Hi James,

This is a big question - or at least it is for me ;-)
To some degree it depends on your personal focus/style but here is my take.

I tend to believe that it is very little about the tech and hardcore skills but more about all the soft fluffy and hard to quantify stuff that surrounds it.
My main takeaway from Hilda's recent post ( http://hildamoraa.com/4-key-lessons-i-have-learnt-so-far-running-a-startup-in-kenya/ ) was confirmation in what I believe - that it is all about human-resource...

The value of an IT business will always be the value of the brains working in the business, there will be no assets of serious value, there will be no physical product that will just keep earning you money (without continued human improvement), hence it seems logical that you should focus on the people and not on the tech.

With this in mind my recommendations are:


Peopleware
Amazing book on how to create an environment where creative knowledge based workers thrive..
(and why these open office work environments should just die)

http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-3rd-ebook/dp/B00DY5A8X2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400834903&sr=8-1&keywords=peopleware


Love 'em or Lose 'em
Great book that really gives you a different thought / angle on employee retention strategies.

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Em-Lose-Getting-Business-ebook/dp/B00FBME6AW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400835034&sr=8-1&keywords=love+them+or+lose+them


Not every one gets a trophy
It may not be the best writing style, but it has some good insights.
This one is a bit circumstantial - It's important to understand and realize that there are differences in how different generations act, and to better understand the mentality of workers from a different generation you need to understand the environment / social cultures that have shaped them the way they are.
For me as a Generation X person who mainly has Generation Y employees this book has helped me alot.

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Everyone-Gets-Trophy-Generation-ebook/dp/B001RIO2PI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400835366&sr=8-1&keywords=not+every+one+gets+a+trophy


Essentials of Service Marketing
This one is out of print and no kindle. It can easily be substituted by any other service marketing book.

It's important to realize that there is (much) more to delivering a product than just the core product. Packaging, delivery, payment-options all have an influence on how the client perceives the product/service - and as a techie it can be hard to grasp this.
I originally got this book when I did business administration, but have really come to appreciate it here in Kenya - this book is mandatory reading for anyone I hire here. (personal opinion: service sucks in Kenya)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/9810679955/ref=nosim/librarythin08-20


Mythical man month
100% a classic and must read for anyone working with knowledge based teams.
One of my personal all time favorite books - this one is amazing.
Brook's law: Adding more people to a late project, makes it later...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201835959/ref=nosim/


The E-myth Revisited
Another classic - this one is maybe more if your business is already up and running and you now need to become more "professional".
The Key insight here is that there is a difference between working IN a business and working ON a business - if the business is 100% relying on you, and it would all fall apart if you got hit by a bus - then you have not really created a business - you have created a job for yourself.
No-one would want to buy a business that 100% relies on you (as you may just leave) - but a business that can run independent of you - now that's more interesting to an investor/strategic-partner.

http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Michael-E-Gerber-ebook/dp/B000RO9VJK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400836288&sr=1-1&keywords=e-myth


The Lean Startup
has already been mentioned - it's also a very great book, however in my mind the first 5-6 chapters are a bit slow/boring - but then it becomes really interesting.


Again let me point out that it all depends on what "perspective" you have on the business - some focus on the products, some on the money, I focus on the people, hence my recommendations are based on that.

For full listings of my books see:
https://www.librarything.com/catalog/gifair


..
Mike


On 5/22/14 12:32 PM, James Kagwe wrote: