(Part 2) Top products from r/Entrepreneur

Here are all the books with amazon links, Alphabetical order :)

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• Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1591396190
  
• Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh et al. Link: http://amzn.com/160941280X
  
• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown Link: http://amzn.com/0804137382
  
• Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days by Jessica Livingston Link: http://amzn.com/1590597141
  
• How Google Works by Eric Schmidt et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1455582344
  
• Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk Link: http://amzn.com/006227306X
  
• Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way by Richard Branson Link: http://amzn.com/0307720748
  
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1400064287
  
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck Link: http://amzn.com/0345472322
  
• Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi et al. Link: http://amzn.com/0385346654
  
• Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim S. Grover et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1476714207
  
• Rework by Jason Fried et al. Link: http://amzn.com/0307463745
  
• Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin Link: http://amzn.com/1591842948
  
• The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss Link: http://amzn.com/0307465357
  
• The Choose Yourself Guide To Wealth by James Altucher Link: http://amzn.com/150100994X
  
• The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison: *God Doesn't Think He's Larry Ellison by Mike Wilson Link: http://amzn.com/0060008768
  
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz Link: http://amzn.com/0062273205
  
• The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen Link: http://amzn.com/0062060244
  
• The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries Link: http://amzn.com/0307887898
  
• The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime by MJ DeMarco Link: http://amzn.com/B004BDOUAI
  
• The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday Link: http://amzn.com/1591846358
  
• The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1885167776
  
• The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company by Steve Blank et al. Link: http://amzn.com/0984999302
  
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell Link: http://amzn.com/0316346624
  
• Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth by Gabriel Weinberg et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1591848369
  
• Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out by Marc Ecko Link: http://amzn.com/1451685319
  
• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel et al. Link: http://amzn.com/0804139296

You should both sign a PIIA. This ensures that all of the IP you're creating belongs to the Company. I was a solo founder to start and signed one myself, even though the idea was mine. This will protect your Company in the long run. http://www.knowingstartups.com/protecting-a-tech-companys-technology-and-other-employment-terms-proprietary-information-and-invention-assignment-agreement/

I had a similar situation and had the difficult conversation. Get your incorporation docs and then have a discussion about how much equity makes sense based on what you each bring to the table:

• the idea
  
• money invested
  
• time invested
  
• forward commitment
  
  You can read about how to have this conversation in a structured way in Founder's Dilemmas
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Dilemmas-Anticipating-Foundation-Entrepreneurship/dp/0691158304
  
  Get incorporated asap so you can set up your restricted stock agreements and then you'll each start vesting your equity. Recommend the standard 4 year vesting schedule with a 1 year cliff. Communicate each of your expectations regarding roles and responsibilities.
  
  Have your cofounder (and you) sign an offer letter or contractor agreement with your terms of work. Set written OKRs and if they're not meeting them, you can fire them.
  
  My first "cofounder" worked w me part time and I had the structured convo and she agreed to 5% for her was fair based on my rationale. She didn't make it a year but as soon as we raised money I paid her back pay as a contractor.
  
  The second woman who started working with me asked for 10% and also started as a contractor. She didn't join me as a FTE until after I'd raised money. I took 70%.
  
  So to her it was fair bc it was my idea, I had taken on all of the risk, put in my life savings, and raised money etc. but our agreement was she would work 30 hours per week and then once she signed, I started the "clock" on her vesting from her first date as a contractor.
  
  I didn't ask her to step up as a cofounder until after we had worked together for 9 months.
  
  FWIW this all happened in 2015. I am still the CEO and we are now worth $40MM. She's still my cofounder but her role will continue to change in the company as the needs of the company change (she knows this and is on board).
  
  So, while these conversations felt super hard at the time, I'm grateful I had them and that we all agreed what was fair and why from a business side. It's good practice for more difficult conversations you'll have w your cofounder in the future, like if you need to hire over them. Everything you both do must be in the best interest of the company.
  
  I hope you enjoy the book, it really helped me.
  
  Be careful about your equity bc it becomes the most valuable thing you have. Open conversations help to squash resentment. You never know, maybe your cofounder doesn't expect 50% or perhaps they only want to work part time... or start later after you raise. There's no one "right" way to do it.

You made my day!
From your reaction I know you're gonna make it. Don't let yourself feel downtrodden. The world doesn't mean to do it. Sometimes to cope I have to treat it like a game, with humor. When something goes wrong I react with, "Oh that's a new one!" Even though I know it means (as what happened last month) I have no inventory, no income. We have to stand up, brush ourselves off, and keep steeping forward with our vision. Baby steps, yes. And for a long time it feels like you're not even pushing the boulder up with hill. Barely even keeping it in place. More like pushing with all of your effort to keep it from falling back and crushing you. A friend who invents and distributes products told me he pushed and pushed and pushed for years and then suddenly, pushes came out of nowhere it seemed. The nowhere was all that effort (I have horses, I call it manure/frtilizer) he had spread. That is just starting for me, and omg is it sweet. And worth what it took.
Have you read "Choose Yourself?" It came out when I was just starting my reinvention. I was so alone, so scared. Failure to me was having to go get a "real" job. Part of me wanted to take the easy way out, to be relieved from having to worry about my savings running out, to have security. In his book James Altucher reminded me why that wasn't an option for me. It helped me be steely clear. Shut up those "what if I fail" demons chattering in my head.
https://www.amazon.com/Choose-Yourself-James-Altucher-ebook/dp/B00CO8D3G4
The title sounds corny, but there's a reason it's a classic: "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill is another to turn and return to. Since it was written a couple of generations ago it's a bit different, but that's good. It helped me to get my business brain in step with those who have gone before me. His Board of Directors is simply astounding. What a movie scene that would be!
Keep touching and petting your vision. Visit it, do something, even if it's just small. From the deep dark depths of the compost pile amazing things grow.
And third, our Constitution gives me great strength. The Framers understood the nature and man's nature. Making this the greatest place on earth to grow ourselves and our businesses. For some of us they are one and the same.
Go for it!
Give me a holler anytime my friend
Jodie Davis, the Cuckoo Clock Designer

