Rework
The authors behind Rework are Jason Fried and David Hansson, the dynamic duo behind 37Signals. David Hansson is better known as @dhh, the guy behind Ruby on Rails which powers 37Signals' popular "web 2.0" services like Basecamp, Backpack, Highrise and Campfire. They are well known for a contrarian view towards the way web and tech-companies are structured and live the way they preach - 37Signals has a relaxed and hands-off approach to management, they haven't taken any outside investments and keep their team small. This book is their second book about how they make a living successfully this way.
Rework is a short and fast read, full of advice that is useful but also very commonsense. Sometimes you need to hear the obvious too and this is a good a book as any for that. The message of commonsense minimalism in business rang very true and almost painfully obvious as I read the book but as I said, useful to hear.Jason and David go through explaining how and why you should start a business, why you should ignore advice like writing mission statements and do long-term planning and instead scratch your own itch, think small but flexible , etc. They have some pretty good tips on productivity and management of creative people as well as handling marketing and PR in a small business. The important word here is "business", not "startup" — they both loathe the term startup which they think implies that you are building something fast to just sell it off to some sucker instead of building a sustainable, real, business.
If you are planning on starting a company or working on growing the company you really should take the time to read through "Rework", if for nothing else to get a little different viewpoint on how to do business. You won't feel a feeling of enlightenment after reading the book but you won't be bullshitted either — its nothing if not an honest book and that is refreshing!
p.s.. I read the book, as you can see, on my iPod touch. You can buy the book at http://ebookstore.sony.com/
