From business books to history, 10 members of the startup community give their favourite books from 2017
With the possible exception of the internet, books still remain the most important tool for entrepreneurs. They offer advice, guidance, perspective and recreation. As 2017 winds down, e27 reached out to 10 members of the startup community (from investors to Founders to regular ol’ employees).
Here are their best reads of the year:
Craig Bristol Dixon – Entrepreneur in Residence at Muru-d
Book: Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike written by Phil Knight
Why it stood out: It is a real example of ‘lean startup’ methodologies before they became mainstream. Phil Knight recounts his journey from having only US$50 and selling Japanese sneakers out of the trunk of his car to a US$30 billion annual revenue business.
Value for startups: Grit, smarts and a lot of luck go into a successful startup, but if your heart isn’t in it, you’ll probably fail. Startups are just as much about the heart as the mind.
Arnaud Bonzom – Venture Partner at 500 Startups and Co-founder at Map of the Money
Book: In 2017, I explored a new path regarding books. I decided to read fewer business books, allowing me to read two other kinds of publications.
Why it stood out: I read Published Ph.D. theses, including a 1,156-page thesis on Porto and its region (Porto, la ville dans sa region) as well as a thesis on bees (Honeybee Democracy).
I also read books on Sociology. I read books about orcas and wolves as well as how predators hunt. Last but not least, I read books about Human behaviour. [One example is] Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness.”
Fun fact, I even read a book on how to be a beekeeper.
Value for startups: The main intention was to fulfil my curiosity on several topics. Luckily, the outcomes have allowed me to have a different perspective on startup ecosystems, social organization, as well as creating a framework for the 3rd edition of the Singapore Startup Ecosystem and Entrepreneur Toolbox.
I also spend one hour every morning reading Feedly, Medium and Pocket to follow the startup, business and, economic news.
Grace Sai – Co-founder and CEO of The HUB Singapore
Book: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out written by Richard Feynman
Why it stood out: Richard Feynman was an American theoretical physicist known for his work on the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics (the theory of quantum electrodynamics). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work on the development of quantum field theory.
He was known as the most original mind of his generation, beloved and with a great sense of humility and humour.
Value for startups: It shares the rawness of a brilliant mind – in all is rough edges, Aha! moments and humour. It reminds startups of the importance of working for a life purpose and not glory or fame. It also shows how the best geniuses in the world are always humble and always learning.
[Here are] some of my favourite quotes of his:
“Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter. Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.”
“It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.”
On winning the Nobel Prize: “I don’ see that it makes any point that someone in the Swedish Academy [for the Nobel Prize] decides that this work is noble enough to receive a prize – I’ve already got the prize. The prize is the pleasure of finding the thing out, the kick in the discovery, the observation that other people use it – those are the real things, the honours are unreal to me.”
Vinod Nair – Founder and CEO of MoneySmart
Book: Radical Candor written by Kim Scott.
Why it stood out: It helped me conduct better one-on-one meetings with our direct reports and presented a framework for giving better feedback.
Value for startups: The truth is that nobody really teaches you how to be a good manager, but the concepts in Radical Candor provide readers with the necessary foundation on how to communicate and provide guidance. I found the book so helpful that I bought a copy for all department heads at MoneySmart and conducted a series of training sessions thereafter. In the training sessions, we studied the concepts in the books and gave people the opportunity to understand and practice them with one another.
Also Read: Cutting a deal: How secure information flow is integral to a successful startup and VC partnership
At MoneySmart, we believe that one-on-ones are key to helping a company achieve its goals. By having effective one-on-one conversations, our teams get regular feedback and guidance, and are better aligned towards what they need to accomplish. This will definitely help us become a more effective organisation as we commercialise our business in the region. As such, we will be rolling out this training to all our people managers in 2018.
Anh-Minh Do — Director of Communications at Vertex Venture Holdings
Book: The Corporation that Changed The World written by Nick Robins
Why it Stood out: The Corporation That Change The World paints a picture of how to think about corporations. The book is a history of the English East India Company, which, within its lifetime came to redefine civilisation and colonialism. It was one of the most influential companies of all time and via its atrocities and dominance shaped how people like Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Stuart Mill thought about economics, politics, and human society.
When I look at how modern day companies behave, although we have more regulation and moral maturity, business people are still business people. Things have not changed as much as we like to think.
The East India Company dominated the world for hundreds of years, and consequently [the book] is a reminder about how humans behave when profits and lack of regulation are allowed to reign free. It was via its business model that the United Kingdom could remain a dominant world power from the 1600s into the present day, while the rest of the world that it touched continues to play catch up.