The Four-Hour Workweek seems to spark up a lot of controversy when mentioned, I was even skeptical when reading it, but it honestly changed my life. It inspired me to become an entrepreneur, it's packed with case studies that inspire you to escape 9 to 5, and has plenty of great resources for someone starting their first online business, or for anyone looking to improve their work efficiency and spend less time at the office.

I'm also currently reading:

• The Tipping Point
  
  
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
  
  
• How to Win Friends and Influence People
  
  
  May seem overly mentioned or cliche, but they're cliche for a reason!

Your in a position that many would love to be in and many more would never be able to get to.

Your marketing campaign,
Get the following books (quick easy and enjoyable reads):
The Brand Gap ,
22 laws of marketing

• Offer cloud services and support to startups for free for three months, they apply via your website, pick the most promising ones. They must have your logo/link on their website somewhere e.g. "Hosting provided by" etc.
  
• Sponser hackertons or hacker meet up related activities.
  
• Offer free services to blogs you like.
  
  Your company,
  Rebrand your company within 2 months. Top notch website+server control panel UI. Get Blogging.
  
  Your Services,
  
  
• Focus on something, cloud hosting or dedicated servers. Which ever you feel your best at.
  
• Provide Cloud Hosting Images pre-installed with apache, mysql, php, webmin, vhosts, mail etc. Make it easier for new customers to setup a ready to go server quick as possible knowing all the configuations are correct.
  
  Your Sanity,
  Discuss with your best respected staff.

As a senior engineer living in Silicon Valley, I get pitched to all the time by people with "an amazing idea" that nobody has thought of that will change the world. Any engineer worth their weight has heard the same thing left and right.

The fundamental problem is that these "idea guys" think a good idea is all that is needed and the only thing getting in their way of a multibillion dollar valuation is some engineer that won't build this one little thing for them.

The problem is this: successful startup are not just about the idea but also the execution. You've probably heard this all the time how idea is worthless, execution is everything. But what I'm talking about is executing on the business and customer development side. Executing on technology is easy, building a successful business is more than just building the app, it's also about building the business side of the company.

If you follow any of the Lean Startup methodologies, the last step of building a startup is building the product. You don't start building anything until you have paying customers. Prior to that, it's all about Minimally Viable Product to prove a concept. A MVP does not need to be an app; there have been very successful startups that started out with paper mocks as MVP and manual processes as MVP. Even Uber's MVP is a fraction of what it ended up being.

So, I won't laugh you out of the room; I am extremely patient with every pitch that I hear. However, if you want me to take you seriously, bring something to the table. Find me 10 customers that have paid or are willing to buy this product that you are going to release. If you cannot find 10 paying customers* to validate your idea, it tells me a number of things:

1. You don't have what it takes to do customer and product development
   
2. You aren't serious about your idea and are just hoping someone does the work and you can gain
   
3. You can't sell
   
4. Your idea sucks
   
   So, my advice if you want to be taken seriously, bring something to the table:
   
   

• money (seed money to pay for the work)
  
• network (large number of people in the target market that can be leveraged to succeed)
  
• product development - the skill of knowing how to validate an idea, customer development, feature prioritization, vision
  
• leadership / experience: proven experience in building and leading a cross functional team tech, sales, product, etc
  
• sales: ability to sell anything to anyone
  
  Honestly, as an engineer, the two groups that are hard to find are good product managers and UX designers. As an engineer, I'm looking for someone to complement my skills. I am looking for someone that can hustle, do customer interviews and market analysis of the target market. Tech is easy, finding the product market fit is hard.
  
  Anyway, I recommend two books if you are serious about building your concept:
  
  
• Lean Startup - the goal of a startup is to identify customers
  
• Founders Dilemma - deep dive into decisions that you should think about in building a startup
  
  
• 10 is arbitrary number, use whatever metric you want. Find me xx users that have this problem that you're trying to solve.

ConorTurk - Thanks for the question. I think the best information that you will find on e-commerce / marketing is actually online as opposed to in actual books.

Here are a few resources that I recommend:

• Smart Passive Income Podcast - Great source for general tips / stories on building an online business
  
  
• Will It Fly Book by Patt Flynn on how to start an online business
  
  
• Smart Blogger Jon Marrow is a successful blogger and online business coach
  
  
• Growth Lab Ramit Sethi has several courses that help people start online businesses. I've taken a few of them and think they're great.
  
  Hope this gets you off on a good start!
  
