4 essential books every startup founder should read at least once

There are some books that every Startup Founder should read at least once. Today, we will share with you four books that changed how our team manages products and startup development.

“Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It” by Scott Kupor

“Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It” is a book about venture capital and getting funding for your startup.

It provides an insider’s (Scott Kupor’s) look at the process of raising money from venture capitalists’ perspective and offers tips on how to make your business more appealing to them.

“One of my key takeaways from the book is that you must clearly understand what venture capitalists are looking for and how they operate before you approach them. Otherwise, you will most probably waste your time and opportunities.” ~ Wiktor Żołnowski, CEO at Pragmatic Coders.

Overall, Secrets of Sand Hill Road is a helpful book for anyone interested in raising money from venture capitalists. It provides valuable insights into the process, explains how VCs are built and operate, and offers valuable tips on making your business more appealing to VCs. If you’re looking for funding, this is a book that you simply have to read!

“Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive, and Others Die” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

This book is a ready-made recipe for communicating ideas in a way that interests others and touches hearts. In addition to being lightly written, “Made to Stick” refers to various studies and research, providing verified advice. Every page is full of knowledge on communicating in a completely new way by merging simplicity with unexpectedness.

“This book made my conversations with clients more effective.” ~Julia Potocka, UX Specialist, Pragmatic Coders.

The book reveals a set of secrets on constructing ideas to impact people and gives useful tools to motivate and inspire. With “Made to Stick”, you will learn to create messages that are remembered and intrigue others.

“EMPOWERED: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products” by Marty Cagan

The book “EMPOWERED: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products” by Marty Cagan is about how to develop and manage successful software products. It is worth reading because it provides a wealth of information and advice on contemporary software product development. In particular, it discusses building and motivating a cross-functional team of developers, prioritising features, and managing and coaching product managers.

“Lessons from this book already helped me better manage and grow our product managers. I recommend it to everyone building the organisation that will build the product.” – Wiktor Żołnowski, CEO at Pragmatic Coders.

“Empowered” should be read by anyone who wants to learn more about motivating people to build outstanding products. It is an essential read for any software product manager or product owner and even more important for people who manage product managers – like startup founders. This book will give you a deep understanding of how to succeed in product development.

“Delta CX: The Truth About How Valuing Customer Experience Can Transform Your Business” by Debbie Levitt, Angie Born, Tanya Netayavichitr

“Delta CX: The Truth About How Valuing Customer Experience Can Transform Your Business” – last but not least. This book is highly recommended by Pragmatic Coders because of one particular reason – it will just change your world. This book will completely modify the way you think about terms like Lean, Agile, Design Thinking, Design Sprint or even MVP. It will guide you through the high-quality process of creating and improving products and services you can offer your future customers. Your users expect more and more – they want solutions that will meet their goals and address needs and expectations. And only they can define the value of your products and services. Their opinion and feedback are crucial for your business’s success. See how to mitigate the risk of developing solutions which nobody wants to use and start to be truly customer-centric.

“Yes, this book can change your world. You will see the flaws of the well-known ways and methods of working. The author will show you that great UX done by great specialists is business risk mitigation. Stop making assumptions and start creating products and services which will bring your customers real value.” ~ Katarzyna Smoleń-Drzazga, Head of UX, Pragmatic Coders.

This book will open your eyes. The author of this book looks critically at the well-known ways of working, showing flaws and dangers. This book convinces you what UX is and how it can mitigate the business risk of developing something that doesn’t bring value to your customers.