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Reddit mentions of The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

Sentiment score: 60
Reddit mentions: 91

We found 91 Reddit mentions of The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. Here are the top ones.

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
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Found 91 comments on The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses:

u/peaksy · 91 pointsr/AskReddit

Some of the things I was told:

  • "You have a great Idea, but there is just no way to be profitable at it."
  • "Its never going to work, give up and just get a real job" -dad
  • "You are too inexperienced to be successful in this field"

    What I learned - "There is a reason advice is free: because, it is usually crap" - Micheal Cain

    Take yourself seriously. If you are doing things by the hour, charge no less than 50-100.00/hr. If you work for less, the customer is going to think your a joke, because they know what the market rate of professional services cost. You only have to work one hour at 100.00/hr to make the same dollar you would make in 4 hours and 25.00/hr.

    Read this book: - The Lean Startup - Eric Ries

    It is exactly about what you are doing and will give you some unique business ideas and help you not to be afraid of totally screwing up and starting over.

    Lessons Learned the Hard way:

  • Taxes: I went to school and got a BBA, when I started my business the tax issue was huge and I tried to do it on my own for 2 years, only to get audited on the third year, ended up owing 25,000.00 extra dollars. I kept perfect books, but honestly had no idea what tax law for my particular market was. Lesson: Rely on a CPA or other professional consultant that specializes in Tax for your payroll, corporate and sales tax for the first few years. Once you get it down and can understand it, you can hire and train someone in-house to do most of the work.

    -Partners: Be careful with partners. It was once said, "you can tell the quality of a man by the company he keeps" Going into business with someone who has had multiple marriages is dangerous proceed with caution, Going into business with someone who has had affairs - no fly. A lot about a persons professional performance can be foretold from the quality of their personal life. Men and women of integrity are the foundation of a new company, if the foundation is sand, the storm will wash it a way. Lesson: Choose good partners. If you share any of the ownership or leadership, make sure they are trustworthy. Not that just you trust them, but they are generally a trustworthy person.


    For the most part, just get out there, fail, fail, fail, and learn. Keep track of your many failures so when you achieve success you will not get bloated and forget where you came from.
u/quirt · 28 pointsr/Android

> My advice is to make sure your Android app is solving a pain-point. This seemed to work well for me.

This is true for any startup. /u/jug6ernaut: read The Lean Startup for a more complete explanation.

The most important thing about your startup is NOT the product (whether it be an Android app or a new type of organic hummus). What really matters is the problem that your target customer base is currently having, whether they really have that big of a problem, and whether you're solving it.

u/alexandr202 · 27 pointsr/Entrepreneur

Not a book, but great resource to vet out a business plan: Lean Canvas

Books:

  1. Lean Startup
  2. Zero to One
  3. E-Myth Revisited



    Lean Startup for sure, as it relates to small, lifestyle or scalable business. Zero to One is a phenomenal book by one of the Paypal Founders, but is geared a bit to tech startups. E-Myth if you are starting more of a small business, as opposed to tech startup.

    "You only ever experience two emotions: euphoria and terror. And I find that lack of sleep enhances them both.”
    ― Ben Horowitz

    Excited for you venturing into your own business! Kick ass!
u/zipadyduda · 21 pointsr/smallbusiness

Recommended reading

Here is my suggested reading list for anyone who ever wants to be a small business owner. I like audiobooks but you can get some of these in print also.

Entrepreneur Mindset

There are several books that talk about the entrepreneur mindset. “Rich Dad Poor Dad” was one of the first that I had encountered. “Four Hour Work Week” is a popular one among young adults and lazy millennials now. But I think this one below sums it up in a relatively fast and easy way. To me there is nothing wrong in this book, but in my opinion it’s a little incomplete and inaccurate and won’t work for some people. It doesn’t say how to switch lanes, or say that you can be in two lanes at the same time. Still, it should be required reading for anyone remotely interested in business. It’s at the top of my list because the correct mindset is required before anyone can think about actually doing business.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/The-Millionaire-Fastlane-Crack-the-Code-to-Wealth-and-Live-Rich-for-a-Lifetime-Audiobook/B0143BEDUO


Business and Marketing

These two combined are basically an MBA in a box and then some. They are long audiobooks that go over the lessons of an MBA program, and the first one also covers a lot of life hacking and mind hacking theories such as how to stay motivated etc. Some of this stuff is very interesting, some if it is boring to slog through. But knowing what is in here will have you well versed to communicate about business at a high level. I have listened to both several times, I keep coming back because it’s a lot and I can’t learn it all at once.

https://www.amazon.com/Personal-MBA-Master-Art-Business/dp/1591845572

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Critical-Business-Skills-for-Success-Audiobook/B00UY842O8


The E Myth series basically describes how many entrepreneurs fail to implement systems in their business. It has a couple other important business concepts and is geared mainly for beginning entrepreneurs or those who have not yet studied a lot about business at a high level.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Audiobook/B002V1LGZE

Mike Michalowicz, Solid principles, Some are regurgitations of Seth Godin and E-Myth, but some are original and insightful. Not very efficient in delivery of material, but I would highly recommend.

https://www.audible.com/pd/Business/The-Toilet-Paper-Entrepreneur-Audiobook/B00FKCI3I4

https://www.audible.com/pd/Business/The-Pumpkin-Plan-Audiobook/B008CHN41K

https://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Profit-First-Audiobook/B06X15WX5B

In the world of marketing, Seth Godin is well known as a forward thinker. He has a new perspective of thinking about marketing in the internet age.
Seth Godin Startup School. This is a series of 15 short podcasts, maybe 15 to 20 minutes long each. It’s a good cliff notes version of a lot of his other books.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/seth-godins-startup-school/id566985370

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Purple-Cow-Audiobook/B002V0QOJS

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/All-Marketers-Are-Liars-Audiobook/B002V1NIMI

Gary Vaynerchuk is well known in online entrepreneur forums, especially with a younger audience. He is interesting to listen to and talks at a basic level mostly about social media marketing.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfA33-E9P7FC0AoARnMLvgFgESJe4_Ngs

This is a link about fashion, but it could just as easily be about restaurants or any other business. As you read it, substitute the product for your product or widgets and it makes sense.

https://moz.com/ugc/how-to-build-a-great-online-fashion-brand-34-things-that-really-amazing-fashion-retailers-do

It’s probably not necessary to read this whole book, but it’s widely referenced and it’s important to understand the theory. This guy basically coined the phrase “Lean Startup” to describe businesses that start small and apply the scientific method to determine which direction to grow. Not to be confused with LEAN Manufacturing methodology made famous by Toyota, but follows similar principles.

https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898


There are a lot of great posts in reddit. There are a lot of crappy ones too. But worth trolling.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/

https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/

https://www.reddit.com/r/restaurateur/ (yes it’s spelled wrong)

For example, this post basically has a step by step guide to start a small business.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/5lfy6n/4_years_ago_i_wrote_a_case_study_on_reddit_on_my/

Other links
21 Lessons From Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letters To Shareholders

https://www.cbinsights.com/research/bezos-amazon-shareholder-letters/#2000


E Commerce, Design, Online Marketing
This guy has a very interesting perspective on display tactics.

https://www.nickkolenda.com/

A good source for tactics. Also offers one of the better wordpress themes

https://thrivethemes.com/6-brain-hacks/

These guys offer great information and insight in their podcast.

https://ecomcrew.com/episode-1-welcome-to-the-ecom-crew-podcast/

Landing Page Optimization
Important for all businesses even offline, for example with restaurants these principles could help for menu design or digital signage, for other businesses this knowledge can help with advertising layouts etc.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-brand-strategies-uniquely-position-your-ecommerce-above-bhardwaj

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/7-landing-page-design-tips

https://blog.kissmetrics.com/landing-page-design-infographic/

https://moz.com/ugc/how-to-build-a-great-online-fashion-brand-34-things-that-really-amazing-fashion-retailers-do

https://thrivethemes.com/6-brain-hacks/

This book discusses apps, especially networking apps like Uber.

https://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Platform-Revolution-Audiobook/B01DDX7MJ2

Also

http://andrewchen.co/marketplace-startups-best-essays/

A good page of links

http://www.themissionmarketer.com/digital-marketing-resources/


For Restaurants

http://www.restaurantowner.com

Very valuable stuff here. Business plan templates, etc. $30 a month for a subscription but well worth it if you are starting or running a restaurant.

https://www.restaurantmastering.com

http://www.typsy.com

Not worth the paid membership yet, but it's growing. And you can get a free trial for like a week and binge watch everything.

