13 Resources To Get Started Learning About Business (For Tech Knowledge Workers) | RP 102

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13 Resources To Get Started Learning About Business (For Tech Knowledge Workers)

There are two reasons why you should get an MBA:

1. You want to start and grow your own business

2. You want to accelerate your tech career and take on a leadership position

Unfortunately, there are thousands of books, podcasts, and blogs out there.

I love learning about business strategy and tech, too. But when I first got interested in building an online business, I had a hard time figuring out where to start.

If you are trying to learn more about business, here's the best way to get started:

1. Read This Book: Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman will give you a lay of the land, and is a high-level and tactical look at all the moving parts in a business.

2. Study This Blog: Stratechery by Ben Thompson. Ben is the foremost business and tech writer on the Internet. His work is an excellent way to connect high-level business concepts with what's happening in the industry day-to-day.

3. Listen To This Podcast: If you really want to start going down the rabbit hole of value creation, listen to "How to Get Rich" by Naval Ravikant. This 3-hour+ podcast is more aspirational than actionable, but it still teaches solid principles for how to create value in the world.

Alongside getting your hands dirty, these 3 resources will exponentially accelerate your learning process.

But if you’re ready to take your knowledge to a deeper, more specific level…

Here are 10 more book recommendations:

1. The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker. How to manage yourself as an operator and practitioner. Essential reading for workers and owners who want to level up their career.

2. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. Learn to build a business around what customers really want.

3. Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson. Business development methodology, centred around taking action. Great for folks who get stuck in the planning phase.

4. Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows. How to notice, build, and troubleshoot systems. Highly recommend this if you find yourself struggling to pinpoint root causes in your problems.

5. How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff. Read this if you hated math in school but begrudgingly accept that you need it for work.

6. Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne. Read this if you want to build a category that you have all to yourself.

7. The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. A field manual to hone your creativity. Essential reading for recovering creatives.

8. I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi. Über tactical 6-week program to get your personal finances in order. How can you build a profitable business if you're still paying off credit card debt?

9. Permission Marketing by Seth Godin. Learn the concepts that dictate most marketing strategies today from one of the most influential marketers of the 21st century.

10. The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch. Learn and apply this simple concept to spend energy on the handful of things that really matter and that lead to outsized results.

What books and resources have helped you learn about business?

😉 You're welcome

A selection of interesting links & fun recommendations.

• 🎲 Truth or Drink and Red Flags are two of my friends’ favourite games to play together. Red Flag is a great way to get some quick laughs before the drinks kick in. Truth or Drink is a great follow up to get to know each other better. Bonus: The latter is also a great date night game.

• 🐦 I like Dan Koe’s morning routine. It’s a little bit Huberman husband-y but what I like about it is that after 2-3 hours of deep work, Dan gives himself permission to call it a day. Repeat after me: We work to live, not live to work.

• 🎙️ ”Why Does Work Dominate Our Lives? [Paul Millerd]” from Rad Friends with Khe Hy. I recently sent this to someone I know whose spouse is a severe workaholic. Once again: We work to live, not live to work.