Every resource founders actually use, in one library.

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

1. Isenberg builds a fresh batch of concrete idea candidates on each episode, often mining Reddit threads, comment sections, and... Greg Isenberg Podcast · Ongoing, ~45 min episodes · Starting Up The Startup Ideas Podcast Greg Isenberg In 2 answers
2. A tarpit idea is one that looks easy and gets praise from everyone, yet has quietly killed hundreds of founders who tried it.... Y Combinator Library Video · ~20 min · Starting Up Tarpit Ideas: The Sequel Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel In 2 answers
3. Podcast · ~90 min · Starting Up Lessons from 1,000+ YC startups: tar pit ideas and pivoting Dalton Caldwell In 2 answers
4. A finance-grade reference for the actual formulas, with a calculator so you can sanity-check your TAM, SAM, and SOM arithmetic.... Wall Street Prep Tool · Starting Up Market Sizing: Formula and Calculator Wall Street Prep In 2 answers
5. Sanjay Swamy built mobile payments in India in 2006, roughly two generations before Aadhaar, smartphones, and UPI made them... Prime Venture Partners Podcast · 45 min · Starting Up Why mChek Failed Before UPI Took Over India (Sanjay Swamy on Building Too Early) Prime Venture Partners In 2 answers
6. The same argument as the essay, but spoken, if you would rather watch than read. Dixon walks through real markets that looked... Andreessen Horowitz Video · 4 min · Starting Up Why the Next Big Thing Will Look Like a Toy Chris Dixon In 2 answers
7. This is the most direct answer to your question from an investor who reads these slides for a living. It walks through why a... Underscore VC (Richard Dulude) Article · 12 min read · Starting Up How to Create a Compelling Market Size Slide (With Examples) Richard Dulude In 2 answers
8. A short India-focused primer on what a first pitch should cover, including where market size fits and how it shapes how much... Prime Venture Partners Article · 6 min read · Starting Up How to Pitch to a VC Prime Venture Partners In 2 answers
9. This is the single closest essay to your question. Evans argues that saying "that looks like a toy" or "people always said... Benedict Evans Essay · 12 min read · Starting Up Not even wrong: ways to predict technology Benedict Evans In 2 answers
10. Neumann applies Perez's framework to software to ask where we actually are in the cycle and what that means for which markets... Reaction Wheel Essay · 30 min read · Starting Up The Deployment Age Jerry Neumann In 2 answers
11. This is the cleanest walkthrough of building a market number from the ground up: count the real end users who fit your profile,... Disciplined Entrepreneurship (Bill Aulet, MIT) Article · Starting Up Calculate the TAM for Your Beachhead Market Bill Aulet In 2 answers
12. A clear summary of the Golder and Tellis research showing that pioneers failed far more often than fast followers who entered... ProductPlan Article · Starting Up The Myth of First-Mover Advantage ProductPlan In 2 answers
13. Blank shows that entering a new market, an existing one, or a resegmented niche demands completely different strategies, burn... steveblank.com Article · Starting Up Customer Development Manifesto: Market Type Steve Blank In 2 answers
14. This essay works through the why now for companies like Uber and Plaid, showing exactly which external shift (GPS economics, a... Tanay Jaipuria Essay · 12 min read · Starting Up Startups and Timing Tanay Jaipuria In 2 answers
15. A short, readable on-ramp to Perez's installation and deployment phases from an investor who uses the framework in practice. If... AVC (Fred Wilson) Article · 8 min read · Starting Up The Carlota Perez Framework Fred Wilson In 2 answers
16. A simple two-by-two for whether you are too early, too late, or on time, with examples for each box. It gives you plain... Gabor Cselle (Medium) Article · Starting Up The 4 Scenarios of Startup Timing Gabor Cselle In 2 answers
17. Manav Garg built Eka, one of India's first vertical SaaS companies serving a narrow, high value market, and here he reflects on... The Neon Show (Neon Fund), hosted by Siddhartha Ahluwalia Podcast · ~90 min · Starting Up B2B SaaS Founders Turned VCs Discuss Indian Software Startups (with Manav Garg) The Neon Show In 2 answers
18. This piece connects founder-market fit to the practical act of fundraising, where you have to say your why you out loud and... Forbes Article · 6 min read · Starting Up The Importance of Founder-Market Fit and How to Highlight It While Fundraising Jillian Canning In 2 answers
19. Graham argues the trait that best predicts founder success is being relentlessly resourceful, which is much of what 'why you'... paulgraham.com Essay · 5 min read · Starting Up Relentlessly Resourceful Paul Graham In 2 answers
20. Naval's idea of specific knowledge, the thing you cannot be trained for, is the sharpest lens on why you and not someone... The Almanack of Naval Ravikant Article · 6 min read · Starting Up Find and Build Specific Knowledge Naval Ravikant In 2 answers
21. Blakely built a product for a problem she experienced as a customer, with no industry background and no network in hosiery, and... NPR, How I Built This with Guy Raz Podcast · about 45 min · Starting Up How I Built This: Spanx, Sara Blakely Guy Raz In 2 answers
22. Alagh started from a problem she hit as a new mother in India, unable to find safe products for her son, and that specific... The Better India Article · Starting Up How Ghazal Alagh Built Mamaearth From a Mother's Concern The Better India In 2 answers
23. Field-tested fundraising lessons drawn from founders who raised billions in follow-on capital. It situates 'why you' inside the... First Round Review Article · ~20 min read · Starting Up The Fundraising Wisdom That Helped Our Founders Raise $18B in Follow-On Capital First Round Review In 2 answers
24. A plain explainer of the exact filter this question is about, with the signals investors read as founder/market fit. It is... The VC Corner Article · ~12 min read · Starting Up Founder-Market Fit: The #1 VC Filter You Didn't Know Was Judging You Ruben Dominguez, The VC Corner In 2 answers

Show the next 24