If You Want To Create Something, Here Are 10 Books You Have To Read
The urge to create is a powerful motivator, whether you are dreaming of building a scalable software platform, or a digital-first business empire. At Amsterdam Tech, we believe that true creators are both learners and teachers who bridge the gap between “idea” and “execution”.
Our programs are designed to transform these conceptual foundations into industry-ready skills through a practice-based, experiential learning model. Here is how the wisdom of these 10 essential books comes to life within our community.
The Foundation: Mindset and Habit
- 1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey Covey’s focus on proactivity is the heartbeat of our self-leadership curriculum, where we use inquiry tools to help you surface personal assumptions and habits to improve your professional impact.
- 2. Atomic Habits by James Clear We translate the power of small gains into technical mastery; our coding bootcamps and weekly assignments are designed to build your “coding superpowers” through consistent, incremental practice.
- 3. Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish Parrish’s focus on decision-making under pressure is mirrored in our Action Research methodology, which trains you to use qualitative inquiry to design effective interventions in complex professional contexts.
- 4. Think Again by Adam Grant The art of rethinking is central to our peer-to-peer learning model, where students regularly share feedback in Town Halls and bimonthly sessions to challenge their own perspectives and evolve together.
The Blueprint: Strategy and Creation
- 5. Start With Why by Simon Sinek Sinek’s “Golden Circle” aligns with our weekly workshops, where facilitators don’t just teach the “how,” but help you define the “why” and “what if” behind every line of code or data model.
- 6. Zero to One by Peter Thiel Building something truly new requires an innovative and sustainable business mindset, a core competency we deliver through modules that teach you to balance innovation with long-term viability.
- 7. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries We put Ries’s philosophy into motion during our Agile Product Management and Agile Product Development modules, where you learn to build, validate, and iterate using agile roadmaps.
- 8. The Startup Owner’s Manual by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf Blank’s customer development process is brought to life in our final projects, where you apply structured research to solve real-world problems for organizations or your own freelance venture.
The Edge: Marketing and Artistic Influence
- 9. Growth Hacker Marketing by Ryan Holiday Holiday’s focus on data over traditional advertising is the core of our Growth Hacking module, which covers customer acquisition, conversion optimization, and leveraging automation for rapid growth.
- 10. Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon Kleon’s idea that nothing is completely original is reflected in our software experience tasks, where you learn by deconstructing and “rebuilding” world-class platforms like Slack, Skype, or Redis to understand their architecture.
Ready to Create?
Whether you are pursuing a B.Sc. in Data Science, a B.Sc. in AI and ML Engineering, or a Tech MBA, Amsterdam Tech provides the environment to turn the wisdom in these books into a career you love.
Join us and start building.