Dealing with delivery aggregators

https://www.reddit.com/r/restaurateur/comments/76sd1i/uber_eats_what_percentage_you_paying_em_anyone/

Edit: spacing

u/alucardus · 16 pointsr/Entrepreneur

First if there is enough potential profit in your idea you can always hire engineers, programmers etc. So keep that in mind and start keeping a list of every idea you have, I keep one in my phone that is gigantic now. Stop limiting your self to just what you can do and it will really open up your mind.

I would recommend the $!00 startup, it is full of case studies on what others have done. After reading this book it seemed like I just started thinking in an entrepenuerial way about almost everything and ideas came like a waterfall. I now have more solid ideas than I can possibly ever pursue, and get new ones daily.

Another great one is Lean startup. It has the most practical advice I've encountered on how to test and then go forward with an idea. After this book I was able to mentally test ideas and see profit or failure in them much easier. This book is also invaluable for once you actually start something.


http://www.amazon.com/The-100-Startup-Reinvent-Living/dp/0307951529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373772742&sr=8-1&keywords=%24100+startup


http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373773392&sr=1-1&keywords=lean+startup

u/elsewhereorbust · 15 pointsr/Entrepreneur

OP,
Calm down. Like you say, it was a learning experience and it seems a good one at that.
To everyone else's defence, when you can drop terms like "profit margin," "overhead" and "markup," it doesn't grant you business expertise. Or at the least, it doesn't impress this subreddit.
Instead it makes it sounds like you took a Business 101 class.
More telling was the new phone and business cards. These are, at best, things you need after a first client (proof you have a "business").
But when you started in on Class A shares and Class B non-voting shares, it made me re-read the first paragraph. I'm thinking "Is this guy doing landscaping, or is prep'ing a visit to a VC?"

You've got drive. That's great. And now you have experience -- from one try. Try again. You'll fail again, and that's cool. Especially cool if you try again.
Best to you and whoever you pair up with next. In the meantime, fill in time with a few books like Lean Startup and Rework.

u/chance-- · 15 pointsr/Entrepreneur

^(This reply got kinda long, sorry)

> in an ideal world, yeah 50-50 is best, but I thought about it.

50/50 has it's own host of issues. What happens when you need cash? What if one of you wants to make a critical decision but the other objects?

Assuming your bootstrapping the startup, you're going to need money and that likely means one or both of you will need to invest. Do you do it at even levels? Let's say you launch and there's enough interest that you need the dev to start pulling more hours. Does he still need to contribute the same as you?

When it comes to decisions, it's natural to assume that you and your partner could work your way through any disagreement. While that may be true, you'll never really know until it matters. It's easy for a person's priorities to shift after going through the grueling process of launching a startup.

> Where I would come in the picture is at the very end when we launch our project and I would deal with sales/marketing, as these our my strengths and not my friends'.

No. Go read (or re-read) The Lean Startup. If you're wearing the hat as the business guy, then there is so much that you will need to do even before you should consider bothering your friend with this.

Before you approach anyone, you should have already verified your idea through surveys, conversations with potential customers, and any other relevant market research. You should have all of that in an easily digestible document or presentation.

While you're doing the research, you should have, at minimum, a splash page that gives a brief overview of the idea, perhaps an explainer video, and most importantly, a way to capture user interest. Those future leads should be considered metrics on your past tests.

Basically, you want to have everything ready as if you're pitching to a n angel or VC investor. The reason for this is simple: you are pitching to an investor. The only difference is that instead of trading money for capital they're trading sweat, blood, tears, a healthy social life, and a lot of sleep. A fringe benefit of pitching to your potential partners this way is that you'll get great experience pitching in a lot less stressful situation.

Once you get someone to partner up, there's still a lot that you will need to do while your co-founder is coding away. You'll need to continue on with the market research. If you're using the "minimal viable product" approach, you should be the one ultimately responsible for navigating pivots and releases.

You should also be cultivating a pre-release userbase. This means kicking out regular newsletters to anyone that subscribes to your landing page, building rapport with relevant bloggers and reports, and chasing potential leads.

If you're bootstrapped (self-funded) and you wait until you release to do any legwork then you've already put yourself in a situation where you're underwater. You'll have bills, your partner will have spent a fair to insane amount of time building the app/SaaS, and absolutely zero positive cashflow. What's more is you won't know that a market really exists or what price you should charge.

u/Decker108 · 13 pointsr/Python

Creating a unicorn isn't just taking a horse and waving a magic wand over it to have it sprout a horn and a billion USD valuation. It takes willing investors, a market that fits the product, a solution that fits the market and company whose employees (at all levels) know what they're doing. Oh, and also a bit of luck.

See: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898

What I mean is, it's quite possible that someone has tried before but lacked one of the above four prerequisites.

u/parastat · 13 pointsr/Entrepreneur

You inspire me.

Fellow Vancouverite here (19). I see a lot of myself in you (which is why I'm replying) but in the opposite situation: we always lived comfortably. Either way, that drove me to the same motivation and has since I was little; I've always been an entrepreneur, and I bet you will be too.

Here are a few principles I've compiled over the past 10-ish years of my passion for business:

  • Be great to do great. Put an emphasis on developing yourself and your skills (especially communication and leadership, drive and productivity, and the ability to learn quickly). You can consult all the resources you can, but there's nothing like:
  • Putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. By that, I mean sign up for and attend things you wouldn't expect yourself to attend; start a project, invest 100% of your time in it, and think big; do the unconventional.
  • Be fucking audacious. Identify goals, make them visible, and break them. Don't let friends, family, relationships get in the way of what you want and when.
  • Surround yourself with people that push you and reframe your perspective every month. I review often and ask: "who is the one person in my social circle that lights a fire under my butt?" Then I spend more time with that person and seek similar people, and re-evaluate. you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
  • A specific one: don't take a bachelor of commerce. That was my mistake. Technically-skilled people are way more valuable because that teaches you how to create; I did 1.5 years in BComm at UBC and discovered that they only teach you how to take instructions.

    You asked for actual resources:

  • Know yourself: Take a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test and read up on your type, strengths and weaknesses.
  • Also, find a mentor. A 1-to-1 connection with someone you can go to and ask these awesome questions without hesitation is so much more valuable than a Reddit thread.
  • Entrepreneurship: Though I've never had my own startup, Lean Startup changed the way I think about every one of my life endeavours.
  • Economics: I'm studying Economics @ UBC, and the Economist is one of the best publications - period - regardless of discipline. It gets you thinking about problems. And problems are where entrepreneurs thrive.
  • Creating, building, and seizing opportunities: Do a little "design thinking." By that I mean go to Chinatown and walk around the homeless population -- even ask them questions ("I'd love to hear your life story"). When you immerse yourself in the real world with real problems, you start to find solutions you can't think of in your bedroom. Then, scale up. If you have an industry you want to hit, do the same thing. Immerse yourself, learn stories, and find problems.

