Reading paths · Five steps

Starting something

From an idea to a company that works, in the order the problems actually arrive.

1. 01 ReworkJason Fried

   Rework

   Jason Fried

   Strategic · Accessible · 3 min read

   First, because it removes assumptions before you inherit them. Short, blunt, and best read before you have committed to anything.

2. 02 The Lean StartupEric Ries

   The Lean Startup

   Eric Ries

   Strategic · Accessible · 5 min read

   Then a method for the only question that matters early: does anyone want this? Read for the discipline, not the vocabulary.

3. 03 Zero to OnePeter Thiel

   Zero to One

   Peter Thiel

   Strategic · Accessible · 4 min read

   The counter-argument, and the sharper question — not whether it works, but whether it can defend itself once it does.

4. 04 The Hard Thing About Hard ThingsBen Horowitz

   The Hard Thing About Hard Things

   Ben Horowitz

   Strategic · Core · 4 min read

   What it costs once the thing exists. This is the one that stops the path being a plan and makes it a job.

5. 05 High Growth HandbookElad Gil

   High Growth Handbook

   Elad Gil

   Practical · Core · 3 min read

   Last, and only if the previous problem is solved: the machinery of scaling, which is useless earlier and indispensable here.

A path is an order, not a syllabus. Every step says why it sits where it does, so you can disagree with the sequence on the evidence rather than on faith.