Startup Reading List

That sounds a little like me harassing the troops, but don’t worry I’m smiling! Haha. As a bit of lite and fluffy Christmas reading I thought I would diverge from my hardware stories and my OSHW rant to share a bit of startup wisdom. This is the as-official-as-it-gets Upverter Startup Reading List. Back before we started Upverter there was a fairly enormous Google Wave that for a couple months seemed to be growing exponentially. It was basically a dumping ground where we all put our personal reading lists and then any new finds we stumbled across. Maybe because there was a lifetime worth of reading on it, or maybe because we had exhausted the ISBN index, I’m not quite sure, but the list eventually stopped growing.

Personally I’m maybe 1/10 through the list, Steve is probably close to half way, and Mike is a lost cause, haha. But either way, I wanted to share our favorites from the monster list. The stuff we think you absolutely need to read if you ever decide to do the startup thing. The list is a little software oriented, and that’s really just because we are building a startup that builds software, and so that’s a focus for us; but you could absolutely trim the software titles and kick-ass with your revolutionary pet rock business!

Upverter Must Read List:

Basically you’re off the team if you haven’t read these.

• Code Complete, Second Edition This book is on more programmer book lists than should be fair. Its a must.
• Rapid Development Right up there with Code Complete, this one normally seems to rank second on the book lists. Again a software book. Also a must.
• The Pragmatic Programmer Don’t fix something that isn’t broken, this book often scores around 3rd. Again a software book. Also a must.
• Peopleware This book is probably the most important management book of all time. Ever. If you ever have to work with another human being, ever, you should read this book.
• The Mythical Man Month This book goes hand in hand with Peopleware. If you ever, in your working life, will have to make a schedule – read this book.
• Don’t Make Me Think This book is down to earth usability. If anyone ever has to use something you build – this will explain why they hate it or get lost inside.
• The Art of the Start This book is pitched as for anyone starting anything. And thats a pretty good take on it!
• The Tipping Point Epidemics, viruses and human behavior. Another great read!

Upverter Reading in Progress:

The books on our kindles and iPads at this very moment.

• Founders At Work
  
• Rocket Surgery Made Easy
  
• The Inmates are Running the Asylum
  
• The Design of Everyday Things
  
• Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age
  

Upverter Next in the Queue:

If I ever make it there, I have to conquer these next…

• Refactoring
  
• Head First Design Patterns
  
• Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
  
• Design Patterns
  
• Growing a Business
  
• Testing Computer Software
  
• The Non-Designer’s Design Book
  
• Competing On Internet Time: Lessons From Netscape And Its Battle With Microsoft
  
• The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison: *God Doesn’t Think He’s Larry Ellison
  
• First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest:, The: A Silicon Valley Novel
  
• The Leap: A Memoir of Love and Madness in the Internet Gold Rush
  
• In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters
  
• Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure
  
• dot.bomb: My Days and Nights at an Internet Goliath
  
• The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story
  
• Burn Rate: How I Survived the Gold Rush Years on the Internet
  
• The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing
  
• Rules For Revolutionaries: The Capitalist Manifesto for Creating and Marketing New Products and Services
  
• Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
  
• The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing : Exposed and Explained by the World’s Two
  
• The Goal
  
• Microserfs
  
• The Product Marketing Handbook for Software
  
• Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency
  
• The Business of Software: What Every Manager…
  
• Selling Air
  
• Crossing the Chasm
  
• The E-Myth Revisited
  
• The One Minute Manager
  
• Getting to Yes
  
• Essentials of Accounting
  
• Influence
  
• How to Win Friends and Influence People