From the Desk of Eric Ries

January 2019

"When you don’t know something, but you’re open to the fact that you don’t know, and you need inspiration, it comes to you. That’s where the beauty comes in."

Krishnan Nair's piece, Notes on 4 years of starting up, is both practical and honest about what the experience of building and growing his startup, Geektrust, has taught him. It's got some very useful information and questions to ask yourself about everything from funding to marketing and hiring ("Will 5 people join you for what you're building? If they won't, then it's going to be hard."). It's also really good on the emotional highs and lows of the experience and the importance of commitment. As he says, "Starting up is all-consuming, it's gut-wrenching, it's painful, and it's beautiful."

Below are a few recent discussions of my work and some other things that have caught my eye lately. In addition to all the great reading that comes my way, I get a lot of information about who's currently hiring, so I'm also including some of those listings. I hope something here catches your attention, too. I’m always glad to get recommendations, so if there are things you think I should be reading, send them to: [email protected]

[Hiring]Lambda School is looking for a Head of FinanceLean Startup Company is looking for a Head of Sales

[Conversations]UN Environment: How to build your entrepreneurial mindset today8 Must-Read Business Books for 2019Great Ideas Alone Don't Advance Social Changes. Here's What Does.P&G is offsetting 2018's agency cuts by creating innovation "startups" internally26 books everyone should read in their lifetime, according to Australian executivesHubhopper CEO Gautam Raj Anand learnt to optimise time from "The Lean Startup"How to Build A Company That Remains A Startup[Readings]

I Mentored Mark Zuckerberg. I Loved Facebook. But I Can't Stay Silent About What's Happening.An except from tech venture capitalist Roger McNamee's forthcoming book about Facebook, "the story of a company and its leadership, but...also a larger tale of a business sector unmoored from normal constraints, just at a moment of political and cultural crisis."The Family Business That Put Nashville Hot Chicken on the MapThe story of Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, building a business, and the fact that "when 'African-American entrepreneurs don’t grow rich' from an invention like hot chicken, it’s not necessarily because rivals make superior food; it’s because black entrepreneurs still struggle for such resources as bank loans and industry networks."

The Tech Revolt"A sometimes pointed, sometimes resigned conversation with engineers, designers, research scientists, and job candidates who are pushing for a more ethical Silicon Valley."Building A Chinese-Food EmpireOn the company culture of Panda Express and continuous learning.Zero to $1B: 8 Lessons Scaling a Startup A great inside look at the creation and growth of Thumbtack, which is ten years old, broken out into lessons and takeaways for maximum readability and impact.Thieves of Experience: How Google and Facebook Corrupted CapitalismAn in-depth piece on The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for A Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff, written by the author of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains and The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google.A chemistry is performedA review essay about Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, a new book about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos.