Every resource founders actually use, in one library.

What founders use most, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

1. Design tactics written specifically for developers and non-designers who need to ship good-looking UI without a design... refactoringui.com Book · ~250 pages · Starting Up Refactoring UI Adam Wathan & Steve Schoger In 11 answers
2. The most quoted essay on the mechanics of fundraising, distilled from YC Demo Day advice. It reframes fundraising as a sales... paulgraham.com Article · 45 min read · Starting Up How to Raise Money Paul Graham In 11 answers
3. The essay that explains why one badly-placed meeting can destroy a founder's entire day of building, and what to do about it.... paulgraham.com Article · short · Starting Up Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule Paul Graham In 11 answers
4. Most founders treat customer research as a one-time pre-launch exercise, then go quiet once the product ships. Torres makes the... Amazon Book · ~200 pages · Starting Up Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value Teresa Torres In 11 answers
5. This is the founder essay that made the case for validating before you build, from the person who did it with Buffer. Gascoigne... Medium (Joel Gascoigne, co-founder of Buffer) Essay · Starting Up How to successfully validate your idea with a Landing Page MVP Joel Gascoigne In 11 answers
6. If you are selling to companies rather than consumers, this is the specific playbook. Four concrete ways founders got signal... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~12 min read · Starting Up How to Validate Your B2B Startup Idea Lenny Rachitsky In 11 answers
7. A rare account of the specific moments a GTM changed shape, from narrowing to cold email agencies, to reversing the demo, to... First Round Review Article · ~25 min read · GTM The GTM Inflection Points That Powered Clay to a $1B+ Valuation Varun Anand In 11 answers
8. The whole 400 page book is readable free chapter by chapter, written specifically for founders and first-time sellers rather... foundingsales.com Book · full book, free online · GTM Founding Sales: the early stage go-to-market handbook Pete Kazanjy In 11 answers
9. The reference explanation of all eight letters from the people who own the methodology, free to read. Use it as a deal... MEDDICC Article · long read · GTM MEDDIC / MEDDPICC Sales Methodology and Process MEDDICC In 11 answers
10. Benchmarks from 500 plus products: 34 percent average, 36 percent for SaaS. If you have ever wondered whether your number is... Lenny's Newsletter Article · 12 min read · GTM What is a good activation rate Lenny Rachitsky and Yuriy Timen In 11 answers
11. The clearest short explanation of why market category is one of five interdependent positioning pieces, with a real... aprildunford.com Article · 12 min read · GTM A Quickstart Guide to Positioning April Dunford In 11 answers
12. The clearest short piece on how to think about giving up and holding equity, and why a smaller slice of a bigger outcome is the... paulgraham.com Essay · Wealth The Equity Equation Paul Graham In 11 answers
13. The clearest, calmest case ever written for low cost index investing and leaving it alone. Global, but the mindset travels... jlcollinsnh.com Essay · Wealth The Stock Series JL Collins In 11 answers
14. A Wharton professor's regular guide: any free model for low-stakes questions, ChatGPT or Claude for real work, and where... oneusefulthing.org Article · How Founders Use AI An opinionated guide to which AI to use to do stuff Ethan Mollick (One Useful Thing) In 11 answers
15. Julian Shapiro's growth handbook frames brand and messaging as downstream of who you're for and what you replace, practical... julian.com Article · 20 min read · Starting Up Positioning (Startup Handbook: brand and marketing foundations) Julian Shapiro In 10 answers
16. The research-backed classic on consultative selling, the antidote to 'pushy salesperson' instincts. Its... McGraw-Hill Book · book (~200 pages) · Starting Up SPIN Selling Neil Rackham In 10 answers
17. The definitive, brutally honest account of 'The Struggle', the emotional and operational reality of running a company when... HarperBusiness Book · long · Starting Up The Hard Thing About Hard Things Ben Horowitz In 10 answers
18. Written by a clinical psychologist married to a serial entrepreneur, it pairs real psychological expertise with lived founder... sherrywalling.com Book · long · Starting Up The Entrepreneur's Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together Dr. Sherry Walling & Rob Walling In 10 answers
19. The official explainer of the concrete money DPIIT-recognised startups get on IP, an 80% patent-fee rebate, 50% trademark-fee... Government of India (startupindia.gov.in) Article · ~10 min read · Starting Up Startup India, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Benefits & SIPP Scheme DPIIT / Startup India In 10 answers
20. This is the canonical piece that put jobs to be done on the map, written by the people who coined it. It uses the famous... Harvard Business Review Article · ~20 min read · Starting Up Know Your Customers' Jobs to Be Done Clayton Christensen et al. In 10 answers
21. Once you know your curve should flatten, the next question is where it should flatten, and this piece answers it with concrete... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~10 min read · Starting Up What is good retention? Lenny Rachitsky In 10 answers
22. GST is the single compliance item a solo founder most often gets wrong, either registering too late or not knowing the... ClearTax Article · 18 min read · Starting Up GST Registration: Thresholds, Documents, Process, and Penalties ClearTax In 10 answers
23. Blomfield (founder of Monzo and GoCarchless, now a YC partner) gives the concrete mechanics of closing that first B2B deal:... Y Combinator Startup Library Article · 25 min read · Starting Up The Sales Playbook for Founders Tom Blomfield In 10 answers
24. The book that coined get out of the building and launched the customer development movement. Blank's core claim is that a... Wiley Book · Starting Up The Four Steps to the Epiphany Steve Blank In 10 answers

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