Founders at Work

The history of technology is something that's better covered in trade publications, magazines and biographies, rather than textbooks and academic journals. Here's what I'd recommend: - Losing the Signal (Blackberry, 1990s-2013) - Founders at Work (dotcom era) - Masters of Doom ('90s PC video game market/graphics)

Founders at Work. Just gave me a good sense of how near death and growth are just part of the game. But also tipped me to decide to move to SF Bay Area.

Founders at Work was phenomenal. Its a collection of interviews with early startup founders where Jessica Livingston asks great, probing questions. An excellent example of how to conduct a good interview.

Coders At Work and Founders At Work. Immensely inspirational.

1. Head First Design Patterns - Didn't learn patterns in school. This book made a lot of difference in communication with more experienced programmers. 2. Pragmatic Programmer - A classic, learned many practical tips for day to day programming job. 3. Founders at Work - Motivated me to work on my side projects and be constantly learning.

I've been trying to up my game on reading: - Founders at Work: Jessica Livingston. Good. Less repetitive than Coders at Work. - Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. Awfuly boring. But I don't care at all about sailing (it was a gift). - Terre des Hommmes: Antoine de St Exupéry. Brilliant, the chapter with the 2 girls made me decide to read all his work in 2016. - Practical Common Lisp: Peter Siebel. Had to start Lisp!

Buddhism: Not Always So, and anything else by Shunryu Suzuki, What Buddha Taught, by Rahula Smarter: A Mathematical Bridge by Stephen Hewson, it will make you grok the real structure of mathematics even if you're starting with fairly basic undergraduate level math, and it will make it immensely easier to tackle new areas of mathematics. Pattern recognition and machine learning by Bishop Popular: Coders at Work, Founders at Work, Behind the Cloud

I'm reading "Founders at work" by Jessica Linvingston and can highly recommend it.

Have you checked out the handful of books listed on the YCombinator "Startup Library" page (http://ycombinator.com/lib.html)?: Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People Edward Tufte: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information Paul Graham: Hackers and Painters Jessica Livingston: Founders at Work

Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston It's a collection of interviews with founders who started successful companies.

I maintain a book list that I developed for my personal use but you could just as easily use goodreads.com or Amazon's wish list. Everytime I see or hear a book recommendation I add it to the list. My list now has over 1200 books that I'd like to read so I have no problem finding a book. You could also find the books on Amazon you like and then check out the recommendations. That should lead you to others. To suit your interest in business I would recommend: - Barbarians at the Gate: The Rise and Fall of RJR Nabisco (I'll never look at public companies the same after reading this book) - Founders at Work

Here are some business books I've read or am reading http://www.shelfluv.com/pek.pongpaet/business I also read books on design - here's a few I like: http://www.shelfluv.com/pek.pongpaet/design One of my favorite books of course is Founders at Work. I also find books about entrepreneurs very inspiring - like anything from Richard Branson. Ted Turner's book and Howard Schultz are also good.

I have found these books to be very influential in my thinking on web startups and building things in general: 1) Hackers & Painters - PG 2) Smart & Get Things Done - Joel Spolsky 3) Rework - Jason Fried 4) Getting Real - Jason Fried 5) Founders at Work - Jessica Livingston 6) Joel on Software - Joel Spolsky These are by far some of my favorites.

I think I read Paul Graham's essays when I was 18. I can't imagine diving into startup world any earlier than that. After all, had to enjoy my teen life! Any way, if I really must, I would have given back 'Founders at Work' to my 18 self. I only got to read it once I was 21.

