All the books mentioned on our start up accelerator
A non-fiction round up of everything we've been recommended
A delayed post this week due to this last weekend being my sister’s hen party and having the best time singing musicals with her. So, a Monday evening read instead of your Sunday morning, perhaps this is a nice end to the first working day of the week? Fitting, since it’s a business focused one.
Tom and I have just finished a start up programme for Verse, which we’ve been doing over the last 8 weeks and had the most interesting and fun time on. More to come on this… we’re excited to share with you how we’re building Verse.
Alongside the brilliant people we’ve met and insights we’ve heard, we have also received MANY book recommendations, and so I thought I’d do a round up and share them with you. This is a full non-fiction post with lots of great books that are applicable from building a business, through to identifying revenue models and building community.
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To help with challenge validation
Challenge validation is a fancy way of saying assessing whether the idea you have is feasible (can you do it), desirable (do people want it) and viable (can you make money from it). Most start ups fail because* they haven’t spent enough time here, but this is also super applicable to any ideas you are thinking about, across any areas of your life.
*This isn’t the only ‘most start ups fail because’ quote, would love to see the actual source data.
The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
This might be the most recommended book on the list, it has been mentioned 3 times on the programme and another handful by founders I’ve met. It’s a short, snappy approach on how to talk to customers and, specifically, ask them questions that can help you determine if your idea is good or not. You should never ask someone if your business idea is good.
The Lean Start Up by Eric Ries
This is an older book (2011) which I read years ago and can hardly remember, but what I do remember was the buzz when it was released. I think the principles are now so commonplace you somewhat forget where they came from - the five whys, fail fast, minimum valuable product, build/measure/learn. If you’re working in product management then this isn’t new to you, but if you haven’t come across these then this book still holds the test of time.
To help you develop and launch your value proposition
A value proposition is a summary (often a simple one liner) that outlines the benefits your company or service provides to your customer. A nice example from AirBnB: We help travellers find unique and affordable accommodation by connecting them with individuals offering their homes or properties for short-term rentals.
The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen
This was recommended as a must read for all marketplace model business. It talks about how to create a warm start on your way to launch through leveraging network effects. This is what companies such as Uber have done, and Chen draws on experience from advising similar start ups and expertise developed at Andreessen Horowitz.
To help with early revenue generation
I think the key message here is build businesses, not just products. The one book that kept getting mentioned:
Good to Great by Jim Collins
In particular, the flywheel effect. If I had a pound for every time I heard this referred to in a corporate… oh boy. Not sure how many of them had actually read the book.
The flywheel effect is analogy to describe what feels heavy to start with, moving almost imperceptibly, but as you keep pushing momentum starts to work in your favour and then suddenly you’re flying and the weight is working for you, not against you.
This is just one of many items covered in this incredibly researched book that looks at - you’ve got it - what makes some companies good and others great.
For all your sales and marketing needs
How to find, attract and acquire customers for your product or service.
Growth Levers and How to Find Them by Matt Learner
An overview in how to look for and find those specific levers for your business that can help you truly grow to the next stage. An example from the book: how professional photos on AirBnB listings helped shift the dial on consumer trust in the site. (Two AirBnB refs I know, it seems to be the most cited example, would love to see a bigger variety of companies studied). This book is all about process, which I am all for.
Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
This is a really clear read all about different channels to explore to help you grow your business (and how you should never rule something out just because it’s not typically done). They argue that 50% of your time should be on building the product, and the other 50% spent on getting traction and testing across your acquisition buckets. You hear a lot of ‘most start ups fail because X’ quotes, and this book argues that it’s not because they can’t build a product, but because they’re not spending the time properly considering how to get that product traction. This would be a nice one to read bit by bit, as you’re testing and developing your customer acquisition process.
Do / Open by David Hieatt
This has been recommended a couple of times on how a simple newsletter can help you to stand out and grow your business sans marketing budget. I have just received this book in the post, so hopefully you’ll start to notice a difference 😉.
To help you with mindset
… because resilience is probably the most important thing in the long old game of entrepreneurship / life.
Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed
This was first recommended to me by the lovely Nick, co-founder of The Hair Bros, and has come up a few times since. A really interesting read on learnings you can take from some industries (e.g. aviation - open, quick to learn, even quicker to implement) and apply to others (e.g. healthcare - reticence to challenge hierarchy, not deep diving into what caused failure).
The Expectation Effect by David Robson
A research based book providing an overview of how your current mindset often determines the future, and how through reframing your thoughts you can start to shifts the outcomes.
It’s not lost on me that every single one of these books is by a man. I am therefore conducting follow up research and will be back with a second, more diverse list soon.
Here’s the list:
The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
The Lean Start Up by Eric Ries
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Growth Levers and How to Find Them by Matt Learner
Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
Do / Open by David Hieatt
Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed
The Expectation Effect by David Robson
Other lists you might like:
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