Startup Books Are Useless
Startup books have been flourishing in the past years, and the numbers of "20 Startup Books You Must Read" articles are countless on the Internet. While some of them might be entertaining reads, they won't be of much use in your everyday decision-making. Theoretical knowledge is only that: theory. Very much like the surgeon, the startup founder needs the practice to attune his skills, gain in efficiency, and develop confidence. Over time, this practice transforms into solid experience, which influences his decision-making and management choices for the better.
One-way learning VS peer to peer learning
The appeal of some startup books is the promise of benefitting off the experience of someone else, usually other successful CEOs. In theory, it sounds good, but reading is a one-way learning method.
Peer-to-peer learning that you get by talking with fellow founders e.g. in a startup community is usually a better time investment. Having a startup community to interact with instead, makes you learn better and faster, as it is a proactive approach rather than a passive one. Being able to ask questions relevant to your needs and getting a direct answer tailored to you is also an important advantage compared to a book, which cannot take into account the specific details of your situation, idea, environment, etc.
Read something else instead
Seriously. You will gain more from opening your world to diverse topics and hindsight rather than losing precious time and energy on binging startup books in the hopes to memorize them. Stripe CEO, Patrick Collison, is a great example of an entrepreneur whose private library is multidisciplinary. He has commented in the past about his approach to knowledge and reading, which is more focused on choosing wisely what you spend your time reading:
Well, I discard a lot of books. I like the insight that there’s a set of great books that are really worth reading, and there’s a subset of those books that are really enjoyable to read.
