Co-founders, team & legal

Find a co-founder, split equity, hire your first people, and set up cleanly.

What founders use for co-founders, team & legal, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. This is the 'why does nobody read our handbook' guide, and it names the real failure mode: fewer than 1 in 20 docs get updated... Slite Article · 15 min read Internal Documentation: How to Build Docs Your Team Actually Reads Slite
  2. This is the anti-overspend stack argued out loud: Google Workspace, Notion free, Google Chat, Canva free, one accounting tool,... Medium Article · 9 min read The SaaS Tools I'd Give Every New Startup on Day One Jackki Ashgrove
  3. This is the India-specific answer to which HR and payroll tools founders actually run: it names Keka, Zoho People, and... Razorpay Rize Article · 14 min read HR Policies: Best Practices For Start-Ups In India Razorpay Rize
  4. This is the exact 'replace gut-feel culture fit with a scored values interview' playbook your answer describes. It hands you a... First Round Review Article · 20 min read Develop Your Hiring System Like a Product to Eliminate Bias and Boost Retention First Round Review (interview with Ashley Williams, ex-SendGrid engineering leader)
  5. This is your ready-made behavioral question bank, built around seven traits (grit, rigor, impact, teamwork, ownership,... First Round Review Article · 18 min read Hire a Top Performer Every Time with These Interview Questions First Round Review (featuring Kristen Hamilton, Koru)
  6. This names the exact trap in the Indian hiring context: 'culture fit' becomes a socially acceptable filter on surname, region,... Business Today Article · 5 min read Companies hire for comfort: startup founder slams flawed recruitment culture in India that stifles innovation Business Today (reporting founder Amit Gupta)
  7. Rachitsky ran 50-plus reviews at Airbnb and turned it into a Prepare, Deliver, Follow-up system he explicitly says is for... First Round Review Article · 20 min read The Power of Performance Reviews: Use This System to Become a Better Manager Lenny Rachitsky
  8. This is the founder-sized version of Radical Candor: a four-step order of operations (Get, Give, Gauge, Encourage) that starts... Radical Candor Article · 15 min read How to Get and Give Feedback Using the Radical Candor Order of Operations Kim Scott (Radical Candor team)
  9. Written by a manager who has actually done it, so it reads like a playbook, not theory: prep your talking points in bullets,... Medium (The Innovation) Article · 9 min read How to Fire Someone With Dignity Shannon Z
  10. The India-specific money mechanics of an exit, laid out by a payroll company that processes them daily. It itemizes exactly... Razorpay Article · 12 min read Full and Final Settlement (FnF): All You Need to Know Razorpay Payroll
  11. This is the honest post-mortem, not the launch hype. Buffer ran fully public salaries for a decade (17 to 75 people) and this... Buffer Article · 15 min read Reflecting on a Decade of Transparent Salaries at Buffer Courtney Seiter and the Buffer team
  12. The definitive playbook for saying hard news first and plainly. Steinberg (People lead at Sennder, ex-Zynga/Facebook) is... First Round Review Article · 20 min read How to Lead and Rally a Company Through a Layoff Beth Steinberg (interviewed by First Round)
  13. Salary transparency made real in the Indian ecosystem: named founder comp across 65 founders at 37 companies. It shows the... Inc42 Article · 12 min read Founder Salaries Tracker FY25: How Much Did Startup Founders Earn? Inc42 Data Labs
  14. GitLab runs 2,000+ people across 60+ countries with zero headquarters, so their handbook is the closest thing to a field manual... The GitLab Handbook Article · 45 min read GitLab's Guide to All-Remote GitLab
  15. This is a real, published pay formula, not opinion: Salary = (SF 50th-percentile benchmark x cost-of-living multiplier x role... Buffer Article · 15 min read The Next Evolution of Transparent Salaries: Our Remote-First Formula and Salary Calculator Buffer
  16. Before you lock in location-based bands, read the honest case against them: this lays out where cost-of-living pay breeds... Sifted Article · 10 min read Should you earn less because you live somewhere cheaper? Sifted
  17. This is the primary source, not a blog summary of it, and it does both jobs your answer needs in about two pages: the one-way... Amazon (aboutamazon.com) Essay · 12 min read 2016 Letter to Shareholders (High-Velocity Decision Making) Jeff Bezos
  18. Written by a two-time exited founder who now coaches CEOs, this maps almost exactly onto our answer: split business focus... Matt Munson (2x exited founder, CEO coach) Essay · 14 min read How to Plan a Great Team Offsite Matt Munson
  19. This is the missing India cost context: real rupee numbers for a distributed team that can drive out of Mumbai instead of... StayVista Journal Article · 12 min read Corporate Offsite Destinations Near Mumbai: Where to Go, What to Spend and How to Plan StayVista Editorial
  20. This breaks down the four things you will run monthly (TDS under Section 192, PF via UAN, ESI for sub-21,000 wages, PT capped... Razorpay Article · 15 min read Payroll Compliance: PF, ESI, PT and TDS Explained RazorpayX Payroll
  21. POSH is the compliance founders skip until a complaint or a diligence checklist forces it, and this is a clean, dedicated... greytHR Article · 12 min read POSH Act Explained: Full Form, Meaning and Compliance Guide greytHR
  22. Doist runs a 100+ person team across every time zone with 80-90% of communication written, and this piece is their playbook... Doist / Twist Article · 18 min read Asynchronous Communication: The Real Reason Why Remote Workers Are More Productive Doist
  23. Newport diagnoses exactly why distributed teams end up always waiting on the founder: the hyperactive hive mind of ad hoc Slack... calnewport.com Essay · 12 min read On Productivity and Remote Work Cal Newport
  24. This is the government's own checklist, so it settles the entity question straight: Pvt Ltd if you plan to raise (investors... Startup India Article · 12 min read Legal and Regulatory Checklist for Startups in India Startup India (DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry)