Here's a few I've really liked that have a broader subject matter than only what you asked for. I figure that if you like to read you'd like these books. --- NON-FICTION --- Darkness Visible A Mathemematician's Apology Omnivore's Dilemma Fermat's Enigma The Code Book Born to Run Judgement of Paris Siddhartha Killing Pablo The Victorian Internet Lone Survivor I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman Papillon Into Thin Air Born on a Blue Day Touching the Void Got Fight The Conquest of Happiness --- FICTION --- Switch Bitch Lost Horizon The Cuckoo's Egg The Simlarillion The Time Traveler's Wife The Alchemist The Count of Monte Cristo A Canticle for Leibowitz Neverwhere My Uncle Oswald Stories of Your Life and Others Invisible Cities Life of Pi Atlas Shrugged --- WALL STREET / FINANCE --- When Genius Failed Liar's Poker Buffett (Lowenstein) Bull! Black-Scholes and Beyond (textbook) Fixed Income Securities (textbook) The Road to Serfdom The Smartest Guys in the Room Fortune's Formula The Fourth Turning Inside the House of Money --- ENTREPRENEURSHIP / COMPUTERS (non-textbook) --- Masters of Doom It's Not About the Bike Dot. Bomb Founders at Work The PayPal Wars…

Free - Chris Anderson; 4 Steps to Epiphany; Founders at Work; Crossing the Chasm; Viral Loop; Groundswell; Loosing My Virginity - Richard Brandson; Good to Great - Collins; Entrepreneurs guide to Business Law;

I cannot recommend enough "Founders at Work" by Jessica Livingston. It is a series of interviews of the founders of companies like Apple, Paypal, etc about the very very early stages of their start-up before they ever knew they would be successful. It is a great book to read both for motivation and for lessons learned. You can read some of it here: http://www.foundersatwork.com/ Good luck with your start-up!

These won't necessarily teach you how to do it, but reading them definitely helped motivate me when things got slow. Hearing the experiences and successes of other startups/founders always gets me excited to get to work. Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good - Sarah Lacy Founders at Work - Jessica Livingston The Facebook Effect - David Kirkpatrick

Lately I'm into reading Biographies of Entrepreneurs. Reserved "Founders at work" at the library, but currently reading "Match King" the biography of Ivar Kreuger. After failing a bunch of times, he figured it out: put on a show and pretend you're successful then other people buy in. Problem is he took that too far. Surprisingly, good to read as an entrepreneur, both inspirational AND _cautionary_.

Non-fiction: Coders at Work by Peter Siebel and Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston - I loved reading about the founder's stories and first-hand perspectives of notable programmers. The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton - really interesting perspective on "work" and various types of careers and people that find happiness in them/work itself. Superfreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner - even if you don't agree with their arguments or think that the authors are all fluff, I think that their writing style is exceptionally clear and easy to understand. The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - some really interesting ideas and analysis, although the book could have been 1/2 as short Fiction: Anathem by Neal Stephenson - starts out slow but after the first 200 pages it became a really great story that I couldn't put down. Life of Pi by Yann Martel - loved the main story of the book, the controversial ending didn't bother me too much because I don't feel like it takes away from the story at all. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson - cheap fun and suspenseful…

Thank you. I have that one already and it's top-notch.

Founders at Work

"Founders At Work" by Jessica Livingston [1] http://www.amazon.com/Founders-Work-Stories-Startups-Early/d... (http://www.amazon.com/Founders-Work-Stories-Startups-Early/dp/1590597141) [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Livingston

Founders at Work

Maverick - By Ricardo Semler of Semco. It's a must read book for every entrepreneur. I've read few business books, but this is one of those books I'll always recommend everyone with Founders at Work and Art of the Start. It's a real story of Semco with great business lessons.

"Hackers and Painters" or "Founders at Work" are both good books if you haven't picked them up yet. Not language learning or directly programming but interesting none the less. A book more directly related to programing would be "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" or "The Little Schemer." bring a notebook and do problems out of them like defunkt said and it will help in all your programming.

"Founders at Work" by Jessica Livingston. Full of good stories. "My years with General Motors" by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. How he built the organization is quite an interesting read.

Founders at Work. Lots of good true stories. Encourages me to work on my own true story.

To be quite honest with you, most of these books written by people like Guy Kawasaki, Jessica Livingston, Buffet, etc., are all great, but are pretty much compilations of stories or opinions. I know what you're after, because I was after the same thing not too long ago. I just went to Borders and picked up some text books on the subjects of interest - business, marketing, etc. I'm not sure if you'll be able to find text books on 'how to structure options,' but I'm sure there's some text that Harvard MBA's and the like have read throughout their time in school that covers that topic.

