{"id":329,"date":"2018-07-15T00:31:40","date_gmt":"2018-07-15T00:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/321-growth-academy-2023.local\/321-brain-food-the-startup-canon-edition\/"},"modified":"2023-11-02T21:12:07","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T21:12:07","slug":"321-brain-food-the-startup-canon-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/321growthacademy.com\/321-brain-food-the-startup-canon-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"321 Brain Food: The Startup Canon Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Best<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our Take on the Best Books to Get Growing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As far as we know, there\u2019s no such thing as the Startup Canon, but, hey, why isn\u2019t there?  Based on our adventures, founders and startup folk are the curious kind and always keen to learn more (most especially when it\u2019s relevant to their burning startup challenges). So, we set out to create a list of essential growth titles (or at least the start of one, since we\u2019re hip to living lean and iterating. Following is our take on the best books to help kickstart growth for scaleups and startups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Lean Startup\u201d by Eric Reis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019d so be remiss if we didn\u2019t start the list off with this one!  The Lean Startup<\/a> is a great introduction to an experiential, \u2018lean\u2019  approach to  building a business.  Part backgrounder, part examples of a lean approach and largely a \u2018how to\u2019 this book is a startup essential.  If you\u2019ve been hearing people in the startup world throw around terms like MVP, test, iterate and wondering how to get in on this action, this is the tome for you. Why we love it?  The best overview of lean methodology: learn it and use it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Hard Thing About Hard Things\u201d by Ben Horowitz<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who\u2019s ever worked in a startup (and especially, most especially anyone who\u2019s ever founded a startup) knows that pretty much every day you ride the oscillating \u201cheight of possibility\u201d and \u201ctrough of disillusionment\u201d roller coaster.  On one of those days where things are going very badly (or as one of my co-workers used to say \u201cding ding here comes the shitmobile\u201d<\/a>) you may want some solace from someone who\u2019s been-there, done-that (and landed extremely well to boot).  Someone who can spin a tale and share the hard learnings that came from living the dream.  Well, now, there\u2019s a book for that and it\u2019s The Hard Thing about Hard Things<\/a>.  Why we love it? A relatable story from the startup trenches with leadership lessons that rings so, so, so true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRadical Candor\u201d by Kim Scott<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no way around it: at 321 we are officially Raving Fans of Radical Candor<\/a>.  For emphasis: Raving Fans (ok, anyone who\u2019s met me has practically had this book thrust upon them; it\u2019s true!).  Radical Candor is both a framework for giving (and receiving) honest feedback (including praise and criticism) and a guidebook for managing, replete with tools on how\/when\/why to run different kinds of meetings, how to attract and retain superstars and rockstars on your team and even how to analyze workflow to do what matters most.  Why we love it? It\u2019s seriously the best book on the why and how to develop a practice of honest communication and it\u2019s written by a person with serious street cred (and it shows!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWork Rules!\u201d by Laszlo Bock<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re an early stage startup, you may currently be focused on getting to product-market fit and gearing up revenue traction. Yet if you\u2019ve started to build out a team, sooner rather than later you\u2019re going to be thinking about People and your People function (hopefully sooner rather than later!).  That\u2019s where<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work Rules!<\/a> comes in.  Written by the former SVP People at Google (who\u2019s currently CEO at a startup called Humu) this book presents a refreshing take on People management.  Maybe it\u2019s because Bock entered HR after stints in various business roles first, maybe it\u2019s the heaps of things he learned at data-driven Google, maybe it\u2019s a bit of both, but this book is such a superb primer on what matters and what doesn\u2019t in the People realm and contains tons of ideas that you can put into action, whatever your stage of company.  For every Founder who\u2019s told us \u201cwe just want our culture to be Googly\u201d this book is for you.  Why we love it?  You had us at evidenced-based HR and a new data-driven approach to People management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow F*cked Up is Your Management\u201d by Jonathan Nightingale and Melissa Nightingale<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be offended by the title (we weren\u2019t ;)). Reading How F*cked Up is Your Management<\/a> is like getting in on a fireside conversation (and a virtual drink, naturally) with the brilliant minds of Melissa Nightingale and Jonathan Nightingale and getting the insight that their collective adventures have imparted.  They\u2019re tech veterans so they get the quirky goodness (and not so goodness) that comes with the tech space.  The book is a collection of essays on a range of management topics that Will Ring True. Trust us, you are grappling with these challenges now so read it and learn.  Our favorite essay in the book?  So hard to choose but with our Product Management escapades (good and bad) we\u2019d have to select You Know Your Product Team is Failing \u2013 Do you Know Why?<\/a>.  We kind of think of it as an Ode to True Product Management.  Why we love this book? It\u2019s funny and it\u2019s full of relatable, relevant and really important management issues ranging from diversity, to supporting parents in the workplace to communication practices to managing meetings for impact, to\u2026You get the idea.  Brain food!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phew! Well, that\u2019s all for now, but we welcome your feedback.  What did we miss?  Share your essentials and grow the Startup Canon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post originally appeared on Alberta Enterprise Corporation\u2019s Start Alberta portal<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We set out to create a list of essential growth titles (or at least the start of one, since we\u2019re hip to living lean and iterating). 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