Ask HN: What are good books/blogs to read for a first time CTO? ↗

The books people recommended

2023-12-29 · 523 points · 142 comments · 27 books named by at least one person here and at least 3 people overall. The number on the left is how many people named it in this thread.

4
An Elegant Puzzle
Will Larson
4 here · 20 all-time · #325 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,414 ratings on Amazon
3
The Phoenix Project
Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford
3 here · 67 all-time · #56 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 14,975 ratings on Amazon
3
Peopleware
Tom DeMarco
3 here · 62 all-time · #59 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,189 ratings on Amazon
3
High Output Management
Andrew S. Grove
3 here · 39 all-time · #125 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 5,879 ratings on Amazon
3The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Patrick Lencioni
3 here · 17 all-time · #377 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 15,010 ratings on Amazon
2
The Mythical Man-Month
Frederick Brooks Jr.
2 here · 137 all-time · #13 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,811 ratings on Amazon
2
The Manager's Path
Camille Fournier
2 here · 22 all-time · #284 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,380 ratings on Amazon
2Inspired
Inspired
Marty Cagan
2 here · 13 all-time · #478 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 6,322 ratings on Amazon
1
Designing Data-Intensive Applications
Martin Kleppmann
1 here · 104 all-time · #24 overall
Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 5,595 ratings on Amazon
1
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
1 here · 56 all-time · #68 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 17,985 ratings on Amazon
1Rework
Rework
Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
1 here · 43 all-time · #106 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,954 ratings on Amazon
1
Creativity Inc.
Ed Catmull
1 here · 43 all-time · #107 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 10,683 ratings on Amazon
1
Traction
Gabriel Weinberg
1 here · 30 all-time · #189 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,092 ratings on Amazon
1
The Mom Test
Rob Fitzpatrick
1 here · 28 all-time · #208 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 4,371 ratings on Amazon
1
The Personal MBA
Josh Kaufman
1 here · 23 all-time · #264 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 5,404 ratings on Amazon
1
The Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson
1 here · 21 all-time · #305 overall
Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 89,508 ratings on Amazon
1
An Introduction to General Systems Thinking
Gerald M. Weinberg
1 here · 19 all-time · #336 overall
Buy on Amazon4.0 out of 5, 155 ratings on Amazon
1
Becoming a Technical Leader
Gerald M. Weinberg
1 here · 19 all-time · #338 overall
Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 363 ratings on Amazon
1Radical Candor
Radical Candor
Kim Scott
1 here · 16 all-time · #392 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 10,178 ratings on Amazon
1Managing Humans
Managing Humans
Michael Lopp
1 here · 12 all-time · #543 overall
Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 529 ratings on Amazon
1Accelerate
Accelerate
Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, Gene Kim
1 here · 11 all-time · #579 overall
Buy on Amazon
1The Fifth Discipline
The Fifth Discipline
Peter Senge
1 here · 9 all-time · #731 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 2,564 ratings on Amazon
1Startup
Startup
Jerry Kaplan
1 here · 8 all-time · #839 overall
1Team Topologies
Team Topologies
Matthew Skelton, Manuel Pais
1 here · 5 all-time · #1251 overall
1Creative Selection
Creative Selection
Ken Kocienda
1 here · 5 all-time · #1363 overall
1Effective Manager
Effective Manager
Mark Horstman
1 here · 4 all-time · #1809 overall
1Software Estimation
Software Estimation
Steve McConnell
1 here · 3 all-time · #1961 overall