Best books on scaling your startup workforce
Eight books hold up for people scaling a team: High Output Management, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Radical Candor, Measure What Matters, Scaling Up, The Making of a Manager, Who and No Rules Rules. If you read only one, start with High Output Management. Each entry below says who it suits.
The best books for scaling a team are the ones written by people who had to do it. These eight are practical, widely read and still useful. If you only read one, start with High Output Management.
| Book | Author | Best for | Read it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Output Management | Andy Grove | Running meetings, one-to-ones and a team's output | You manage managers |
| The Hard Thing About Hard Things | Ben Horowitz | Tough calls such as layoffs, firing and a company in trouble | Things are going badly |
| Radical Candor | Kim Scott | Giving direct feedback while still caring about the person | You are avoiding a hard conversation |
| Measure What Matters | John Doerr | Setting goals with OKRs, with real examples | Teams are busy but misaligned |
| Scaling Up | Verne Harnish | A framework covering people, strategy, execution and cash | You are growing past 50 people |
| The Making of a Manager | Julie Zhuo | A first-time manager's daily work | Your best individual contributor just became a manager |
| Who | Geoff Smart and Randy Street | A structured way to hire | You are hiring for key roles |
| No Rules Rules | Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer | How Netflix runs on freedom and responsibility | You want to rethink policies and approvals |
How to get value from them
Reading all eight in a month will not help. Pick the one that matches your current problem, and finish it with a list of two or three things you will change in the next 30 days. Share it with your managers, so the whole team uses the same words.
A note on fit
Several of these come from large US technology companies, so copy the principle and not the policy. Netflix's approach to leave and expenses, for example, depends on a very high trust and hiring bar. An Indian manufacturer with piece-rate workers needs clear rules, a dependable payroll and a fair attendance system first. Build those, then loosen up.
Where the HR side fits
Most of these books are about managers and culture. The unglamorous parts of scaling, such as payroll accuracy, statutory filings and leave records, also need an owner. If your team spends days each month reconciling spreadsheets, fix that alongside the reading.
Written by
HR Manager, Airwix Technologies (Sleet)
Nihit Dobariya is the HR Manager at Airwix Technologies in Ahmedabad, where he runs HR and payroll for the team behind Sleet. He writes about payroll, PF and ESIC, professional tax, the labour codes and everyday HR practice for Indian employers, and checks each rule against the official notification before it is published.
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