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Ask HN: What Is the Best Book for Indie SaaS Hackers

by motyar on 3/27/24, 1:41 PM with 18 comments

  • by aristofun on 3/27/24, 2:38 PM

    May I suggest a radical POV: time you spent reading books is time not spent validating & building & selling your ideas.

    I don’t mean to be rude, but there is nothing special there, no secret sauce, no guaranteed path etc to write books about. It is mostly a common sense knowledge + a bit of inspiration.

    But it’s the same inspiration you get from your favorite film heros or real books, like literature.

  • by ed on 3/27/24, 4:12 PM

    The Mom Test in easily digestible podcast form: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/indie-hackers/id120616...

    Start Small, Stay Small has some good ideas but is out of date.

    X is where I find the most helpful and relevant SaaS tips.

  • by rozenmd on 3/27/24, 2:04 PM

    Best for what?

    - Validating early ideas: The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick

    - Very early sales (not a book, but): https://stripe.com/en-us/guides/atlas/starting-sales

    - Interviewing potential and current customers: Deploy Empathy by Michele Hansen

    - Marketing ideas: Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares

    - Deeper marketing ideas: Forget the funnel by Claire Suellentrop and Georgiana Laudi

  • by zscoops on 3/27/24, 2:46 PM

    My favorite is The Startup Owner's Manual by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf. It has a roadmap for internet business and a ton of checklists to help you validate your ideas and reach potential customers. The suggested path through the book also helps to get started without having to read through the whole book.

  • by jyu on 3/27/24, 2:10 PM

    https://readmake.com/ from @levelsio cheap and covers a lot of indie 101

  • by cranberryturkey on 3/27/24, 1:43 PM

    https://bookreviews.lol has a daily list under Business and Money category

  • by nickmonad on 3/27/24, 2:00 PM

    Too many to name really. One of the most influential for me though was The Mom Test. Teaches you how to validate before you build.

  • by llmblockchain on 3/27/24, 3:24 PM

    The SaaS Playbook: https://saasplaybook.com/