15 Books Every Startup Founder Should Read

If you want to know how to do a startup and what challenges you'll face, this book is for you. The authors collect the most popular problems and questions and give clear answers and pieces of advice. Book has practical answers and 40 checklists that will help you to avoid challenges at every project phase.

Ben Horowitz is a businessman, investor from Silicon Valley, blogger and author. In this book, he talks about his own experience as CEO and founder. He talks about potential crises and bankruptcy every startup might face. The author saved his company and wrote a book about the case. You will also find tips about fair dismissals and other things important for CEOs. The book is written in a light and humorous manner.

Every startup faces the mistakes and most of the founders try to find the answer to the question "What?". But at the same time, the right question is "Who?". All the internal processes in the company are related to the "Who?" question. Having an answer to this question is equally important when you hire people, attract clients, or even are trying to find a new babysitter. The book is based on 1,300 hours of interviews with CEOs and billionaires. It will be helpful for people who need to understand how to manage human resources.

A lot of people want to be a perfect manager or hire the perfect manager to own a company. But the thing is that all the manager qualities are too much for a real person. The author compares the perfect leader to a unicorn and tells that it's beautiful but not real. A lot of companies want to find or grow such a "unicorn" but all of them are disappointed as a result. This book says how to make management real and stop looking for the perfect leader.

One more bestseller on our virtual bookshelf. Stephen Covey is a famous educator, speaker, coach and author. He says that habits can change lives. He gives tips about life, self-care, work, teamwork and other areas. This book will help you to make everyday life more efficient and pleasant. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People will be interesting not only for CEOs but almost for everybody.

The book is based on the author's practical experience in consulting and research. Nir Eyal gives answers to many questions like why some products succeed and some fail. He explains the pattern of successful projects. Hook Model described in the book is a four-step process used by many successful companies. It helps to predict users' behavior and "hook" them with your product.

Clayton M. Christensen is a Harvard professor. He says that even great companies that do all things right can lose their positions on the market. In the book, he proves his words and gives tips and tools to avoid business failures. The Innovator's Dilemma is based on the success and collapse of great companies. This is a practical guide with real examples and research.

The Four Steps to the Epiphany is the first book that proposed the Lean Startup approach. The author splits the large companies and startups and proposes a different business model for startup development. With this book, you will have a four-step solution for startup development and optimization.