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Two classic books that are fast reads and will also help you are 1) The Launchpad (about YC) and 2) The Lean Startup. Both are old books but they cover many of
by redm 6y ago
Two classic books that are fast reads and will also help you are 1) The Launchpad (about YC) and 2) The Lean Startup. Both are old books but they cover many of the same concepts and ways of thinking.
I’d add that if you do nothing else, read the first 3 chapters of The Mom Test; it provides a great overview for evaluating ideas.
- cpursley 6y agoMeh, The Lean Startup is a bunch of "our VC funded company did a lot of bla bla bla" with very little detail or actionable information. It could have been a blog post or two. I'd love some book recommendations with actionable info and with actual details on how to execute.
- randomsearch 6y agoRunning lean is probably a lot better.
- rawoke083600 6y ago"E-Myth - Revisited" is very good as an "operational handbook". Basically "systematised" everything and don't do "special request/things" for customers, since most of the time they are not repeatable by other branches or members of staff and get buy-in (for your vision) from your employees. There are many more practical lessons in there.
- tekkertje 6y agoI went through "Running Lean" by Ash Maurya after reading Lean Startup, and it's a lot more practical and full of examples that can be applied in your own business. Only thing is that it's more oriented at consumer startups, so for B2B SaaS I'd recommend "The Startup Owner's Manual" by Steve Blank.
- Reebz 6y agoDisciplined Entrepreneurship by Bill Aulet. He’s actually had a couple of exits which can’t be said for most authors in the space.
- NeilRamp 6y agoDid you read the whole section of the post where I recommend reading The Mom Test.... ;-) p.s. I've read Lean Startup, but will check out The Launchpad, thanks!
- redm 6y agoI was agreeing with you. Thats why I said, “if you do nothing else”.
- NeilRamp 6y agoAh ha, sorry. I misinterpreted your comment :-)
- redm 6y agoI was on my phone so I wasn't commenting at my best. So to be clear, I liked and appreciated your article! The more view points I can read on these topics, the better it is, because there's no one right answer (as I'm sure you've found).
- NeilRamp 6y agoYeah. It's definitely a case of trying to do the best job quickly. Validation should be an ongoing process for the pretty much the whole lifecycle of a startup. I think most of us aren't that good at it, or subconsciously avoid doing it, a lot of the time. This is my own effort at trying to streamline that process somewhat. Thanks for your feedback. Genuinely appreciate it!
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]