    I'm missing so much but I have to go. Hit me up if you ever want to chat and I'd love to help you however I can. People like young, ambitious, driven people. So go start talking to people!
u/beley · 12 pointsr/Entrepreneur

Double Double by Cameron Herald

This is exactly what you asked for - all about growing your business.

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

This is a great framework for starting and growing a business using a scientific metrics-based approach. Love this book.

Hot Seat: The Startup CEO Guidebook by Dan Shapiro

This is a great book about founding, growing and exiting from a startup or new business. It's got tons of great advice in here about cofounders, legal setup, taking investments, and running the business in a way that facilitates a successful exit.

u/numberjack · 9 pointsr/Entrepreneur

Build it, push it, evaluate the feedback, and iterate, iterate, iterate!

If you haven't already, read the Lean Startup. A huge mistake of many entrepreneurs (myself included), is that we get so excited to build our product and make it perfect, we don't stop to gather feedback on whether we should be making it at all.

Bounce your idea around for a while, push a very early, limited, or "rough draft" of your product/service (your MVP) to the market, and see how they respond. Then, you'll know if there's something there to pursue. Otherwise, you waste time and money building a product that nobody will pay you for.

u/kingdomart · 8 pointsr/Entrepreneur

Read The Lean Startup it's all about doing a startup for next to no money. Here is a free copy

One of the basic premises they teach. Is to take your idea and make it as simple as possible. For example, if you want to make uber. Go out with a sign and stand next to a bar. Put up a sign that says "I will drive you home, so you don't have to drunk drive $20."

See how many people you get, then ask those people how to make your product better. Probably is a terrible example, but I hope you get the picture. Instead of spending 10,000+ on making an app. You can test your idea without spending any money. You also get the most important resource without spending any money. Feedback from your customers.

u/bodhi_mind · 8 pointsr/Entrepreneur

You should read Lean Startup if you haven't already. Will probably be a life changer.

u/AmIMorty · 7 pointsr/agile

this this this this this.

Scrum is not for you in this situation, /u/alookaday

Lean Startup is what you need. by Eric Ries.

u/treelovinhippie · 6 pointsr/Entrepreneur

If you want to build something that scales, something that can change the world, then the best bet is to build something online. It's difficult, but you're only 15 so you've got a lot of flearnings (failed learnings) ahead of you.

Learn to program here, here or here.

Learn about the lean startup: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_Startup

Read this and this.

Fail fast, fail often.

u/-IntoTheVoid- · 6 pointsr/AskEngineers

Great decision.

Leverage off the shelf products as much as possible. Rough it out, then refine it through iteration. Don't be afraid to hack other commercial products if it saves on development time, and is able to demonstrate functionality.

Shapeways is really good for things like enclosures and prototype parts. It's expensive if you need to print large items, but they print in a variety of materials, and it will result in a professional looking prototype. If ergonomics or mechanical parts are important to the design, buying your own 3D printer might be a worthwhile investment.

While you're working on the prototype, start considering what business strategy you're going to use. I found books like The lean startup helped, and it might change the way you approach the prototyping phase.

u/johgo · 5 pointsr/startups

Here are my top three:

  1. Running Lean (http://www.amazon.com/Running-Lean-Iterate-Works-Series/dp/1449305172)

  2. The Lean Startup (http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898)

  3. The Startup Owner's Manual (http://www.amazon.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step---Step/dp/0984999302)

    You may want to read them in reverse order (3, 2, 1) as Steve Blank influenced Eric Reis who influenced Ash Maurya -- but I really think Running Lean has more practical / applicable insights.
u/Karpuz12 · 5 pointsr/startups

This should help you with number 1

​

Book: The lean startup

u/drtrave · 5 pointsr/Entrepreneur

Your question is very important. Especially for early stage or even first-time founders, who don't have the right support network yet. There are many more resources like Facebook groups, and youtube channels that you can leverage to learn more about entrepreneurship, specific skills, and industries. Let me know if you're looking for something more specific. I'd be more than happy to give you additional pointers.

 

Here is a list of resources that I found very helpful on my journey:

 

Forums
 

Reddit: I was impressed with the quality and depth that you can get by asking meaningful and targeted questions in the right channels such as r/entrepreneur and r/startups.

 

Podcasts
 

All of the podcasts provide a great learning experience through case studies, founder interviews, and startup pitches. Believe me when I say that whatever challenge you're having someone more experience can very likely help you.

 

  1. Jason Calacanis: this week in startups
     

  2. Tim Ferriss: The Tim Ferriss Show
     

  3. James Altucher: The James Altucher Show

     

    Newsletter
     

    Launch Ticker News: One of the best newsletters out there that captures the latest tech and business news sent to your inbox several times per day.

     

    Blogs
     

  4. Andrew Chen
     

  5. Entrepreneurship Unplugged

     

    Books
     

  6. Roger Fisher: Getting to Yes
     

  7. Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People
     

  8. Dan Ariely: Predictably Irrational

  9. Eric Ries: [The Lean Startup] (https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522354359&sr=8-2&keywords=the+lean+startup)

  10. Noam Wasserman: The Founder's Dilemmas
u/FeetSlashBirds · 5 pointsr/gamedesign

This is a common trap for designers ( all designers, not just games/software). When you're making something new you making some several assumptions about what your audience wants to play (or is willing to play), you even make assumptions about who your audience is. You have to validate these assumptions to figure out if you're on the right track.

I would highly recommend this book specifically because it talks about designing ways to validate all of the assumptions you're making about your target audience and the things they want. If you're not careful you can spend months and months working on a product that nobody wants. If nobody wants to play your game then its better for you to figure that our as early in the development cycle as possible. It'll give you a chance to tweak your design or give up and try out your next idea.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous/dp/0307887898/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377410351&sr=8-1&keywords=the+lean+startup

Don't judge the book based on the title. The ideas can be applied to any project.

u/rafaelspecta · 5 pointsr/smallbusiness

If you are going for a internet business or any product-oriented business here a are the best books



BEST ONES

"The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses" (Eric Reis) - 2011

https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/

"Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works" (Ash Maurya) - 2010

https://www.amazon.com/Running-Lean-Iterate-Plan-Works/dp/1449305172

"Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days" (Jake Knapp - Google Ventures) - 2016

https://www.amazon.com/Sprint-Solve-Problems-Test-Ideas/dp/150112174X/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1550802301&s=gateway&sr=8-1

​

ALSO GO FOR (these are the ones that started organizing the Startup world)

"The Four Steps to the Epiphany" (Steve Blank) - 2005

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0989200507/

"Business Model Generation" (Alexander Osterwalder) - 2008

https://www.amazon.com/Business-Model-Generation-Visionaries-Challengers/dp/0470876417/

u/Lavender_poop · 5 pointsr/marketing

I have a few, not all specifically about marketing but related to business, growth, customer experience, etc.

u/intertubeluber · 5 pointsr/startups

This post is a succinct but uncredited summary of The lean Start-up by Eric Ries:

https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898

u/shaansha · 5 pointsr/Entrepreneur

I love the crap out of books. One of life's greatest joys is learning and books are such an excellent way to do it.

Business books you should read:

  • Zero To One by Peter Thiel - Short, awesome ideas and well written.

  • My Startup Life by Ben Casnocha. Ben's a super sharp guy. Learn from him. He started a company in his teens. He was most recently the personal 'body man' for Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn)

  • The Lean Startup by Eric Reis - Fail fast and fail early. Build something, test, get feedback, and refine.

    Non Business Books (That Are Essential To Business

  • Money Master The Game by Tony Robbins - I am a personal finance Nerd Extraordinaire and I thought Tony Robbins was a joke. Boy was I wrong. Hands down the best personal finance book I've ever read. Period.

  • Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Ever seen Gladiator? This is the REAL Roman Emperor behind Russel Crowe's character. This book was his private diary.

  • Man's Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl - Hands down one of the most profound and moving books ever written. Victor was a psychologist and survived the Nazi training camps

    As a way of background I have newsletter where I share proven case studies of successful entrepreneurs. I outline step by step how they made money and got freedom from their day job. If you’re interested let me know and I can PM you the link to the newsletter or if you have any questions.
u/Kemah · 4 pointsr/AskWomen

Been loving the responses so far! My own preferences have been changing, and I've been reading a lot more non-fiction than I used to. It has really opened the doors to a lot of books I would not have considered reading before!

On my reading list:

The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley - this is what I'm almost finished with now. It has been a really insightful read on how little prepared society is for disasters, and the steps we should take to help fix that.

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker - I've seen this mentioned on reddit a few times and it's in the same vein as the book I'm currently reading.

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries - I'm currently working in the startup industry, and have read similar books to this.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz - same as the book above. This is currently going around my office right now so I should be reading it soon!

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk M.D. - this was recommended to me by a friend when he learned I was reading The Unthinkable and The Gift of Fear. Honestly really looking forward to reading this one!

On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society


Books I'd recommend:

Blink by Malcom Gladwell - all about the subconscious mind and the clues we pick up without realizing it. Pretty sure reading this book has helped me out in weird situations.

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance - amazing read about how Elon Musk works and the person he is.

The Circle by Dave Eggers - just don't watch the movie :)



u/usernamesospetto · 4 pointsr/italy

Ciao, libero professionista nel giro delle startup da circa 6 anni qui, in ambito marketing digitale. Per esperienza diretta ti dico di diffidare dal 100% delle persone che orbitano attorno al così detto startup show business. Tutti quelli che sono in questa bolla sono dei fuffari con la passione per il raggiro. Stai lontano dai premi, stai lontano dagli aperitivi di networking, stai lontanissimo dai programmi tv e da tutti gli eventi fuffa del settore. Se vedi qualcuno che ti vuole vendere un corso online offendilo, anche pesantemente, lui saprà il perché. Detto questo ti posso consigliare questo:
Leggi. Leggi soprattutto in inglese. Ti dico che un buon punto di partenza è questo post qui. Poi ti consiglio qualche libro su lean startup tipo questo, questo e soprattutto questo. Poi ti servirà qualcosa per il business plan. Su questa materia ho letto solo un libro che parla di casi di studio e non te lo consiglio (una versione di questo qui), ti conviene leggere qualcosa di più accademico prima per capire come sono fatti questi documenti. In più ti servirà qualcosa di tecnico sul settore in cui operi. Ci sono decine di libri per ogni settore, basta cercare.
Fai. Inizia da quello che puoi fare: puoi iniziare da qualche schermata dell'app se il tuo modello di business ne prevede una, dal documento di analisi funzionale, dal business plan, da una demo del prodotto fisico che può essere commercializzata: insomma inizia a fare qualcosa che sia connesso al tuo modello di business. Scarta l'ipotesi sito web con annessa presentazione di qualcosa che non esiste: lo fanno tutti ed è quello che insegnano a fare nei corsi di fuffa. Prima fai qualcosa e poi dopo lo presenti. Questo fatto che le cose prima si fanno e poi si dicono ricordatelo sempre: il settore è pieno di gente che dice "facciamo, implementiamo, vendiamo" e intende "faremo, implementeremo e venderemo".
Costruisci un team. Parla del tuo progetto con qualcuno, inizia a stabilire relazioni. Se hai un profilo tecnico trovati uno che sa vendere, se sai vendere trovati qualcuno che programmi. Se non sai vendere o programmare trovati uno che ha tanti soldi. Ricordati: per fare una startup hai bisogno di un team perché non potrai mai fare tutto da solo. Ricorda: sono le persone che fanno le imprese e la componente umana nei gruppi di lavoro sotto la decina di unità è fondamentale. Non prendere a bordo parenti, non prendere persone tossiche, non prendere amici, non prendere il primo che passa. Una buona idea è partire da colleghi o, ancora meglio, ex colleghi.

​

u/race_kerfuffle · 4 pointsr/startups

You should read The Lean Startup by Eric Ries before you waste your money.

Edit: Also I have no idea what an app developing calculator is and there's no way it's correct.

u/jadanzzy · 3 pointsr/softwaredevelopment

Gotcha. That really sucks, and I mean that in the most meaningful way possible haha.

That type of thinking is the complete opposite of "agile" development, where typically there is a budget, but product owners and devs work together, iteration-by-iteration to determine what needs to change. If an "estimate" is carved in stone, then it's not an estimate anymore, but a fixed-bid project--again, the complete opposite of what developing with agility is supposed to be.

Sounds like a good starting place is learning about lean development and building a minimum viable product, since they're so sensitive about estimate granularity. That manager will have to learn to lead building a very minimum viable product, with as minimally necessary a valuable feature set as possible.

I recommend reading:

u/blood_bender · 3 pointsr/startups

Technical skill has nothing to do with the success of a startup ^(slight ^exaggeration ^but ^still ^mostly ^true.) 99% of startups aren't going to be the unicorn viral apps you hear about (think Snapchat, Instagram) where it grew organically without funding because the app was something magical. Also, seed funding is shockingly "easy" to get, but you need to put effort into pitches, a lot of them, which requires a lot of legwork. I'm sure your friend had to do pitch after pitch after pitch to win a venture contest.

In order for a product to be successful you need someone with a lot of marketing savvy to make it grow natively, and/or someone with a lot of business savvy to be able to pitch to investors (in order to hire someone with marketing savvy). The technology behind it is actually kind of meaningless (as much as I wish that were false -- I say this as a techy who's been in the industry for 7 years). Read Lean Startup, half of the successful startups the author mentions had no technology behind their product before they were validated and funded, including the ones that were technology based!

>I've been working on multiple applications, hoping to get something to fly and take off.

Have you released any of these, or do you find yourself floating from one idea to the other? If the latter, I'd suggest picking one and running all the way with it. This means marketing, growth hacking, physical pitches to individuals or companies, posting it to forums, getting your mom to download your app, whatever! I would say that if you're putting above 75%, hell maybe even 50%, of your effort into building it in place of some of these other things before calling it quits, it's probably not going to work. Worst case scenario, it still fails, but at least you can learn how to do it differently the next time.

That said, I still would focus on graduating at least, but getting a tech job doesn't mean the game is dead yet. I spent the first 7 years of my career at large tech companies saving a ton of money so that I could quit and work on my own ideas for a while without worrying about money. And I learned a lot about real world tech before actually diving into it, so I'm much more efficient than when I had just graduated. Not the path for everyone, but it worked for me.

u/GaryARefuge · 3 pointsr/startups

Awesome, quick read about traction and a method to explore and test different channels in the context of your specific goals

www.TractionBook.com


Great read about being aware that your effort is the one thing you have the most control over and how important having a clear focus and plan is

http://smile.amazon.com/Leave-No-Doubt-Chasing-Dreams/dp/0773544763/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453704910&sr=8-1&keywords=leave+no+doubt

Guide to Lean Startup Method

http://smile.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453704944&sr=8-1&keywords=eric+ries

to get things started.

Clear Introduction and Training in Scrum: It's a powerful and extremely versatile workflow to creating and managing any type of project--You could integrate the Lean Method into scrum--most do. Edited to add this one

http://smile.amazon.com/Scrum-Dummies-Mark-C-Layton/dp/111890575X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453778191&sr=8-1&keywords=scrum+for+dummies

u/YuleTideCamel · 3 pointsr/learnprogramming

For the business side of things go look at /r/Entreprenuer

I've worked in the Silicon Beach startup scene and I know several startup founders. Some of which who built , launched and sold successful companies. Here's the advice I've always heard:

  • Read The Lean Startup. Realize that to be truly profitable you are building a business, not just an app. That's an important distinction. A point emphasized in the book is to not build what you want, but to build what you think people will pay you for. The way to do that is via a series of experiments and building an MVP (minimum viable product), the smallest thing you can do to get feedback.

