Reading List & White Papers

The books, data, and research that shaped how we think about scaling companies and this market - and will help you talk about it with the same fluency.

Reading List

There are a number of books that we would recommend reading to help you on your entrepreneurial journey.

Entrepreneurship and Scaling

Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love (Cagan)Encourages founders to prioritize understanding problems over solutions. Explores ensuring “value, feasibility, usability, and viability while designing products collaboratively.” Features the insight: “Customers rarely leave for competitors, they leave because we stop taking care of them.”
Hearts, Smarts, Guts, and Luck: What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur and Build a Great Business (Tjan, Harrington, and Hsieh)Examines how entrepreneurs possess different dominant traits (citing Richard Branson as “guts-dominant” and Warren Buffett as “smarts-dominant”). Highlights self-awareness about which characteristics require adjustment depending on circumstances.
Prediction Machines (Agrawal, Gans, and Goldfarb)Frames AI fundamentally as prediction. Provides an economic perspective on workflow re-engineering, AI tradeoffs, and includes “a highly practical AI canvas” for product development guidance.
Getting to Yes (Fisher, Ury, Patton)Part of a negotiation trilogy addressing customer conversion, compensation discussions, cofounder collaboration, competition, and partnerships.
Getting Past No (Ury)Second book in the negotiation series featuring “deeply researched and battle tested concepts” applicable professionally and personally.
Difficult Conversations (Stone, Patton, Heen)Completes the communication trilogy providing foundational frameworks for challenging discussions.
Crossing the Chasm (Moore)Addresses how startups transition from early visionary customers to mainstream adopters with different needs and purchasing patterns. Called “seminal” for guiding founders toward scalability.
Secrets of Sand Hill Road (Kupor)Demystifies VC decision-making, motivations, and operations while offering pitching strategies. Recommended as essential for capital-raising founders.
Zero to One (Thiel, Masters)First in a three-book growth trajectory series covering the phase where founders understand problems better than competitors and bring new offerings to market.
One to Ten (Gupta)Second installment addressing rapid iteration, market testing, and customer/employee/partner acquisition phases.
The Growth Handbook (Gil)Final book in the trajectory series covering acceleration toward “maximum potential” and ten-to-ten-thousand growth phases.
Trillion Dollar Coach (Schmidt, Rosenberg, Eagle)Chronicles a legendary coach mentoring Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt across Apple, Google, and Intuit. Provides “essential principles” and team performance frameworks.
Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business (Danny Meyer)Combines memoir and practical guidance demonstrating how hospitality functions as competitive advantage. Emphasizes employee-first approaches creating standout customer and partner experiences.

Disability + Accessibility

Mindset & Perseverance

White Papers

Many people, including investors, don't know the staggering statistics related to the disability community or the opportunities to serve it. Become informed!