

Ask HN: Recommend books for a software developer opening a business - JamesReeves1988

Just about to release software and I was wondering what books are a good read to help me with all the business&#x2F;finance side of the business.
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antaviana
I would recommend "Start Small, Stay Small." It was very useful for me when I
starter a side business that two years later has billings in the range of
$175,000/year in licenses. In my case, it is subscription-only offline
software.

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robodale
I also recommend this. Opened my eyes up to using VAs (Virtual Assistants) to
help do things you probably shouldn't be working on.

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sp3n
i have recently read 'the e myth' which i would definitely recommend
especially for the business/finance/planning side of things

[http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-
Businesses/...](http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-
Businesses/dp/0887307280)

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yodon
If you are aiming for more than a lifestyle business, read The Curse of the
Mogul [1][2]. It's a graduate level course in formal business strategy
disguised as a fun and easily readable analysis of why the media industry is
so broken. The author is a Columbia business school professor who specializes
in business strategy. The book won't help you get your first customers but it
will help you design a business that can stay on top once it gains that
traction.

[1]
[https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Curse_of_the_Mogul....](https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Curse_of_the_Mogul.html?id=JsdbJYu_TC8C&hl=en)
[2]
[http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240527487032980045744570...](http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703298004574457090880784448)

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gavinmcmahonco
What specific areas are you looking to cover? Ryan Holiday is really great for
covering marketing and I really like Alexander Osterwalder for building a
suitable business model - the business model canvas really gets you to think
about all the processes within your organization.

I've pulled together a spreadsheet of some of the best business books
available here (warning: there's over 380 on the list):
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cjhp55VHRWyNjjQca2Wg...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cjhp55VHRWyNjjQca2Wg0HrfAGUwjORmk_DZt3jdmNI/edit?pli=1#gid=0)

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deathtrader666
\- The Growth Hackers book \- The books from Steve Blank \- The Art of
Profitability \- The Checklist Manifesto \- iCon - The Second Greatest Act in
Business \- The Narrow Road \- A good book on Copywriting \- The Mythical Man-
Month \- Peopleware \- No Silver Bullet \- Death March by Edward Yourdon \- A
Random Walk down Wall Street

And a whole bunch more -
[https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/9837702-hrishikesh-
cho...](https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/9837702-hrishikesh-
choudhari?shelf=to-read)

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brandedMan
Full disclosure, this is my project.

[https://monthlyreadersclub.cratejoy.com/subscribe/72545612_b...](https://monthlyreadersclub.cratejoy.com/subscribe/72545612_business-
education-courses?gift=False)

We send out a book each month that matches the course you sign up for. The
goal is to help people read more, but I also believe reading is one of the
best ways to develop the soft skills needed in business. One book a month,
every month, is compounding interest for your brain.

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hauget
I'd recommend checking out Joel Spolsky's Reading List:
[http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FogCreekMBACurriculum...](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FogCreekMBACurriculum.html)
You might want to start with Guy Kawasaki's "Art of the Start" and Josh
Kaufman's very useful "The Personal MBA"

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riskish
[http://www.sideprojectbook.com/](http://www.sideprojectbook.com/) This is an
ebook I put together where I interviewed 39 entrepreneurs who had built a
successful side business without leaving their full time gigs.

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taprun
Well, I wrote a book on how to monetize and price software products...
[http://taprun.com/pricing](http://taprun.com/pricing)

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rahimnathwani
[http://www.startupbook.net/](http://www.startupbook.net/)

~~~
147
I'm not sure I'd recommend that book today. Even the author said that it's out
dated today because it was so tactical when it was published.

