4 ms·
Best Books For a Startup?
I think this is an interesting topic. Most likely it's been done already. Anyway, here's my list:
- Monk and the Riddle- Randy Komisar (You HAVE to read this, it puts it in the right perspective. Randy is a genius)
- Paypal Wars
- Founders at Work- Jessica Livingston
- Flemlord 19y agoHigh Tech Start Up - John L. Nesheim Crossing the Chasm - Geoffrey Moore One Minute Manager (but only if you've never had management experience)
- huhtenberg 19y agoA nice compliment to the books is a "startup dot com" documentary. It has a lot of dot-com era specifics, but it is very enlightening nonetheless. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256408/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256408/
- jasonlbaptiste 19y agofor sure, really good movie. theres also a movie on kozmo called edreams. that i havent seen yet :-(.
- edw519 19y agoArt of the Start - Guy Kawasaki How to Get Rich - Felix Dennis Differentiate or Die - Jack Trout and of course... Founders at Work - Jessica Livingston Hackers and Painters - Paul Graham
- gcheong 19y agoBootstrap - Kenneth L. Hess
- tonyvt2005 19y agoFounders at Work (of course) "Best Practices"-type books that cover the tools and technology the startup is using, whether its Textmate, Unix, Subversion, whatever. Becoming more efficient is never a bad thing. I'd also add books on management and dealing with people: - The Art of Speedreading People - Tieger - Behind Closed Doors - Rothman, Derby - The Mythical Man Month - Brooks - Most if not all the books on Joel Spolsky's "MBA Curriculum": http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FogCreekMBACurriculum.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FogCreekMBACurriculum...
- jasonlbaptiste 19y agoWOW, Joel Spolsky's list is great. A lot of books on there that I didn't mention above that I've read. Funniest book title: Difference between God and Larry Ellison... is that God doesn't think he's Larry Ellison
- SwellJoe 19y agoJoel's list is indeed awesome. I think nearly every book I would recommend is already on it.
- daleharvey 19y agoSmarter Ventures - Katharine Cambell
- hooande 19y agoI recommend "The Design of Everyday Things" (formely "The Psychology of Everyday Things") by Donald Norman. It's kind of dated and it's focused on product design, but it has some very good ideas about making products that are easy to use and understand.
- dennykmiu 19y agoI am writing my own ... Survival Guide for Bootstrapping Entrepreneurs http://www.startupforless.org http://www.startupforless.org
- larryfreeman 19y ago1) Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell (very interesting ideas) 2) Innovator's Dilemma (for understanding what can work well) 3) Inside Intuit (for a great business story) 4) Eric Sink on the Business of Software
- jasonlbaptiste 19y agoheres the google books full version of inside intuit. this book looks awesome: http://books.google.com/books?id=lRs_4U43UcEC&printsec=frontcover#PPR9,M1 http://books.google.com/books?id=lRs_4U43UcEC&printsec=f...
- jk4930 19y agoFor the German readership: "Cash Code" by Tritsch and Kohlhammer. It has a focus on the legal and administrative stuff around a startup. http://www.cashcodeportal.de/ http://www.cashcodeportal.de/
- sonink 19y agoIf They Say No Just Say Next by John Fuhrma
- falsestprophet 19y agoThe New New Thing Founders at Work Hackers and Painters How To Get Rich Competitive Strategies The Intelligent Investor (or Security Analysis) Liar's Poker
- DarrenStuart 19y agoSteven Levy is great, I would add his Crypto book as well.
- falsestprophet 19y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Analysis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Analysis Different kind of security, but I'll check it out.
- projectileboy 19y agoThis might be only tangentially related, but I dig "How To Be Rich" by J. Paul Getty. He talks a lot about how he built Getty Oil, and about what's important in business and in life.
- DarrenStuart 19y agoI think news.yc needs a search. Heres some we added 3 days ago :p http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=135185 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=135185
- moog 19y agogoogle: books site:http://news.ycombinator.com http://news.ycombinator.com
- ojbyrne 19y agoI have a book left over from my b-school days that I often dip back into. It's called "The Entrepreneurial Venture" and it's sort of like "Founders at Work" if that had been written by Harvard Business School professors. http://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneurial-Venture-Practice-Management/dp/0875848923 http://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneurial-Venture-Practice-Manag... I know that in this group it probably provides an alternative perspective.
- richesh 19y agoMade to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die http://www.amazon.com/Made-Stick-Ideas-Survive-Others/dp/1400064287/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205679800&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Made-Stick-Ideas-Survive-Others/dp/140...
- jasonlbaptiste 19y agoWow, how could I forget this one: eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work by Randall Stross (San Jose State Professor, Writes for the Times Occasionally, etc.) Seriously, this is a really open approach to how Benchmark Capital approached investments in eBay, Webvan,etc. I believe it's available on itunes as an audiobook as well.
- dedalus 19y agoThe New New Thing(http://www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall99/newnewthing.htm http://www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall99/newnewthing.htm)
- paulkafasis 19y agoI'd also highly recommend The Monk and the Riddle - I don't think I've ever seen it suggested elsewhere, but I recommend it to everyone. I found PayPal Wars to be a bit dull, and the author a bit smug.
- jsmcgd 19y agoI'm surprised that 'Getting Real' hasn't been suggested yet, perhaps it has something to do with the recent backlash against 37signals. Anyway I'll stand by it. Fantastic book. I might even go as far as to say 'essential'. http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php
- davidw 19y agoIt's definitely worth reading, but not worth paying for since you can read it for free on their site.
- mixmax 19y ago"How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie. This book should especially be read by those that aren't good with people.
- davidsickmiller 19y agoIt looks like nobody else has recommend one book I particularly like: Startups That Work: Surprising Research on What Makes or Breaks a New Company by Joel Kurtzman and Glenn Rifkin. It combines a large quantitative study on startups with highlights from case interviews. The book's claims are generally backed by empirical evidence, which is something missing in many other entrepreneurship books. David Sickmiller
- maryrosecook 19y agoInsanely Great - Steven Levy. About the building of the original Macintosh. Extremely inspiring and interesting.
- cmm324 19y agoThe Adventure of Leadership by Hap Klopp is a great weekend read.