A book for each of the 7 stages of your startup

Suraj Talreja
July 13, 2020
3 min read

I'll be honest here. I'm not a voracious reader. However, every now and then, I try and get my hands on a few books that seem particularly interesting in my current phase of life.Gaining insights into trends from case studies and shared experiences has always been my biggest take back from regular reading. Plus, I don't have to look into a screen. Yes, I'm a paperback kinda guy (sorry, kindle).Here's a round up of my favourite books, broken down by stages of starting up.

1. Idea Stage: Zero to OneWhat makes a good idea? What is a tangible value proposition? How can you go about executing it? And, why will you win? All these questions are lucidly answered.

2. On the fence: Go Do!Convinced with your idea but not sure how to go about it. Jeremy Harbour, in Go Do!, gives you a step by step guide on how to validate your idea and sell to potentially early adopters (even before building your product).

3. Starting work on your idea: The Lean StartupThis masterpiece by Eric Ries will blow your mind and bust many myths (common ones and the others just in your head). On his journey you will learn how to get to a minimum viable product (MVP) in the most resource optimal fashion.

4. Selling your first iterations and managing customer relationships: How To Win Friends And Influence PeopleNow that shit's got real, you will have multiple hats to wear - sales, customer relations, support, payment collections (god bless Stripe for subscription collections). And some not so happy early adopters. This classic, originally printed in 1936, still doesn't miss a cord. The book is by far to most honest and humble breakdown of human relationships and how we can get the most out it.

5. Identifying and negotiating with potential investors: Never Split The DifferenceYou are going to be up against professional negotiators. Chriss Voss gives you enough artillery in your arsenal to always emerge victorious. Spoiler alert: you will learn a brand new F word and way more powerful than the one you are currently thinking.

6. Handling tough situations: The Hard Thing About Hard ThingsYou are hardly ever going alien to difficult situations on your entrepreneurial journey. Ben Horowitz, provides you with a manual of life hacks to almost every hard situation. Personally, I keep checking in to certain chapters from time to time.

7. Scaling your business at breakneck speed: BlitzscalingWe've signed up for exponential growth. The million dollar question of how to get there? Chris Yeh and Reid Hoffman dissect the question with highly relevant examples of the most recent successes.

Conclusion
If you're not much of a reader, try consuming content in any way you like - audiobooks, podcasts, videos or even instagram channels. There's a lot of great content out there that I would hate for you to miss out on.Also, if you'd like to know what I'm currently reading just head over here. And if you have any book suggestions for me, fire away.P.S. Thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to try Reportcard if you have a few minutes.

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Entrepreneurship
Suraj Talreja
Twitter

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