Suggest HN: Write a book on business for Hackers | Hacker News Reader

Suggest HN: Write a book on business for Hackers

6 pointsattheodo5 comments

We've seen numerous efforts on books for design, web, css, hipster frameworks, mobile apps and so on. Most of these fields are relatively easy to be picked up by a hacker since more or less we all grew up by them. But what about a book on business. On pricing rounds, debt, taxes, accounting etc. Something like "startup running 101" ... I don't know, seems like a good idea.. no?

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I'm working on a couple of books in this space, but not really those topic as I think they're pretty well covered elsewhere (see the writing of Brad Feld and Fred Wilson).

The first book I'm working on is on Startup Optimization which is a more practical guide to things you should be tweak to optimize for growth - hopefully I should have it done by the end of next month.

After that I'm planning to write another one about how to think about business models, user acquisition, metrics etc. focusing on more broader issue about how to analyze startup ideas.

Both are pretty experimental really, in that I've no idea if I can actually write about these topic in a way that will prove useful. But what's driving me to write them is that I've seen lots of startups mess up these areas and I want to try and improve that situation.

I wrote a book that covers general/universal business principles: http://book.personalmba.com

For common funding and legal issues, I recommend "Venture Deals" by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470929820

For finance and accounting, I recommend "Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs" by Karen Berman, Joe Knight, and John Case: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1422119157/

Here's my complete list of recommended business books, sorted by topic: http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/

Hope this helps.

I'm a big fan of Personal MBA - there are short, digestible chunks about the general business topics, with curated references if you want to dig deeper. Great format IMO

Thanks Josh!

Very nice resources.

I write marketing bits (http://orangethirty.github.com/marketing_bits). Its a blog/newsletter focused on marketing/sales/PR/advertising/protmotions with a touch of general business. It features real business wisdom from real startup founders. Check it out, you can always unsubscribe. No need to buy anything. No one will spam you with stupid offers.

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