Single quote that invalidates 99% startup books
From:
I see so many people devouring startup books and blog posts and talking about them incessantly. They try to just endlessly research and talk about what works, because they're too afraid to actually jump in and do something.
If you feel like you have no idea what you're doing, well, welcome to the club. None of us have any idea what the fuck we're doing, and anyone who says otherwise is lying. All of us are just guessing, experimenting, trying things. Not a single one of us was ever "sure" or "ready" or "confident" at any point. At a certain point you just have to jump.
99% of business/marketing/startup books are about saying what works, making you more certain that thing "works", how other things are "s***", etc. This quote above is the most rational argument I've found against all of them.
There are around 5 books max that any entrepreneur should read (most are mentioned in IH interviews, like "Running Lean", "Traction", "4-hour workweek" etc.) Everything else is (mostly) a waste of time.
I think it's OK to be inspired by authors, to pick and choose what works for you. If you're starting completely blank, the right handful of books stop you from making elementary mistakes and reinventing the wheel.
There is no substitute for action however. Having built and sold 2 x agencies and 1 SaaS, my personal favourite piece of inspiration is Newton's 3rd Law.
I'll also recommend two books that have inspired me, in different ways...
37 Signals, Getting Real (for startup Saas): https://amzn.to/2OFQGiN
Entrepreneur Revolution (for any tpe of startup): https://amzn.to/2ORJL6c
(Particularly the piece around product ecosystems).
Go be inspired, but don't forget to put the books down and take some action... It's the only way you'll truly learn.
your actually good post gets devaluated for adding amz affiliate links.
don't think so.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb talks about this in Skin in the game. There are several gems like: “Those who talk should do and only those who do should talk.”
Talk is cheap and everyone is looking for a bargain. :)
lol everyone has "5 books that every entrepreneur should read." And they're not the same...
What are yours if I may ask? :)
Quit
Lurking
Always
Be
Shipping
Just joking ;). I have found The Mom Test by Rob Fitzgerald and All in Startup by Diana Kander to be helpful.
Haha! There are those who write books, and those who are written about 😏
Thanks for the book tips!
Can’t agree more with this quote. Don’t trust an entrepreneur very sure about what he is doing (unless he/she is trying to self you something).
I'd throw out The Lean Startup as it's a lot of theory too. Replace it with Running Lean (The first "sequel" to Lean Startup in the same series) which provides a lot more practical advice.
A lot of good book recommendations in this thread. I love it. Keep them coming!
(Edit: I'd say that reading is good, and you should read a lot of stuff anyway. But remember the grain of salt; that you actually need to do stuff and go through your own journey)
Yeah, agreed, that book is much better than "The Lean Startup". Edited my post.
As a solo indiehacker, books help me to reflect what I am actually doing. It is less that I adopt the advice 100%. It is more about getting some kind of mental sparring with myself, if this makes sense..
Among them are the following books:
Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup
Million Dollar Consulting: The Professional's Guide to Growing a Practice
Designing Products People Love: How Great Designers Create Successful Products
Principles: Life and Work
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Especially the last one is so important. Maybe the most important book of my whole career is.
Entrepreneurship is a game of taking risks, I agree with you. Nobody can be an expert and know everything about taking risks. Reading inspirational books can only go so far, at the end of the day, one has to get up and take action!
Reading/listening to this interview is also a waste of time, I guess?
Great quote. The Halo Effect is real -- you should check out the book where the author calls out all the "Built to Last" types of studies. Truly mindblowing stuff if you're into figuring out the path for your business.
Not to say that there is generic dogma that everyone should follow, but there are no hard specifics and commandments
Honestly, a lot of the authors that claim they're entrepreneurs (it's worse than ever now with Youtubers) are just con-artists who made their money selling people educational bs and haven't even been part of a successful startup. When I realized this I started reading/watching more practical material.
What do you mean by more "practical" material, except interviews with founders (which is what IH is all about)?
Stuff that will help my product succeed like SEO and marketing knowledge. I wasn't getting at IH interviews which I do find useful.
Can't agree more with the post. Thanks for sharing.
Replace Garbage 4hr work week with Emyth. That is all.
4hr work week. Lol. Garbage.