The Bookshelf

Books founders recommend to each other.

Browse by topic or by where you are as you grow, mark what you have read, and add what is next.

Founder Notes →

Topic

As you grow

4 books on Hiring, Team & Culture for finding pmf

  1. Maverick cover

    Hand employees real freedom and watch the company thrive.

    Semler recounts how he tore up the rulebook at Semco, letting workers set their own hours, choose their managers, and even decide their pay. The book chronicles the...

  2. The Fearless Organization cover

    Build teams where people speak up without fear.

    Edmondson argues that psychological safety, the shared belief that it is safe to take interpersonal risks, is the foundation of high-performing teams. Drawing on...

  3. The Founders cover

    The chaotic origin story of PayPal and the people it launched.

    The Founders chronicles the turbulent early years of PayPal, drawing on extensive interviews and internal material. It traces how a fractious group including Peter...

  4. Turn the Ship Around! cover

    Stop giving orders, start creating leaders at every level.

    Marquet recounts how he took the worst-performing submarine in the U.S. fleet and made it one of the best by abandoning the traditional leader-follower model. Instead...

Questions, answered

What books do founders recommend?

Founders on the eChai network recommend titles like Maverick, The Fearless Organization, and The Founders. The bookshelf ranks books by how many founders have read them.

Where can I find a startup reading list?

The eChai founder bookshelf is a curated, founder-recommended reading list you can browse by topic (fundraising, product, hiring) and by stage.

How is the bookshelf ordered?

By recommendation: the more founders mark a book read, the higher it ranks. You can also sort by newest or A to Z.

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