  As a way of background I have newsletter where I share proven case studies of successful entrepreneurs. I outline step by step how they made money and got freedom from their day job. If you’re interested let me know and I can PM you the link to the newsletter or if you have any questions.

Your question is very important. Especially for early stage or even first-time founders, who don't have the right support network yet. There are many more resources like Facebook groups, and youtube channels that you can leverage to learn more about entrepreneurship, specific skills, and industries. Let me know if you're looking for something more specific. I'd be more than happy to give you additional pointers.

 

Here is a list of resources that I found very helpful on my journey:

 

Forums
 

Reddit: I was impressed with the quality and depth that you can get by asking meaningful and targeted questions in the right channels such as r/entrepreneur and r/startups.

 

Podcasts
 

All of the podcasts provide a great learning experience through case studies, founder interviews, and startup pitches. Believe me when I say that whatever challenge you're having someone more experience can very likely help you.

 

1. Jason Calacanis: this week in startups
    
   
   
2. Tim Ferriss: The Tim Ferriss Show
    
   
   
3. James Altucher: The James Altucher Show
   
    
   
   Newsletter
    
   
   Launch Ticker News: One of the best newsletters out there that captures the latest tech and business news sent to your inbox several times per day.
   
    
   
   Blogs
    
   
   
4. Andrew Chen
    
   
   
5. Entrepreneurship Unplugged
   
    
   
   Books
    
   
   
6. Roger Fisher: Getting to Yes
    
   
   
7. Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People
    
   
   
8. Dan Ariely: Predictably Irrational
   
   
9. Eric Ries: [The Lean Startup] (https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522354359&sr=8-2&keywords=the+lean+startup)
   
   
10. Noam Wasserman: The Founder's Dilemmas

Hey! Not necessarily a rubric out there but there are certainly best practices to follow. I would recommend the following resources:

"Lean Startup" Eric Ries

"Will it Fly" Pat Flynn

I'd be happy to offer some more details and insights but I believe those are excellent resources starting out. Good luck!

My background: I'm a business attorney working in part with small businesses and also an entrepreneur in my own right for a marketing services company separate from my practice of law.

I often see people pursuing startups going after the flashy book titles that are on the less technical side.

While this can be fine, I'd really recommend doing as much research as you can stomach into the nitty gritty, often un-fun things that people don't care for. As a lawyer, plenty of this is fun for me, but I appreciate that it's hard to hold one's attention on legal issues or accounting.

For example, I always hear people say good things about that Lemonade Stand accounting book: https://www.amazon.com/Accounting-Game-Basic-Fresh-Lemonade/dp/1402211864. You may not need to do the accounting yourself when you start a business, but you probably will, and even if you don't, it's better to have some sort of handle on it to oversee whoever's doing it.

So learn the basics of accounting and try to put them in to practice in your personal life. Plot out your personal budget, if you don't already. Practice with tracking and sorting your expenses. You can even do this with the free accounting apps out there like Wave. Fundamentally, business accounting isn't all that different than personal, so read the basics then practice!

I wish I could think of some valuable books that explain some basics of the legal side of small business formation and operation, but I guess since I do it myself I don't really know of any offhand, go figure.

I'm also a big advocate for branding. This isn't just logo design, it's a ton of stuff, and not always the obvious stuff. Branding is especially important for a newcomer, because you don't have the history...so you might as well try and brand like you're established! My go to here is: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Brand-Identity-Essential-Branding/dp/1118099206

Since you're doing business somewhat locally, you might want to just visit targeted businesses in person. It's less efficient per call, but people trust a face in person much more than a phone call. Look professional, know why you specifically can help their business, and make sure you're ready to tell them. As /u/SeriouslyImKidding mentioned, ask open ended questions. Be open, friendly, enthusiastic and honest. If they're not interested, ask them to let you know if they think of anyone who might be. (And leave some business cards.)

Also, since you mentioned that you've had trouble scaling, you've got to read this book. It will change your outlook: Built to Sell

Lastly, I greatly prefer referral marketing (that is getting referrals from good clients) to cold calling or other methods of outside marketing. Read The Referral Engine for more details.

Great store. Very polished appearance. Definitely have a niche. You have Google Analytics installed - good.

 

One thing I did notice that perhaps may help with conversions: Having a compelling "why" statement at the top of the store and also in the SEO metadata. The cover photo doesn't really convey what the store is about.

 

Simon Sinek's Ted Talk is great advice
https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

 

Also, The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier I've found to be amazing
https://www.amazon.com/Brand-Gap-Distance-Business-Strategy/dp/0321348109

Answer these three questions:

• who are you?
  
• what do you do?
  
• why does it matter?
  
   
  
  The answer to the third question is the most difficult. It should be more compelling and visceral than "because we have products for people with autism."
  
   
  
  also, you may want to look into https instead of http as Google factors website security when indexing sites.
  
   
  
  hope this helps

I really liked the Built to Sell and All In Startup. They're both set up as narratives, so they're very easy to read. I actually like the E-Myth as well--at least the first half of it. The Compound Effect had an impact on me and my thinking, but YMMV there.

I've been fortunate to read a lot of books that have helped me and guided my thinking when I was at an impasse. Reading books is like having a mentor, someone who has gone before you and who has taken the time to outline his/her real thoughts and strategies on what worked and didn't work in his/her experience

Contrary to the (somewhat surprising) sentiment of some in this thread, books can be VERY helpful in creating shortcuts and building a plan of your own.

