Top 10 books to launch a successful MakeRight startup

A selection of legendary bestsellers that will be useful not only to novice entrepreneurs, but also to seasoned business sharks.

Each week, MakeRight editors browse over a hundred non-fiction books and select only the best for their readers. In this collection, we have collected for you the legendary best-sellers, which you just need to read not only to novice entrepreneurs and those who decided to start a startup, but also to seasoned business sharks.

1. “Business from scratch. Lean Startup Method »Eric Rhys

Why do the vast majority of startups fail? Eric Ries is sure that there are two reasons:

1. Passion for traditional management methods that are not suitable for businesses operating in conditions of extreme uncertainty,
   
2. And the “just do it” approach, that is, the complete lack of managerial tools.
   

Is there an alternative? Yes, this is Lean Startup (Lean Startup), which helps to use a scientific approach to build a growing business and avoid unnecessary costs.

Despite reasonable calculations, serious business plans, thoughtful business models, large investments, most startups fail. Why it happens? Eric Rhys, author of Lean Startup, is convinced that the traditional approach to business development is not applicable to startups. A startup is operating in conditions of extreme uncertainty, and this must be taken into account when launching it. At the initial stage of development, a startup needs to remain flexible in order to learn from mistakes and as quickly as possible to test the hypotheses of the founders, which means that it is necessary to avoid large injections and costs. It is this approach that underlies the Lean method, the goal of which is to help entrepreneurs increase their startup's chances of success.

→ Amazon

2. “Scrum. Revolutionary Project Management Method by Jeff Sutherland

Every day, the popularity of the Scrum technique is gaining momentum. It went beyond the IT sphere, and it has been successfully used in traditional industries such as charities, schools, and even political parties. What is the result? The Scrum methodology invariably increases the effectiveness of teamwork, reduces the time required to complete tasks, and unites people into close-knit teams aimed at constantly improving their results. What is Scrum? And what is the secret to Scrum's success?

Those involved in project management, and just management, are well aware of how difficult it is to organize well-coordinated teamwork. Due to the lack of coherence, plans are constantly being violated, the schedule lagging behind, the project budget is bloating, money and time are running out, fingers of different departments are duplicated, people argue and do not help each other, although it would seem that their efforts are aimed at achieving one goal . In addition, customers are often not satisfied with the final version of the created product.

The Scrum technique developed by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber is designed to solve all these problems. Scrum is the opposite of the classic phased approach applied to project implementation. The Scrum methodology has been adopted by many companies both from the technological industries, where it comes from, and from traditional and even non-profit. The approach that underlies the Scrum methodology can be applied in different types of activities that require teamwork.

Important characteristics of Scrum are its flexibility and customer focus, as it involves him (the client) directly involved in the work process. And, importantly, Scrum does not require expensive tools for its implementation.

→ Amazon

3. “Deadline. Project Management Romance by Tom DeMarco

Tom DeMarco, holder of many academic titles and awards, leads the Atlantic Systems Guild consulting center with offices in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. Software engineer and bachelor of electrical engineering, laureate of the Jean-Dominique Varnier Prize "For a Lifelong Contribution to Information Science", DeMarco proved himself as a talented writer - the author of nine books on management, organizational design and system development, as well as four works of fiction, including which is the famous business novel “The Deadline”, which tells about the art of project management.

The ironic-detective story takes the reader after the main character to a fictional country, where an unprecedented in scale software and engineering project is being launched, which should be submitted in record time. The hero has at his disposal enormous human and material resources, but in case of failure he is threatened with terrible punishments right up to execution.

→ Ozon

4. The “Goal” of Eliyahu Goldratt

Eliyahu Goldratt's business novel, in a fascinating artistic form, talks about how to get production out of a crisis using simple and original methods based on logic and common sense. Based on them, Goldratt created the theory of constraints - a systematic approach to production management. The essence of the theory is to find the so-called "bottleneck" in the technological process, limiting and slowing down the work as a whole, and eliminate it.

Eliyahu Goldratt - Bachelor of Science in Physics and Doctor of Philosophy. In addition, he spent a long time in software for manufacturing technologies. “The Goal” is his most popular novel, glorifying the author, reprinted in millions of copies and translated into many languages.


→ Amazon

5. “The Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim and Rene Moborn

The book was published more than 10 years ago, but in our opinion, nothing better has been written on the topic of innovation strategy.

