a new business is hard. Creating a new SaaS business is even harder. If you are starting a software company, there are some solid books that can guide and inspire you in the process. The challenge is to compose a useful reading material and our list can definitely help.
From genius B2B business practices to SaaS founders writings, here is the list of the best books every (SaaS) entrepreneur should read:
1.From Impossible to Inevitable by Aaron Ross and Jason Lemkin
This book is a true gem not only for any aspiring SaaS founder but for the seasoned entrepreneurs as well. It documents the stories of successful companies and insists that growing the size of your business can be achieved by following their footsteps.
The authors provide a ready template for hyper-growth based on proven techniques that were employed by the highest growing companies of the recent years. If you are interested in making your startup a unicorn, this book is a must-read.
2. Lean B2B: Build Products Businesses Want by Étienne Garbugli
The book was written specifically for B2B entrepreneurs and profoundly explains the major differences between B2B and B2C product-market validation
It documents more than 20 case studies which will help you to assess the market opportunities, create a minimum viable product and avoid common mistakes of first-time entrepreneurs. 82% of readers rate this book with five stars on Amazon and that is one more reason you should be reading it already.
3. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
Ben Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs and co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, shares his hard-earned wisdom about founding and growing a business. He honestly tells about difficulties and challenges that confront business leaders. The book is based on author’s blog.
4. Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company and Revolutionized an Industry by Marc Benioff and Carlye Adler
If you want to build a great SaaS company and lead it through exponential growth, this is the right book to start with and follow step by step. Marc Benioff, founder and CEO of Salesforce, tells the incredible story of starting his company from a rented apartment and leading it into the world's fastest-growing software company with billions dollars revenue.
Behind the Cloud is an inspirational and motivational guide to achieving success in business and in life, filled with practical tips and techniques which can be implemented immediately.
5. Mavericks at Work by William C. Taylor, Polly G. LaBarre
Former editors of Fast Company magazine put together amazing stories of high-profile business innovators. As authors emphasize, this book reflects more than a decade's worth of learning, thinking, and writing about the best way to do business and the new generation of companies and outstanding CEOs that represent the face of business at its best.
If you determined to become a leader in your industry, this book will provide examples of prominent leadership and unconditional decision-makers.
6. The Industries of the Future by Alec Ross
Alec Ross, the leading expert on innovation, wrote an excellent book about changes that are destined to happen in the next decade. He examines the fields that will most shape our economic future, including robotics and artificial intelligence, cybercrime and cybersecurity, the commercialization of genomics, the next step for big data, and the impact of digital technology on money and markets.
If you are brainstorming new business ideas for our globalized innovation-based future, this book would not disappoint.
Closing Remarks
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