Books I should have read a lot sooner as an entrepreneur, designer, and human
Reading for survival (and fun)
At the beginning of 2015, I decided to expand my horizons beyond the realm of UX and UI design, and joined a tiny startup as cofounder. Soon, the necessity for knowledge kicked in — I used to exclusively read sci-fi novels for fun, and now I’m reading a pile of non-fiction books on things such as Lean product development and entrepreneurship (a few months ago, reading such topics would put me to sleep).
Along the way, I’ve discovered that I really should have read many of these books a lot earlier, like before I joined the startup. However, there is nothing quite like hands-on learning with a live product, and I’m thankful to be reading and applying knowledge from these books now rather than later.
Here are a few of my favorites so far, and what I’ve learned from them.
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
“Entrepreneurship is a kind of management. No, you didn’t read that wrong.”
What does building a product from the ground up actually feel like? Despite having worked at 3 startups before (at the size of around 5 people, 15 people, and 100 people), I still had a hazy understanding of the product decision-making process. Probably because I previously was not fully responsible for the outcome of product choices, I’ve also never taken the effort to fully comprehend the implications of strategy. This book helped the PaintBerri team with how to decide what to build in a calculated and responsible manner, rather than frantically building random features in an attempt to appease the ravenous maw of users, which is what we were previously doing.
How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
This book ought to be recommended reading for life. How is it that so many of these techniques for getting along with people are so counterintuitive? For example, if you want somebody to agree with you, the last thing you want to do is to argue the merits of your idea. I began reading this book while the PaintBerri team was getting mean messages from a handful of irritated users. Before reading this book, I would’ve told them to leave us alone and just go find another free art community. Now I know that doing as such doesn’t benefit anybody, and we’ve since learned a lot of valuable insights from these previously displeased users.
Strengths Finder by Tom Rath
“…people have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies.”
Well said. Since taking a hard look at my strengths, I’ve begun to analyze the aspects of my current career setup and ask the question, “Am I doing something I want to excel at, or am I just repeatedly banging my head against the wall?” I believe it is good to be a well-rounded person, but there is also much to be said about pouring too much effort into mastering skills that one doesn’t have a natural affinity for. Sadly, it’s taken me over 20 years to accept that I’m not an extrovert and I’m much happier being the subdued and introspective person that I am. Now, you can find me quietly orbiting the snack table at a party and not feeling guilty about it!
Lean Analytics by Alistair Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz
“We’re all delusional — some more than others. Entrepreneurs are the most delusional of all.”
As somebody who ran away from math after graduating high school, this book was a wonderful primer to the world of analytics and all the life-saving things you can learn from data. At every company I’ve designed for up until now, I’d work with wonderful product managers who’d brief me on the details of a project and all I’d hear was, “We need to design X because… numbers.” All the metrics about retention, engagement, satisfaction, etc. would promptly soar over my head. Being responsible for decisions that impacts a fledgling product and community of users has made a world of difference. Suddenly, tweaking Google Analytics event triggers in the code is no longer a chore, but a moment of intense appreciation that such tools exist.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
“…automatic, stereotyped behavior is prevalent in much of human action, because in many cases it is the most efficient form of behaving…”
Fascinating and chilling truths about the predictability of human behavior. Since reading, I’ve become a lot more aware of certain things such as my attraction to free goodies (my closet is stuffed with branded T-shirts, sunglasses, and tote bags), the invisible social pressure to reciprocate favors, and how illogically compelling symbols of authority are. Great stuff to know as a designer who is trying to encourage users to react in certain ways, though it’s also disturbing to see these mental shortcuts are easily exploited for financially weighty decisions, such as home and car purchases.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
“The Struggle is when you wonder why you started the company in the first place…The Struggle is the land of broken promises and crushed dreams.”
Before reading this book, I saw the CEO mostly as the person who gave inspirational speeches at all-hands meetings. Now, I know that being a CEO means being relentlessly pounded by soul-crushing decisions that might destroy your company, your friendships, your sanity, or all of the above. Still, it is great to know the recommended steps for unpleasant situations, such as demoting a friend, since things like that do happen, and it can be comforting to know that sometimes there just is no magical escape route — everybody struggles. Since reading, I’ve decided to rule out CEO as a potential career direction. Perhaps Ben Horowitz’s gory recounting of the tech startup battlefield are unusually brutal, but as per Strengths Finder, I believe my talents will find greater places to shine in other roles.
Have you read any good books on entrepreneurship, design, or psychology lately? Please share, I’m always looking for more to read :)
Did this article inspire you to read more? If so, please ❤ to pass along the inspiration!
