Startup Stories : What We’re Reading at MyCommunity [Pt. II]

Back in February, we took a look at what our CEO, CFO and Social Media Manager were reading in their spare time. Now it’s the turn of the rest of our team, who’ve been enjoying a smörgåsboard of startup standards:

Frank Wilson, MyCommunity VP of Engineering​​ The Lean Startup : How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses – Eric Ries, 2011

I first came across Lean in my last job, where I had started to take on more responsibility and wanted to organise and prioritise things more effectively. From there, I also got more interested in entrepreneurialism and how I would run my own startup, should the opportunity ever arise.

What attracted me to Lean was trying to work out why I wasn’t getting done what I wanted to get done; I was endlessly fixing bugs as opposed to building new developments. I also like The Lean Startup’s emphasis on building small or minimum viable products; in my current work I’m building an application to show to users and get feedback on, as well as researching new technologies. Lean shapes what I do on a daily basis.

​Callum Dunbar, MyCommunity Content & Communications Manager

Hackers & Painters : Big Ideas from the Computer Age – Paul Graham, 2010

I’ve been working with our tech team on a number of recent projects and wanted to understand the creative methods used for software development. On Frank’s recommendation I’ve therefore been working my way through Paul Graham’s Hackers & Painters essays.

Graham founded Viaweb and now acts as a serial investor for the likes of Dropbox, Airbnb and Reddit, so he’s perfectly placed to offer an insight into the unique challenges and opportunities presented by startups like MyCommunity. Hackers is full of unconventional wisdom on this subject. Some of it’s harder to swallow than others – particularly the chapter on wealth inequality and the link between student radicalism and suburbia – but each essay is worth reading to understand the logic needed to build successful, disruptive products. It’s certainly reshaped my understanding of tech development!

​Daniel Reinhold-Shor, MyCommunity Director of Business Development

Crossing the Chasm : Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers – Geoffrey A Moore, 2014 (rev.)

I’m currently reading Crossing the Chasm, which has an excellent reputation for providing insight into strategic business models for early stage startups. This is massively useful from a marketing and sales standpoint.

The best parts so far have been understanding the potential pitfalls for young high-tech startups and tips for avoiding them – thereby being able to adapt your model to a market that is ever-changing.

There you have it. What should we read next? Let us know in the comments below or get in touch via Twitter @MyCommunitynet.

#Startups #Books #MyCommunity #Team