# StartUp by Jerry Kaplan

3 Hacker News commenters recommended StartUp by Jerry Kaplan and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a candid first-hand account of selling a startup, with forthright detail on hardware limits and the work of getting things done. No common caveat.

## Why people recommend it

- Candid account of selling a startup (1 comments): "Jerry Kaplan told the story in his book "Startup"." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47525519))
- Forthright on hardware limits and ingenuity (1 comments): "are quite striking and forthright in their discussion of hardware limitations and the ingenuity needed to get things done" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49559999))
- Praised as really good (1 comments): "This is really, really good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46937796))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams](https://hackerapproved.com/p/careless-people.md): 106 recommend
- [Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl](https://hackerapproved.com/p/man-s-search-for-meaning.md): 13 recommend
- [Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/surely-you-re-joking-mr-feynman.md): 11 recommend
- [Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london.md): 9 recommend
- [Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kitchen-confidential.md): 9 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0395711339?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780395711330) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "StartUp by Jerry Kaplan", https://hackerapproved.com/p/startup/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).