  • Read the beginners guide to startups

  • If you have an idea, talk to EVERYONE at it. Too many times developers like to hide in a cave and build something thinking if they talk someone will steal it. What you get if you do that is a product only you like without any feedback from the community. Instead talk to people, share the concept, see what they like, what they don't like.

  • Go to as many developer centric events in your area. Including those outside your university. Get to know the local dev scene. Network with people working on startups. Hell go to hackathons and just build something for fun. Being deeply invested in the tech scene in your area will open doors and connections.

    Lastly, do realize that all this is hard work. If your goal is to make money easily, it's actually easier to graduate and spend 1-3 years working as a junior and move up with a "normal" job. Most good programmers with a CS degree and a few years of experience have no problem making a 6 figure salary (depending on location, etc).

    I'm not trying to dissuade you, building the next big app is exciting and can pay off huge. Just saying it's a lot of work and it's not about building an app, to make money you have to build a business.
u/msupr · 3 pointsr/Entrepreneur

Had this list together from a blog post I wrote a few months ago. Not sure what exactly you're looking for, but these are my favorite books and I'd recommend everybody read them all. There are other great books out there, but this is a pretty well rounded list that touches everything a company needs.

The Lean Startup https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898

Business Model Generation https://www.amazon.com/Business-Model-Generation-Visionaries-Challengers/dp/0470876417

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788

Talking to Humans https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Humans-Success-understanding-customers-ebook/dp/B00NSUEUL4

Predictable Revenue https://www.amazon.com/Predictable-Revenue-Business-Practices-Salesforce-com/dp/0984380213

To Sell is Human https://www.amazon.com/Sell-Human-Surprising-Moving-Others/dp/1594631905

Rework https://www.amazon.com/Rework-Jason-Fried/dp/0307463745

Delivering Happiness https://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose/dp/0446576220

u/rbathplatinum · 3 pointsr/InteriorDesign

Definitely look into bussiness management books as well. if you are going down this road, there is a chance you will want to start doing it on your own and having proper business skills will help tremendously in securing work, and balancing costs, and making money doing it! I am sure some people on this sub can recommend some great books on this topic as well.

Here are a couple books,

https://www.amazon.ca/Business-Model-Generation-Visionaries-Challengers/dp/0470876417/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=Cj0KCQjw5MLrBRClARIsAPG0WGxuwhyo-18J3-xPOVP8bXeTJ4zbGZHkpO4GqIGKlz-WCRxt3aUroqQaApECEALw_wcB&hvadid=229992601126&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9000745&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4412519744533501821&hvtargid=aud-748919244907%3Akwd-297504215686&hydadcr=16960_10238137&keywords=business+model+generation&qid=1567691052&s=gateway&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.ca/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3/141-1005106-2495725?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0307887898&pd_rd_r=3ef234c3-168a-4156-bb6b-32f1e4f1ecca&pd_rd_w=PEqJa&pd_rd_wg=P882W&pf_rd_p=a62e2918-d998-4bbb-8337-35aac776e851&pf_rd_r=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H&psc=1&refRID=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H

https://www.amazon.ca/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-Step/dp/0984999302/ref=pd_sbs_14_3/141-1005106-2495725?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0984999302&pd_rd_r=3ef234c3-168a-4156-bb6b-32f1e4f1ecca&pd_rd_w=Oruqz&pd_rd_wg=P882W&pf_rd_p=f7748194-d8e0-4460-84c0-2789668108bc&pf_rd_r=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H&psc=1&refRID=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H

https://www.amazon.ca/Business-Model-You-One-Page-Reinventing/dp/1118156315/ref=pd_sbs_14_4/141-1005106-2495725?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1118156315&pd_rd_r=3ef234c3-168a-4156-bb6b-32f1e4f1ecca&pd_rd_w=Oruqz&pd_rd_wg=P882W&pf_rd_p=f7748194-d8e0-4460-84c0-2789668108bc&pf_rd_r=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H&psc=1&refRID=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H

u/salvadorbriggman · 3 pointsr/startups

Resources:

u/organizedfellow · 2 pointsr/Entrepreneur

Here are all the books with amazon links, Alphabetical order :)

---

u/tazzy531 · 2 pointsr/Entrepreneur

As a senior engineer living in Silicon Valley, I get pitched to all the time by people with "an amazing idea" that nobody has thought of that will change the world. Any engineer worth their weight has heard the same thing left and right.

The fundamental problem is that these "idea guys" think a good idea is all that is needed and the only thing getting in their way of a multibillion dollar valuation is some engineer that won't build this one little thing for them.

The problem is this: successful startup are not just about the idea but also the execution. You've probably heard this all the time how idea is worthless, execution is everything. But what I'm talking about is executing on the business and customer development side. Executing on technology is easy, building a successful business is more than just building the app, it's also about building the business side of the company.

If you follow any of the Lean Startup methodologies, the last step of building a startup is building the product. You don't start building anything until you have paying customers. Prior to that, it's all about Minimally Viable Product to prove a concept. A MVP does not need to be an app; there have been very successful startups that started out with paper mocks as MVP and manual processes as MVP. Even Uber's MVP is a fraction of what it ended up being.

So, I won't laugh you out of the room; I am extremely patient with every pitch that I hear. However, if you want me to take you seriously, bring something to the table. Find me 10 customers that have paid or are willing to buy this product that you are going to release. If you cannot find 10 paying customers* to validate your idea, it tells me a number of things:

  1. You don't have what it takes to do customer and product development
  2. You aren't serious about your idea and are just hoping someone does the work and you can gain
  3. You can't sell
  4. Your idea sucks

    So, my advice if you want to be taken seriously, bring something to the table:

  • money (seed money to pay for the work)
  • network (large number of people in the target market that can be leveraged to succeed)
  • product development - the skill of knowing how to validate an idea, customer development, feature prioritization, vision
  • leadership / experience: proven experience in building and leading a cross functional team tech, sales, product, etc
  • sales: ability to sell anything to anyone

    Honestly, as an engineer, the two groups that are hard to find are good product managers and UX designers. As an engineer, I'm looking for someone to complement my skills. I am looking for someone that can hustle, do customer interviews and market analysis of the target market. Tech is easy, finding the product market fit is hard.

    Anyway, I recommend two books if you are serious about building your concept:

  • Lean Startup - the goal of a startup is to identify customers
  • Founders Dilemma - deep dive into decisions that you should think about in building a startup

  • 10 is arbitrary number, use whatever metric you want. Find me xx users that have this problem that you're trying to solve.
u/tinear10 · 2 pointsr/bicycling

I give this book to anyone who is starting a business or has an idea - [The Lean Startup] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous/dp/0307887898)
The book is a must read! It will teach you how to test an idea before you invest a lot of time and money only to learn the idea does not work or there isn't a lot of demand for it.

One idea is to try a Google Adwords campaign for a new idea before it fully exists. Send people to a very simple one-page site where you explain the product. Give them a way to sign up for updates. If no one clicks on your ad then there is either a demand or a targeting problem. If people do click on your ad but don’t sign up for updates then they might not understand what you are going for. This gives you a chance to refine your message too.

The idea is that for less than $100 dollars you can conduct a market test that could save you thousands of dollars and months of your life.

