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https://www.amazon.com/Managers-Path-Leaders-Navigating-Growth/dp/1491973897
Haven't read it myself yet, but heard it recommended a lot.
There are multiple meme professions that have no coherent purpose.
Hand-writing analysis, for example.
Body language bullshit primarily finds purchase in the world of high powered CEOs obsessed with charisima training.
https://www.amazon.com/Charisma-Myth-Science-Personal-Magnetism/dp/1591845947
In The E-myth Revisited, Michael Gerber paraphrased a quote from Gen. George Patton. It has stuck with me for many years after having read the book.
>The comfort zone makes cowards of us all.
​
> I think the primary problem is that the business is "me" and I'm having a difficult time transitioning from a "freelancer" to a "business" in a way that still keeps me flush with reliable income.
Read The E-Myth Revisited.
The first chapter or so will resonate with you deeply as the whole book is about turning your business into an actual business that can function without you so you can get your life back.
I just read The E-Myth Revisited and I cannot recommend it enough for any entrepreneur. It talks about how to build a sustainable business.
You don't need a co-founder and you don't need investors.
Build an MVP in 3 months and see how it goes.
Do not make the mistake of wasting 3 years to build something no one wants. Do not give half to a co-founder for something you can handle in the beginning.
Also, subscribe to Valuetainment. It has phenomenal content on everything you'd need.
Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows is good https://www.amazon.se/Thinking-Systems-International-Donella-Meadows/dp/1603580557
There's a good book on this called "The E Myth" that might help shed some light on this for you. It's not a huge long book, but it goes into the idea that running a business is entirely different than working in your field.
Also, try to keep in perspective your experience. If you fail, so what? You have a great opportunity here to try something. If it works then great! If not, you might go back to a 9-5 with a new appreciation for the simplicity of it all.
That's great that you're being involved in the interview process. I think that should give you some confidence that your company are looking to hire the right person.
If you have the time, you may find the book "The Phoenix Project" an interesting read. It's a novella that builds a story about specific management and leadership styles and how they are used to turn around a struggling incumbent organisation from the point of view of a Senior IT Leader who is fresh in the role: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phoenix-Project-Devops-Helping-Business/dp/1942788290/ref=pd_lpo_14_t_0/257-0577089-4636535?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1942788290&pd_rd_r=4898482d-06c3-4e20-b6be-cdd9ae60bad3&pd_rd_w=GO3cY&pd_rd_wg=8oKPD&pf_rd_p=da0677f5-a47b-4543-8b54-10be576b8f26&pf_rd_r=2MK9VRWESAWE5PY4MD9C&psc=1&refRID=2MK9VRWESAWE5PY4MD9C
It is a made up story, but it paints a very good picture of how good IT leadership can work.
Not an affiliate link btw
Classic Brent. For anyone who hasn't done so already, read The Phoenix Project (or listen to it on Audible). It's great.
https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/0988262592
Read the book "The Phoenix Project" https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/1942788290
It does well at explaining its your job to enable business and not restrict it, while still being a (semi) interesting read via story telling.
The first step is changing your mindset, then others will too.
Do you have any management experience? Do you know how to read and create financial statements? Do you know how to do sales/marketing? Do you have relationships with vendors?
I recommend getting a copy of The E-Myth Revisited. It will help you understand the systems that you would need to setup to form the basis for your enterprise. Borrow a copy from your local library.
Please find a good therapist to work on these issues. If money is an issue, look for "pro bono" or "sliding scale" or just ask if they have a sliding scale. You can also find some online only therapists as well.
In the meantime, you can read an old version of "How to win friends an influence people" How to Win Friends and Influence People images.kw.com/docs/2/1/2/212345/1285134779158_htwfaip.pdf or you can find the new version that addresses social media on Amazon.
or this https://www.amazon.com/Charisma-Myth-Science-Personal-Magnetism/dp/1591845947
there are tons and tons of books to help you with relationships and talking to people. it just takes practice. you can do this.
Read "The E Myth." It's probably the single best thing you can do for yourself, and I would not start a bakery until you've done so. It's a fast and easy read. I own a small food business, and I'm following the book's principles because it would be a waste of time not to.
Amazon link (it's less than $10)
I just started a new job 2 weeks ago (FM). Someone on this sub recommended this book to me book
Right now I’m working on 1x1’s throughout the company to meet people & asking how finance can help them (I’m not committing to this but trying to learn what their perspective is & gather ideas) & gathering a list of ideas for process improvements as I see them or when ppl mention goals to me. I’m going thru reporting to learn baselines & understand industry trends/kpi and learning systems.
I'm going to second that recommendation. DevOps is a really versatile role and you'll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of the scope involved so that you can confidently set expectations when applying for positions.
It's become a bit of a buzzword in the last year, but for a good reason. It's pretty much essential for agile development and overlaps strongly with architecture / infrastructure development.
There are two books by the same team of authors I strongly recommend reading, including non-referral amazon links below.
I literally don't feel like I'm human. Not in a cool way where I'm special or unique. More like maybe my original destiny was to be a nonphysical systems planner for a planetary organism but something went wrong and now I have to live in a body.
