The canon · 10 books
Reading List
The ten books every self-starting founder should read to understand business and markets. Each one's core idea is distilled into a concept in Part VIII — The Founder's Canon, so you can read the idea here and see it applied to real products.
- 012011
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
The operating system for building under uncertainty — ship, measure, learn, and pivot before you run out of money.
- 022014
Zero to One
Peter Thiel
Why monopolies — not competition — create lasting value, and why you should think in 10× and contrarian truths.
- 031997
The Innovator's Dilemma
Clayton Christensen
How well-run incumbents get killed by cheaper, 'worse' newcomers — and how to be the disruptor instead.
- 041991
Crossing the Chasm
Geoffrey Moore
The make-or-break gap between visionary early adopters and the pragmatic majority that kills most products.
- 052005
Blue Ocean Strategy
Kim & Mauborgne
Stop competing in bloody 'red oceans' — create uncontested market space through value innovation.
- 062013
The Mom Test
Rob Fitzpatrick
How to talk to customers so you learn the truth instead of polite, useless encouragement.
- 072014
Hooked
Nir Eyal
The psychology of habit-forming products — retention's hidden engine, and how to build it ethically.
- 081980
Competitive Strategy
Michael Porter
Read the structural profitability of any industry before you bet your life on entering it.
- 092011
Good Strategy / Bad Strategy
Richard Rumelt
What real strategy actually is — a diagnosis, a policy, and coherent action — and why most 'strategy' is fluff.
- 101995
The E-Myth Revisited
Michael Gerber
For the solo builder: work on the business, not in it — turn a job into a system that scales without you.
Honourable mentions: Traction (Bullseye channels), The Cold Start Problem (network effects), Obviously Awesome (positioning), $100M Offers (the value equation), and Measure What Matters (OKRs).