6 Best Books on Entrepreneurship For Programmers in 2023

I meet aspiring programmers all the time who don’t want to work at a major software company or even a fast-growing startup. They want to build a product and be their own boss.

These programmers want to be entrepreneurs and own the full stack of their software products.

However, being a programmer is not a prerequisite to business sense. There’s a lot of ground you need to cover.

Information Technology has taken the world by storm in the current decade. It's easy to code your dream software or mobile app, but to become an entrepreneur and a rock star of the programming world, you will need more than luck.

If you have entrepreneurial ambitions and are looking for the best entrepreneurship books for programmers, you have come to the right place.

Why should programmers learn entrepreneurship?

Starting a business in the tech world is not easy. In fact, the sad reality is that most businesses fail not because they run out of money, but because they run out of resources. 

Entrepreneurs, especially in new tech ventures, should be more self-sufficient. Knowing is half the battle itself, so learning entrepreneurship is a valuable skill that tech entrepreneurs should have. We are going to give you some reasons why programmers should learn entrepreneurship.

• High demand: The IT industry is developing and changing at an extraordinary pace. There is high demand and a lot of room in this market for newcomers who are keeping up with the times.

• Flexible working schedule: You can be flexible with the hours of work you put into it, and the time of day you chose to work.

• Faster idea analysis: All programmers need to learn entrepreneurship to help conduct product analysis, build a development team, and develop goals and strategies.

A Warning for those Learning to Code for Entrepreneurship

I get a lot of readers who learn to code to become solo tech entrepreneurs.

They pile on the programming textbooks, take a coding bootcamp, and do whatever it takes to get the skills to start their entrepreneurship endeavors. But here’s the problem: by learning to code first, you fail the basic principles of entrepreneurship, which is to prototype early and to fail fast. There are a million different businesses and many of them don’t involve building an application by yourself.

I urge you to consider what business you want to start first. Even if this business involves programming, you may choose to hire someone to do the programming instead. Perhaps you can then learn to code as your product is getting developed so that you can simply learn the basics of maintaining the codebase.

There is no shame in asking for help. Entrepreneur-minded people tend to struggle with this.

You might also discover that the best online business model for you is a blog or a retail business. Neither of those businesses requires you to know how to code. Digital platforms already exist for many digital business models. You don’t need to re-invent the wheel.

So, before I discuss how to be an entrepreneur as a programmer, I want you to be clear on your mission and your ‘why’. As the author of this website, Books on Code, I use Squarespace to host and manage my blog. While I work my day job as a programmer, I use no programming skills to run this site. In that sense, I am an entrepreneur and I am a programmer, but I have not paired both together.

What makes the best entrepreneurship books for programmers?

Depending upon the reader’s background, book’s style, and content coverage, different books will resonate with different people. Here are our criteria for the selection of the books:

• Use clear, precise, and easy-to-understand language

• Thoroughly teach and explain the basic concepts of entrepreneurship for programmers. 

• Contain exercises, examples, and practice problems for hands-on experience.

• Enable to hold the attention of readers.

• Well-structured and friendly toward self-taught programmers.

Best Books on Entrepreneurship For Programmers

If you feel an entrepreneurial pull, don’t sit back. There has never been a better time to get into the tech business. To help you in selecting the well-structured and latest books for entrepreneurship, we have narrowed it down to the top 6 best entrepreneurship books for programmers. Let’s dive in:

1. The Remarkable Effect: The Essential Book for Tech-Entrepreneurs-on-a-Mission

The Remarkable Effect by Ton Dobbe helps tech-entrepreneurs-on-a-mission shape the software business they’ve always aspired to run. In this book, the author reveals the ten traits that define a remarkable software company. These traits not only help you stand out in your category but also create clear leverage of exponential value. These traits include:

Part 1: The Value Lever: get noticed in a dense market 

• Trait 1 - You can't please everyone 

• Trait 2 - Offer something valuable and desirable 

• Trait 3 - Be different, not just better 

Part 2: The Viability Lever: increase the customer lifetime value 

• Trait 4 - Master the art of curiosity 

• Trait 5 - Create new value possibilities 

• Trait 6 - Create fans, not just customers 

• Trait 7 - Focus on the essence 

Part 3: The Volume Lever: win more, win bigger 

• Trait 8 - Create momentum 

• Trait 9 - Sell the idea, not the product 

• Trait 10 - Surprise and hit the right nerve

The ideas and strategies in this book have been proven to be highly effective for start-ups. The book allows you to pause and reflect on your journey as an entrepreneur. It is an easy read, relatable, and with applicable action steps forward. 

2. Technologies for Modern Digital Entrepreneurship: Understanding Emerging Tech at the Cutting-Edge of the Web 3.0 Economy

Technologies for Modern Digital Entrepreneurship by Abeba N. Turi gives an in-depth look at the new developments of the digital economic system. The book gives insightful knowledge using real data and meaningful examples. After reading the book, you'll be able to:

• Discover new trends in the digital economic system

• Comprehend the crowd-based digital business models

• Analyze the distributed information network economy

• Understand the workings of the currency system under the Web 3.0 economy, including Cryptocurrencies, Central Bank Digital Currencies, and Stable Coins

The book includes the following contents:

• Digital Economy and the Information Society

• Crowd-Based Digital Business Models

• Web 3.0: The Distributed Information Network Economy

• Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Applications

• Currency Under the Web 3.0 Economy

3. The Tech Contracts Handbook: Software Licenses, Cloud Computing Agreements, and Other IT Contracts for Lawyers and Businesspeople

The Tech Contracts Handbook by David W. Tolkien covers all the key topics in technology contracts. The book talks about cloud computing agreements, software licenses, and other IT contracts.