Oh, I might also check out Crush It if I were you. I think Vaynerchuk is a kind of polarizing character, but I do think he's genuine, and for a book that's five years old, it has a lot of resonance and validity in our present climate.

One of the best business books I've read about how to methodically test and validate business ideas is "The Lean Startup" by Eric Reis (https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation-ebook/dp/B004J4XGN6?ie=UTF8&btkr=1&ref_=dp-kindle-redirect). His advice is simple but very powerful if used appropriately. But as far as the idea block you're experiencing... don't worry about it! A truly novel and original idea is exceedingly rare. Most successful companies were not the first to think of something, they just did it better than everyone else. Google wasn't the first search engine. Facebook wasn't the first social network. So don't let the fact someone else is already doing it slow you down! Look at it as validation it's a market worth getting into and then figure out what the incumbents are doing wrong : )

Start With Why [Simon Sinek]

48 Laws of Power [Robert Greene] (33 Strategies of War, Art of Seduction)

The 50th Law [Curtis James Jackson]

Tipping Point:How Little Things Can Make a Difference and Outliers: The story of Succes [Malcolm Gladwell]

The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy [Ryan Holiday] (stoicism)

[Tim Ferris] (actually haven't read any of his books, but seems to know a way to use social media, podcast, youtube)

Get an understanding to finance, economics, marketing, investing [Graham, Buffet], philosophy [Jordan Peterson]

I like to think us/you/business is about personal development, consciousness, observing recognizable patterns in human behavior and historical significance. It's an understanding of vast areas of subjects that connect and intertwine then returns back to the first book you’ve read (Start with Why) and learn what you've read past to present. Business is spectacular, so is golf.



To Add:

Irrationally Predictable:The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions - [Dan Ariely] (marketing)

The Hard Things About Hard Things - [Ben Horowitz] (business management)

Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It - [Charlamagne Tha God] (motivation)

The Lean Startup: Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses - [Eric Ries]

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, How to Build the Future - [Peter Theil]

There's a good book called The Dip by Seth Godin.

It talks about a few important factors such as why competition helps increase marketshare, but also most importantly about why being #1 can be important and to pick your battles wisely.

I feel the article definitely made some good points and I'll just avoid the "fluff" controversy that's brewing in here by saying it's always good to see an idea from multiple angles.

Hope this helps!

In a race, the one who is most motivated and most passionate about winning, is more likely to win. Depending on the race, it might be ok to come in at 4th or 400th place. If you're the 400th best plumber in America, you are kicking ass. If you're the 5th best search engine, maybe not so much. Swap the term 'passionate' with 'interested in' and that's probably enough.

The thing is that you have to have an interest in your business or else it gets boring and you will fail when you hit the dip.

Listed below is a list of resources that help me get started with entrepreneurship, I recommend that you start listening to podcast first and then migrate to the books; if you can do both. Indulge!

Business Podcast-
http://www.tropicalmba.com
http://fourhourworkweek.com/blog/
http://www.entrepreneuronfire.com
https://www.stansberryradio.com/James-Altucher
http://www.smartpassiveincome.com
http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com
http://mixergy.com
http://freedomfastlane.com

Business books-
http://www.amazon.com/Think-Grow-Rich-Napoleon-Hill/dp/1453670114
http://www.amazon.com/The-50th-Law-50-Cent/dp/006177460X
http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Workweek-Anywhere-Expanded/dp/0307465357
http://www.amazon.com/The-Alchemist-Paulo-Coelho/dp/0061122416
http://www.amazon.com/Choose-Yourself-James-Altucher-ebook/dp/B00CO8D3G4
http://www.amazon.com/MONEY-Master-Game-Financial-Freedom-ebook/dp/B00MZAIU4G
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Learning-Journey-Performance/dp/0743277465


Internet blogs/resources-
http://www.reddit.com
http://www.quora.com
https://growthhackers.com
http://www.tropicalmba.com


All of the sites listed above will give you an idea of how the game is played if you want to learn more in-depth I recommend https://www.udemy.com/courses/ . If you have any questions just hit me up! hope this helps or at least give you an idea.
GOOD LUCK!!!

Very interesting as I'll probably be in a similar situation in terms of dealing with equity splits very soon. A few questions, how many other founders are there? How unique is your skill set and could they easily find someone else who can build a similar product? Coming from the marketing/business side, the reality is, products don't sell themselves and the success of a company depends more on it's ability to get customers than how great the product actually is. So the question is who is going to be the biggest contributor to growing the business and if that's you - you should be getting more of the equity. If it's the other founders, then they have more leverage. A good read is The Founder's Dilemmas, might want to check it out... http://www.amazon.com/Founders-Dilemmas-Anticipating-Foundation-Entrepreneurship/dp/0691158304/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421213581&sr=8-1&keywords=founder+dilemma

Just posted this (http://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/2q8q0y/i_have_a_non_complicated_invention_how_can_i_help/) and think it relates to you, too, TurtleHustler:

Read this book! http://www.amazon.com/Invent-It-Sell-Bank-Million-Dollar/dp/0804176434

And this one: http://www.amazon.com/One-Simple-Idea-Licensing-Goldmine/dp/0071756159

If you don't want to run the business and manufacturing yourself do consider the slim chance of licensing the product. InventRight could help then. I think it ups the odds of getting a licensing deal . . . if the product is worthwhile. Too many think they have innovative products when it's, like, a disposable cat bowl.

