Balsamiq Blog

My Bookshelf

by Peldi Guilizzoni. February 6th, 2009 under Books — 18 Comments

Hi there, a couple of people have asked me for this so I quickly put together this collage of my home office’s bookshelf, as well as my e-books folder.

Some books I consider essential and read more than once, some I didn’t like at all and some I haven’t gotten to yet.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Notably absent from the photo is “Getting Real“, which I just lent out to a friend.

And here’s my ebooks folder:

Sorry for the not-very-descriptive names.

If you have any questions about any of the books, ask away in the comments!

Now that you know what I read, are there any books you’d recommend?

— 18 Comments

18 Responses to “My Bookshelf”

1. Ved Says:
   February 6th, 2009 at 5:03 am

   Wow, man! You eat books! Just like me, but I preferer romances!

2. Ncu Says:
   February 6th, 2009 at 5:15 am

   A mix of it, usability, economics, bootstrapping and leadership books. It seems a lot like my bookshelf actually!

   I would also recommend you Seth Godin’s “The Bootstrapper’s Bible” and “The Dip”

3. Stefan Richter Says:
   February 6th, 2009 at 5:27 am

   Lots of those books look familiar, especially the Flash related ones. What are you best reads when it comes to startups (getting real aside)?

   [Peldi: Hi Stefan. Well for a little while "Micro-ISV" by Bob Walsh was my bible. Since you're a coder I would also recommend "The Business of Software" by Erik Sink and of course Spolsky but you might have already read all of it from his blog. Then I'd definitely recommend "The Art of the Start", "Crossing the Chasm", and I liked "You gotta be a little crazy", which tries to dissuade you from starting a business (it worked on me for 5 years). From "Founders at Work" I learned two things: people are rarely successful with the idea they started the company with, and that being first is rarely an advantage. I did *not* like "Bootstrap" at all, in fact I put it down after 2 or 3 chapters). I hope this helps!]

4. David Says:
   February 7th, 2009 at 7:28 am

   I’ve got a lot of those non-programming titles! I’m reading Groundswell right now which I like. I also really enjoyed Tribes by Seth Godin. And for a little escape I recommend The Kite Runner. Are you on goodreads.com? If so you should add me!

5. Massimo Sgrelli Says:
   February 20th, 2009 at 5:25 am

   Great library! I’s pretty much the same titles I love (I bought 15 copies of Getting Real for my company). I would suggest “micro trends – the small forces behind tomorrow’s big changes” by Mark J. Penn too.

6. mepp Says:
   March 2nd, 2009 at 5:57 pm

   I recognize many of those books, but not “The Four Steps to the Epiphany” — do you recommend it?

   [Peldi: I just got it and haven't read it yet, but I heard great things about it]

7. Startup Interviews: Balsamiq Studio LLC | Zen and the Art of Programming Says:
   April 13th, 2009 at 12:47 pm

   [...] I get tremendous value from reading the experiences of others who have been through it before me: here’s my bookshelf; plus I read a ton of blogs and watch videos of conference talks as much as I [...]

8. Andy Brice Says:
   April 26th, 2009 at 5:00 am

   There is a lot of overlap between my bookshelf and yours. Any you particularly do or don’t recommend for a fellow mISV? I thought the E-Myth book was overrated, boring and not useful for mISVs (the bit of it I read before getting too bored to continue).

9. Interview: Giacomo ‘Peldi’ Guilizzoni, Balsamiq Studios | App The Rent Says:
   April 27th, 2009 at 3:39 am

   [...] Focus on a small problem and solve it better than anyone else. Fall in love with the problem, not your solution. Make yourself fall in love with every aspect of running the business, it’s A LOT of hard work and not all of it is fun. I’d say the most important tip is to do your homework and read up a bunch of ’starting up’ books on the subject before making the jump. Here’s what’s on my bookshelf. [...]

10. Jon Winstanley Says:
    May 21st, 2009 at 4:40 am

    Hi Peldi, have you considered typing out the titles/authors? It would make it indexable by Google (and also would help me figure out the author of the Bootstrap book you have).

    [Hi Jon, good idea. Except that the Bootstrap book was terrible, I couldn't get past the 2nd chapter. The guys is SO FULL OF HIMSELF, it's sickening. I'll type up the names and titles and provide Amazon links, hopefully soon.]

11. Rukesh Says:
    May 21st, 2009 at 11:38 pm

    Hi Peldi, that’s a pretty impressive geek-biz library! Although many titles are familiar, I’m tempted to check out a few I’ve seen first. Here are my two author (and paradigm) recommendations:

    Since what you’re starting has disruptive potential (and lots of ways to get the business side of it wrong), check out Clayton Christensen’s magnificent work on disruption, starting with The Innovator’s Dilemma (followed by The Innovator’s Solution, and Seeing What’s Next).

    For MBA-alternative-like business savvy and a rigorous overall management philosophy, check out Eli Goldratt’s revolutionary work starting with his business novel The Goal (followed by further novels like It’s Not Luck, Critical Chain, and Necessary But Not Sufficient). The last one deals with enterprise software but has an underlying logic that applies to any technology.

    Hope you enjoy them,
    Rukesh

12. Michael Rabinovich Says:
    May 29th, 2009 at 7:17 am

    Did you like Essentials of Interaction design? I found it to be very windows centric – its metaphors and lessons years behind current ideas.

13. DannyT Says:
    June 11th, 2009 at 11:57 am

    Hey Peldi, nice list adding a few to my amazon wishlist

    I’ve just started reading ‘The Idea Generator’ (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Idea-Generator-Tools-Business-Growth/dp/1843547627/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244750064&sr=8-1). Not specific about ISV or dev but there are some tech references. It’s basically a toolkit for approaching problems and opportunities from many different angles and gets you thinking about loads of solutions when you dry up.

    It’s a cheap book and if you email the author he’ll send u a link to a sample chapter.

14. Efraim Says:
    August 14th, 2009 at 4:57 am

    Awesome! Thanks for sharing Peldi!
    Here’s my fav book on these subjects:
    “The Unplugged: Join a new breed of developers that don’t use computers. Much.”
    Amazon: http://www.tinyurl.com/theunplugged

    -Efraim

15. Efraim Says:
    August 14th, 2009 at 4:58 am

    @Michael Rabinovich
    I think you mean ‘About Face 2.0′, right?
    It’s a good, in-dept book, but very hard to get through.
    I do like all the names they have for stuff like ‘combutcons’ and all that

16. قصة بالسامك – ج2 « مدونة شبايك Says:
    October 12th, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    [...] وينصح به لمن يريد أن يفعل مثله، (يعرض بيلدي في مدونته صورة لجبل الكتب التي قرأها وساعدته في مطلع مشروعه)، ولمحبي البرمجة سيهمهم معرفة [...]

17. Scott Says:
    October 26th, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    I really liked “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. It’s a quick read about UI design. I found it really thought provoking though

18. Jaret Manuel Says:
    October 26th, 2009 at 9:35 pm

    Thanks for sharing your post onstartups.com. We have read a lot of the same books. Fully plan to get Balsamiq at some point although I am not technical and having trouble finding right advice on programmers or wondering if I should learn. I went to a book store and got more confused then ever. Thanks. Jaret

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