Reading List
Below you can find a list of “must-reads” for every budding hardware entrepreneur. These are the books you wish someone had told you sooner about.
The Hardware Startup
If you only read on of these, make it this one. Here, the folks behind the Pebble Watch chronicle their journey and their learnings. From idea to manufacturing, no stone is left unturned. It perfectly encapsulates what to expect when launching a consumer hardware business, both the good and (definitely) the bad.
If your new to hardware, this is a must-read.
The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development
In reality a summary of “Four Steps to Epiphany” by the Steve Blank. It’s basically a manual to design thinking and customer development. Coming in under a 100 pages, it gets straight to the point and gives an extremely practical “how-to” guide.
It also introduces the concept of CPS, which simplifies so much of the design thinking bullshit there exists and boils it down to it’s easy to digest essence.
The Mom Test
The cornerstone of user research. This books teaches you how to talk to your customer, even if you’re an introverted techie. It’s the unofficial companion book of the one directly above it on this list. Read both before you but on your boots and go pounding pavement, interviewing potential customers. You won’t be sorry.
The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development
This is a design thinking book disguised as a book about pricing. It will open your eyes on the importance of pricing (especially for a capital intensive hardware startup) and gives a pragmatic look how user research can be something very rational and scientific — despite what other might have you believe.
It will also smash the corporate views on segmentation and targeting that hold on demographics and psychographics dear to their heart. The book doesn’t mince words on this topics: the only meaningful segmentation is based on user’s needs and willingness-to-pay.
Crossing the Chasm
An undisputed classic in the genre and rightfully so! While aimed at B2B applications and mainly talks about how to market new technologies (which is quite different from developing consumer hardware). The fundamentals remain identical: the importance of starting in a narrow niche, delivering on a “whole product” model, …
This book is where you go to understand why everyone keeps talking about “niching down” and works well in conjunction with the one above it on this list.
Where to Play
After you’ve read “Crossing the Chasm” — which explains why a niche is so important — use this one to figure out what that niche actually is for you. It’s a very practical book with worksheets and instructions on how to select a market that works for you and is well-positioned to build towards an effective roadmap.
Zero to One
Probably the most well-known book on this list, by the famed investor Peter Thiel. If you can look past his very obvious economical and political viewpoints, there are still loads of useful insights to be found in this book.
Want to know how a VC thinks? Want to learn why some companies succeed where others fail? Want to figure out what are the markers of success to look out for when building your company? Then this book is for you.