Creativity – The Starter Kit

Recommended reading list

Since joining the Rise Up team, have noticed that a lot of students and graduates ask what would I recommend for them to read. Some might be looking for extra references for an assignment, others might want to know more before deciding if entrepreneurship is for them, some are already developing an idea but have gotten a bit stuck with something, and some simply enjoy reading and are naturally curious.

Whatever their motivation, I’m always happy to oblige and offer some recommendations. So I thought I should provide a list through this space and keep it updated as we go forward, so that anyone interested can have a look through it in their own time.

Below you will find a list of my personal favourites, with small descriptions of why I think they’re great and even convenient links to their location at our very own Newcastle University Library system (where applicable).

Value proposition design : how to create products and services customers want
Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, Alan Smith. 2014
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.4012 OST)

All in startup : launching a new idea when everything is on the line
Diana Kander, Steven Gary Blank. 2014
Available online (from the Newcastle University Library website)

Idea work : lessons of the extraordinary in everyday creativity
Arne Carlsen, Stewart Clegg, Reidar Gjersvik. 2012
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.421 CAR)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.421 CAR)

This is service design thinking : basics, tools, cases
Marc Stickdorn, Jakob Schneider. 2012
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.562 THI)

Sprint : how to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days
Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz, Simon Schuster. 2016
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.403 KNA)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.403 KNA)

The startup owner’s manual. Vol. 1 : the step-by-step guide for building a great company
Steven Gary Blank, Bob Dorf. 2012
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.11 BLA)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.11 BLA)

The lean startup : how constant innovation creates radically successful businesses
Eric Ries. 2011
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.11 RIE)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.11 RIE)

Scaling lean : Mastering the key metrics for startup growth
Ash Maurya. 2016
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.11 MAU)

The four steps to the epiphany : successful strategies for products that win
Steven Gary Blank. 2013
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.4012 BLA)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.4012 BLA)

As always, I hope that’s useful. Do let me know if you want to include any personal favourites of yours and I’ll be very happy to update the list with your contributions.

Happy starting-up!

Just like being in the coffee shop

Coffitivity is a very unique website that I found looking for tools to help me boost my productivity, mostly because my brain is very active at night but I find it hard to focus during the first couple of hours of the morning.

It is a website with a playlist of various seemingly never-ending coffee shop background noises. It’s supposed to help you concentrate better and hence, give your productivity a boost. They have 3 free clips that are pretty standard and quite similar from each other, but they also have a couple of premium offers if you fancy mind-transporting yourself all the way to Brazil, Paris or Texas.

I am actually trying it as I write this little review and although I find the premise a bit odd, I think it’s safe to say it’s actually helping! No more getting distracted by people passing by or overhearing random words from someone else’s conversations. It feels almost a bit magical… even if I still find it quite weird.

Anyway, I thought I would share ’cause some of you might be into that! (I certainly know that Steve Bowden, our Rise Up Business Adviser will love this, as he ~~craves~~ likes working from coffee shops in town from time to time)

If you want to feel as if you were in a coffee shop, make yourself a cuppa of your best instant coffee, put on your headphones and head here: https://coffitivity.com/

(Alternatively, you could also just go to an actual coffee shop. Whatever works better for you.)

Cheers!

Steve Blank’s Tools for Entrepreneurs

You might know Steve Blank as the author of “The Four Steps to the Epiphany” and “The Startup Owners’ Manual”, both recommended reading for anyone thinking about starting their own business. But few of you might know that he is actually less into making tons of money out of his every thought and very much into sharing all kinds of info.

He has, therefore, put together a dedicated part of his website precisely for that purpose. It is basically a repository of links to absolutely everything related to things that entrepreneurs might need along their journey that quite frankly makes me wonder 2 things:

1. Is he trying to compete with Google as a search engine for entrepreneurs? and

2. Why do I even bother trying to create my own repo?

Anyway, visit him here: https://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/ but come back for more great other obscure resources that he hasn’t found out about (yet!)

Cheers!