Entrepreneurship is fun, but not easy, especially for first time entrepreneurs.
The question often comes up, where to start? Should I apply for a course, should I find a mentor or should I just do it and success will come?
I think the right answer is books. Every time I start something, I read about it first. Using this technique I can avoid most of the beginner's mistake. Furthermore, books give you knowledge and knowledge gives you power, which is one of the most important thing if you own a startup. So I collected five books that can help for first time entrepreneurs.
1 - The Lean Startup
The Lean Startup written by Eric Ries is a good start. This book describes not only the fundamentals of a startup, but also a new way for product development: instead of spending huge amount of time and money for development, Eric recommends us to meet with potential customers first and ask their opinion. He describes a loop that we can use to continuously improve our product. Trust me, this book will change your life.
2 - Zero to One
A book written by Peter Thiel. Businessman, philanthropist, political activist, author, PayPal cofounder and Facebook's first professional investor. I think I don't have to tell more about him. In his book Zero to One he shows the secrets of successful startups in a very honest way. He also tells us why we should dress like Elon Musk, or what you should be aware of if you have a young startup.
3 - The Hard Things About Hard Things
Ben Horowitz's book is my favourite. Entrepreneurship is all about highs and lows. Ben shows you how to handle the very deep lows and tells you that you are not alone, you are not the first one who has to go through it. They say, entrepreneurship is a very lonely place, because very often there are no easy answers. If you feel so, read this book, I guarantee it will help you!
4 - Sprint
The method called "Sprint" has been developed by the author Jake Knapp and has been applied for development of many products of Google. The book shows you how to test ideas quickly and effectively in five days without spending too much money and effort. Since The Lean Startup book tells you the general idea on quick prototype development, Sprint tells you exactly what you should do and why you should do it in order to get as mush information as possible in five days. Really cool stuff.
5 - Productivity Ninja
Finally, a book not only for entrepreneurs. Productivity Ninja opens up your eyes and tells you in your face that you are very unproductive and shows you the way how you should organise your life to achieve much more things in a very efficient way. This book really changed my life. I can accomplish two-three times more everyday using the techniques described by Graham Alcott than before.
I hope you enjoyed this post, don't forget to tell your opinion and I would love to hear your five must-read books on entrepreneurship!