I liked The Entrepreneur's Bible since it provided a great foundation of all the topics. From there, then you can pick and choose. I like Art of the Start, Founders at Work as well for various reasons.

The World is Flat The Post American World Losing My Virginity - Richard Branson's Autobiography Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie The Second Coming of Steve Jobs Inside Steve's Brain The Seven Day Weekend- Book by Ricardo Semler of Semco on company organization and management, Semco essentially operates as a socialist enterprise with election of bosses, profit sharing, open information, flex-time, etc, but with the twist that Ricardo is the majority stock owner. Fascinating book and well-written to boot. Founders at Work should go without saying :)

On my desk: Getting Real (37Signals), Hardball (Chris Mathews), Prioritizing Web Usability (Jakob Nielsen) Nearby shelf: The Design of Everyday Things, Maverick, Founders at work, A Brief History of Time, A Pattern Language, Peopleware, Made to stick, Web Standards Solutions, Designing Interactions, The Pragmatic Programmer, The Mythical Man-Month, Oh, the Places You'll Go! Other good reads: Blink, Tipping Point, Long Tail, Freakonomics

* The Pragmatic Programmer * Becoming a Technical Leader * In Search of Stupidity * Hackers & Painters * Blockbusters * Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity * The Best Software Writing I * Behind Closed Doors * Managing Humans * The Mythical Man-Month * Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams * The Non-Designers Design Book * Founders at Work * Good to Great * Dreaming in Code * The Art of the Start * Maverick * The Design of Everyday Things * The Art of Project Management * The Art of Innovation

Though I know it may not be a single biographical book, Founders at Work is a great series of short biographies/interviews. If you're more interested in any one of them, you can probably find a biography on them or even their personal blogs.

I'm on a week vacation right now and brought along Founders at Work - it is great.

Well, for non-technical books; I have enjoyed the following in no particular order: - Founders At Work - Eric Sink on the Business of Software - The Great War for Civilization - Pity the Nation - On Intelligence - The State of Africa - Long Walk to Freedom ....etc

> I'd prefer things not directly technical though not necessarily fiction. Sounds exactly like me. I strongly suggest: 1. The Selfish Gene (Richard Dawkins) 2. The Demon-Haunted World (Carl Sagan) ...or if you need a little inspiration... 3. Founders at Work

How about these: Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works: http://tinyurl.com/3ftxva Founders at Work:http://tinyurl.com/4cytwa (links are to amazon.com)

This brings up a good point. What would it take to put "Hackers and Painters" and "Founders at Work" onto CD? I can't imagine anything I'd rather listen to. And both are perfect for short trips because each chapter is stand-alone.

The New New Thing Founders at Work Hackers and Painters How To Get Rich Competitive Strategies The Intelligent Investor (or Security Analysis) Liar's Poker

Founders at Work (of course) "Best Practices"-type books that cover the tools and technology the startup is using, whether its Textmate, Unix, Subversion, whatever. Becoming more efficient is never a bad thing. I'd also add books on management and dealing with people: - The Art of Speedreading People - Tieger - Behind Closed Doors - Rothman, Derby - The Mythical Man Month - Brooks - Most if not all the books on Joel Spolsky's "MBA Curriculum": http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FogCreekMBACurriculum... (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FogCreekMBACurriculum.html)

Art of the Start - Guy Kawasaki How to Get Rich - Felix Dennis Differentiate or Die - Jack Trout and of course... Founders at Work - Jessica Livingston Hackers and Painters - Paul Graham

Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham I am NOT recommending these because I am an avid hacker.news participant. I became an avid hacker.news participant AFTER reading these books.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3087/2325563013_d62ca9cde5.jp... (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3087/2325563013_d62ca9cde5.jpg?v=0) I'm a fan of "The Pragmatic Programmer". Other books I thought were a good read: getting things done, 4 hour work week, and founders at work. I've also got all 6 seasons of 24 on my bookshelf =/, probably not the most productive times of my life.