Keep going too! I tried a bunch of stuff before things started to work. Reach out to me if you have any questions. Good luck!

u/ProductHelperBot · 2 pointsr/Futurology

Based on your comment, you may be interested in this!
**
^^I'm ^^usually ^^comically ^^wrong, ^^but ^^I'm ^^still ^^learning ^^so ^^please ^^bear ^^with ^^me ^^- ^^Product ^^Helper ^^Bot ^^v0.5*

u/bonk_or_boink · 2 pointsr/startups

I am just now reading The Lean Startup. Reading your blog post about the technical stack powering Ginger, I wonder if you aren't making some of the same mistakes the author made when he first got into startups (at least, what the author now feels are mistakes). Namely, putting a lot of quality effort into an entire implementation (plus features) prior to truly gaging customer interest (making sure the product meets a specific need).

If you haven't read the book, do so! Serious respect on all the effort you have clearly put into this so far, best of luck.

u/prepscholar · 2 pointsr/teenagers

That's awesome. You have skills that are super relevant in today's age and will prepare you to have a big impact in your career.

What will be most meaningful is if you can create something of value to people in a demonstrable way - in your arena the natural idea is an app. Just creating things by itself is impressive, but even more impressive is if people actually find it useful and you can point to something as proof (eg number of downloads, metrics on usage)

So I would encourage you to think: what can I create that will solve a real problem that people will care about? What do I wish I had that doesn't exist yet? Then you go from there.

One of the best books you can read on how to achieve this is [Lean Startup] (http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/), which will give you incredibly useful advice about how to test whether your idea is viable and push you to prototyping faster.

The most important advice I can give you is, don't be afraid of shipping. As a first time creator you will be so scared about getting a bad reception that you spin your wheels adding features or perfecting the app. Resist this temptation - the app will never be as good as you want it to be. Ship early (what Lean Startup says is the "minimum viable product") and get feedback on how you need to improve as fast as you can.

u/ThatNat · 2 pointsr/startups

You might find some of these resources helpful to get a sense of some of the moving parts for the "lean" / "customer development" approach:

Steve Blank's free Udemy course: https://www.udacity.com/course/how-to-build-a-startup--ep245

And his protege Eric Ries' Lean Startup book:
https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898

And Blanks'
https://www.amazon.com/Business-Model-Generation-Visionaries-Challengers/dp/0470876417

A rough, top-level, possible roadmap for a bootstrapped solo product:

  1. Talk with a bunch of potential customers to validate whether the problem you will be solving for is in fact an acute problem.

  2. Validate that your solution is a good one to solve that problem. Again, you can start with customer interviews with a prototype of your product. Validation can also be pre-sales, one pager landing page "coming soon" sign ups and other things.

  3. Product development and customer development happening in tandem. Customer feedback informing the product. Yeah minimum viable product: what's the minimum version of your product that proves your assumption that people will find this valuable?

  4. Participating / building an audience / community around folks who value solving this problem can happen during development too. Some like to do this BEFORE building the product -- and having an audience to pitch different variations of products to.

  5. Get early adopters in the door, helping you improve the product. "Doing things that don't scale" while you are still in learning mode.

  6. Try different experiments to improve A) the product and B) different ways/channels to find customers.

  7. McClure's Pirate Metrics: measuring the customer journey of acquisition, activation, retention, referrals, revenue. At this stage retention is probably #1: am I building a product people are finding valuable enough to stick around and continue to use?

  8. "Product/market fit" means your product and the particular type of people you are helping are a happy fit. Time to make those "things that don't scale" more scalable. Time to hit the gas pedal on the marketing side. More experiments to find growth...
u/tspike · 2 pointsr/cscareerquestions

Yes, it's certainly possible, but as mentioned, it's difficult. I'd highly recommend looking into the following resources:

Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup

Patrick McKenzie's blog -- Kalzumeus Software. Read everything!

The Lean Startup

Also do searches for "micro ISV" and read anything you get your hands on.

u/coomberlers · 2 pointsr/startups

I think it sounds like a great idea - but you need to create a better MVP than just a signup page. Something that explains/shows very simply how it would work and what the value is.

I would recommend checking out resources like The Lean Startup and validate, validate, validate.

Good luck!

u/codepreneur · 2 pointsr/startups

I'd recommend you spend a small portion of that $40k on:

http://www.amazon.com/Running-Lean-Iterate-Works-Series/dp/1449305172

http://www.amazon.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step---Step/dp/0984999302/

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous/dp/0307887898

Then get creative and figure out how to validate your idea without writing a single line of code (validation = get customers willing to sign up and/or pre-purchase).

My favorite example of getting 70k users without building a thing: http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/19/dropbox-minimal-viable-product/

If you could generate that kind of buzz without a line of code written, you could get the investment required to build your MVP.

Feel free to PM me, btw. I love the SaaS space and I have 17 years software development experience.

u/ryosua · 2 pointsr/Entrepreneur

My recommendation is to start by reading The Lean Startup. Then try to validate the idea with preorders. Getting people to pay you before you start developing it is the safest way to validate your idea. The next best thing is to build a list of emails.

u/dutkas · 2 pointsr/Entrepreneur

Couple Suggestions:

  1. Shopify https://www.shopify.com/blog/15153597-5-strategies-to-validate-your-product-ideas

    I love shopify regardless if you do e-commerce or not. Really great content and tons of value highly recommend. The article i linked is but one of many good ones.

  2. Lean Startup by Eric Ries. http://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous/dp/0307887898

    He talks a lot about Product Market Fit (PMF) and how to get there asap for entrepreneurs. I'd recommend at least checking out some youtube videos about PMF and other variations of the idea as far as validating your idea/approach.

u/Ezili · 2 pointsr/userexperience

No single source. Design has been around for a very long time. Modern UX Design comes out of a few different places, and different schools and different companies and studios have their own slightly different approaches. Of the couple I mentioned:

The IDEO and the Stanford D School has been the major driver for something called Design Thinking which is is framework for creative development.
Checkout this: https://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/
and this: http://designthinkingmovie.com/

Lean Startup is a framework based on work done at Toyota focused on product management but which a lot of UX Design ideas have come out of as well.
Checkout this:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous/dp/0307887898

and this:
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2011/03/07/lean-ux-getting-out-of-the-deliverables-business/

u/mikeyouse · 2 pointsr/Entrepreneur
u/mruck05 · 2 pointsr/Entrepreneur

You don't need to have a lot of money to start your business. What you need as was already mentioned is the right mindset and a solution to a problem that people are willing to pay for. I love some of these websites and books and recommend giving them a look.

Smart Passive Income

Tropical MBA

The Lean Startup

Tim Ferriss' 4-hour Work Week

The Suitcase Entrepreneur

$100 Startup

u/gmarceau · 2 pointsr/compsci

Like you I work at a tech startup. When we were just starting, our business/strategy people asked the question you just asked. They opened a dialog with development team, and found good answers. I attribute our success in large part to that dialog being eager and open-minded, just as you are being right now. So, it's good tidings that you are asking.

For us, the answer came from conversation, but it also came from reading the following books together:

  • The Soul of a new Machine. Pulitzer Prize Winner, 1981. It will teach you the texture of our work and of our love for it, as well as good role models for how to interact with devs.

  • Coders at Work, reflection on the craft of programming Will give you perspective on the depth of our discipline, so you may know to respect our perspective when we tell you what the technology can or cannot do -- even when it is counter-intuitive, as ModernRonin described.

  • Lean Startup It will teach you the means to deal with the difficult task of providing hyper-detailed requirements when the nature of building new software is always that it's new and we don't really know yet what we're building.

  • Agile Samurai Will teach you agile, which ModernRonin also mentioned.

