I am not good in marketing, growth hacks etc, like to improve my skills. Would you please suggest some great books for getting first few customers for a startup ?
This is Marketing, Traction, Monetising Innovation, check this small but great post out too: <a href="https://www.indiehackers.com/post/selling-before-you-build-from-a-sales-professional-cd9432a176" rel="nofollow">https://www.indiehackers.com/post/selling-before-you-build-f...</a>
I was in similar state a few of years back. Read these, and used them to a good extent.<p>Lean analytics. (must read)
Product-Led growth. (must read)
22 Laws of marketing (must)
One million followers<p>If you like scientific approach:
Influence by Robert Cialdini
Contagious (Jonah Berger)<p>This resource is also gold: <a href="https://brianbalfour.com/essays/customer-acquisition" rel="nofollow">https://brianbalfour.com/essays/customer-acquisition</a><p>I am also documenting my learnings in a book [1].<p>[1] <a href="https://book.amols.blog/59decisions" rel="nofollow">https://book.amols.blog/59decisions</a>
The Great CEO Within. Free ebook. Popular (1K+ HN points). Good methods.<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnwl-dwqx5xl0s65DE3wO8" rel="nofollow">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnw...</a><p>Unicorns vs Horses. Article. Good perspective.<p><a href="https://medium.com/@awilkinson/unicorns-vs-horses-f81d8dd61f17" rel="nofollow">https://medium.com/@awilkinson/unicorns-vs-horses-f81d8dd61f...</a>
You specifically mentioned marketing/growth hacks etc.<p>I'm a programmer who bootstrapped a site 10 years ago and it's supported me since as an indie hacker. In order to learn about marketing, I held a monthly closed-doors growth hacking meet-up with other bootstrappers and founders to share our experiences about what works, so I've seen a fair amount of the territory.<p>Anyway I've got a YouTube channel where I share a lot of what I know, especially with respect to getting those first 1000 users. The focus is on marketing techniques that appeal to engineering types like me (e.g. scalable SEO generated from data; paid ads that you can leave running long-term etc.)<p>My context is scrappy (the biz only had between 1 and 4 employees), but what I know should be of interest to people in the early stages (less so for funded startups, where scale changes the game somewhat) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCzT-LQI6x0&list=PLpkoC9yJXDKlGz7SPwofn1joJH9nAABmX" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCzT-LQI6x0&list=PLpkoC9yJXD...</a>
"Company of One", by Paul Jarvis, the co-founder of Fathom Analytics<p>he goes through lots of stories and anecdotes from companies, consultants, and agencies who found that staying small can be a strategic advantage<p>growth is a means to an end, but not an end in and of itself<p>Amazon link: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Company-One-Staying-Small-Business/dp/1328972356" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Company-One-Staying-Small-Business/dp...</a>
You can also find books on audible to listen to that might save you time especially listening to them at a faster speed like 1.5x - Also check out some startup podcasts as well.<p>Another good book might be Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman.<p>One thing to keep in mind is not to get distracted by all these items (they are good, but can be useful) but there are no shortcuts.<p>Most of the largest companies were built without a playbook but with determination and a north star.<p>Remember to also have fun! Hope this helps somewhat.