Military Veteran Entrepreneur / Small Business Loadout

LT Sean McIntosh — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 11:34:31 -0400

Before each block of training that my platoon would start, I would always talk with our training cadre and put together a "loadout" list of personal and platoon gear that we would be responsible for on day one. I have been putting together what I call a military veteran startup loadout list of books and software to use. Here is part of the list, contact me for more info

Books
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
The Startup Owners Manual by Steve Blank
The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

Software
Sprout Social - social media management software
Foundersuite - startup online toolkit and investor CRM
Wrike - program management software for teams

I would love to hear others suggestions.

I highly suggest any veteran considering entrepreneur block off an entire day and read as much as you can on SteveBlank.com - then read it again!

Response by MAJ Gregory M. made Sep 10 at 2014 12:05 PM

MAJ Gregory M. — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 12:05:09 -0400

I have tried a number of software packages while starting my own business, Google, Wix, Wordpress, Quickbooks... believe it or not I believe the best one is Microsoft Office 365. I would recommend anyone starting a business get an Office 365 small business license as one of your first purchases. That's one of our core focuses at VetFoundry, which is a non-profit we are starting to help veterans start their own businesses.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 9 at 2015 3:47 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 15:47:52 -0400

Sean, great list. I also recommend resources to entrepreneurs. There are so many out there that guiding via recommendations seems to have a lot of value.

Bob Moran
venturedad.us

Response by SFC Joseph McCausland made Feb 6 at 2016 3:55 PM

SFC Joseph McCausland — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 15:55:54 -0500

I would like to add - The Prior-Service Entrepreneur by Michael I. Kaplan. You can find it on Amazon Books.. The numerous comments of those who read the book supports its 5 star rating.