/lib.html )?: Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People Edward Tufte: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information Paul Graham: Hackers and Painters Jessica Livingston: Founders at Work

Dale's book is definitely a must read. Matter of fact, I would argue that you should read that first before anything else

Re: Ask HN : What are some great books an aspiring entrepreneur should read?

#10

Post by vermasque » Wed, Sep 05, 2012, 1:51 AM UTC

MJ DeMarco: The Millionaire Fastlane

Regardless of what you read, you'll prove that you learned something if you do something with this stuff beyond reading.