7 books you need to read if you’re working on an idea
If you’re like me, then you’ve probably got at least one or two business ideas rattling around your brain at any given time. If you happen to be working on one right now though, this collection is for you.
Ideas are not worth much on their own, and most startups fail, but with the right care, the right testing, the right mindset, and the right execution, you may just see your idea take flight. We’ve compiled some books to help you on that journey. Good luck!
Loonshots
How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
by Safi Bahcall
Why read?
In Loonshots, physicist and entrepreneur Safi Bahcall reveals a surprising new way of thinking about the mysteries of group behavior that challenges everything we thought we knew about nurturing radical breakthroughs.
Drawing on the science of phase transitions, Bahcall shows why teams, companies, or any group with a mission will suddenly change from embracing wild new ideas to rigidly rejecting them.
Loonshots identifies the small shifts in team and company structure that control this transition, the same way that temperature controls the change from water to ice.
368 pages, St Martin’s Press 2019
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Testing Business Ideas
by David J. Bland & Alexander Osterwalder
Why read?
7 out of 10 new products fail to deliver on expectations. Testing Business Ideas aims to reverse that statistic. In the tradition of Alex Osterwalder’s global bestseller Business Model Generation, this practical guide contains a library of hands-on techniques for rapidly testing new business ideas.
368 pages, Wiley 2019
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The Right It
Why So Many Ideas Fail and How to Make Sure Yours Succeed
by Alberto Savoia
Why read?
The Law of Market Failure: Most new products will fail in the market, even if competently executed.
Using his experience at Google, his remarkable success as an entrepreneur and consultant, and insights from his lectures at Stanford University and Google, Alberto Savoia’s The Right It offers an unparalleled approach to beating the beast that is market failure.
272 pages, HarperOne 2019
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What’s Your Problem?
To Solve Your Toughest Problems, Change the Problems You Solve
by Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg
Why read?
Are you solving the right problems? Have you or your colleagues ever worked hard on something, only to find out you were focusing on the wrong problem entirely? Most people have.
In this book, Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg poses that the key to solving this is reframing; a skill that this book will help you to master.
215 pages, Ingram Publisher Services 2020
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The Mom Test
How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you
by Rob Fitzpatrick
Why read?
They say you shouldn’t ask your mom whether your business is a good idea, because she loves you and will lie to you. This is technically true, but it misses the point. You shouldn’t ask anyone if your business is a good idea. It’s a bad question and everyone will lie to you at least a little. As a matter of fact, it’s not their responsibility to tell you the truth. It’s your responsibility to find it and it’s worth doing right.
136 pages, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2013
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Beyond The Prototype
A roadmap for navigating the fuzzy area between ideas and outcomes.
by Douglas Ferguson
Why read?
Have you ever struggled to move a key innovation project forward at work? Based on his experiences running Design Sprints for top companies, Douglas Ferguson wrote Beyond the Prototype to offer practical advice for people shifting from discovery to realization.
“If you want to know where to go after a Design Sprint, Beyond the Prototype shows the way. Douglas’ expert guidance — grounded in his experience as a founder, CTO, startup advisor, and master facilitator — anticipates the challenges teams face when building something new.”— Jake Knapp, author of Sprint
181 pages, Voltage Control 2019
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Will It Fly?
How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don’t Waste Your Time and Money
by Pat Flynn
Why read?
Stop rushing into businesses born from half-baked ideas, misguided theories, and other forms of self-delusion. A lack of proper validation kills more businesses than anything else.
Full of practical suggestions you can apply to your business idea today, Will It Fly? combines action-based exercises, small-scale ‘litmus tests’, and real-world case studies with anecdotes from the author s personal experience of making money online, hosting successful podcasts, testing niche sites, and launching several online businesses.
340 pages, Flynndustries 2016
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