Articles and Short Reads: Entrepreneurship and Innovation

  1. Rapid Innovation Cycle
  2. Innovation as a Learning Process: Embedding Design Thinking
  3. Feld Thoughts
  4. Paul Graham Essays

Curated Resources: Startups / Entrepreneurship / Innovation

  1. Y Combinator – Startup Library
  2. Startup School Library

Articles and Short Reads: Hardware Prototyping

  1. Ben Einstein (formerly Bolt.vc) – Illustrated Guide to Hardware Product Development
    1. Part 1 (Overview)
    2. Part 2 (Design)
    3. Part 3 (Engineering) and
    4. Part 4 (Validation)
  2. Dragon Innovation
    1. Hard Facts: Challenges of a Hardware Startup (2015)
    2. Dragon Innovation Blog (Prototype to Production)

Books and Longer Reads

BookTopic/Comment
The 4-hour Work Week
by Tim Ferris
(2007)

Entrepreneurship
Rethink what it means to be “Rich”. The “New Rich” value time and experiences…not money.
The Lean Startup
by Eric Ries
(2011)

Entrepreneurship
Build, test, learn. It’s that simple; which is what makes it so powerful.
Design a Better Business
by Patrick van der Pijl,
Justin Lokitz,
Lisa Kay Solomon
(2016)

Innovation
These people know how to innovate around business models and kickstart new products / services.
The Startup Owner’s Manual
by Steve Blank,
Bob Dorf
(2012)

Entrepreneurship
A reference manual for how to build your startup
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
by Phil Knight
(2016)

Entrepreneurship
The amazing story of Phil Knight and how he built the Nike empire.
Bad Blood
by John Carreyou
(2018)

Startups
How not to be an entrepreneur
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t work and What to Do About It
by Michael Gerber
(1986)

Entrepreneurship
Dated examples, but process and structural framework of a “franchise prototype” is helpful to get some entrepreneurs “unstuck” from being the “eternal technician”.
Measure What Matters
by John Doerr
(2017)
Management
Powerful story on Objectives and Key Results aka, OKRs. The tool Google used and continues to use to manage extraordinary business progress

Sprint: how to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
by Jake Knapp
(2016)

Entrepreneurship
Methodologies used by Google to conduct market experiments
Great Again: Revitalizing America’s Entrepreneurial Leadership
by Henry Nothhaft
(2011)

Entrepreneurship
Bad title, good book on why entrepreneurship is important in the United States
Venture Deals
by Brad Feld,
Jason Mandelson
(2011)

Investments: VC
Wise advice from a seasoned entrepreneur turned investor
Angel
by Jason Calacanis
(2016)
Investments: Angel
A view from the other side. Learn more about your “customer” if you decide to raise venture money.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things
by Ben Horowitz
(2014)

Entrepreneurship
Wise advice from a seasoned entrepreneur turned investor
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreements without Giving In
by Roger Fisher,
William Ury
(1981)

Negotiation
Book is less cut-throat as Voss, but still effective. “Principled Negotiation” is their term.
Never Split the DIfference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
by Chris Voss
(2016)

Negotiation
Lots of strategies and tactics to getting favorable terms.
Great People Decisions
by Claudio Fernandez-Araoz
(2007)

Management
How to hire the right people
The Art of Learning
by Joshua Waitzkin
(2007)

Learning
Learn how to learn. Guided by a former chess master and jiujitsu expert
The Startup Way
by Eric Ries
(2017)

Startups
Build, test, learn for corporations