The book provides up-to-date explanations and practical insights about how to navigate the evolving IT contracts realm. The topics covered in the book are:

• Software-as-a-service (SaaS) and other cloud subscriptions

• Indemnities

• Limits of liability

• Service level agreements (SLAs) and warranties

• Open-source software

• On-premise software distribution contracts

• Technology escrow and SaaS step-in terms

• SaaS transition and deconversion

• Intellectual property licenses

• Internet and e-commerce

The book is written in a clear, easy-to-understand, and practical style. You won't find a more accessible, useful resource on IT contracts.

4. From Startup to Exit: An Insider's Guide to Launching and Scaling Your Tech Business

From Startup to Exit: An Insider's Guide to Launching and Scaling Your Tech Business by Shirish Nadkarni discusses the practical aspects of startup formation from founding, funding, management, and finding an exit.

The book provides practical advice and information borne out of the author's experiences. The author gives you pointers and recommendations for when you will be faced with similar challenges in your own startup journey. It is very well organized, incredibly insightful, and fun to read. After reading the book, you will be able to:

• Understand exactly what tech startups must do to succeed in all phases, from the idea stage to IPO.

• Gain invaluable insights from the journeys of other successful tech founders that can be applied to your own situation.

• Learn how to raise millions of dollars of funding from angels and VCs to give your company the fuel it needs to take off and succeed.

The book guides tech entrepreneurs to successfully navigate all phases of the tech startup journey. It can truly serve as a checklist and overview on the critical issues an entrepreneur must face and address! You cannot go wrong with this book.

5. ‘Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days

‘Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days by Jessica Livingston is a collection of interviews with founders of famous technology companies about what happened in the very earliest days. You will get insights on how they think, how they make decisions, what motivated them, how they work, how they interact, and much more.

This book is well-organized and easy to read. Here are the companies whose founders were interviewed in the book: 

• PayPal

• Hotmail

• Apple

• Excite

• Software Arts

• Lotus Development

• Iris Associates

• Groove Networks

• Pyra Labs (Blogger.com)

• Yahoo

• Research in Motion

• Marimba

• Gmail

• WebTV

• TiVo

• Viaweb

• del.icio.us

• ONELIST

• Bloglines

• Craigslist

• Flickr

• WAIS

• InternetArchive

• Alexa

• Adobe Systems

• Open Systems 

• Hummer Winblad 37signals

• ArsDigita

• Fog Creek Software

• TripAdvisor

• HOT or NOT

• Tickle

• Firefox

• Six Apart

• Lycos

• Aliant Computer Systems

• Shareholder.com

Every story is different and teaches something new. The interviews also provide a lot of insights into technology trends and market trends during the time that the founders' companies were starting up.

This book is perfect for anyone interested in entrepreneurship and technology startups. More than providing you with knowledge, this book gives you the confidence to overcome your weaknesses and mistakes.

6. Practices of an Agile Developer: Working in the Real World

Practices of an Agile Developer by Venkat Subramaniam and Andy Hunt collect the personal habits, ideas, and approaches of successful agile software developers and presents them in a series of short, easy-to-digest tips.

The book is written in a structured and well-organized way, right to the point. Each chapter contains several small sub-sections that are accessible and made for an easy quick read. 

• Chapter 1 talks about Agile Software Development

• Chapter 2 talks about Beginning Agility

• Chapter 3 talks about Feeding Agility

• Chapter 4 talks about delivering what users want

• Chapter 5 covers Agile Feedback

• Chapter 6 covers Agile Coding

• Chapter 7 covers Agile Debugging

• Chapter 8 covers Agile Collaboration

• Chapter 9 talks about moving to Agility

The book is full of real-world advice on modern and agile development practices.

More ways to learn entrepreneurship as programmers

We hope our book curation will help you to pick the right book to learn entrepreneurship. Well-rounded tech entrepreneurs understand every phase of their business to set themselves up for success. 

When it comes to entrepreneurship for programmers, there are some awesome online resources as well.

• Codecademy: The Pro Full-stack Engineering for your Business Career Path teaches full-stack skills to independently build an app (and your own business) from top to bottom. For more on Codecademy Pro, see my Codecademy Pro review.

• Udemy:

  • How to Build a Tech Startup 101 - Business Management by Augmented Startups, Uzair Usman, and Rajiv Desai teaches top 5 strategies on how to build your own tech company as an entrepreneur.

  • Intro to Entrepreneurship: Get started as an Entrepreneur is a highly rated course that allows you to learn everything to become an Entrepreneur.

• Coursera: Entrepreneurship 1: Developing the Opportunity is a highly rated course designed to introduce the foundational concepts of entrepreneurship. 

We also suggest over 70 coding resources that are free online.

That wraps our article about some of the best books for programmers to learn entrepreneurship. It is hard to say which is the best book as it depends upon your background and choice. With the great selection of entrepreneurship books and courses, the learning opportunities are simply endless!

With the right amount of determination and creativity, a programmer can certainly be an entrepreneur - a highly successful one.

Begin your journey toward being your own boss. Good luck with your amazing ventures.