  • Watch this talk by one of the inventor/popularizer of agile, Ken Schwaber Pay particular attention to the issue of code quality over time. You will soon be surrounded by devs who will be responsible for making highly intricate judgement calls balancing the value of releasing a new feature a tad earlier, versus the potentially crippling long-term impact of bad code. Heed Ken Schwaber's warning: your role as a manager is to be an ally in protecting the long-term viability of the code's quality. If you fail -- usually by imposing arbitrary deadlines that can only be met by sacrificing quality -- your company will die.



u/midnightoillabs · 2 pointsr/marketing

Definitely not.

Have you heard of a minimum viable product (MVP)? The idea is that you be as brutal as you can to put off every feature that isn't absolutely 100% necessary. You don't work on any non-necessary feature until after launch. This achieves two things:

  1. You start collecting users as soon as possible.
  2. You will find that the features you thought were important are different from what the users want.

    If you haven't read The Lean Startup, I highly recommend it. The person who wrote it created the chat program IMVU. He spent months coding the ability to log on from other chat programs because he thought users would demand it. It turned out that users were perfectly happy to log on to a new chat program and he wasted months coding an unnecessary feature.
u/Bishop341-B · 2 pointsr/startups

Minimum Viable Product: "That version of the product that enables a full turn of the build-measure-learn loop with a minimum amount of effort and the least amount of development time", according to Eric Ries.

u/freelandshaw · 2 pointsr/Entrepreneur

First off... huge kudos to you for trying to validate an idea before running off and developing anything. A few great resources have already been mentioned. I'm sure you are somewhat familiar with these resources and lean startup principles based on your question but I thought I'd point them out just in case.

"Lean Startup" Eric Ries

"Will it Fly" Pat Flynn

So to discuss your question more directly, here's a couple thoughts that come to mind. Keeping in mind it is highly recommended these conversations be in person (or at least over Skype):

1. Local small businesses. I know you mentioned that fact that most restaurants near you are chains. I'm not so sure I totally believe that (although I have no idea where you live). I would venture to guess there are dozens of small restaurants near you. Certainly some bar owners would be good to talk to. Plus even larger chains are franchise owned so you could probably find the franchise owner for the local chain and talk to them.

2. Colleges and universities. Are there any colleges or universities (or maybe high schools) close? Most of them have independently operated cafeterias.

3. Find the right subs and forums. I'm guessing there are some restaurant owners around here but you're probably more likely to find them in forums for restaurant owners. Find some influencers in the restaurant business (bloggers, podcast hosts, etc.). Try to connect with the people that read their information and try to connect with them.

Surely you can find some people to talk to in your area, you may just need some creativity to find them. Good luck!!

u/kyletns · 1 pointr/startups

I have no idea what the startup scene is like in Switzerland, but you should definitely find out! The best thing you can do right now is surround yourself with other entrepreneurs, for sure. Are there any events you can go to? Accelerator programs, incubators, or shared office spaces for startups? Even online communities where these people hang out, anything to get talking. If you can find other entrepreneurs, they'll love to talk with you about your idea. You need to get lots of feedback, and (hopefully) find another passionate soul (or two) to join you!

Pro tip: Don't keep your idea secret! Instead of me explaining it to you, just read this great post by HubSpot founder Dharmesh Shah

Spread your idea, get feedback, find a partner or two, read the lean startup, and go for it! Good luck!

u/techsin101 · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

I'm in same position as you, and would love to know if you're open to partnering up but to answer the question I've found the following very useful so far.

  • Learning to launch

  • Getting Real

  • 90 days to profit

  • 7 day startup

  • lean startup

    there are more but these are what i've read so far and liked.

    Main points I've learned...

  • Build nothing, or as little as possible. Think of vision, say craigslist, don't build it. Build stairs to it, dig a path to it. Start weekly email letter with website as complementary to save emails. Grow from there.

  • If it's b2b, do selling first, nail down how to approach, who to approach, what to sell, for how much, get 5 people signed up before writing a line of code. Free or not, get people on board.

  • prioritize speed and delivery over all coding standards, security standards, and over everything else.

u/bch8 · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

I suggest this book. It describes a start up strategy that is particularly applicable for tech startups, and is pretty well known in the tech world.

u/Manbeardo · 1 pointr/gamedev

Actions speak louder than words.

One of the rules of games and markets is that what people say they want and what they actually choose to do are very different.

Whenever possible, try to design experiments that let you observe player behavior directly instead of asking them what they thought. There's a lot of options available to you if you start collecting good metrics. Things like:

  • Are some events/actions correlated with players opening the menu and quitting the game?
  • Are some events/actions correlated with the game losing window focus (probably a confused player googling something)?
  • When you introduce a new mechanic, how does it impact the duration of play sessions?

    And then you can get real fancy if your alpha testers are willing to cooperate. Things like recording their gameplay footage and a webcam of their face at the same time, then running it through sentiment analysis to find moments that made them happy/frustrated/confused.

    That said, experimental design is hard and you might not have the time/money to run high-quality experiments. If you must rely on survey data, be sure to read up on survey design so that you can correct for the various psychological effects at play when humans take surveys.

    Edit: a lot of the above philosophy comes from Eric Ries' The Lean Startup. I highly recommend that book.
u/rainaramsay · 1 pointr/HowToLifePodcast

This is basically just a summary of the Lean Startup concept by Eric Ries. You can check out the web forum or find the book

u/brikis98 · 1 pointr/startups

The "official" definition (if there can be one for a term that has become so ubiquitous) comes from Eric Ries' book, The Lean Startup:

> An MVP is a version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.

A "version of a new product" doesn't have to be a product. The classic example of an MVP that Eric Ries uses is the explainer video Drew Houston created for DropBox before building the actual product. The video worked as an MVP by helping Houston test his assumptions, but I don't think you could say the video itself was a "product."

u/Whatitsjk1 · 1 pointr/startups

is it this by chance?

thx for info

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/marketing

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries:
https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898
This book offers great insight into agile product development, which is something a lot of companies try to master- but never figure out how to. The author has a lot of experience in product development and gives a ton of insightful, real life experience of working with successful companies like GE and more. I found the book extremely beneficial and it gave me a new perspective on product development.

u/ikidoit · 1 pointr/startups

You can do a lot actually! Start working on Customer Development, this book might help you: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Customer-Development-Hardcover-version/dp/1449356354. You can research the market and talk to people, no matter how old you are. You'll be amazed how many folks in the business will agree to talk to you about their problems. Another useful book will be https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307887898, it'll show you how to 'fake it till you make it'.

u/dennisrieves · 1 pointr/startups
  1. Identify how you're going to measure success
  2. Tune your content by setting up experiments (learn startup principles) and learning from the data you gathered in step 1 by measuring
  3. Keep that data on hand for future reference
  4. Track overall metrics while you're doing all this to see what effects your business' bottom line the best
  5. Push yourself through the experimentation loop as quickly as possible. That will be key to learning more quickly than your competitors. And who doesn't like having an edge that your competitors don't?
    I highly suggest reading The Learning Startup ( http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898) by Eric Ries if you haven't yet. It gives amazing insight on how exactly to measure the effectiveness of basically any business action or venture (as long as you've got the right ideas on how to measure it!)
u/ReRo27 · 1 pointr/Coffee

I know some people who run a coffee shop already in an identical format. Look up "Daily Grind" business in Ontario, Canada. You can probably reach them on their Facebook page and they may be able to give you some info and inside knowledge on what kind of challenges you should prepare for and how to make it.

3 things you can do right now to get it off the ground faster are as follows:


  1. scope out the competition - go to your local small coffee shops and big brands (Starbucks and McDonalds especially). Don't only try to understand how they do it but what their offerings are, why do people go there, what sides do they have, etc


  2. Prepare a menu that's bigger than just coffee. This is where point 1 will be useful. If you start scoping you'll notice a trend, in all these places they offer more than coffee. cold drinks, smoothies, sandwiches, pastries, etc. When you go to design your menu be sure to add something more than just coffee, be creative and try to make something people want (something to retain your customers and keep them coming back to you). Sandwiches are a good start but don't limit yourself.


