Essential Startup Reading List

Core Reading - Start Here

Paul Graham Essays (Must-Reads)

  1. How to Get Startup Ideas
    • Why the best ideas seem bad at first
    • How to notice problems worth solving
    • The importance of living in the future
  2. Do Things That Don’t Scale
    • Why manual processes beat automation early on
    • How to delight your first users
    • The recruiting trick that built Airbnb
  3. Startups in 13 Sentences
    • The most compressed startup wisdom ever written
    • Each sentence worth a chapter of thought
    • Your daily startup meditation
  4. The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups
    • Single founder problem
    • Bad location choices
    • Not talking to users enough
  5. Before the Startup
    • Counterintuitive truths about startups
    • Why expertise matters more than ideas
    • How to prepare without knowing it

YC Partner Wisdom

Sam Altman

Jessica Livingston

Michael Seibel

Books by Category

Validation & Customer Development

  1. “The Mom Test” by Rob Fitzpatrick
    • How to talk to customers
    • Getting past polite lies
    • Finding real problems
  2. “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries
    • Build-Measure-Learn cycle
    • MVP philosophy
    • Pivot strategies
  3. “Four Steps to the Epiphany” by Steve Blank
    • Customer development process
    • B2B vs B2C strategies
    • Finding product-market fit

Product & Design

  1. “Hooked” by Nir Eyal
    • Building habit-forming products
    • The Hook Model
    • Ethical considerations
  2. “The Design of Everyday Things” by Don Norman
    • Fundamental design principles
    • User-centered thinking
    • Making intuitive products
  3. “Sprint” by Jake Knapp
    • 5-day design sprint process
    • Rapid prototyping
    • Testing with users

Growth & Marketing

  1. “Traction” by Gabriel Weinberg
    • 19 traction channels
    • Bullseye framework
    • Finding your growth engine
  2. “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel
    • Building monopolies
    • Contrarian thinking
    • The power of secrets
  3. “Crossing the Chasm” by Geoffrey Moore
    • Technology adoption lifecycle
    • Early adopters vs mainstream
    • B2B go-to-market

Leadership & Management

  1. “High Output Management” by Andy Grove
    • Managing yourself first
    • Leverage and productivity
    • Meeting effectiveness
  2. “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz
    • War-time vs peace-time CEO
    • Dealing with tough decisions
    • Building culture
  3. “Good to Great” by Jim Collins
    • Level 5 leadership
    • Getting right people on bus
    • Flywheel concept

Fundraising

  1. “Venture Deals” by Brad Feld
    • Understanding term sheets
    • Negotiation strategies
    • VC economics
  2. “Secrets of Sand Hill Road” by Scott Kupor
    • How VCs think
    • Fundraising process
    • Board management

YC Startup School Lectures

Must-Watch Videos

  1. How to Start a Startup (Stanford Course)
    • Complete video series
    • Top Silicon Valley speakers
    • Covers all aspects
  2. YC Startup School (Latest Year)
    • Updated annually
    • Current best practices
    • Real founder stories
  3. How to Build the Future (YC Podcast)
    • Interviews with YC founders
    • Deep dives on specific topics
    • Current trends

Online Resources

Blogs & Newsletters

  1. Paul Graham Essays - paulgraham.com
  2. YC’s The Macro - Weekly newsletter
  3. First Round Review - Deep operational content
  4. Andrew Chen - Growth and marketplaces
  5. Stratechery - Business strategy

Communities

  1. Hacker News - YC’s community
  2. r/startups - Reddit community
  3. Indie Hackers - Bootstrap focus
  4. Product Hunt - Launch community

Tools & Templates

  1. YC’s Document Templates
  2. Pitch Deck Templates
  3. Financial Model Templates
  4. Legal Document Libraries

Reading Schedule

Month 1: Foundation

Month 2: Building

Month 3: Growth

How to Read Effectively

  1. Take notes on key insights
  2. Apply one concept immediately
  3. Discuss with other founders
  4. Re-read the best books annually
  5. Build your own mental models

Quick Reference

If you only read 5 things:

  1. “Do Things That Don’t Scale”
  2. “The Mom Test”
  3. “How to Start a Startup” (Video #1)
  4. “Startups in 13 Sentences”
  5. YC’s Startup Playbook

For specific problems:

World-Class Startup Resources & Platforms

Authoritative Investment & Accelerator Resources

Y Combinator (YC)

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

First Round Capital

Elite University Programs

Harvard Innovation Labs

Stanford Programs

Trusted Funding & Investor Platforms

AngelList

Crunchbase

Foundersuite

Global Startup Communities & Networks

Techstars

500 Global

Essential Platforms & Tools

Product Hunt

Indie Hackers

AngelList Talent

Validation & Market Research

CB Insights

“Live in the future, then build what’s missing.” - Paul Graham

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