Bookmarks
A curated collection of what the best have taught me through their writing, talks and their work.
- Mind like water
David Allen's GTD method means having a “mind like water“, getting things out of your head and into a trusted system. I rely on it to free up mental bandwidth to get things done.
- This is getting real
Intercom co-founder Des Traynor's sharp vision on how AI products will disrupt existing markets.
- Rework
A must-read for every entrepreneur. Before reading it, I was running around in circles – Rework gave me clarity to see what's important. My favourite chapter is “Be a curator“.
- Intercom on Starting Up
Intercom's book on their startup journey is a good introduction to running a startup and taught me the essentials.
- Designing intuitive user interfaces
Mike Stern is a UX Evangelist at Apple with an impeccably clear presentation style. He has given excellent talks on design around 2014 that opened the field for me. You'll only find archived videos these days, but the learnings are timeless.
- How to think like a designer
An excellent talk by Michael Bierut, a highly influential graphic designer who came up under Massimo Vignelli, about the power of design and on what he learned in his career.
- Human-centred design in Office 2007
Jensen Harris' excellent talk and writing on Office 2007 made me understand the human-centred design process in the real world.
- Product strategy is about saying no
One of the excellent talks by Des Traynor, co-founder of Intercom. A succinct summary of what product decisions should be about.
- The Cupcake Principle
An excellent metaphor for building products. Make a cupcake and test the real thing early on. Don't try to spend months on a large cake base and frosting, only to find out that your oven is broken.
- 37signals' Getting Real
A primer on why building less is more. “Build half a product, not a half-assed product.“
- Matt Hodges on Jobs-to-be-done
Focus your marketing on the job your customers are trying to get done, not on your product or demographics.
- Harry Dry's Marketing Examples
An absolute gold-mine for excellent, concise marketing case studies.
- Predictably Irrational
Not classical marketing literature, but this really changed my understanding of how people make purchasing decisions.
- Why business writing is so awful
Jason Fried is an excellent writer, who taught me the power of clear writing and editing. “Pick a word. Hit delete. Did it matter?“
- Radical Candor
Kim Scott's great, actionable book on how and how not to give candid feedback to your teammates.
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
A classic – Patrick Lencioni's famous leadership fable on what makes a high-performing team and what doesn't.
- Ira Glass on the Creative Gap
What nobody tells to beginners who do creative work. It's normal to be disappointed by your own work at first. Keep going.