The best books to read for tech-start ups

When it comes to growing your tech start-up, knowledge really is power. Educating yourself on this rapidly changing sector is the key to staying ahead of your competition and there are plenty of useful resources out there for those willing to learn. From how to encourage your creative workers, to how to cultivate a positive working environment, this list of insightful books put together by postcard printing experts Where The Trade Buys will help you on your start-up journey:

The Lean Start-Up

Everyone entering the tech industry must give The Lean Start-Up by Eric Ries a read. This book looks at how new companies can launch, adapt and grow within an industry that has a lot of competition. Offering real examples of setting up a new business, you get a great insight into how to make a success of your business and avoid the typical pitfalls.

This book is essential to anyone who wants to remain innovative as their company picks up momentum.

Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World

A straightforward but eye-opening how-to guide for the tech entrepreneur: Bold is split into three, staggering parts that are perfect for new business owners. The first section gives you an incredible insight into how start-up companies are today going from ‘initial concept’ to ‘multi-million-pounds status’ quicker than ever, and how tech — like 3D printing and androids — might be influencing this trend.

Image Source: Pixabay

Next, you read extraordinary comments and trade secrets from successful business people, such as Richard Branson, before you reach the section that night interest you the most. Bold’s finale discusses the various, actionable ways you can build your company, with tips on creating lucrative campaigns designed to rocket your start-up to the top. A must-read for the big dreamer.

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future

This book — from the former executive editor of Wired magazine — explores how multiple tech trends will transform how we live over the next 30 years. The best part of The Inevitable is how it paints a picture of ways in which technological forces will overlap, mix and come to co-depend on each other — crucial to know if any of these trends relate to your business.

From home-based virtual reality to manufacturing-focused AI, author, Kevin Kelly, discusses the long-term effects of technology and how they could affect how we live, work and buy. Want to prep your company now for the customer of tomorrow? Then, get ahead of the game.

How Google Works

There’s no denying that Google is one of the most admired and innovative companies ever to launch — but how did it all start and how has the firm stayed at the top of its game for so long?

How Google Works was written by Google executives, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, and offers an authentic view in the corporate strategy, workplace culture, decision-making, and management philosophy of the brand. Renowned for its innovation, creativity, and ability to bounce back from errors (remember Wave?), this glimpse into the birth and evolution of Google is a must for anyone who wishes to emulate even a part of its success.

The Industries of the Future

If you’re in tech and your business relies on being one step ahead, you need this book by Alec Ross. A New York Times bestseller, Ross delivers an extensive insight into your industry’s most important advances, from cybersecurity and robotics to genomics and big data, using input from global leaders.

Ross was once the senior advisor for innovation to the former Secretary of State in the US, Hilary Clinton, and as such, his viewpoint is perceptive, learned and unique. His extensive travel has given him access to the some of the most powerful people in business, and his book is packed with astute observations regarding opportunities for growth and the unknown tech forces that are changing — or will change — the world.

Networking Like a Pro

The beauty of Networking Like a Pro by Ivan R. Misner is that it’s targeted at budding entrepreneurs and new-to-the-sector businesses. Read this book, and you’ll boost your knowledge of overcoming various networking hurdles that could hold you back as your company grows.

New tech businesses must reach out if they want to expand in the industry. From making useful contacts to develop your business, to implementing an effective referral marketing campaign; Networking Like a Pro offers tools, templates and a results-measuring system to help you action your networking strategy and make valuable business connections.

Your One Word

The author of Your One Word, Evan Carmichael, created and sold his biotech company at just 19 years old — and if you want tips on how to emulate his success, make this title the next on your read list.

Your One Word helps new entrepreneurs analyse their businesses, verify their aims and unlock their potential. If you need a boost of confidence and injection of motivation to start making your tech-business dreams come true, immerse yourself in the powerful words of Carmichael.

The Upstarts

If you’re looking for practical advice and examples of real-life business innovations, try The Upstarts by Brad Stone. The best thing about this book is the incredibly detailed account of two global companies: Uber and Airbnb. Reading this book, you find out how these giants began and developed to become two of the most respected and innovative brands in the world.

As an entrepreneur yourself, this fascinating read will show you how you can also change standards — such as how people travel and what they expect from accommodation — to mirror these companies’ almost renegade attitude towards the established rules of business. What can your business do to change the world?

Conscious Capitalism

Author, Raj Sisodia, and CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, use this book to make a revolutionary argument: that capitalism can benefit everyone — employees and the planet as much as shareholders and employers.

Whether you’re new to business entirely or just new to the tech market, you need to have solid knowledge of how to treat everyone from your workers to your investors to be successful. Referencing several other leading companies — such as UPS, Google and Amazon — Conscious Capitalism gives an insightful and expert analysis of how you can infuse your business environment with positivity for the optimum workplace culture (an essential component of Google’s success and almost expected by many people working within the innovative tech industry today).

Being conscious of how your company can impact the world and how you can create a desirable environment to engender creativity and originality could make all the difference to your business success in the first few years of its life.