There’s one thing I’ve noticed about successful people: it is that they are voracious readers. In order to arm myself, I dedicate time daily to reading, although, admittedly, it can be impossible to keep up. See my recommended reads below!
Newsletters and things I subscribe to
I highly recommend HBR. It’s the only publication I read both digitally and in print. They have several newsletters as well, and I recommend Strategy & Execution and Leadership.
Lenny has both a free and paid substack-powered newsletter (I am on the free tier, paid is $99/year), but he offers a lot of great insights into growth and marketing. His 3 Step Framework for Solving Problems was a fun read!
An amazingly insightful and informative email on what’s going on in start-up land, trends on business, and other data. Also the CEO, Anand Sanwal says “I love you”.
I love the content. It’s fun, simple, and frankly, practical. I love getting simple tips that help me with my marketing. One favorite post being about copywriting.
Ann’s newsletter is insightful and, most importantly, fun! She writes about marketing and writing tips. One of my favorite ones has been about her encounter with a chipmunk.
Some other things to subscribe to:
- The Enterprise Weekly from Work-Bench
- OK Dork by Noah Kagan
- Andrew Chen (also in blog form)
- Really Good Emails
- Exploding Topics
Blogs and sites I recommend
I usually get all of my updates through newsletters and Twitter, but there are a few blogs I’ll head to to peruse.
Great reads on growth, strategy, and business in general. Ben, who runs Sratetchery, is most well known for his thoughts on Aggregation Theory, so check them out here.
Ross Simmonds does many things, but is well known for his great posts in The Lab. The latest one on Canva and backlinking is a great read!
Some other blogs that I read:
- Brian Balfour
- Casey Accidental by Casey Winters
- Andrew Chen (also, sign up for his newsletter)
Books I recommend
If you haven’t seen my post on recommended reads for marketers, check that out first. Some of those titles will be repeated here. A few bonus titles also show up
- Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A Moore
- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
- Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People by G. Richard Shell
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout
- Start With Why by Simon Sinek
- The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin
- Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work . . . and What Does: The New Science of Leading, Energizing, and Engaging by Susan Fowler
- Ultralearning by Scott Young
Great articles to read
- Know Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done” from HBR, 2016
- What is Disruptive Innovation from HBR, 2015
- The Hierarchy of Engagement from Sara Tavel, 2016
- True Product Market Fit is a Minimum Viable Company from Ann Miura-Ko, 2020
- How to build a growth team – lessons from Uber, Hubspot, and others (50 slides) from Andrew Chen, 2018
Tools for better reading
#1 tip: don’t try to read EVERYTHING. You won’t ever. Make little goals. Learn a little bit a day. You’re doing great!
- Instapaper
- Kindle Paperwhite
- Highlighters
- Goodreads
- The Libby App by Overdrive
- Library card