Cover yourself with the right documents, too. NDA, non-circumvention, non-compete, you know the game.

The reality is most people will say they'll buy but how many would put their money where their mouth is come down to it? The first book mentioned does talk about that in a very enlightening, reality-inspiring way.

You could see about going the Kickstarter route if you need funding. I'd at least go patent-pending beforehand. Big companies can canvas that site often for ideas.

The Four-Hour-Workweek approach is a safe one, too, as far as market testing goes. Do read that book if you haven't. I'd test the heck out of the market before putting in the money you're certainly going to have to put in, especially if you're talking a regular patent and funding your own manufacturing.

No problem, glad you enjoyed it.

If you are interested in game design, read The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schnell. At least skim it. It's great and gets deep into the emotion and psychology of game design.

For business stuff, I got a lot of input from the classic E-Myth Revisited. I won't say it didn't get boring, but the actual point of it (systematize EVERYTHING) is a really important concept to learn. That changed the way I do things and now we have systems for everything in the company.

Read Crossing the Chasm when you start getting traction. It's a very important book that answered a lot of questions for me.

Right now I'm reading Behind the Cloud by Benioff, and man, this book is also great. I had no clue they used a lot of fairly controversial tactics to get press and traction. It's a good read.

> Learn enough Wordpress / CSS to build myself?

This is the book I used to learn HTML/CSS: http://www.amazon.com/HTML-CSS-Design-Build-Websites/dp/1118008189/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407007366&sr=8-1&keywords=html+and+css

After I read the book I did this tutorial in about a week: http://courses.tutsplus.com/courses/30-days-to-learn-html-css

After that I knew enough to mess around and edit Wordpress templates and actually got a job "building Wordpress sites" aka just customizing themes with CSS.

The reason I really like that book is it's great for a beginner. It's not overwhelming at all. It's basically left page is code, right page is what the code will look like. Later on I went back and read 2 books that were more like textbooks on HTML and CSS to get a more in depth understanding.

Hope that can help.

/u/mradam26 pay close attention to this. Get yourself a copy of "Built to Sell". You do NOT want to wake up one, three, or five years from now still in this same position. This book will help you start leveraging what you're doing today for your future.

What industries have your (best/most profitable) clients been in? What services did they need most? Would it be reasonable to try specializing in that, and ONLY targeting 100 companies in that industry?

This specialization will help you hone your pitch, be prepared for the most common objections, and scale your business in the future.

You can do content marketing? Why not a whitepaper or webinar targeted for that industry, and send it out as part of your outreach? Again, this will help you scale your pitch.

Cold calling works, but it has a low rate of return and unless you're doing it full time (anywhere from 30-100 calls a day, minimum) you're not going to get your expected value from it. There's a reason why cold calling is being outsourced to minimum wage workers -- it's no longer where the attention is and the arbitrage doesn't have a high roi.

Cold emailing might be a better option for you. Check Bryan Kreuzberger's Cold Email Template. Like with cold calling, you need volume. This means having a list of 100 of companies that you want to target, focusing on 20 at a time, and just putting them through the sales funnel until they drop out or work with you.

However, the issue here is again, that you'll need to specialize and pick one service, and one industry or type of company to focus on.

That seems to be the fundamental challenge you're having. By generalizing and doing EVERYTHING, you're spread too thin and dependent on what clients present to you. It's the character of the business you've built thus far.

By restructuring as a specialist, you'll have more leverage, be able to use ad buying and landing pages, as well as later down the road being able to spend time on content marketing and PR to build brand equity and have your business be an asset.

tl;dr

You can't sell everything, and you can't sell to everyone. Pick one service, picture one customer, and focus exclusively on that so you can scale and grow the business beyond yourself.

This site has some good ads to swipe, with explanations for some of them:
http://swiped.co/

To start off, these books should help to get the basics down pat:

1. https://www.amazon.com/This-book-teach-write-better/dp/0989895300/
   
2. https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Sales-Letter-Attract-Customers/dp/1440511411
   
3. https://www.amazon.com/Adweek-Copywriting-Handbook-Advertising-Copywriters/dp/0470051248/
   
4. https://www.amazon.com/Write-Copy-Sells-Step-Step/dp/161448502X/
   5.https://www.amazon.com/Online-Copywriters-Handbook-Everything-Electronic/dp/0658020994
   
5. https://www.amazon.com/CA-HVERTISING-Ad-Agency-Psychology-Anything/dp/1601630328/
   
   If you want to go deeper, and become an expert copywriter follow what the late great Gary Halbert says here --> https://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/newsletters/zfkj_hands_on_experience.htm
   
   All the best on the journey.

As others have said, you can get a provisional patent application filed. From what I understand, these are quite cheap. With this and a working prototype, you can start pitching your ideas to companies. There's some books out there that might help: http://www.amazon.com/One-Simple-Idea-Licensing-Goldmine/dp/0071756159

If you don't want to sell your idea, you might be able to do some fundraising with sites such as Kickstarter.com

Remember to do some market research and learn how to sell ideas and marketing. People have great ideas but don't know how to sell them. Do homework before investing your own money. Most products are never commercialized and only half that are turn out to be successful. Learning to do things right could save you a lot of money.

