Exploding Eyeballs

I like to read, I really do.  Luckily, I read pretty quickly because I have a neverending list of things I'd like to read.  But right now, the list is growing exponentially and I'm a little concerned that my eyeballs may explode. 

I just finished reading "The Chaos Imperative" by Ori Brafman, which gave me some really great ideas on the importance of the subconscious problem-solving process and on the power of mixing various disciplines together (science and philosophy, math and music, etc.)  I love reading books like "Blink" or, really, anything by Malcolm Gladwell, "Contagious," "The Power of Habit," or pretty much any book that takes a bunch of research and weaves it into a powerful narrative.

But now it's time to get down to work.  So I've started reading "The Startup Owner's Manual" by Steve Blank, recommended by my team mentor.  Assigned, actually...an hour a day of required reading.  Isn't it funny how I'll happily read for three hours and feel like it's a luxury, but if it's assigned it feels a bit like a burden? 

And that's not the worst part...the problem is that it's the kind of heavy reading that requires slow consumption because I'm going to be actually applying it, plus I have to put it down every five minutes because I've thought of an idea for my website, or the Customer Discovery Survey, or the startup team, or the blog, or a part of the project that won't even be implemented for another five years.

To top it all off, the class lecture I watched today had even more great things to check out.  Most of these are probably on the recommended reading list in the class syllabus, but I'm also making a list of them here just so I have some sort of  plan for tackling them.  This list also includes other sites I've flagged but haven't had a chance to devour yet.

http://www.startupgenome.co/
http://theleanstartup.com/
http://ycombinator.com/
http://steveblank.com/
http://humbledmba.com/
https://www.leanlaunchlab.com/
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-raise-a-seed-round-for-your-startup-2014-2#-1
http://redrocketvc.blogspot.com/2012/10/lesson-124-vesting-of-founders-stock.html
http://fundersandfounders.com/how-funding-works-splitting-equity/

It's a bit overwhelming really, especially if you stop by the Steve Blank website and look at the list of recommended reading.  PERFECT.  So in about ten years, when I get done reading all of those books, all the mistakes I'm about to make will just be that much more painful.

So here's my plan.  I'm going to focus on reading the top book in each category and hope that I'll glean enough knowledge and wisdom that I can avoid the really HUGE mistakes and try not to worry too much about all the little ones from which it's totally possible to recover; that I will know enough to pick out the right business partners, employees, consultants and investors; and that I gain enough perspective to map out a plan that's super agile but has an eye to the future so we don't just wander in circles. 

And on top of all this reading, I'm working on Customer Development, website design, and class projects, which likely means my DVR is going to overflow with unwatched shows and I'll have to hire a housekeeper so my floors don't become an obstacle course. 

But don't worry, that's nothing:  I know it will get far worse once we actually start working on this full time.  I've been through this before when we made the first website and started the school to test it out.  I see you, hundred hour work weeks.  I see you looming out there on the horizon.  And I'm coming to get you. 

Bring it on, revamp.