XFactor’s founder bookshelf

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One of the unique aspects of the XFactor investment team is that we are all founders ourselves and that often leads to founder to founder craft sharing across our team and portfolio.

The other weekend our Slack was abuzz with recommendations on the best books for founders, which we thought we would curate and share here:

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. As one of our investment partners said, “I’ve read Hard Things 4 times and each time, as the company has grown, more of it becomes relevant”
• Leading at the Speed of Growth by Catlin & Matthews
• The Great CEO Within (google doc)
• High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil. “Great once you are at about 8–10 people on your team”
• Traction by Gino Wickman “Read this when your team is 25+”
• Radical Candor by Kim Scott. “Especially if giving challenging feedback is an issue”
• Start with Why by Simon Sinek. “Critical if if motivating / selling / inspiring a team is a focus”
• Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
• WHO by Geoff Smart. “We wish the book had more diverse case studies, but a critical read as you start to hire your team”
• Grit: The power of passion and persistence by Angela Duckworth. “Because grit matters more than anything.”
• Start something that matters by Blake Mycoskie. “Mission is what gets you through the tough days as a founder”
• The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates. “The title says it all”

Let us know what reads have made an impact on your founder journey!