God I hate listicles. But I keep being asked by people what books they should read to start building something like my $1000 monthly revenue SaaS. Okay, here is the deal: you carefully dump all your startup and business books to the nearest trash can and read these articles instead. They have anything you need to start working your ass off on a project that will allow you to lead the life you want. And the best part is that you have to spend just one hour to get on track. I reread them occasionally too.
Idea and mindset
How to get startup ideas by Paul Graham. This timeless piece helps build a comprehensive mental framework that will allow you to move from the “I can’t think of anything” state to “OMG I don’t have time to build everything I want.”
RECONSIDER by DHH. I absolutely love this article. If you’re blinded and immobilized by the dazzling light of Silicon Valley unicorns, here is your cure. Brief takeaway — you don’t have to deal with all that crap, just do a good job and serve your customers; success will come naturally.
Fire and motion by Joel Spolsky. We all hit the pit every once in a while. Come back to this article every time you don’t feel like grinding.
MVP and implementation
From idea to implementation by Basecamp. Actually it’s a two minute read and self-explanatory.
Embrace constraints by Basecamp. Indie developers and small teams deal with constraints all the time. And it’s an advantage, actually.
Marketing
Do things that don’t scale by Paul Graham. You don’t need to have a big budget and skills to go out and invite users manually. That’s more than enough for a start.
Marketing without marketing by Jason Fried. The bottom line: help your customers to know and love yout product more and they’ll take care of the rest.
That’s it. Devour it and get back to work. This code ain’t gonna write itself.