

Ask YC: Entrepreneurial/Startup Reading List? - JimEngland

My friend and I are looking to start our own small web business in the coming months, and I am looking to expand my entrepreneurial and business knowledge base.  I am looking for books that deal with starting a business as well as managing software teams.<p>So far on my list, I have Peopleware by Tom DeMarco, Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, and Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles.  Does the YC community have any other suggestions to add to my list? Thank you!
======
jalammar
"Starting Something" - The story of Neoforma, from startup to IPO, written by
one of the two founders. Has especially great insights on the people aspect of
the journey (VC's, employees, family, partners, angel investors...etc).

'The Search' - talks about Google and search companies in general, how they
started, how they developed their business model, and the evolution of the
industry in general. Especially fascinating is Bill Gross's story, and how he
started ToGo.com (later became Overture) and invented a lot of the things that
people commonly only associate with Google. It was also the first time I read
the in-depth story about the founding of Google. inspiring...

'Founders at Work' is terrific also. Can't wait for the second part.

I'll throw in an extra recommendation. Not exactly a book, but a podcast
actually. It's called "Venture Voice". It a series of interviews with
entrepreneurs (Ev Williams of Twitter/Blogger/Odeo, Jay Adelson of Revision 3
and CEO of Digg, Calicanis of Weblogs Inc, Kawasaki, Mena Trott of Six Apart,
to name a few). You can think of it as an audio version of 'Founders at Work'.
Those two are a real must especially for web entrepreneurs.

------
bookhuddle
Check this list out: [http://www.bookhuddle.com/list/491/Recommended-
Technical-and...](http://www.bookhuddle.com/list/491/Recommended-Technical-
and-Entrepreneurship-Reading)

This list is made up from books I've read, books friends and coworkers have
read, books on Joel Spolsky's Management Training Program, the Personal MBA
reading list, and books recommmened by people on Hacker News.

------
bdotdub
I've been reading 'Founders at Work' by YCs own Jessica Livingston. Very good
book for insight into the beginnings of startups and the startup process in
general.

Definitely a must read!

~~~
JimEngland
Sounds great, I'll check it out, thank you!

------
donna
The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki Takes a whole new approach to
management, and solutions.

How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

------
MaysonL
"Crossing the Chasm" Geoffrey Moore "Entrepreneurship and Innovation" Peter
Drucker "Cities and the Wealth of Nations" Jane Jacobs

Also, check out "The Programmer's Stone" blog for great ideas on software team
building and management.

------
antiform
Mythical Man-Month by Fred Brooks teaches great lessons about managing
programmers and programming as a team.

On a less technical note, Growing a Business by Paul Hawken is great book
about letting a company grow naturally.

------
crocus
<http://ycombinator.com/lib.html>

------
chris_l
"The Monk and the Riddle" by Randy Komisar

