Books of The Startup World

Since we have written so many articles on fiction, the Aspiring Bibliophile Team thought that this week, we could come up with something for our classy non-fiction lovers. So here is a huge treat for you guys.

Gokul Nath Sridhar is an enigmatic 22 year old entrepreneur. At the young age of 19 while he was still in college (BITS-Pilani), he founded Tenreads, an angel-backed startup based out of Chennai that aims at creating a delightful content discovery experience on the Internet. Let us see what books help these startup founders tick.

ABT: Hi, Gokul. How are you doing?

GOKUL: Hi Mrudula. I'm doing well. Thanks!How are you?

ABT: I'm good too.You are the founder of a startup called Tenreads, correct?

GOKUL: Yep. That's the product we are trying to build.

ABT: Can you tell our readers a little bit about Tenreads?

GOKUL: The Internet is a noisy place. People are bombarded with an endless stream of mostly useless information. I mean, why would you really care about where your high school friend from a decade ago ate her dinner yesterday. We are trying to cut through this cacophony and figure out the ten best stories everyday ​on the things you care about!

ABT: Wow, that sounds interesting. Are you guys doing well? It is super fascinating!

GOKUL: We started building this to solve a problem that we had -- eventually it turned out to be something much bigger! And yeah, we are doing fabulous right now. 

ABT: Tell me, Gokul, as a startup founder -- do you read a lot of books?

GOKUL: Of course -- it is as close to personal advice from folks who have ​built businesses or facets of businesses as it can get! On an average, I read about three books per month.

ABT: What specific areas do you generally read about?

GOKUL: I read about Company Culture, Product Design, Marketing. These areas fascinate me, and there is so much to learn.

ABT: Can you name the best book you have read in each of the topics you have mentioned, and why you believe that area is important to you?

GOKUL: On Company Culture, I highly recommend The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz, one of the startup geniuses of our generation. I think Ben boils to an essence the hardest elements of building a company and lets you know that you are not alone in this struggle. This could perhaps be one of the best books I have read in my lifetime -- so dear that I have read it seven times. I think company culture is something every founder should take very seriously, and this book helps you understand just how serious it is.

On Product Design, there's this masterpiece by Donald Norman titled The Design of Everyday Things. I'm amazed by the level of details that Norman has an eye for -- no wonder this man was Steve Jobs' most favorite designer. When you are building something for people, it always helps to put yourself in their shoes and see for a moment how that feels like. This book helps you do exactly that!

Marketing -- ah, one of my primal loves! Marketing is essentially telling the story of something -- your company, your product, your volunteer campaign -- something. In this regard, it is mighty useful if you can think of yourself as a storyteller than a marketer, and Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath helps you come up with insanely awesome stories that spread like wildfire. I like their methodical and logical deconstruction of something as intangible and emotional as a story -- giving you a framework to tell great stories yourself.

ABT: If there were one book everyone must read before they die, what, according to you, would be it?

GOKUL: I think everyone should read The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli. It has helped me think objectively during various trying times, and I owe a lot of my rational thought process -- which I take a lot of pride in, btw -- to this book.​ Irrespective of who you are, what you do, or how old you are, you must read this book. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

ABT: Thank you so much for your time, Gokul. We appreciate it.

GOKUL: Happy to help, Mrudula. Have fun.