I also find it much easier to understand myself and other people if I back off until I can see what's happening as a whole system. When I'm zoomed in, I see things as "behavior" or "personality traits" and they're confusing. When I stand back far enough that the system is holistically viewable, I can see that these "traits" or "behaviors" are simply emergent properties of the system as it currently functions.
INFJs, you would all love the work of Donella Meadows: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557
Your first build should be an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) that has the most basic features possible.
A useful analogy is a hot dog stand… instead of building what YOU think is the best hot dog stand, complete with all types of up-sells and bells and whistles, you want to build the minimum viable product.
What is the “hot dog” of your platform? What is the most basic function that provides value?
Define what that is, then see if you can reduce it some more.
Start there, get it into the hands of users and let them guide you to create what THEY need the rest of the way.
This book is recommended often, and is worth a read: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898
Self-employment is a tough racket — I've been doing this both part- and full-time for the past twenty years. Getting paid is almost as difficult as selling work... I sure do wish I had read The E-Myth twenty years ago. tl;dr: being a good technician (i.e. skilled at what you technically do) is only a third of the battle in running your own company successfully.
"Creative types need to get a 'real job' so that they don't really starve to death."
Myself, I'm a [now retired from] electrician whom is looking to switch careers =|
Three seconds of Google:
Black Swan Nassim Nicholas Talib
There is an amazing book called e-myth: why small businesses don’t work and how to succeed. A best friend bought it for me when I tried to launch my own business and it really illuminated all the unknown unknowns for me. You might be able to rent it for free on your reading app from your public library. I really encourage you to check it out.
Check out 'The Charisma Myth' by Olivia Fox Cabane. It showed me that charisma is a trainable skill rather than something innate. You can buy a physical copy on Amazon or download it here from bookzz. The bookzz version is only available in epub format.
If the team is willing to pair program, they need to start. That makes code reviews much faster, easier, and higher quality.
You'll need to get your WIP down so one way to do this is to freeze all coding and focus the entire team on getting the current PRs merged. If that sounds crazy go read The Phoenix Project.
If you have all devs stop coding in the middle of their feature, you risk them losing all the context they built up over the past X days and will need to recover that once the freeze is over. Two solutions come to mind. First, have each dev spend as much time as they need to document their current state so that they can jump right back in once the freeze is over. Or second, everyone keeps coding until finished with their current thing and then they don't do any further coding until all PRs are merged.
My god... you need to write a book like the The Phoenix Project but like... you know. Your life haha.
Wow ok thats what I was looking for. The Kobayashi Maru style of everything in my life. But here we are now a fantastic community of people that self-regulate and have I think a genuine interest in learning and tech possibly.
My final question my good sir is what was the time frame with which you started and ended where you are now? This is only for reference.
Talk to your target audience / customer by phone or in person. 10 interviews will yield 80% of consumer insights.
Ask them what their challenges are when it comes to X (problem you solve) ; How do they currently solve that problem?
Get them to walk you through their day-to-day in regards to the problem you solve.
Find out what media they consume, where they hang out online (websites, news media, blogs, social media).
You may find out that they have other problems you can solve , or that your solution is the right fit for them.
Do not tell them about your solution first (it will ruin the results); Do not ask them what they WOULD do but rather find out what they already do (People are not good at predicting their own behavior).
Best of luck to you and your project!
This site has more tips: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898
Read "The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Fail" https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0887307280/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_ES01N8ABZP33E20TFBEZ
You'll learn a lot about running the business part of it and the team of people you'll need. It's about a bakery so you'll find a lot of parallels. Short easy read, do this right now before your start anything else.
The E-Myth Revisited is another great read for somebody thinking that being a good technician will translate into being a good owner (hint: not often true). Personally, I would not leave IBEW to run my own residential shop (did that for a few years — residential is boring and most customers think you're ripping them off).
Do both. Take a small contract and manage your new business. Find out how much hands on you need to run the bakery. Can you be the manager ? or do you gotta be the janitor and baker too
Before you buy the bakery go read
The E-myth. It will teach you to avoid the pitfalls of being a small owner operator business
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0887307280/
Oh boy where to start? I can ramble for hours about my personal do’s & don’ts, but of course every situation is different. I would say my number one advice to someone going in business for themselves is to build a BUSINESS not a JOB. I made that mistake & had to correct it 5 years in. I’m still dealing with the pains of customers coming in and only wanting to talk to ME. I would advise reading The E Myth (link below), it changes my perspective and helped me transition my store from a “job” to a “business”.
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It https://www.amazon.com/dp/0887307280/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_MGNCHJRBNPHTAB64QCVM
Congrats!! I just accepted mine too, I graduated in December and have been interviewing and applying ever since. Definitely following this thread as I want to know how to prep. A senior PM recommended me these books:
https://www.amazon.com/First-90-Days-Strategies-Expanded/dp/1422188612 for general prep of what to accomplish when starting a new role, and
https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-PM-Career-Frameworks-Practices/dp/0984782893
Best of luck!