I recently caught up with someone who is moving into an investing role at a venture capital firm – she asked me for any book recommendations that could help her get up to speed faster
I’ve shared versions of this list a few times prior in emails and thought it may be interesting to share more broadly.
At core, I think the best investors are learning machines – they are curious about new things + people and have an internal hunger + drive which that has them focus on the process versus outcome
Through that lens, I think the best reading resources provide a base layer of knowledge on how technology impacts markets + the related business theory – to set a foundation to understand new opportunities more quickly and deeply
1.
First, three books on financing innovation + technology market cycles
A.
Bill Janeway – Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy
B.
Carlota Perez – Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital
C.
Eric Beinhocker – The Origins of Wealth
2.
The next set of books focus on understanding business strategy + corporate finance for high growth companies
A.
William Thorndike – The Outsiders
B.
Michael Porter – Competitive Strategy
C.
Hamilton Helner – 7 Powers
3.
On top of the theory – the last set of books is all around history – of the industry + specific companies
A.
Elad Gil – High Growth Handbook
B.
Tom Nichols – VC
C.
Jessica Livingston – Founders at Work
4.
As a bonus, I recommend reading S-1 filings of recent IPOs – these documents often offer amazing insights into what great businesses look like at scale
A.
And Bill Gurley’s blog
It is filled with great analysis – like this post on elements of the 10x revenue club:
All Revenue is Not Created Equal: The Keys to the 10X Revenue Club
And this post on important elements in marketplace startups:
All Markets Are Not Created Equal: 10 Factors To Consider When Evaluating Digital Marketplaces
5.
Lastly, there are a bunch of good books on the day-to-day mechanics of the business of venture capital – I think you’ll able to pick up on the job, so I would prioritize the list above – but more if you’re curious:
A.
Brad Feld, Jason Mendelson – Venture Deals
B.
C.
Jeff Bussgang – Mastering the VC Game
D.
If you ever have any questions about these types of topics – I’d highly recommend Mark Suster’s blog
https://bothsidesofthetable.com/
When I have a very specific question, I’ll often it google it + “Mark Suster” – and I normally find that he has written something thoughtful on the topic
Life in Beta 