30 books also shouldn't take you too long. If you devote yourself to reading full-time, it should be between 10 days and 2 weeks. If you read them at a more leisurely pace (subway time, before bed, waiting for dinner to cook, other downtime), it might take you 3 months or so. Either way, the benefits - particularly with this set of books - far outweighs the costs.
(If anyone cares, I've read 12 out of the 30 on this list, and am hoping to get more out when I visit the library this afternoon.)
To some degree, I think this trait deals with a desire to have all possible knowledge prior to taking a decision. However, at times, that sort of 'maximizing' behavior is counterproductive when compared with someone who gathers 'enough' information, and plunges ahead.
I think a lot of the problem is that people are mentally adding "before you start your startup" to the title, when nobody's actually said so. There's no such thing as "prepared enough" to start a company; you learn what you can and prepare as best you can, then just do it and clean up your messes along the way. The books above will probably help, and some may change how you position your initial idea, but it's not gonna kill you to read them after getting started.
how many weeks do you think he took off to read while microsoft was still a startup?