Writing

10 Practical Startup Books Every Growth-Obsessed Founder Should Read in 2026

A quick search for “startup books” will surface the usual classics: The Lean Startup, Crossing the Chasm, Blitzscaling, The Hard Thing About Hard Things. They’re thoughtful, often inspiring, and occasionally sobering. But when you’re in the messy middle of building a startup — trying to land your first customers, work out why growth has stalled, or decide what to do next with limited time and money — inspiration isn’t the thing you’re short on. Clarity is.

Why The Growth Equation Ended Up as an Audiobook (and Why I Didn’t Read It Myself)

One of the quiet failures of most startup books is that they assume founders have time to read them. The reality is that most founders consume ideas in the cracks between everything else. On the morning commute. While walking the dog. At the gym. Audiobooks fit that reality far better than a hardback ever will, which is why I always planned to release an audio version of The Growth Equation.

The New Browser War: Why AI Companies Want to Own Your Starting Point

The shift from search box to chat box is reshaping the web. And the companies building the models want to own the browser that delivers it. But to understand what’s shifting, it’s worth remembering how we got here.

The Rise of Vibes-Based Marketing

For decades, marketing has been a game of visibility. Say something loud enough, often enough, and eventually people will remember you. That was the awareness era — billboards, banner ads, jingles you couldn’t scrub from your brain even if you tried.

So you want to be a strategist? I'm not sure it means what you think it means!

I meet a lot of designers who say something like, “I’m okay at UI design, but what I really want to be doing is strategy.”

I get it. In large organisations with mature design systems, visual and interaction design can start to feel like assembling someone else’s product from pre-approved parts. It’s easy to crave something higher up the food chain — a seat in those mysterious meetings where “strategy” supposedly happens.

The Bubble that Broke Britain: A Dystopian Horror Story for Halloween 2025

Author’s note: The below essay is a piece of speculative fiction. It’s not reportage, it’s not a prediction, and it’s not intended to describe, depict, or accuse any real political party, public figure, broadcaster, department, policy, or event. The policies, quotes, characters, and actions in this story are entirely invented for narrative purposes. What I’m trying to explore is how ordinary people — people like the characters you’ll meet — could end up accepting things we’d currently call unthinkable. Treat this as a near-future ghost story about economics, belonging, and what we’re willing to normalise when we’re scared.