Founder Book Recommendations
I've tried searching the internet for good books for Founders. But any time I do, I always find the same books. And I've read a few of them.
The problem is, these books follow the same format: simple (and not necessarily bad) concept, but then just repeat it over and over again just to make the book longer. No concrete examples. Normally just gloating and bloating.
If I find a recommendation book list with books like The 10X Rule, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Can't Hurt Me, etc.. I generally ignore the rest of the list. Not to say these can't be useful books for some people, I just don't see how a Founder would get anything good out of these.
Now I've read other books that I have found beneficial in the beginning and had great concepts that I highlight and bookmark to come back to every once in a while. Books like Principles, The Lean Startup, Zero to One, 7 Habits, Creativity Inc, etc... These have been great reads but at the same time they can get a bit bloated and I'm not sure if I'm really that much smarter from them. Maybe have gotten some decent ideas, but not anything game changing.
So, all this context, I'm looking for book recommendations on things that would directly level up my skills as a Founder starting a new company. Some things that I have started looking for that would help these skills are things like accounting books. Trying to also find books that may be in MBA courses. They can even be textbooks.
I also watch a lot of the YC videos and find those SUPER useful. Videos such as how to conduct user interviews. How to find product market fit. Are there books out there like this? Or better ways to consume this information?
I know this was a lot for a post, sorry, but thank you for all that stuck through the ramble.
I mean it depends if you are looking to build up hard skills vs soft skills?
For something as time management and getting things done, I can really recommend the book Finish by Jon Acuff. Its a great book and I learned so much about my time management and toxic habits when it comes to planning things.
For hard skills like coding I honestly just can recommend to do project and try to learn by doing. Its the fastest way to build up skills and knowledge.
Valid point. I should have mentioned I'm looking for hard skills.
Is that a book that contains a lot of fluff? Would be kind of ironic if it did.
For the hard skills, I basically have all the programming experience I need. My regular job is a software engineer. So I'm trying to get any other skills that I will need as a founder.
Hm thats a good question, for me it felt like it was not that much fluff haha.
If you have the coding skills I would look for books on growth hacking and marketing. I think this is the most valuable thing. But unfortunately I haven't read a lot on these.
Most of my Marketing knowledge comes from previous internships and videos. I highly recommend the Channel of https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMo28ATCDU0Kn9dpilAF79Q if you are planning to start a Software Start-up.
Hope this helpes you!
Stay awesome,
Max