Every resource founders actually use, in one library.

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

1. A Hustle Fund investor who reads hundreds of cold emails walks through, line by line, what makes her actually reply versus... Elizabeth Yin Essay · 5 min read · Starting Up How to write a cold-email Elizabeth Yin In 2 answers
2. Dunford, who wrote the book on product positioning, breaks down how to build a pitch around the buyer's specific situation... Lenny's Newsletter Article · Starting Up How to build a killer sales pitch April Dunford In 2 answers
3. Steli Efti has run and coached thousands of SaaS demos, and this is the clearest single write-up of what separates a demo that... Close (Steli Efti) Article · Starting Up A Guide to Sales Demos That Sell Close (Steli Efti) In 2 answers
4. Gong analyzed over 67,000 recorded sales demos and found the actual, measurable habits of the ones that closed, not opinion.... Gong Labs Article · Starting Up Effective strategies for conducting successful sales demos Gong Labs In 2 answers
5. Written specifically to answer this question, pulling together response-rate curves across follow-up counts so you can see... Instantly Article · Starting Up How Many Times Should You Really Follow Up with a Prospect? Instantly In 2 answers
6. This breaks down how early sales teams actually build and work a target account list, including how to find contact information... First Round Review Article · 12 min read · Starting Up Designing Your Sales Stack so that Customers Come to You Max Altschuler and Jorge Soto In 2 answers
7. A bootstrapped founder's step by step account of building a short list of exactly-fit prospects and personally emailing each... Indie Hackers Thread · 10 min read · Starting Up How to get your first 10 customers with cold email William Paul In 2 answers
8. Josh Braun walks through building one specific cold email for one specific, well-chosen prospect, showing exactly why a message... Josh Braun Article · 8 min read · Starting Up Let's Write a Good Cold Email Josh Braun In 2 answers
9. This is a practical, step by step walkthrough with real before and after examples of cold emails, useful when you want a... Woodpecker Article · 12 min read · Starting Up How to Write a Cold Email: 6 Steps + Templates Woodpecker In 2 answers
10. Jason Lemkin is the investor on the other end of the email, walking through two real cold emails he actually funded and... SaaStr (Jason Lemkin) Article · Starting Up 2 Cold Emails I Funded For Millions SaaStr (Jason Lemkin) In 2 answers
11. Josh Braun makes a living teaching sales teams to write first lines that could not be pasted into anyone else's inbox, which is... Josh Braun Essay · 5 min read · Starting Up Killer Cold Email Opening Lines Josh Braun In 2 answers
12. This gives you an actual repeatable process (research, write, move on) instead of vague advice to do your homework, which is... Lavender Article · 8 min read · Starting Up How to Build a Cold Email Personalization Process Will Allred In 2 answers
13. Carlos Espinal is a seed investor who reads cold pitches for a living, and this essay lays out exactly what he needs in the... Medium Essay · ~8 min read · Starting Up The Art of the Cold Outreach for Founders Carlos E. Espinal In 2 answers
14. Gong analyzed over 100,000 real cold calls to find what actually correlates with booking a meeting, so this is data, not... Gong Article · 12 min read · Starting Up Essential Cold Calling Tips: 17 Proven Techniques for Success Chris Orlob In 2 answers
15. A comprehensive, practical walkthrough of the whole interview process, recruiting, scripting, running, and synthesizing, from a... User Interviews Article · Starting Up The Ultimate Guide to Doing Kickass Customer Interviews User Interviews In 2 answers
16. This is a catalogue of the specific ways founders sabotage their own sessions, including talking too much, asking hypothetical... Nielsen Norman Group Article · Starting Up Why User Interviews Fail Nielsen Norman Group In 2 answers
17. This explains why people behave differently the instant they know you're watching, which is the deeper reason your own presence... Nielsen Norman Group Article · Starting Up The Hawthorne Effect or Observer Bias in User Research Nielsen Norman Group In 2 answers
18. This lays out the practical mechanics of a feedback session, including being neutral when you present the prototype and... Interaction Design Foundation Article · Starting Up Test Your Prototypes: How to Gather Feedback and Maximize Learning Interaction Design Foundation In 2 answers
19. Wilcox gives you a literal five question script built entirely around a recent problem, not your product, which is exactly the... Justin Wilcox, Customer Development Labs Essay · Starting Up How I Interview Customers Justin Wilcox In 2 answers
20. A two minute companion to the longer HBR piece above, this is the one line version of our short answer you can forward to... Harvard Business Review Article · Starting Up Instead of Surveying Your Customers, Interview Them Harvard Business Review In 2 answers
21. This is the clearest playbook for show, don't ask. The five day structure ends with a rough, facade-level prototype in front of... Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz Book · ~280 pages · Starting Up Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days Jake Knapp In 2 answers
22. A broader companion to the leading questions piece, this covers the shape of a whole interview, from opening rapport to the... Nielsen Norman Group Article · 10 minute read · Starting Up Interviewing Users Jakob Nielsen In 2 answers
23. Young pushes past surface level feedback into a customer's actual reasoning and guiding principles, which matters once you are... indiyoung.com Book · 250 pages · Starting Up Time to Listen Indi Young In 2 answers
24. Julian Shapiro's handbook makes the growth marketer's case for a narrow ICP: going broad invites a competitor to pick off your... julian.com Essay · 30 min read · Starting Up Startup Handbook Julian Shapiro In 2 answers

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