Unfortunately I can't read fiction too much, I feel like what I read must directly help me with what I do, so I feel a lot better reading either technical stuff or business related (I love business). Since we are excluding technical, most of the following are business related, or helps you in dealing with people and solving problems) Netscape Time - Jim Clark (very educational for those interested in startups, good piece of Internet history, interesting insights to the culture of the first Internet companies) How To Win Friends And Influence People - Dale Carnegie (found it through YC recommendations, THANK YOU. one of the best educational books I have ever read, it will teach you how to make friends, be a good leader, get along at home, encourage people, make them follow you and so much more...) Founders at Work - Jessica Livingston (I found it relevant to what I am doing, good lessons, and interesting insights) Getting to Yes - Roger Fisher, William L. Ury (teaches you how to negotiate and how to get the best out of each situation for yourself and the other part, will be useful both at work and personal life, a bit dry)…

Founders At Work - Startup advice straight from those who have done it and have been successful.

Founders at Work :) and Felix Dennis' "How To Get Rich"

Founders at Work Hackers and Painters (Disclaimer - I am moonlighting on my startup idea, but have these books to be a huge source of inspiration. Also, Joel's list is highly recommended. Another book, and it may seem off-topic is Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. It helps to study the lives of those who have managed to pull off very successful businesses)

Business side: Most business books are fun to read, but it's really hard to say that any have been truly helpful. Most lean more to the motivational/inspirational side, instead of focusing on case studies. My suspicion is that business is probably not best learned from a book. But I'll list a few I like anyways. Alan Sugar: The Amstrad Story - Great story about how Sir Alan grew an empire selling stereos out of the back of a car. Instructive because his key insights revolved around understanding what the average user wanted, as opposed to the technical elite. Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison - He started his first company at 33 after working for other high tech firms. This book is neat because Ellison adds his own comments in the footer when he disagrees with the biographer. Founders @ Work - Pre-ordered it. I was tempted to read it all at once, but decided to spread it out over 2 weeks. I'm glad that I did - there's a lot to digest.... Product side: Designing Interactions - If you want to design great user experiences, it helps to see the thought processes great designers go through to create successful products. Bulletproof Web Design…

some that haven't been mentioned: - the innovator's dilemma by clayton christensen - blue ocean strategy (kim and mauborgne) -- these two books give you a little bit more of a framework to evaluate where your idea adds value and give you examples of how/why some successful companies have been successful - high tech startup by nesheim -- a little dated, but lots of info - negotiation/people books: getting to yes (fisher, ury) and getting past no (ury), influence by cialdini (useful for more than just startups) - maybe some management books: peopleware (demarco and lister), the art of project management (berkun), first, break all the rules (buckingham) - founders at work (livingston) to get inspired +1 to crossing the chasm, and the godin & gladwell books, art of the start blogs: onstartups.com, fred wilson, brad feld, seth godin, etc., guy kawasaki -drew

"Hackers and Painters" had an immense impact on me a couple of years ago. Like pg, I multiplex art and hackery (I suck at painting though--sculpture, printmaking, and theatrical design are my areas), so to read a book that validated and supported that duality was to find a good bit of clarity regarding my course in life. I still go back to H&P every few months, when I get worried about such things. Just yesterday I started reading "Founders at Work", and from what I've gotten through, it's going to be great. More on that later, if this thread last.

About 14 months ago, I had little knowledge of how to execute a startup. In particular, I wasn't familiar with any online marketing tactics. The following books helped me a lot in that respective, and more: 1. Positioning, 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing/Branding, Focus, Marketing Warfare 2. Purple Cow, All Marketers are Liars, Permission Marketing (I didn't like "The Big Moo", "Free prize inside" or "Small is the new Big"). 3. Founters At Work 4. Wikinomics, Wisdom of Crowds, The Tipping Point (Blink! was alright). I am looking forward to reading "The Long Tail" and "The starfish and the spider"...has anyone read them yet? 6. Why We Buy 7. Hackers and Painters 8. The E-Myth revisited 9. The Art of the Start 10. On War, The Art of War by Machiavelli and Sun Tzu (not exactly for startups, but definitely useful) 11. Crossing the Chasm