Whether you are launching your 5th app, just founded your first tech startup or own a small local business, nowadays everything is about tech. The tech world changes at an extremely fast pace, and keeping up with the latest trends is not always easy!
Learning and widening your knowledge base is more important than ever. Luckily for us, there are a ton of resources out there! But being an entrepreneur is a 24/7 job and being selective on what you read or study is key. You won't always have time to read a book a day, like some claim. To help you with this, here are some of our favorite books for tech entrepreneurs:
- "The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World" by Brad Stone
The Upstarts takes a look into the new Silicon Valley and its new generation of founders. Airbnb and Uber have changed the way we move and travel, opening the doors to the sharing economy in a way that ten years ago, would have seemed too bizarre or dangerous.
The author explores two very different CEOs and the life inside their two companies while they try to break cultural and institutional barriers while growing non stop.
- "The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers" by Ben Horowitz
Ben Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley's most renowned and experienced entrepreneurs, shares his daily wisdom on this book. All you need to know about building and running a startup and managing those real-world problems that business school didn't teach you about.
Based on his popular blog, he opens up about how difficult it is to run a business and analyzes the problems that leaders face on a daily basis, making you laugh in the process. How to hire someone? How to fire someone? When to cash in? And especially, how to stay sane through it all?
A humorous piece worthy of seasoned entrepreneurs and new entrepreneurs as well.
- "Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or how to build the future" by Peter Thiel
In Zero to One, Peter Thiel advocates for the creation of new inventions. His thesis is that there are still lots of things to be created and he explores how to find unique ways to create those new things.
The author says that progress can be made in all industries and areas, and that it should not be limited to Silicon Valley. In his opinion, doing something that has already been done takes the world from 1 to n, but creating something from scratch, takes the world from zero to 1, and it puts you ahead of the curve and gets rid of your competition.
According to Thiel, innovation starts by learning how to ask the right questions.
- "Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built" by Duncan Clark
In just a decade and a half Jack Ma, an English teacher with a humble background, founded and built Alibaba into the second largest Internet company in the world. But how?
This book presents an insider's look into how Jack Ma built an ecommerce empire that turned out to be one of the world's most valuable companies.
Alibaba's IPO in 2014 was the world's largest IPO in history. But when the author first met Jack, in 1999, he lived in a small apartment where he founded his company. Clark tells the story of the rise of Alibaba from his own experience as an early advisor to the company.
- "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries
Almost a classic by now, The Lean Startup is a must read for entrepreneurs. Ries defines a startup as an organization that creates something new under extreme uncertainty. The mission for founders and entrepreneurs is to find a path to successfully achieve a sustainable business.
In the book, inspired by the principles of lean manufacturing, the author proposes a scientific approach to building successful startups. He shows entrepreneurs how to test their ideas constantly, helping companies and founders become more agile on adapting themselves and the plans to the circumstances.
- "Originals: how non conformists move the world" by Adam Grant
Adam Grant has a very unique perspective on what creativity means in the workplace. In this book, he explores how to recognize a good idea, avoid group thinking and speaking up without being silenced, generate allies, and manage fear.
He uses compelling examples and studies from different industries to present his points. From an Apple worker who challenged Steve Jobs to the TV executive who saved Seinfeld. The author presents a set of groundbreaking insights from a nonconformist point of view.
- "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" by Ashlee Vance
An insider's look into the captivating life and mind of one of Silicon Valley's most interesting, and unpredictable, entrepreneurs. Elon Musk has worked like no other to create the future, working on ideas that seemed crazy and unachievable to the rest of the world.
This book gives us an insight into the innovator behind Paypal, SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity. From his childhood in South Africa to his exciting entrepreneurial plans.
What do you think? Are these among your favorites? Are there any other must reads we should add to our list? There are tons of books and resources out there, no matter which one you choose, improving and learning constantly is what truly matters!