For newcomers: StartupDigest Reading List is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest

StartupDigest Reading List is supported exclusively by:
Startup Weekend founders share tips and insights in their first book, How to Take a Company from Concept to Creation in 54 Hours. Funded by the Kauffman Foundation, the book outlines key beliefs that have yielded powerful results. Order your copy by Nov. 8, 2011.

What You Need to Read This Week

An awesome post of pure epicness for engineers. It’s long but totally worth it.

This post focuses on term sheets, but it really applies to any business situation. When people show their true colors, always trust your gut.

A sobering message from Startup School 2011. Don’t start a startup just for the sake of starting a startup.

Traction, traction, traction. Here are a bunch of different marketing verticals which you can use to get distribution.

My co-founder Brendan watches a ton of business/startup videos so we figured it would be a good thing to compile all of the good ones into one place for you.

Find all of the best articles on starting, joining, and leading a startup here.

For newcomers: StartupDigest Reading List is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest

StartupDigest Reading List is supported exclusively by:
Startup Weekend founders share tips and insights in their first book, How to Take a Company from Concept to Creation in 54 Hours. Funded by the Kauffman Foundation, the book outlines key beliefs that have yielded powerful results. Order your copy by Nov. 8, 2011.

What You Need to Read This Week

Every day more people at large companies tell us that they want to join a startup. Here’s what that change is like.

Not every startup you join will lead to an exit, but every one should build lasting relationships. Don’t be that guy who jumps from place to place just trying to grab a piece of the next big thing.

If you’re thinking of joining a startup, how do you know if it’s the right one? Here is the perspective of Keith Rabois, who’s worked at PayPal, Slide, LinkedIn, and Square.

Here’s a view from the other side of the table when hiring goes wrong at a startup.

A big portion of joining a startup is getting out there and putting yourself in uncomfortable places. Here are some thoughts on meeting people, especially in a group setting.

This post doesn’t fit this week’s theme at all, but it was so good that I had to include it.

Find all of the best resources on starting, joining, and leading a startup here.

For newcomers: StartupDigest Reading List is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest

StartupDigest Reading List is supported exclusively by:
Startup Weekend founders share tips and insights in their first book, How to Take a Company from Concept to Creation in 54 Hours. Funded by the Kauffman Foundation, the book outlines key beliefs that have yielded powerful results. Order your copy by Nov. 8, 2011.

What You Need to Read This Week

People love to talk about the beginning and end of startups but there is huge middle struggle to build a real business. Here is a glimpse into what that middle part feels like.

It really helps to have a sense of purpose when you’re building something big. To quote the cheshire cat, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.

Building a real business takes time. It’s easy to start a startup, but you can’t build a business in a weekend.

If you’re advising or even just giving your feedback on someone else’s startup, it pays to be truthful. And founders, it’s hugely valuable to have someone on your side who will tell it like it is.

Find all of the best resources on starting, joining, and leading a startup here.

For newcomers: StartupDigest Reading List is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest

StartupDigest Reading List is supported exclusively by:
U.S. college graduates with innovative new business ideas can apply to the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Scholars Program, newly expanded to include U.S. scholars. Participants learn and network with an international group of fellow aspiring entrepreneurs from January through June 2012. Apply here by Oct. 17, 2011.

What You Need to Read This Week

Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, thinks through the reasons why startup hubs work in large cities and not in others.

Businesses don’t have to be lightning fast growing, unprofitable, and venture backed. Here’s the story of how one person turned his passion into a startup.

Mike just started a new VC fund and is exploring how VC’s differentiate themselves. This leads into a really interesting piece about how Ron Conway & SV Angel (one of the top angel funds) work through a private email exchange.

A firsthand experience about how Steve Jobs reorganized and inspired Apple the week he left NeXT and re-joined Apple.

My co-founder Brendan took all of the resources that have been in the Reading List over the past 10 months and organized them by topic here. Super valuable to be able to look back through everything and easily reference relevant resources when you need them.

For newcomers: StartupDigest Reading List is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

I’ll never forget his graduation speech at Stanford and the power of saying no. Steve made a huge impact on the world and inspired our generation. May he rest in peace.

- Chris :(

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest

StartupDigest Reading List is supported exclusively by:
U.S. college graduates with innovative new business ideas can apply to the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Scholars Program, newly expanded to include U.S. scholars. Participants learn and network with an international group of fellow aspiring entrepreneurs from January through June 2012. Apply here by Oct. 17, 2011.

What You Need to Read This Week

This private email about Airbnb’s financing probably should never have been public, but it sheds some very interesting light on founders cashing out in a large financing round.

Stick With It

Here is some advice to people who are just learning to program. It applies to many things outside of software development as well.

A short post on how to increase your own personal serendipity or luck in general.

People are the most important part about startups, but no one really thinks about how the Human Resources department should be structured or run. Here’s how Ben Horowitz and Shannon Callahan, partners at Andreessen-Horowitz, think about it.

A forewarning that I wrote this article myself on the plane ride to Colombia. It’s a bit theoretical but it’s about the thinking process of running MVP’s and some consequences of them.

For newcomers: StartupDigest Reading List is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

- Chris
 

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest
 

For newcomers: StartupDigest Reading List is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

Kevin Xu, our badass front-end engineer we hired for the summer, is officially leaving us today and heading back to Stanford. The VIP product he designed is absolutley stunning: company list, company view, and VIP view. (VIP’s are anonymized for privacy.)

Kevin is going to go off and do big things and we were lucky to have him hang out with us for the summer. Thanks Kevin!

- Chris

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest

StartupDigest Reading List is supported exclusively by:
U.S. college graduates with innovative new business ideas can apply to the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Scholars Program, newly expanded to include U.S. scholars. Participants learn and network with an international group of fellow aspiring entrepreneurs from January through June 2012. Apply here by Oct. 17, 2011.

What You Need to Read This Week

An inside look into the man who started Napster, was the president of Facebook, started Causes, and is backing Spotify.

How to launch in a month, scale to a million users

A technical case-study of how Turntable.fm scaled to a million users.

Gabriel outlines 3 types of startups and the different lifestyles each one takes.

A big launch at a conference isn’t for everyone. Here’s how you should evaluate if it’s for you.

If someone else owns the domain you want, here are some useful tips for acquiring it.

For newcomers: StartupDigest Startup is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

- Chris

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest
 

This is the personal story of how Feross, the creator of YouTube Instant, learned how to program. Good inspiration for anyone trying to learn themselves.

The Long Grind Before You Become an Overnight Success

By Vinicius Vacanti

When things look and feel the worst, keep learning and hustling.

Don’t ask for introductions to investors

By Dan Shapiro

Stop asking “Hey, could you introduce me to some investors?” and start doing your homework on the right way to go about fundraising.

The Job Of A CEO At A 200 Person Company

By Seth Sternberg

Here’s some insight into what the life of a founder/CEO is like after you’ve scaled your company.

Fucking sue me

By Philip Kaplan

Philip takes a founder’s risk-taking attitude to the extreme.

How to Deal with Skeletons in your Closet

By Mark Suster

Every startup has some skeletons (3rd co-founder who left, pending lawsuits, unhappy customers, etc.) and here is how you bring this to the attention of a new investor.