Starting Up

The resources founders actually use.

Every essay, video, podcast, book and tool behind 1,046 answered founder questions, in one place, each with a note on why it is here.

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

  1. If you are tempted to get all 10 customers at once with a launch, this piece sets honest expectations using survey data from... Indie Hackers Article · ~8 min read What Results Can You Expect from a Product Hunt Launch? Vasyl Holiney
  2. This is the tactical playbook for actually doing what the framing essays recommend: pick one city and one vertical, then... Sharetribe Marketplace Academy Article · Article, roughly 12 to 15 minutes Focus your marketplace on one city and one vertical Juho Makkonen (Sharetribe)
  3. Where the Altman essay tells you why retention matters, this one gets concrete about the first weeks: it argues churn... Appcues Article · ~15 min read How to reduce customer churn: a 3-stage SaaS retention framework Katryna Balboni
  4. A plain, practical breakdown of what a soft launch is actually for (testing, feedback, fixing before the crowd shows up) versus... The LaunchPad Agency Article · Approx 10 minute read What is a Soft Launch vs. a Hard Launch? A Comprehensive Guide Sean Angus
  5. Before you tweak the page again, this gives you a concrete test to check whether it even communicates. You show someone the... Maze Article · ~10 min read Five-Second Testing: Step-by-Step Guide + Example Maze
  6. The embarrassment you feel comes from thinking a launch is a one time coronation, and this piece quietly dismantles that. Arvid... The Bootstrapped Founder Essay · Long read (full interview essay), about 25 minutes Marc Louvion, Becoming a Product Launch Beast Arvid Kahl
  7. The fix for feeling repetitive is giving each launch a genuinely different reason to exist, and this guide lays out that menu... Appcues Article · Long guide, about 20 to 25 minutes The Ultimate Guide to Product Launches Appcues
  8. This is the balanced take you want before you decide: a waitlist can be a real growth lever or it can be a black hole where... Venture Curator Article What's a Good Waitlist Conversion Rate (and How to Increase Yours) Sahil S
  9. Before you copy a waitlist because everyone else has one, read Arvid Kahl's honest counterpoint on manufactured scarcity. His... The Bootstrapped Founder Essay Artificial Scarcity Damages the Creator Economy Arvid Kahl
  10. Most launch-post advice stays abstract. This one hands you the actual artifact: a full maker's first comment written in plain,... DEV Community Article The Product Hunt Launch Playbook That Actually Works (With a Real Example) Atlas Whoff
  11. The fastest way to end a loud-versus-quiet argument is to stop debating taste and agree on the trigger that says you are... Entrepreneur Article · 6 min read 5 Signs Your Startup Is Ready to Launch Colin C. Campbell
  12. Where Kleon gives you the mindset, this gives you the structure: how to spread a launch across a sequence of messages over days... Prefinery Article · about a 10 minute read How to Create a Product Launch Email Drip Series for a Successful Pre Launch Abdul Wahab
  13. This lays out the practical etiquette for exactly your worry: how to ask without overdrawing the people who show up for you.... Founder Institute Article · Short read (about 8 minutes) 9 Tips for Startup Founders to Build A Stronger Network Maria Dykstra
  14. Baehr's point is that founders who only reach out when they need something are digging a well during a drought. The fix is... Harvard Business Review Essay · Short read (about 6 minutes) Startups Need Relationships Before They Ask for Money Evan Baehr
  15. This is the clearest walk-through of the exact move you are worried about: doing the autopsy on why the first launch flopped,... Neil Patel Essay · About a 12 minute read How to Recover From a Failed Product Launch Anja Skrba (Neil Patel blog)
  16. This is the practical bridge between the mindset and the math when there is no competitor to price against: it says stop... Software Pricing Partners Article · Article, ~15 min read Value-Based Pricing Strategy: What It Actually Takes in B2B SaaS Chris Mele
  17. This is the piece to read first because it answers the real fear behind your question: how do I keep following up without... HubSpot Article · ~15 min read 16 Sales Follow-Up Email Templates and When to Send Them HubSpot
  18. This is the book that made MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain, Champion) a... Amazon Book The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO John McMahon
  19. This is the cleanest answer to your exact question: Weinberg argues you should give roughly half your attention to getting... The Founders' Tribune (excerpt from the book Traction) Essay · ~10 min read The 50 Percent Rule Gabriel Weinberg
  20. This is the clearest side-by-side of free trial, freemium, and paid pilot we found, and it refuses to answer with a gut call.... DEV Community Article · 12 min read How to Choose Between Free Trial, Freemium, and Paid Pilot (Without Guessing) Mohammed Ali Chherawalla
  21. Tracking deals only helps if the stages actually mean something, and this guide walks through what each stage represents and... HubSpot Blog Article Sales Pipeline Stages: What to Look For at Each Stage HubSpot
  22. If pitching yourself feels gross, this is the book that reframes it. Pink argues everyone is already in sales (persuading,... Penguin Random House Book · 272 pages To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others Daniel H. Pink
  23. Written by someone who reviewed more than 50 founder-led demos, this names the exact traps technical founders fall into, with... MRR Unlocked Article · ~10 min read The 6 Sales Demo Mistakes I See After Reviewing 50+ Founder-Led Demos Alexander Estner
  24. This is the reference book on running demos of complicated products for buyers who do not share your technical vocabulary,... amazon.com Book · Book (approx 200 pages) Demonstrating To Win!: The Indispensable Guide for Demonstrating Complex Products Robert Riefstahl

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Playbooks

A goal, and the route through it a step at a time.

Find an idea worth pursuing Spot problems worth solving and find the one that actually fits you. 4 steps Validate before you build Get real evidence people want it before you write a line of code. 4 steps Understand your customers Talk to real users, define who you're for, and read the market clearly. 4 steps From idea to first customers The idea-stage spine: find a problem, prove it, talk to customers, and land the first ten. 4 steps Build an MVP without code Ship a first version with no-code tools before you hire anyone. 4 steps Build and launch your first product Turn a validated idea into something real people can use. 6 steps Find and work with developers Hire, brief, and work with builders without getting burned. 4 steps Name and brand your startup Name it, design an identity, and say what it does in a line. 3 steps Build a landing page that converts A page that loads fast, earns trust, and turns visitors into signups. 4 steps Get your first customers The scrappy, unscalable work of going from zero to your first paying users. 5 steps Sell it yourself, founder-led Reach out, run the conversation, and close before you have a sales team. 4 steps Grow with content and SEO Compound reach with content, search, and a founder audience. 3 steps Grow with paid ads Spend that returns: the channels, metrics, and loops behind it. 4 steps Price and package your product Charge for value, package it right, and check the numbers work. 3 steps Bootstrap instead of raising Fund growth from revenue, and keep control of your company. 4 steps Raise your first round Understand the game before you pitch: whether to raise, from whom, and on what terms. 5 steps Find a co-founder, split equity Find the right partner and split equity without regret. 3 steps Set up the company right Incorporate, split equity, protect your IP, and make your first hires. 4 steps Survive founder life Mindset, burnout, the leap, and the parts nobody warns you about. 5 steps Build in India The India-specific playbook: schemes, government, enterprise, and the local market. 5 steps

The questions founders start with

I want to start a startup but I don't have an idea. Where do I even begin? Stop hunting for a billion-dollar idea and start collecting problems. The best ideas come from noticing things that annoy you or people around you ... Beginner 19 resources → What does 'validating an idea' actually mean? Validation is gathering real-world evidence that a specific group of people has a painful problem AND will change their behaviour (pay, sign up, sw... Beginner 20 resources → Do I actually need a co-founder, or can I go solo? You don't strictly need one, but the data says teams outlast solos: complementary skills, shared load, and someone to argue you out of bad calls al... Beginner 3 resources → What actually counts as an MVP, and what's the smallest one I can get away with? An MVP is the least you can build (or fake) to test your single riskiest assumption, not a shrunken version of your dream product. Ask 'what's the ... Beginner 20 resources → How do I talk to customers without them just telling me what I want to hear? Stop pitching and start interrogating their past. Ask about what they actually did last time the problem hit, what it cost them, and what they trie... Beginner 23 resources → How do I actually get my first 10 customers when nobody has heard of me? You go get them by hand, one at a time, email people you already know, people your investors/friends know, and strangers in the exact niche you're ... Beginner 19 resources → How do I decide how much to charge for my product? Stop guessing and stop pricing off your costs, price off the value the customer gets and their willingness to pay. Talk to customers about pricing,... Beginner 3 resources → Should I raise venture capital or bootstrap my startup? Raise VC only if your business needs a big pile of cash to reach escape velocity before someone else does, and if a 10x-in-a-few-years outcome is g... Beginner 3 resources →

Questions for your situation

The Aspiring Founder The Idea-Stage Founder The Builder The Launcher The Grower The Student Founder The Indie Hacker The Technical Solo Founder The Non-Technical Founder The Domain Expert The Women Founder The Anywhere Founder The Corporate Switcher The Repeat Founder
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