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 closest thing to a practical runbook for making yourself unreachable for a day. The core move, Pre-Decision... On Call COO Article · 8 min read 5 Things Founders Never Do Before Vacation (But Should) Melissa Franks
  2. India's most respected bootstrapped founder, who built Zerodha to profitability without VC money and openly caps headcount to... The South First Article · 7 min read Nithin Kamath of Zerodha says he had a mild stroke due to stress, poor sleep, and overworking The South First staff
  3. This is the operating manual for exactly the trap you are in: it hands you a concrete recurring block (the author's own is a... Indie Hackers Article · 12 min read How to Build While Having a Full-Time Job James Fleischmann
  4. This is the Indian proof that the nights-and-weekends path actually works: Paras Chopra kept his 50K-a-month job for a full... Inc42 Article · 9 min read The Wingify Story: How Paras Chopra Built an $18 Mn Bootstrapped SaaS Inc42 Media
  5. Tank built Jotform (now millions of users) on nights and weekends while holding a full-time programming job, spending five... Jotform Article · 10 min read How to Build a Startup Without Quitting Your Day Job Aytekin Tank
  6. This names the exact moment the bottleneck bites for the Anywhere Founder: right after a raise, the team has doubled and you... Able Ventures (India) Article · ~12 min read A Founder's Guide to Growth-Stage Leadership Planning Able Ventures
  7. This is the cleanest statement of the exact skill you are missing: not ranking your list, but killing most of it. Sivers' rule... sive.rs Essay · 3 min read If you're not feeling 'hell yeah!' then say no Derek Sivers
  8. This is the operating manual for the cut you are avoiding. Pick the single number that defines this stage, over-focus on it... Lean Analytics Article · 10 min read The One Metric That Matters (OMTM) Alistair Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz
  9. Marqeta founder Jason Gardner describes, in his own words, being weeks from running out of cash while he 'struggled to sleep,'... Forbes Article · 12 min read Forget 'Crushing It,' Startup Founders Open Up About Mental Health Problems Jeff Kauflin
  10. A clinical, free, no-signup stabilization guide that maps directly onto the answer: controlled breathing to break a panic... NHS (nhs.uk) Article · 8 min read Anxiety, fear and panic: self-help and when to get urgent help NHS
  11. Feld cofounded Techstars and has ridden the full founder rollercoaster in public, and here he names the difference between a... Feld Thoughts (feld.com) Essay · 8 min read Encountering Depression and What It Means To Be Well Brad Feld
  12. This is the clearest argument for why an information diet works. Graham shows that whatever sits at the top of your mind gets... paulgraham.com Essay · 6 min read The Top Idea in Your Mind Paul Graham
  13. Kamath built India's largest broker without VC money and here he explains the mindset that keeps him off the daily... LinkedIn Article · 3 min read Nithin Kamath on why Zerodha ignores exit pressure and lets the business compound Nithin Kamath
  14. This is the raw first-person account the polished frameworks leave out: a technical cofounder writing while still trapped,... Indie Hackers Article · 10 min read It took me two years to realize that my co-founder is toxic for me Anonymous founder
  15. Espinal has watched hundreds of Seedcamp founders fight and split, and he gives you the written-down decision-rights answer... Carlos Espinal / Seedcamp Article · 15 min read Resolving Major Co-Founder Disputes Carlos Espinal (Seedcamp)
  16. Krupit runs Trajectify solo and writes from inside the problem, not above it. He breaks solo isolation into its four real... Trajectify Article · 8 min read Being a Solo Founder is Lonely. Here's What to Do About It Mike Krupit
  17. This is the practical companion to the theory: a first-hand playbook of specific moves for the founder who has no team and no... Indie Hackers Article · 10 min read Feeling Less Isolated as a Solo Founder James Fleischmann
  18. The Anywhere Founder cannot fix isolation with a Slack group in another timezone: local rooms matter more here. This is an... Scholarship Track Article · 12 min read 25+ Communities for Budding Entrepreneurs in India Scholarship Track editorial team
  19. Graham puts a number on it: his own ceiling for hard writing or programming is about five hours a day, and past your personal... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Work Hard Paul Graham
  20. This is the honest India founder version of the off-switch lesson, told after the bill came due. Kamath ran Zerodha on late... Business Today Article · ~6 min read 'I thought that I'll retire': Zerodha's Nithin Kamath on relearning life after a stroke Business Today (interview with Nithin Kamath)
  21. A raw first-hand account of exactly this fear. Kantaria names the psychology head-on: VC money is a drug, you sell your vision... Lenny's Newsletter Essay · ~20 min read Startup to Exit: Lessons From a First-Time Founder Suril Kantaria
  22. This is the operating manual for the answer's core move: bad news delivered early and plainly. It is concrete where most advice... Visible.vc Article · ~8 min read How to Deliver Bad News to Investors Visible.vc team
  23. This is the clinical checklist you actually need to answer the question, reviewed by a licensed clinical social worker rather... PsychCentral Article · 10 min read Burnout vs. Depression: What's the Difference? Sian Ferguson, medically reviewed by Joslyn Jelinek, LCSW
  24. This is the specific playbook behind our answer. Huberman anchors everything on a consistent wake time and morning sunlight... Huberman Lab Article · ~12 min read Toolkit for Sleep Andrew Huberman

Show the next 24

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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