3 great books to read, in descending order of importance:

The Mousedriver Chronicles (Couple of kids out of Wharton starting a company around a mouse shaped like a golf driver)

The Art of the Start (Guy Kawasaki- Entrepreneur's instruction manual.)

The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell- good explanation of how to select the few important things to do to make your snowball into an avalanche.)

Hit me up via pm if you have any further questions. You're where I was about 2 years ago.

I'm not sure about bus stops. It would have to be high traffic areas. The one thing to be aware of with something that small is that you would have to have a phone number, company name, and why the hell they should hire you to do whatever it is that you are doing. When I am driving, I don't have time to memorize a phone number let alone read all the content needed to make an informed decision of why I should call the person. It is hard enough grabbing a license plate number of some douche that cuts you off in traffic. So I am going to say bus stops are not the way I personally would go. Now I WOULD look at getting an ad on the back end of a bus. Not the sides though because nobody gives a shit when driving by a bus but when stopped behind a bus that is useful advertising. I would not do adverising in the bus though considering they are riding the bus instead of driving a car that needs an oil change.

The news paper is going to be good. I highly recommend picking up this book because it explains frequency and how to make ads and all kinds of marketing information. Low cost book but packed to the damn brim with great information and it is a great marketer who has a lot of experience with even the biggest brands but also with smaller companies as well. Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson

Corkboards with business cards rarely works and plus it takes a damn load of time to pin them up and other people end up picking them up and then trashing them. Now the card holders near the cash registers at businesses such as restaurants isn't a bad deal because if they are putting them there people will assume that the company thinks the business is worthwhile and not a shady business.

It isn't always a bad thing to wait that long. You get to use the "Patent Pending" term on your product which by itself will help deter people from copying it.

You can file a provisional patent application (PPA) for less money and have a year to test commercial viability of the product. Then once you choose to move forward it will take a year or two generally.

Again the long wait can be a good thing, even if you end up getting denied by the patent office for some reason. You still get to use all that time to develop market share and use the "Patent Pending" term on all your products.

I'm not recommending it but I've heard of people actually filing patents they know will be denied just so they can legally use the term.

To address your other question about the specifics about filing a patent I suggest buying and reading Nolo's Patent it Yourself Guide. It's very very good information. You definitely don't have to try and write a patent yourself but taking 4-6 hours of reading this guide will tell you if your idea is patentable, describe the application process, and all the terminology. Most importantly it helped me have a knowledgeable conversation with my patent lawyer.

As far as my personal story, I reached out to an old professor asking him for patent lawyer recommendations. He put me in touch with an older lawyer who worked for himself, not a firm. That helped keep the price more reasonable, about $5-6k all said and done.

Couple of points ..

#1 Check out the book "Built to sell" ... How a service based business scaled by focusing on one service.

#2 Gerber is great, but the other side of the coin could be Seth Godin. (or maybe somewhere in between). Checkout Linchpin & The Icarus Deception for some balance

#3 For every 1 person who is good at marketing in your niche, you'll find 999 others who are talented, but suck at marketing. This always presents an opportunity.

If you're already motivated, then studying books about specific skills will help you more than the general entrepreneurship books.

For example, starting an online business, I found books on copywriting, seo, content marketing, conversion rate optimization to be very helpful. (The book Cashvertising is one that comes to mind.)

Save your time waiting for replies and look here

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12605157-the-100-startup?from_search=true

https://www.amazon.com/100-Startup-Reinvent-Living-Create-ebook/dp/B0067TGSOK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1536223038&sr=8-2&keywords=the+%24100+startup

​

I prefer goodreads reviews as they are more inclined to write a more critical comprehensive reviews solely as readers, as opposed to amazon where there are possibilities of some reviews are written to hype the book right where its closer to the shopping cart.

Hope it helps.

• The Lean Startup - Reis
  
• Good to Great - Jim Collins
  
• Crossing the Chasm - Moore
  
  People react differently to books, but Crossing the Chasm was one of the best books I've ever encountered on business strategy.
  
  

Besides Lean startup, I would go for:

Business Model Generation - to layout your ideas first and have a feeling of your to be business model (on their site you can get a sneak peek for free https://strategyzer.com/books/business-model-generation)

The startup owner's manual, from Steve Blank (https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Step-Step-Building-Company/dp/0984999302)

Disciplined Entrepreneurship: (https://www.amazon.com/Disciplined-Entrepreneurship-Steps-Successful-Startup/dp/1118692284)


good luck

Cashvertising is a really good read - not per se to do with entrepreneurship but definitely useful with your communications (considering that most start-ups don't have the dosh to get an ad agency to do the work for them).

Hey OP, Dale Carnegie wrote "How to win friends and influence people" http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671723650

Napoleon Hill wrote "Think and Grow Rich" - among others: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Hill#Bibliography

It's always good to learn more about how our brains work, and how humans make decisions.

