Recently, I encountered a quote that said:
Our life experiences are massively built
through the inspiration we gain from the places we visit, and the people we
meet along the way. As a start-up entrepreneur, it is often only through reading
books and articles from other successful individuals that help to foster
personal growth regarding entrepreneurship. With a new year upon us, there is
no better time to start reading. Try adding these 11 books for all first-time
entrepreneurs recommended by Andrew Medal, a serial entrepreneur and digital
strategist, into your list of must-read books for 2017:
1.
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
This book is still a must read, even though
the Lean Startup movement is not as radiant as it was from 2011 to 2013.
Based in principles taught by Steve Blank in Four Steps to the
Epiphany, Ries provides any entrepreneur (or intrapreneur) the
framework and practical science behind testing ideas.
The whole premise of the book is to view
startups as science experiments, by testing and analysing everything you do, to
help you save money and time to ensure your idea has some sort of demand. Read
it if you haven't.
Pick It Up: The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs
Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Reis | Amazon| Audible | Barnes & Noble
2.
Rework by Jason Fried
Jason Fried is a diabolical genius. In my
mind, he’s like this mad scientist that sits up in a tower overlooking the
world, and watches as the world does everything wrong, while he sits back and
plays a game of chess. He’s the godfather of going against the grain and
disrupting the status quo.
This book will help you unravel the societal
norms engrained into us at an early age, and uplift you to become better
entrepreneurs by thinking outside the box.
3.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
In The Tipping Point, Malcolm
Gladwell attempts to uncover the “mysterious sociological behaviors” that shape
everyday life. Gladwell explains a tipping point as “the moment of critical
mass, the threshold, the boiling point,” and says “ideas and products and
messages and behaviors spread like viruses do.”
He gives historical examples and substantiates
his theories with facts, while breaking down his examples through invisible
forces that only a world-renown sociologist can. He explains the reason that
hush puppies became so popular in the mid 1990s and the reason behind
steep decline in New York City’s crime rate after 1990.
To simply learn about how these invisible
forces can create unintended results helped me to be more conscious about life
and business. All of Gladwell’s books encourage me to think deeply, and empower
me to see the world through a different lens, which results in new perspective.
These new perspectives help me view my own entrepreneurial journey differently,
which I greatly value.
Pick It Up: The Tipping Point: How Little Things
Can Make a Big Differenceby Malcolm Gladwell | Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble
4. The Innovator’s Dilemma by
Clayton Christensen
Disruption. We’ve all heard the term.
Christensen was the one who brought it to life.
Here’s the synopsis: “First published in 1997,
Christensen's book suggests that successful companies can put too much emphasis
on customers' current needs, and fail to adopt new technology or business
models that will meet their customers' unstated or future needs. He argues that
such companies will eventually fall behind. Christensen calls the anticipation
of future needs 'disruptive innovation,' and gives examples involving the
personal computer industry, milkshakes, and steel minimills.”
Pairing this book with The Lean
Startup helped me realise how important testing and validating
assumptions is for not just startups, but for established companies as
well. The innovator’s "dilemma" comes from the concept that
companies will dismiss new market innovation based on the fact that customers
do not currently use them, which then leaves the market ripe for disruption.
Clayton gives historical examples that makes the concept easily digestible and
helps drive home the lessons.
Pick It Up: The Innovator's Dilemma: When New
Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen
| Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble
5.
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffery A. Moore
Immediately after reading this book I thought
I understood everything about building a company. This book teaches you why you
may have had early “traction,” but how and why that traction does not guarantee
mass market success. He does this by breaking down early adoption cycles, and
shows the difference in your product lifecycle.
The chasm he refers to is between early
adopters and the mass market. Simply looking at the cover will help you
understand the concept. This book helped me understand the hockey stick curve
growth model and other vital startup lessons. If you read the Lean
Startup beforehand, Moore’s lessons will help you understand
“product-market fit” as Ries discusses so frequently in his book.
Pick It Up: Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition by
Geoffery A. Moore | Amazon | eBooks.com | Barnes & Noble
6. Launch! by Scott Duffy
This book acts as a practical manual for
breathing life into your idea. Duffy walks through examples and entertaining
stories along the way, as well as provides a basic framework to follow through
his years of business (which includes selling his last company to Richard
Branson and the Virgin Group). Entertaining and useful, this book lives up to
its allure, and displays the value and expertise of Duffy as a businessman,
mentor and human.
Pick It Up: Launch! The Critical 90 Days from Idea to
Market by
Scott Duffy | Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble
7.
Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas From the Computer Age by Paul
Graham
Paul Graham is the man behind Y
Combinator, the Harvard of tech accelerators, and Graham has an
uncanny ability to see into the future. This book gives a glimpse into Paul’s
unique thinking and draws on historical examples. He takes us on a journey
of what he calls "an intellectual Wild West,” where anyone with an idea
can take a shot.
Pick It Up: Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas
From the Computer Age by Paul Graham | Amazon | eBooks.com | Barnes & Noble
8.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
This book is highly effective for
helping anyone to prioritise and stay organised and on task. My big
takeaway from this book was the Urgent/Important prioritisation matrix. As
entrepreneurs, being able to intelligently prioritise becomes a vital
skill. You can learn this skill and many more through Covey’s classic.
Pick It Up: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People by Stephen R. Covey | Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble
9.
The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
The 4-Hour Workweek has become an instant classic for any
entrepreneur. Tim Ferriss treats his life as a big experiment. In this book, he
teaches us how to live the life we want now, through real world case studies
and practical examples. He explains that the "New Rich" figure out
how to outsource, delegate and eliminate half of your work and other cool
life/work hacks.
10.
The 50th Law by 50 Cent and Robert Greene
Robert Greene is the man behind the 33
Strategies of War, The 48 Laws of Power and other
classics. Teaming up with 50 Cent, they have written the manuscript for
business and life success, which can be summed up as one mantra: “Fear
nothing.” The book walks us through real life examples of 50 Cent’s life, and
how he overcame personal and business adversity. It provides a message of hope
and encouragement.
11. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art & Science of Remembering
Everything by
Joshua Foer
This is not a 'business' book. However, it's
one of my favorites that I’ve read in the past five years. Joshua Foer is a
journalist who started covering memory competitions. He got so enthralled by
his work, that he took on the challenge of becoming a memory athlete himself.
Filled with rich journalism, he provides us
deep insight into the tricks and strategies used by these “mental athletes,”
while he walks us through his personal journey of preparation for the United
States Memory Championship. The book is riveting and entertaining beyond
belief, and as Foer says, “in every way that matters, we are the sum of our
memories.”
Pick It Up: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art
& Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer | Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble
Inspiration:
11 Vital Books for First-Time
Entrepreneurs
Image
Source: weheartit.com
Chia Yi Jing | Bubbling with enthusiasm, bright ideas, and confidence, Yi Jing set foot in the PR world with Orchan Consulting, where she was offered permanent employment after a successful internship. She is determined to make her mark in the industry, and her bosses know that she will. 
