What books do you recomend for bootstrapping?

Discussions
#21

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel, with Blake Masters
This was discussed on the Startups for the Rest of Us episode mentioned above. I found it very interesting, though it is more a wide-ranging “braindump from a billionaire” about many startup and business related topics than the usual tactical business books I read. This article mentions Thiel’s current interests. A word of warning for sensitive folks: the book presents a few somewhat right of center views related to business.

Also:
Do You Talk Funny?: 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker by David Nihill
Has some good information, but the audiobook (read by the author) wasn’t engaging.

#22

I got Thiel’s book based on their recommendation. It’s good - better than the average business book because it’s not just a bunch of hot air wrapped around one or two good ideas. It’s not terribly pertinent to us bootstrappers either, though, as Rob said during the podcast (IIRC).

#23

I (finally) bought and read “Just F’ing Ship” by Amy Hoy and Alex Hillman. This is a good (and quick!) read.

#24

I liked the incredible secret money machine . The book is quite old, written in the 80’s I suspect. But it has some good advice and it’s quite funny. If you like it there are others by the same author on his website.

#25

Oh my God. The website is a time machine for travelling back to the 90s. I was half expecting links to Geocities.

And there is a copyright notice for 2012 (and blogs written in 2015), so it’s not like the website has been forgotten.

Take that, Wordpress.

1 Like
#26

Ha! the author is a bit old fashioned it seems :slight_smile: but he writes well. I really enjoyed the book.

#27

Ha, really surprised to see the “incredible secret money machine” mentioned. I’ve read it and know it well, but thought no one else knew or remembered that it exists. It was first written in 1978, revised in 1992 and 2010.

It’s entirely about the bootstrapper ethos: small businesses sustained by reinvestment from earnings (not from outside capital) targeting niche areas, not “megabuck” area…

#28

Looks like my guess was not too far off then :slight_smile: I think that the chapters “Strategy” and “Tactics” cover the essence of the book pretty well.