
10 Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read - dcancel
http://davidcancel.com/10-books-every-entrepreneur-should-read/
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davidw
Wont vote for lists like this unless you take the time to tell me _why_ I
should read them. I have some of those books, others I'm not so sure about.

Here are the ones there that I agree with for sure:

* Growing a business. It has stood the test of time, and despite being about a non high tech business, is still quite relevant in terms of general advice. Buy this instead of the 37 signals book.

* Art of the Start. It's brief and to the point. Nothing earth shattering.

The Innovator's Dilemma is good too, but is very summarizable, in my opinion.

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tptacek
I found out about Growing a Business on HN, loved it, recommend it w/o
reservation. For a similar but more hard-headed perspective, I also liked Norm
Brodsky's "The Knack".

I started doubting this list as soon as I saw Guy Kawasaki on it.

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krav
What'd you like about the knack? Thinking about getting it.

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tptacek
It's got some of the same aspirational tone as Growing a Business, the same
vantage point of tiny companies, and it's much more nuts-and-bolts than
Growing a Business.

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Tichy
Would it make sense to automatically filter submissions that contain the word
"should"?

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Emore
I would love to see the same kind of list, but for fiction books. I can't
think of any fiction right now that have a clear connection to the spirit of
entrepreneurship, but I'm fairly sure there must be. For example a book
portraying determination within the central character, or overcoming great
challenges.

Can anyone think of such books?

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zackham
Try the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, or Atlas Shrugged. Her works seem to
polarize her readers into those that love and those that hate her work, but
both works were the first that came to mind based on your request. Neal
Stephenson's Cryptonomicon would also satisfy your request, and is a fun story
to read loaded with interesting plot – it is definitely targeted at a tech-
oriented reader, which may or may not be what you're looking for.

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zaidf
Anyone else feel there are too many books on how to start and too few on
finishing?

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ScottWhigham
What is "finishing"? Everyone has the same definition of "start" but there are
thousands of versions of success (i.e. finishing). Selling a company is not
what everyone is trying to do...

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zaidf
Talking about what finishing might mean may be a good place to start the book.

There are similar number of typical "finishes" as "starts" I'd argue once you
segment different types of startups. Some want to make enough to not have to
work; some enough to be really rich without raising $; some to get acquired
etc.

Just like there are some that start with applying to YC, some which start with
coding, some that start with finding a cofounder.

Of course, there is a vast number that would like to do multiple things from
each list(ie. get rich from profits THEN get acquired).

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fjabre
Where's Founders At Work?

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skullsplitter
Hmm, this site for some reason evokes codinghorror for me. I wonder why.

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callmeed
I'm afraid I'm 0 for 10 on that list.

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ScottWhigham
Don't be afraid - there are some great works on that list.

