Founders at Work
Stories of Startups' Early Days
by Jessica Livingston
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More Recommenders
“10 years ago I read a book that changed my life. I’ve given this book as a gift countless times to aspiring entrepreneurs. Today I finally got to thank the author in person.… | A bunch of really great interviews Jessica did with a bunch of just OGs of entrepreneurship. | Collection of interviews with founders of famous Technology, companies about what happened in the very earliest days. | Interviews with Technology, founders from one of the best investors of all time. | Probably the single most valuable book a startup founder could read.”
Source →“10 years ago I read a book that changed my life. I’ve given this book as a gift countless times to aspiring entrepreneurs. Today I finally got to thank the author in person.… | A bunch of really great interviews Jessica did with a bunch of just OGs of entrepreneurship. | Collection of interviews with founders of famous Technology, companies about what happened in the very earliest days. | Interviews with Technology, founders from one of the best investors of all time. | Probably the single most valuable book a startup founder could read.”
Source →“10 years ago I read a book that changed my life. I’ve given this book as a gift countless times to aspiring entrepreneurs. Today I finally got to thank the author in person.… | A bunch of really great interviews Jessica did with a bunch of just OGs of entrepreneurship. | Collection of interviews with founders of famous Technology, companies about what happened in the very earliest days. | Interviews with Technology, founders from one of the best investors of all time. | Probably the single most valuable book a startup founder could read.”
Source →“10 years ago I read a book that changed my life. I’ve given this book as a gift countless times to aspiring entrepreneurs. Today I finally got to thank the author in person.… | A bunch of really great interviews Jessica did with a bunch of just OGs of entrepreneurship. | Collection of interviews with founders of famous Technology, companies about what happened in the very earliest days. | Interviews with Technology, founders from one of the best investors of all time. | Probably the single most valuable book a startup founder could read.”
Source →“10 years ago I read a book that changed my life. I’ve given this book as a gift countless times to aspiring entrepreneurs. Today I finally got to thank the author in person.… | A bunch of really great interviews Jessica did with a bunch of just OGs of entrepreneurship. | Collection of interviews with founders of famous Technology, companies about what happened in the very earliest days. | Interviews with Technology, founders from one of the best investors of all time. | Probably the single most valuable book a startup founder could read.”
Source →“10 years ago I read a book that changed my life. I’ve given this book as a gift countless times to aspiring entrepreneurs. Today I finally got to thank the author in person.… | A bunch of really great interviews Jessica did with a bunch of just OGs of entrepreneurship. | Collection of interviews with founders of famous Technology, companies about what happened in the very earliest days. | Interviews with Technology, founders from one of the best investors of all time. | Probably the single most valuable book a startup founder could read.”
Source →Recommended by 8 notable people, including Paul Graham and Ryan Holiday
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Should I read this?
Recommended by 13 sources and appears in Entrepreneurship, Best Startup Books, and Project Management.
Now available in paperbackwith a new preface and interview with Jessica Livingston about Y Combinator!Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days is a collection of interviews with founders of famous Technology, companies about what happened in the very earliest days. These people are celebrities now. What was it like when they were just a c...
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Why recommended
Recommended by 13 sources and appears in Entrepreneurship, Best Startup Books, and Project Management.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Ryan Holiday
Author and media strategist
“10 years ago I read a book that changed my life. I’ve given this book as a gift countless times to aspiring entrepreneurs. Today I finally got to thank the author in person.… | A bunch of really great interviews Jessica did with a bunch of just OGs of entrepreneurship. | Collection of interviews with founders of famous Technology, companies about what happened in the very earliest days. | Interviews with Technology, founders from one of the best investors of all time. | Probably the single most valuable book a startup founder could read.”
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Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. Recommended by 60 sources.
“A blunt, conversational tour through the worst parts of building a company. Horowitz shares personal stories from his own startup failures and recoveries, offering practical wisdom on layoffs, pivots, CEO loneliness, and managing when times are bad. The value is in the honest, experience-based insight you won't get from business school. The limitation is its narrow focus on venture-backed tech startups—if you're not in that world, some advice may feel irrelevant. Reads like a wise mentor telling you what nobody else will.”
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Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.
Founders at Work
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