Show the next 24

The questions

Finding a co-founder 18

Pick a partner as carefully as a spouse.

Do I actually need a co-founder, or can I go solo? 3 → Where do I actually find a co-founder if I don't already know one? 2 → What should I look for in a co-founder, and what are red flags? 3 → Should I co-found with a friend or family member? 2 → How do I 'date' a potential co-founder before committing? 3 → All 18 questions in Finding a co-founder →
Co-founder agreements & equity 18

Split fairly, vest always, write it down.

How should co-founders split equity fairly? 2 → What is vesting and why do I need a vesting schedule? 2 → Should I use a dynamic equity split like Slicing Pie instead of fixed percentages? 2 → What must go into a co-founder / founders' agreement in India? 2 → How much equity should I set aside for an ESOP pool for employees? 2 → All 18 questions in Co-founder agreements & equity →
Hiring your first employees 18

Your first ten hires are your culture.

When should I make my first hire? 2 → How do I hire my first engineer when nobody's heard of my startup? 2 → What kind of people should my first ten hires be? 3 → Should I hire full-time employees, contractors, or an agency first? 2 → How do I compensate early employees with salary and equity in India? 3 → All 18 questions in Hiring your first employees →
Culture, remote & operations 18

Build how you work before it breaks.

How do I build company culture intentionally from day one? 3 → Should my startup be remote, hybrid, or in-office? 2 → How do I run a remote team without endless meetings and burnout? 3 → What operating cadence and rituals should an early team have? 3 → How do I avoid burning out my small team while still moving fast? 3 → All 18 questions in Culture, remote & operations →
Incorporation & legal setup 18

Set up the entity right (US & India).

When should I actually incorporate my startup? 3 → Should I incorporate as a Delaware C-corp or an Indian Pvt Ltd? 3 → How do I incorporate a Delaware C-corp as a non-US or first-time founder? 2 → How do I register a Private Limited Company in India? 2 → What is DPIIT / Startup India recognition and is it worth getting? 2 → All 18 questions in Incorporation & legal setup →
IP, licenses & regulatory 22

Protect your idea, stay legal to sell.

How do I protect my idea when I have to share it to get it built? 3 → Can I protect my idea with a patent or an NDA before I launch? 3 → When is an NDA actually worth it, and when is it just theatre? 2 → Trademark vs patent vs copyright, which one do I actually need? 3 → How do I check if my brand name is free, and how do I trademark it in India? 2 → All 22 questions in IP, licenses & regulatory →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →