Thinking about starting a business? Read these books!
I was talking to a friend of mine about some ideas he had, as he has been involved with entrepreneurship and startups for a long time, I wanted to know his opinion.
We talked about various things until I started talking about my "idea", and he pointed out several things I was doing wrong and gave me some tips. Of these tips, 2 books were responsible for a very big change in my whole plan and helped me to see what I was doing wrong. I strongly recommend:
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
About the books
The Lean Startup helps you structure a path to follow when creating a startup. By Eric's definition
“ Startup is a human institution
designed to create new products and services
under extreme conditions uncertainty. ”
The 5 Lean Startup Principles:
- The principles can be applied to any startup.
- Entrepreneurship is management, a startup is not a product but an institution.
- Validated learning. Learn to develop a sustainable business. “This learning can be scientifically validated through frequent experiments that allow entrepreneurs to test every element of their vision.”
- Build-Measure-Learn: turn ideas into products, measure how customers react, and then learn whether to pivot or persevere. “All processes should be geared towards accelerating this feedback loop.”
- Accounting for innovation. Measure progress set milestones and prioritize work.
The Mom Test helps you talk about your idea in a way that even your mother couldn't lie to make you happy :-)
Main principles:
- Talk about your life instead of your idea;
- Ask about specs in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future;
- Talk less and listen more.
I hope it helps you in the same way it has helped me.