Rules of the Game

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1. jppopeDec 2025
   I spent the first chunk of my career doing sales (2nd half spent in software engineering). Theres a lot of good books out there but you're going to find a lot of the direct advice to be non-applicable (as I'm sure you can pick up from the comments). Most of the Literature out there is directed at professional sales people, who for the most part are non-technical, have the backing of a marketing org, and are also different than a founder. Anyway, heres a reading list. Most of the trainings I've been a part of were custom built to the org or market, and frankly I learned more from Rules of the Game by Neil Strauss. I did enjoy "the Wedge" training by Randy Schwantz... that one you should do the video not the book. It also sounds like you could use some marketing stuff so I'll throw some of that in there too.

   In no particular order, and please keep in mind this is off the top of my head:

   * Influence (the classic)

   * YC videos (e.g. https://youtu.be/0fKYVl12VTA?si=I9uylXSRyOf1nXRv, https://youtu.be/DH7REvnQ1y4?si=Ke858PmaaBr5ar-e, https://youtu.be/hyYCn_kAngI?si=sO_co6kbDaNn3cql, etc)

   * Thinking Fast and Slow

   * Purple Cow

   * Clayton Christensen stuff

   * Spin Selling

   * Challenger Sale

   * Guerrilla marketing (for the mental muscle)

   * Jeffrey Gitomer (basic but useful)

   * Lean Startup (for positioning)

   * Charisma Myth

   * Minimalist Entrepreneur (bits and pieces)

   * The presentation secrets of steve jobs (just a good book on presentations, framed around Steve Jobs to sell more)

   For what its worth this question comes up fairly often. It seems like technical people would like a "technical people" guide on how to do Sales and marketing. Does that sound useful to anyone?

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2. jppopeMay 2019
   - SPIN selling

   - The Challenger Sale

   - The Little Red Book of Sales

   - The Charisma Myth

   - Rules of the Game (Neil Strauss... and yes it is also a sales book)

   - Secrets of Closing the Sale (transactional sales, but still fun)

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3. barry-cotterApr 2010
   Ones I've read The Game, Rules of the Game

   Ones I haven't read but have read much by the author that's good Bang, by RooshV

   Just haven't read, Mystery Method, Magic Bullets

   Uber misogynistic blogposts: Roissy in Dc Very misogynistic blog: Rooshv Sort of clinical blog : The Man Who Is Thursday

   reddit.com/r/seduction is okay too

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4. barry-cotterApr 2010
   Ones I've read The Game, Rules of the Game

   Ones I haven't read but have read much by the author that's good Bang, by RooshV

   Just haven't read, Mystery Method, Magic Bullets

   Uber misogynistic blogposts: Roissy in Dc Very misogynistic blog: Rooshv Sort of clinical blog : The Man Who Is Thursday

   reddit.com/r/seduction is okay too

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5. jgrahamcMay 2010
   I agree about this. After I read "The Game" and "Rules of The Game" by Neil Strauss (which are about being a pick-up artist) I took away the lesson that the hardest part (at least for me) was walking up to strangers and talking to them. It was amazingly liberating to do it, however. What I do is ask them some question that they could plausibly answer as a way to starting a conversation. I have had very, very, very few bad reactions.
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6. typedef_voidMar 2010
   After reading 48 Laws of Power, I started seeing interactions between 1) others & myself, 2) others & others in a completely different light. There were these mental "hooks" I could analyze human interactions through.

   Neil Strauss's "Rules of the Game" did something similar.

   I'm currently reading Robin Baker's "Sperm Wars" and it's again showing me human interactions through a new light.

   So, HN: what are the books that presented new theories / ideas on human nature that has changed the way you view / analyze human interactions?

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