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. This is the sharpest short answer to the real fear behind the question: how do I not go broke funding this. Graham reframes the... paulgraham.com Essay · ~1,200 words, about a 6 minute read Ramen Profitable Paul Graham In 2 answers
  2. This is the exact list a founder gets handed once a term sheet lands, written by YC Continuity's general counsel after hundreds... Y Combinator Startup Library Article · ~10 min read Series A Diligence Checklist Jason Kwon (Y Combinator) In 2 answers
  3. The Indian mirror to the answer: Kamath built Zerodha to India's largest broker taking zero outside capital, and he is precise... Forbes India Article · 12 min read I wonder why there are only a few businesses like us, built to generate profits and not raise venture capital: Nithin Kamath Nithin Kamath (interviewed) In 2 answers
  4. OpenVC runs the platform millions of these emails pass through, so their rules are drawn from data, not opinion: put a... OpenVC Article · 12 min read How to Cold Email Investors (And Actually Get Replies) OpenVC Team In 2 answers
  5. This is one of the only Indian seed funds that publishes hard numbers for when they want to hear from you, so you can benchmark... Blume Ventures Article · 5 min read Blume Ventures: How to reach us (seed traction benchmarks by model) Blume Ventures In 2 answers
  6. This is the source document for the entire SAFE debate, written by YC's CFO who papered thousands of these. It walks the actual... Y Combinator Article · 15 min read Understanding SAFEs and Priced Equity Rounds Kirsty Nathoo In 2 answers
  7. This is the reference point for what a clean deal looks like, written by the people who have watched hundreds of Series A term... Y Combinator Article · 12 min read A Standard and Clean Series A Term Sheet Y Combinator In 2 answers
  8. Feld (co-author of Venture Deals) does the arithmetic most founders never run: on a $5M investment for 50% and a $20M exit, a... Feld Thoughts Essay · 10 min read To Participate or Not (Participating Preferences) Brad Feld In 2 answers
  9. This is the clause-by-clause decoder written for Indian reality, not a US template retrofitted. It runs the founder-payout math... The Founder's Guide to Startup Funding (Indian Ecosystem) Article · 35 min read Term Sheet Analysis: The Most Important Document You'll Sign (The Founder's Guide to Startup Funding in the Indian Ecosystem) Niraj Kumar In 2 answers
  10. The clearest breakdown of how RBF actually prices out for an Indian startup: you repay roughly 1.10 to 1.15x the principal... Efficient Capital Labs Article · 10 min read Revenue-Based Financing in India: A Founder Guide Efficient Capital Labs In 2 answers
  11. A slide-by-slide walk through Airbnb's actual 2009 seed deck (the one that raised $600K), covering all 14 slides from cover to... Slidebean Article · 15 min read Airbnb Pitch Deck: Teardown and Redesign Caya (Slidebean) In 2 answers
  12. When a term sheet lands and you are tempted to fight over the last point of valuation, this is the essay that reframes the... paulgraham.com Essay · 12 min read The Equity Equation Paul Graham In 2 answers
  13. This is the worked dilution example, actual numbers, not a hand-wave: a $100k SAFE with an $8M cap and a 15% discount... FundersClub Article · 6 min read Numerical Example: SAFE, Cap and Discount FundersClub In 2 answers
  14. This is the canonical case for splitting close to equal, written by a YC group partner. It arms you with the exact four reasons... Y Combinator Essay · 5 min read How to Split Equity Among Founders Michael Seibel In 2 answers
  15. If you decide against VC, this is the concrete India-specific menu of non-dilutive money: it lists the actual schemes, amounts,... IncorpX Article · 18 min read Government Grants and Subsidies for Startups in India 2026 IncorpX editorial team In 2 answers
  16. This is the discipline your title slide lives or dies by: Seibel's rule is to name the company and say what it does in the... Y Combinator Article · 12 min read How to Pitch Your Company (Michael Seibel / Y Combinator) Michael Seibel In 2 answers
  17. Nine companies you already trust (Slack, Instagram, Shopify, Twitter, YouTube) laid out as before-and-after: what each one... CB Insights Article · 12 min read From Instagram to Slack: 9 Successful Startup Pivots CB Insights Research In 2 answers
  18. This is the canonical source on the highest-stakes 30 seconds in startups, from the people who coach hundreds of founders... Y Combinator Article · 12 min read A Guide to Demo Day Presentations Y Combinator In 2 answers
  19. Concrete proof that the absence of a written agreement is what turns a friendship into a lawsuit. The Zipcar story (a casual... Vestd Article · 12 min read Startup horror stories: when co-founders fall out Vestd In 2 answers
  20. This is the cleanest map of the three ways co-founders actually decide things: consensus, functional expertise (your domain,... edbatista.com Essay · 12 min read On Co-Founder Decision-Making Ed Batista In 2 answers
  21. This is the counterweight to the "solo founders get penalized" folklore, built on Carta's cap-table data rather than vibes. It... Solo Founders (citing Carta) Article · 10 min read Fundraising as a Solo Founder: The Data Proves You Won't Pay a "Solo Tax" Ari Dutilh In 2 answers
  22. Written by one of India's top corporate law firms, this is the authoritative read on what your co-founder's current employer... India Corporate Law (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas) Article · 12 min read Moonlighting: Legal Considerations and Contractual Regulation Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas In 2 answers
  23. The honest India price tag on a Private Limited Company you incorporated too early. It itemizes what a company costs you every... IncorpX Article · 12 min read Annual Compliance Cost for Startups in India: Realistic Breakdown for 2026 IncorpX In 2 answers
  24. Written for Indian founders hiring right after a seed round, it argues your first employees should be hustlers who can figure... Quartz (qz.com/india) Article · 8 min read A Guide for Early-Stage Indian Startups to Lure the Right Talent Quartz India In 2 answers

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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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