Here's some recommendations:

• The Boron Letters by Halbert: http://www.amazon.com/Boron-Letters-Gary-C-Halbert/dp/1484825985
  
• My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising by Hopkins: http://www.amazon.com/Life-Advertising-Scientific-Classics-Library/dp/0844231010
  
• Influence by Cialdini: http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Revised-Edition/dp/006124189X
  
• Predictably Irrational by Ariely: http://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Revised-Expanded-Edition/dp/0061353248
  
• Mindwise by Epley: http://www.amazon.com/Mindwise-Understand-Others-Think-Believe/dp/0307595919
  
• Brain Rules by Medina: http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Rules-Updated-Expanded-Principles/dp/098326337X
  
• Positioning: The Battle for your Mind: http://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Al-Ries/dp/0071373586
  
• Brainfluence by Dooley: http://www.amazon.com/Brainfluence-Persuade-Convince-Consumers-Neuromarketing/dp/1118113365
  
• The Power of Habit by Duhigg: http://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/081298160X
  
• Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Eyal: http://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788
  
• How We Decide by Lehrer: http://www.amazon.com/How-We-Decide-Jonah-Lehrer/dp/0547247990
  
• All Marketers are Liars by Godin: http://www.amazon.com/All-Marketers-Are-Liars-Works--/dp/1591845335
  
• Trust Me I'm Lying by Holiday: http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator/dp/1591846285
  
  Use these names as jumping off points for your research:
  
  
• David Ogilvy: https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=David%20Ogilvy
  
• Gary Halbert: http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com - https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Gary%20Halbert
  
• Joe Sugarman: https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Joe%20Sugarman
  
• Charlie Munger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Munger
  
• Derren Brown: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown

No investor is going to give you money to build an app from an idea. That's just not how it works. Ideas are a dime a dozen, and the only time this happens is with serial founders who have started (and successfully exited) several companies before. If you've never built a multi-million dollar business, you aren't getting VC money without a MVP (minimum viable product), strong user growth, and a solid team of cofounders.

If you want to make your idea a reality, take some online courses in app development and design. Build it yourself. Put it out there and see if people use it. Use strategies in The Lean Startup to grow users, revenue or whatever KPI is most important to getting investors.

Also, about "partnering" with someone who knows how to build apps... as someone who previously ran a digital agency we used to get that all the time. I can't tell you how many "potential clients" came in and pitched us on their "billion dollar idea" wanting to give us 2, 3, 5% if we would spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in development up front. The answer was always no. If we really wanted to build an app startup we would have done it internally, not for a small insignificant percentage of a company where we didn't even know the founders.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble, but the answer is always "just do it." Just build it. Just try it yourself. Free and easy money (even investment capital) just doesn't exist out there. If you want it bad enough you'll figure out a way to build it.

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

I'd love to read it, but I can't seem to view this on my android phone from The Netherlands (tried your suggested link http://www.amazon.nl/gp/product/B00RW6WKAI?*Version*=1&*entries*=0).

I've installed the App and pressed 'Buy now with 1-Click', but nothing happens.

:(

Check out the book The Accounting Game (non-affiliate link). It's really simple, keeps your interest, and has good practice worksheets. I was someone who hated accounting/finance in college. After reading that book I had a new appreciation for it and a much better understanding of business as a whole.

Also, check out this video on youtube. It's a top hedgefund investor who explains accounting/finance in basic terms in under an hour.

Other good sources for people wanting to get into Front end are:

• Team Treehouse
  
  They have this really good track system for learning Web design, Front end Development, Ruby, PHP, Python etc.
  
  
• HTML & CSS By: Jonh Duckett
  
  
• Javascript & Jquery By: John Ducket
  
  If you prefer to read, these books are the best in my opinion to get started in web development (more front-end).
  
  Also refer to anything u/codingtrails suggested. Only thing i wouldn't suggest is getting into bootstrap until you have learned the key concepts of HTML and CSS.

Obviously you're not going to be able to learn HTML and CSS in a comment on reddit. Buy this book, it's one of the best on the subject.

Then use an HTML editor like Adobe Dreamweaver or Sublime Text.

Also, BACKUP EVERYTHING.

There are business that have been started for $100 and there are businesses that needed millions to get their product off the ground. Pick something that excites you and you want to build, then figure out the costs, where and when to bring in investors, and how to profit from it.

Almost zero businesses can be started with zero dollars upfront investment. That said, start cheap. Don't make 500 iPhone cases, make 1 iPhone case, take a LOT of pictures of it, and see how many people preorder it, then make that many, or cancel the preorder (and return the money!) if it doesn't look like enough orders to be worth your time.

/u/leolani recommended the lean startup method. I really, really think you should check that out. A lot of the questions you're asking here are directly addressed by the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation-ebook/dp/B004J4XGN6/

Basically though, the goal is to figure out the minimum viable way to move forward. What is the minimum it take to validate a concept? What does it take to make a minimal proof of concept after that validation? What is the minimum required to market that proof of concept to get sales? All those questions are answered in the book, and I promise you you'll learn from it.

Honestly this book is made specifically for people like me and you doing retail business first time. When I was half way I was already doing P&L, Balance sheet etc.
Here is the link to the book
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402211864/ref=cm_sw_r_em_awd_C48IwbSD00AV2

Mucho love for Canadians! Here's the link: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00RW6WKAI

I highly recommend the book "founders dilemmas" https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Dilemmas-Anticipating-Foundation-Entrepreneurship/dp/0691158304/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484509269&sr=8-1&keywords=founders+dilemma

It has a whole chapter devoted to equity splits and founder arrangements

https://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/dp/0887306667

Best I've read and it's not close.

