Explore / Team and operations
Area 09 of 13
Team and operations
Co-founders, first hires, payroll, culture, and the everyday software a small team runs on.
164 answers From Starting Up, D2C, GTM, and How Founders Use AI Searched most: small business software, productivity apps, project management
Starting Up113 answers
Finding a co-founder
18
- Where do I actually find a co-founder if I don't already know one?
- Do I actually need a co-founder, or can I go solo?
- What should I look for in a co-founder, and what are red flags?
- Should I co-found with a friend or family member?
- How do I 'date' a potential co-founder before committing?
Co-founder agreements & equity
22
- What is a shareholders' agreement, and what should it include?
- What is a cap table, and how do I keep one?
- How does startup equity work for founders and employees?
- How should co-founders split equity fairly?
- What is vesting and why do I need a vesting schedule?
Hiring your first employees
26
- How do I write an employment contract for an employee in India?
- How do I let an employee go legally and fairly in India?
- How is gratuity calculated in India, and when must an employer pay it?
- What should an offer letter include, and is there a format I can use?
- How do I calculate CTC and in-hand salary when I hire in India?
Culture, remote & operations
22
- How do I run performance reviews in a small company?
- How do I set OKRs for my team?
- How do I find a good coworking space in my city in India?
- How do I run payroll for a small team in India?
- What tools does a 5 to 20 person startup actually need, and what am I overspending on?
Team, productivity & everyday office tools
25
- Which software does a small business actually need?
- Which note-taking app should I use?
- Which email signature generator should I use?
- Which mind mapping app should I use?
- Which time tracking software should a freelancer, consultant or small team use?
D2C7 answers
Building your D2C team
7
- What are the first 5-10 hires a D2C founder should make, and in what order?
- Should my first marketing hire be a generalist or a specialist - performance marketer vs brand marketer?
- When do I need to hire an operations or supply chain person instead of doing it myself?
- How do I hire well on a tight budget before I've raised real money?
- Where do I actually find good D2C talent in India, and what should I pay?
GTM33 answers
Hiring and ramping GTM people
17
- How do I build a sales team from scratch?
- When do I stop selling myself and hire my first salesperson?
- What does a good first sales hire actually look like, and what should I not fall for?
- I have been offered the first sales hire job at a startup. What should I check before I say yes?
- How do I interview a salesperson when I have never sold for a living?
Comp, quotas and territory
16
- I have been handed a comp plan. How do I work out what I will actually earn?
- What do OTE, pay mix, accelerator, draw and clawback actually mean?
- I am a founder writing my first sales comp plan. What is the simplest thing that works?
- What is a fair quota for my first rep when we have no history to go on?
- How do I set quotas that most of the team can actually hit?
How Founders Use AI11 answers
Productivity
5
- Is Notion AI worth it, and what can it do?
- Which AI tool helps write and format documents?
- Why let AI handle meeting notes, action items, and follow-ups (Granola, Fathom, Fireflies)?
- How do founders get to inbox-zero with AI email tools (Superhuman AI, Gemini, Shortwave)?
- What does a founder's AI-powered daily operating system look like?
On the AI mapAs of 29 October 2026
- No-code automation with AI stepsTools that connect your apps into workflows that run on their own, with AI steps or agents in the middle to read, sort, write or decide. 5 tools
- Meeting notes and everyday productivityTools that take notes in your meetings, write the summary and action items, and help with email, documents and your calendar. 7 tools
- Hiring and HRThese tools find candidates, write outreach, screen applications and take interview notes, so a small team can hire faster. 5 tools
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