Paul Graham (might be a Jedi)

I dunno if he is quite the start-up Ninja, Jedi Master that my business partner thinks he is, and I'm not sure I'm ready to pony up the fan club membership fee, but he sure does write some pretty darn good stuff. In preparation for biz weekend I'm reading through a dozen or so of his essays. the list was picked out by Steve as the ones most likely to put all of us on the same page for our conversations this weekend. and so far they really are very good. whats kinda nice is the number of similarities so far. when talking with Brad and hearing 2nd hand accounts of the VCs and Startup guys in the valley, and now reading these essays, its nice to know there is a bunch of overlap. everyone has the same concerns and wants us to resolve the same issues. which is really very cool. I think I would be less confident in our support network if none of them could agree on anything, but right now I think its fantastic. In case you want someone new to stalk, the short list of must reads is (http://www.paulgraham.com/)):

• How Not To Die
• How To Be An Angle Investor
• How To Fund A Startup
• How To Present To Investors
• Ideas For Startups
• Ramen Profitable
• Relentlessly Resourceful
• The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups
• The Equity Equation
• The Hardest Lessons For Startups To Learn
• The Top Idea In Your Mind
• What Startups Are Really Like
• Why To Not Start A Startup