    3: Another thing that might work for you should also start reading up on the 'lean start up methodology". It's how companies in silicon valley grow fast and quickly like apple, facebook, Instagram, and Microsoft. The idea is you generate some ideas, and you keep trying them out until one stick, then put your efforts there. The idea behind this is you keep trying out ideas to find out what is most successful and you drop your least successful ones quickly. This way you'll know what works and doesn't quickly and efficiently. Once you find the idea that works, you scale quickly and that's how you make your mark.


    Here's the book on Amazon from the man himself. It's a quick read but it'll probably cut your path to success down and make you more competitive.


    Author: Eric Riles

    "The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses"


    link: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898
u/tripmepls · 1 pointr/asktrp

Lean Startup is a great book about launching a product or service. Link

u/htylim · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

Glad you like it. I have one more comment that I feel I need to do.

If you'll end up reconsidering this idea try something else but try something.

There is nothing more valuable than one's own experience. And you never really fail if you learn and evolve from each experience.

The best recommendation that I feel I can give you is to try things and learn as fast as you can. And as we are on that subject check The Lean Startup:.

https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/

Cheers!

u/amateurcapitalist · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

I second all four of these recommendations. Especially the personal MBA for aspiring business owners. I would also add a few more: Profit First, Lean Startup, and Will it fly?

u/PM_ME_BOOBPIX · 1 pointr/CRISPR

> Alright thanks alot man. How much does the average start up cost? Millions? Billions?

It's not a cost, it's an investment!

There's no average of course in the Life Sciences the barrier of entry is high, since... knowledge is expensive, so are labs etc... DO NOT LET ANYTHING DISCOURAGE YOU not even me, it's not my intent.

A couple of good reads for you:

u/swizzler · 1 pointr/tevotarantula

Yeah, I don't think it's ever a good idea to buy a brand-new printer from a Chinese manufacturer or startup. Most these companies live by the rules of The Lean Startup The problem is, that book was written with software in mind. So when they change how an item is manufactured or the parts used from one unit to the next without changing SKUs as we've seen time and time again with 3D printers (especially the TEVO Tarantula) You have no way of knowing if you're getting a unit with a beta feature they aren't sure about yet, a cheaper part they are testing out, etc. And with a new model, you're facing all of these issues at once.

u/J19Z7 · 1 pointr/productivity
  1. Stop what you're doing.
  2. Read this: The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries

    Edit: Oops, didn't mean to post yet. I meant to say once you come up with the idea you want to go for, stop and read the book. I'm an agile development enthusiast and absolutely loved that book. The techniques there are specifically for the kind of situation you're in where you're not quite sure about the idea. Make learning your success metric.
u/guancialle · 1 pointr/startups

Here is my list of things you should read/listen before contacting investors. Listen/read every single article/video in every single link because it's suprising how some of the most important knowledge comes from the least expected talk/article

u/OlegLeonov · 1 pointr/startups

from my part I could recommend you The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898

u/mescalito2 · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

I love this part "My principle market are people who don't like the idea of drinking energy drinks, but may feel low on energy on occasion" as I felt identify with you product.
I can see the market is crowded so you need to a differentiation to make your product more attractive.
What ideas do you have to show your product in front of consumers eyes balls?
My advice is to build your marketing strategy before spending time in technology. I'm also a CS with management/strategy skills and after many years on this business I came to realized that marketing is key.
I advice you to read The Lean StartUp: http://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous/dp/0307887898
Good luck! let me know if u want/need advice, I'll be happy to help ;)

u/Analog_Seekrets · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

Have him read the The Lean Startup. This backs (most) of your bullet points.

u/politicallyretarded · 1 pointr/Romania

Puteti incepe sa testati ideea. Niste prototipuri rapide (in orice mediu ce face posibil explicarea ideii) si mult feedback de la useri potentiali. Asta o sa va salveze o gramada de timp si bani pe viitor, chiar si un eventual fail.

Poti sa te uiti peste The lean startup , explica procesul de inceput foarte fain, cu exemple foarte de success, cred ca au dropbox, zappos, etc.

Dupa, partea de development e cea mai usoara.

u/mikeyninja · 1 pointr/kickstarter

You need to read this

u/Jaybeann · 1 pointr/wicked_edge

From more of an entrepreneurial view and less of a shaving view, I highly recommend going for a lean startup. Get a very basic minimal product out there and let it morph as the business grows. If you start a business fully planned, then you're moving too slow. I highly recommend acquiring a copy of The Lean Startup and reading it. If you decide not to go with an idea, such as a subscription service, don't completely throw out the idea, but file it with your ideas for future expansion. That's my 2 cents.

u/zsalloum · 1 pointr/gamedev

Actually this is the concept of The Lean Startup from Eric Ries cofounder of IMVU

I am doing just like that. will share my experience if I ever make it :):):)

u/devoNOTbevo · 1 pointr/Reformed

I've been trying to get into Schaeffer. Starting with A Christian Manifesto. I'm also reading a Churchill Biography. I have The Lean Startup checked out from the library. I took Fellowship with God off the shelf, but have yet to dive in. And I'm in the middle of the following: Voyage of the Dawntreader, Les Miserables, and the Meaning of Marriage. I'm also highly interested in jumping into Gordon H Clark but I don't know where to even begin.

u/interactionjackson · 1 pointr/startups

It's always good to have a business co-founder just make sure that they are actually interested in your startup . I am a technical guy but I have read a few lean startup books and I don't feel that qualifies me as a business co-founder.

running lean

the lean startup

are my favorite

u/luciddreamr · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

I would suggest finding a technical co-founder to partner with. Start with your local community and search for high-tech entrepreneurial events. http://www.meetup.com is a great place to find events.

I would also suggest implementing the lean, minimal viable product (MVP) approach created by Eric Ries. The process is an experimentation in order to test your hypothesis with an MVP.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous/dp/0307887898

Alternatively, you could rent the book from your local library or check out his lean methodology in this interview:

http://www.entrepreneuronfire.com/podcast/eric-ries-interview-of-the-lean-start-up-with-john-lee-dumas-of-entrepreneur-on-fire/

If your idea is as great as you think, it should not be difficult finding a technical co-founder who can envision it! Good luck to you!

u/more_lemons · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

Start With Why [Simon Sinek]

48 Laws of Power [Robert Greene] (33 Strategies of War, Art of Seduction)

The 50th Law [Curtis James Jackson]

Tipping Point:How Little Things Can Make a Difference and Outliers: The story of Succes [Malcolm Gladwell]

The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy [Ryan Holiday] (stoicism)

[Tim Ferris] (actually haven't read any of his books, but seems to know a way to use social media, podcast, youtube)

Get an understanding to finance, economics, marketing, investing [Graham, Buffet], philosophy [Jordan Peterson]

I like to think us/you/business is about personal development, consciousness, observing recognizable patterns in human behavior and historical significance. It's an understanding of vast areas of subjects that connect and intertwine then returns back to the first book you’ve read (Start with Why) and learn what you've read past to present. Business is spectacular, so is golf.



To Add:

Irrationally Predictable:The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions - [Dan Ariely] (marketing)

The Hard Things About Hard Things - [Ben Horowitz] (business management)

Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It - [Charlamagne Tha God] (motivation)

The Lean Startup: Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses - [Eric Ries]

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, How to Build the Future - [Peter Theil]

u/shorterthanrich · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

Lean Methodology, as described by Eric Reis in The Lean Startup. Helped me find a new product (turned out to be our biggest) and successfully pivot my business within a single week after reading it.