Getting Real

When I was at university Getting Real was a big influence[1]. [1] https://books.37signals.com/8/getting-real

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.

Don't read too much before getting your feet wet. If you must pick one, Getting Real is all what you need. http://gettingreal.37signals.com Quote: "Everyone can read a book. Everyone can come up with an idea. Everyone has a cousin that's a web designer. Everyone can write a blog. Everyone can hire someone to hack together some code. The difference between you and everyone else will be how well you execute. Success is all about great execution."

Agree on Four Steps and Getting Real, also check out: Purple Cow and The Dip by Seth Godin The Long Tail and Free by Anderson

All Marketers are Liars, Permission Marketing, Crossing the Chasm, Positioning, 4 steps to the epiphany That's probably enough for a while. And if you haven't already read Getting Real then read that too.

Let my people go surfing -- Yvon Chouinard http://amzn.com/1594200726 The seven day weekend -- Ricardo Semler http://amzn.com/1591840260 Getting Real http://gettingreal.37signals.com/ -- Also, help flesh out the list of books for startups I just created for HN on my site: http://www.stormweight.com/lists/books-for-startups?p=OyAXcZ

I'm surprised that 'Getting Real' hasn't been suggested yet, perhaps it has something to do with the recent backlash against 37signals. Anyway I'll stand by it. Fantastic book. I might even go as far as to say 'essential'. http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php