I've read about 50-60 books on marketing and I can boil down everything you need to know about marketing in these two articles and one book:

• It's Not About You: The Truth About Social Media Marketing
  
• 1,000 True Fans
  
• 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

It seems viable to me because it's niche and not a general clothing line, however, like /u/GoodLivinPete mentioned, you should do your research and validate your idea. Take a look at Pat Flynn's book "Will it fly?"

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Test-Business-Waste-Money/dp/0997082305

Disciplined Entrepreneurship: https://www.amazon.com/Disciplined-Entrepreneurship-Steps-Successful-Startup/dp/1118692284/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538665255&sr=8-1&keywords=disciplined+entrepreneurship

​

Its a fantastic overview that covers all the major steps for "successfully" launching a business. I've bought it for employees every Christmas.

I thoroughly enjoyed The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

Here's the UK link

Thanks so much!

Read One Simple Idea... it will tell you everything you need to know. I have read it myself because I am considering licensing something or trying to and it was extremely helpful.

http://www.amazon.com/One-Simple-Idea-Licensing-Goldmine/dp/0071756159/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318697547&sr=8-1

This book explains it https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation-ebook/dp/B004J4XGN6/

You can find loads of summaries and blog posts on the internet. The book is very popular.

If you want cheap, read Patent It Yourself so you can control price AND quality!

That book is extremely well written.

I sent Christmas light hanging postcards to houses. Once.

May I recommend this book?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0618785914?pc_redir=1411820583&robot_redir=1

These are the books I've read recently and liked a lot:

• CA$HVERTISING: How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make BIG MONEY Selling Anything to Anyone
  
• Write. Publish. Repeat. (The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success)
  
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
  
• The Education of Millionaires: It's Not What You Think and It's Not Too Late
  
  These are not affiliate links.

You may be interested in The Dip, a book by Seth Godin. Link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Dip-Little-Teaches-Stick/dp/1591841666

If your business is technology related then please give your investor this book and make him read it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0060517123

Short term revenue is a bad metric if your aim is to grow a technology. On the other hand it's much better to argue about leaving some revenue on the table than about burn rates of a never-to-be-profitable company.

You may want to check out One Simple Idea by Stephen Key. Perhaps you can create a prototype and license your idea to a large company so you don't have to build out distribution yourself.

Early adopters are . .. well, early adopters.

Read this: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Marketing-High-Tech-Mainstream/dp/0060517123

or the cliff notes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm

I don't usually buy ebooks from Amazon.

I've tried the uk link (have an account there), but it says "This title is not currently available for purchase".

Do you need to have a Kindle or something?

People are also predictably irrational - a good book, by the way for Entrepreneurs - https://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Revised-Expanded-Decisions/dp/0061353248/

https://buffer.com/library/social-proof

You might want to read a few Marketing books if you're going to start a business. (https://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/dp/0887306667, https://www.amazon.com/Contagious-Things-Catch-Jonah-Berger/dp/1451686587/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=A83W2B73QMKMTAK2D36K)

You might want to check out the $100 Startup for ideas.

There is a book on the topic that I am currently reading myself: One Simple Idea

The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321348109/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_CxL6ybH1VJ80Z

And listen to everything you can by Sasha Strauss

This is a very condensed version of some of the themes from Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson

I second all four of these recommendations. Especially the personal MBA for aspiring business owners. I would also add a few more: Profit First, Lean Startup, and Will it fly?

http://www.amazon.com/HTML-CSS-Design-Build-Websites/dp/1118008189

check out this book: https://www.amazon.com/Disciplined-Entrepreneurship-Steps-Successful-Startup/dp/1118692284

Read this before you do.

Apply the scientific method to company building - first described by Steve Blank and Eric Reis with is "Lean Startup" concept:

https://steveblank.com/2015/05/06/build-measure-learn-throw-things-against-the-wall-and-see-if-they-work/

​

https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation-ebook/dp/B004J4XGN6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1543001422&sr=8-3&keywords=the+lean+startup

That's essentially what The $100 Startup is. Except not internet specific.

Start by reading Choose Yourself by James Altucher.

How about investing in your self? Read a book and learn a new subject. Have you also considered blogging and writing? I spend time commuting, this book https://www.amazon.com/Choose-Yourself-James-Altucher-ebook/dp/B00CO8D3G4 gave me the ideas to write down ideas every morning. Takes up a portion of my time.

Here

A few recommendations:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601630328/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (Ca$hvertising)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887306667/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (the 22 immutable laws of marketing)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591845335/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (Seth Godin)

There's too many to name. There's not really a lot that pack so much punch that they're more important than getting your hands dirty and doing.

This book, Patent it Yourself, is a bible for these kinds of questions.

And, if you're a cheap ass like me, you can just use the "Look Inside" feature to flip to a certain page that answers your specific question. Seriously though, the book gets incredible reviews and is the default source for self-patenters with no background.

Just read this book https://www.amazon.com/Built-Sell-Creating-Business-Without-ebook/dp/B004IYISQW as fast as you can. AFAIK selling something and keep working in it is bad, so many things can go wrong.