Value for Startups: The company reconfigured how the world works from the bottom up and the top down. This is a healthy reminder for startups today who seek out profits without considering their impact on our society and the values that we care about most.
The ever-present question ought to be what kind of world do we want to create and are the business models we are creating positive for all the players involved?
I’m not saying that this is an argument for impact investing or socialism, no doubt one could argue the East India company accelerated industrial change across the world. But it did so belligerently and with figures who put themselves before society.
Is it possible there is a more considered and mature way to go about it?
Kuldeep Singh Rajput — Founder and CEO of Biofourmis
Book: Venture Deals written by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson
Why it stood out: The book elucidates key players in a venture deal: VCs/investors, entrepreneurs and lawyers, what each player’s role is, their motivations, and how you can leverage this to ensure a successful financing deal. Brad and Jason have brought a level of transparency to the whole fundraising process and highlighted what really matters to entrepreneurs.
Value for startups: This book has been a personal guide for me during my Series A fundraising process for Biofourmis. It explains in simple terms the ins and outs of negotiating a venture deal – from choosing the right investors, understanding the economics and control provisions, to spending time on negotiating the issues that matter to get the right deal faster. This book should be on every entrepreneur’s curriculum!
Jan Smejkal – China & APAC Community Director at Startup Grind
Book: Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win written by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.
Why it stood out: I recommend this book to literally everybody in meet or talk to about books. For a couple of reasons…
1) We people (myself included) sometimes tend to complain about stuff that doesn’t matter that much. When you read or listen to the stories from the book you’ll quickly realise that there are people out there who have it much worse (war) and they still have to perform at the highest level.
2) The concept of extreme ownership is powerful and it changed the way I look at and execute leadership every single day.
3) Jocko talks a lot about “discipline equals freedom”. He is such an interesting character that you’ll fall in love with this thesis right after finishing the book.
Value for Startups: Founders will become better leaders and even if you’re not the Founder you might still a become a better and more disciplined version of yourself… If you put the theory in practice of course.
Rina Loh — Co-founder of Foodzaps
Book: The Storyteller’s Secret written by Carmine Gallo
Why it stood out: “Our hearts’ desire to hear genuine captivating stories. Since the Stone Age we have gathered around the fire and shared stories (hence the term Fireside Chat). Our brains are wired for story as it is one of the best ways to learn about each other and impart knowledge.
The book encouraged me to fine tune FoodZaps’ story to our customers who are business owners. We speak more about my business partner’s story to open an restaurant.
“How many bowls of Miso Soup does she need to sell to cover the cost of the Point of Sales, excluding high rental in prime location in Singapore?”
The angle has helped us align the cost saving nature in smart business entrepreneurs to lower cost and use data for business decisions.
Value for Startups: Every startup has a good product or service offering. Use a genuine and personal story and you will find your startup’s fire growing and business increasing. Catch-a-fire!
Ying Ying Wu — Regional Head of Communications at Shopback
Book: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck written by Mark Manson
Why it stood out: Contrary to what the title suggests, it helps you to understand that 1) you can’t give a f*ck about every single thing in your life so 2) you need to know what deserves giving a f*ck about.
The additional benefit? It (the physical book as I’m old-school that way) looks cool to carry around. Great accessory.
Value for startups: Don’t give too much f*ck about what naysayers say. There’ll always be naysayers, plenty of them. But is it worth giving a f*ck to all? Or is your startup / product more worthy of your f*ck?
Jowynne Khor – Chief Operating Officer at e27
Book: The Lean Startup written by Eric Ries
Why it stood out: I have been part of the startup community and have been contributing to the ecosystem for awhile, but have always been playing a role of an advocator, leading initiatives to empower entrepreneurs. This year is a year that I began a new journey. Now I need to apply what I have been preaching to the other startups into my current company.
Also Read: How can blockchain technology help your business in 2018 and beyond? Here are 7 ways
When you are in a space with no boundaries, it just means that you are going to be in an environment full of uncertainty. Embracing change, acknowledging failure, identifying the unknown, accepting the unfamiliar…these are some of the attributes that we need to comprehend if we want to embark on the path leading towards innovation.
Value for startups: This book brings me back to positivity when I am lost. The context of the book covers the fundamental of a startup’s mindset and this helps me better prepare myself mentally.
I believe in order to stay healthy and happy, it all begins in your mind. If our mind does not know how to manage stress, in a fast paced world we are living in today, it is just going to do more harm to our body and soul.
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The post We asked founders and investors for their favourite books from 2017 and this is what they shared appeared first on e27.