Of course, critics may say that the ideas of the authors are not new, and the popularity of the book provided a beautiful title. However, it can definitely be said that the “Blue Ocean Strategy” builds disparate ideas into a logical system and provides specific tools for finding an innovative strategy.

The main idea of ​​the book is that instead of waging a bloody struggle with competitors, companies should aim to create a new, unoccupied market space.


→ Amazon

6. The “Ideal Leader” by Yitzhak Adizes

The book tells about a mythical creature, which the author compares with a fabulous unicorn - an ideal leader. He is beautiful, but he does not exist in nature. However, few people know about it, or at least think about it. Many companies are confident that such a person can be trained, educated, and it is better to hire an already trained person. However, one disappointment after another awaits them. And all because the ideal manager must combine qualities that are too many for one person.







→ Amazon

7. “From good to great. Why do some companies make a breakthrough while others do not ... ”Jim Collins

What distinguishes great companies from mediocre ones? Many will say that using the most modern technologies, having a unique product, a charismatic leader or the right strategy. However, a long-term study led by Jim Collins, which formed the basis of the book “From good to great. Why do some companies make a breakthrough, while others do not ... "proves that such well-established ideas are erroneous, and the long-term success of companies is associated with the influence of other, not so obvious factors.

The Jim Collins study lasted 5 years; the results of the activity of thousands of companies were analyzed, but in the end only 11 “great” ones were selected - those that met the following strict criteria: the yield on their shares should have exceeded the average value of this indicator by the market more than three times over the course of fifteen years, which preceded by a long period of mediocre results or even losses.

The list of 11 companies that met this criterion was as follows: Abbott, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, Wells Fargo.

The findings of the Jim Collins study cast doubt on many established beliefs about what helps achieve outstanding business results.

→ Ozon

8. “Customers for Life” by Carl Sewell

It is taken for granted that companies see their first priority in attracting new customers. To achieve this goal, they channel the strengths of their best employees and develop costly marketing plans. As a result, existing customers, many of whom are leaving to competitors, are deprived of attention.

The book "Clients for Life" is dedicated to the principles of work aimed at retaining existing customers. Its author Karl Sewell is the owner and head of a network of dealership auto centers, who managed to increase his company's turnover from $ 10 million to $ 250 million over 30 years, and proved that the approach focused on establishing strong emotional ties with existing customers fully justifies itself.

→ Amazon

9. “Rework: Business Without Prejudice” by Jason Freide and David Heinemeyer Hensson

The book “Rework” is a collection of tips on creating and developing a business from the founders of a small but very successful company 37signals, specializing in software development, creating project management programs and CRM. Despite the small staff of employees who also live in different countries, millions of customers worldwide use the company's products. Jason Fride and David Heinmeier Hensson addresses his book to all entrepreneurs, regardless of their experience or business size. According to the authors, their advice is not a theory, but a collection of what has been tested in practice and brought positive results.

The approach of 37signals founders to business is in many ways different from what other entrepreneurs usually strive for - to grow and scale up. Friday and Hensson are urging to get rid of these stereotypes and understand that small companies can also be successful and competitive, always staying small.

→ Ozon

10. "From Zero to One" by Peter Thiel

The book in concentrated form talks about the ideas that Peter Thiel voiced to Stanford students in 2012 at the Startup course. However, this is not just a book about starting a business. It does not provide a step-by-step plan or formula for success. As Peter Thiel notes, they simply do not exist. This book is about how important it is to strive to create new things, and not copy what is already available. And if we consider the value of this idea, then the book is useful not only to entrepreneurs and investors, but also to all people who are interested in history and philosophy and who care about the future of mankind.

Peter Thiel is an American entrepreneur and investor of German descent, a billionaire, Facebook's first external investor. As a teenager, he won the title of national chess master, studied at Stanford, where he first studied philosophy, and then - law. Til did not immediately find himself in business, for several years he worked as an assistant judge, and then as a trader. In 1998, he became one of the founders of the popular PayPal payment system. Later, through his venture fund, the Founders Fund invested in many successful projects - LinkedIn, Quora, Yelp, Palantir, etc.

→ Amazon

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We talk about key ideas from the best non-fiction books. Our library has more than a hundred best-sellers, including those that have not yet been published in Russian.

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