Books for software engineers and managers

Books / Startup Founder

Startup Founder Books

Enjoy these stories and tips from startup founders and investors. In these pages you’ll find advice on successfully landing your first customers, which metrics to follow, how the venture capital process works, and surviving massive growth.

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The Cold Start Problem
The Cold Start Problem

Driving growth with network effects

The Effective Executive
The Effective Executive

Improve organizational performance through leadership

Hacker News Books
Hacker News Books

Hacker News favorite software engineering and startup books

No Rules Rules
No Rules Rules

How Netflix culture and operations support innovation

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy
8
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

Conceptual and tactical advice for developing strategies that work

Working Backwards
8
Working Backwards

How Amazon works from the inside

Ask Your Developer
Ask Your Developer

How one world class software company leverages developers to drive business success

On Strategy
6
On Strategy

The key components of strategy and how to differentiate a management technique from strategy

Team Topologies
8
Team Topologies

Structuring software teams and relationships for high effectiveness

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Rebirth of a struggling leadership team

High Growth Handbook
7
High Growth Handbook

Interviews with startup founders, CEOs, and other executives discussing high growth

Leadership Books for Sports Fans
Leadership Books for Sports Fans

Leadershi plessons from the greatest coaches on earth

Building Platforms and Multi-sided Marketplaces
Building Platforms and Multi-sided Marketplaces

How platforms and two-sided marketplaces like Airbnb and Lyft are built

Only the Paranoid Survive
7
Only the Paranoid Survive

Recognizing and leading companies through strategic inflection points

When Coffee & Kale Compete
7
When Coffee & Kale Compete

Solving customer problems not building features

The Score Takes Care of Itself
8
The Score Takes Care of Itself

Leadership lessons told through football stories

Get Together
6
Get Together

Growing offline and online communities

Matchmakers
7
Matchmakers

A good introduction to multisided platform thinking

Y Combinator Books
Y Combinator Books

Books all about Y Combinator, the premier startup accelerator

The Launch Pad
8
The Launch Pad

From application to Demo Day, a look into Y Combinator

The $100 Startup
5
The $100 Startup

Inspirational stories about small businesses started as side hustles

Never Split the Difference
Never Split the Difference

Practical guide to everyday negotiations

5 Books to Increase Productivity on Software Engineering Teams
5 Books to Increase Productivity on Software Engineering Teams

Software development metrics and advice to improve productivity and performance

Founders at Work
Founders at Work

Startup stories and tech history

20 YC Lessons
8
20 YC Lessons

Presentation Notes from YCombinator’s Startup School

Traction
6
Traction

Broad introduction to 19 channels for gaining traction

The E-Myth Revisited
8
The E-Myth Revisited

The case for systematization and working on the business, not just in the business

Accelerate
Accelerate

Metrics on software delivery performance

Outcomes Over Output
8
Outcomes Over Output

An introduction to outcomes-based thinking and planning

Strategy Rules
8
Strategy Rules

An insightful read that’s part history, part business, part technology

Peopleware
Peopleware

A holistic and people-first view of software engineering management

The Lean Startup
The Lean Startup

Exploring and implementing the Build-Measure-Learn model

The Hard Thing About Hard Things
The Hard Thing About Hard Things

The no-nonsense book about engineering and startup leadership