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. Before you tune CAC and take rate, this book gives you the structural picture of why marketplace economics compound: network... W. W. Norton & Company Book Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy and How to Make Them Work for You Geoffrey G. Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Sangeet Paul Choudary In 6 answers
  2. If your idea feels unglamorous or annoyingly hard, this essay explains why that can be a good sign rather than a reason to drop... paulgraham.com Essay · about 10 min read Schlep Blindness Paul Graham In 6 answers
  3. Steve Blank coined get out of the building, and this is a clean primer on why talking to customers is a search for facts your... Kauffman Entrepreneurs (Steve Blank) Article · 10 min read Getting Out of the Building: Customer Development Steve Blank In 6 answers
  4. Shah argues that to make people switch from what they already use, you need a large jump in perceived efficiency, not a... SeedToScale (Accel India) Article · ~10 min read Kunal Shah's Delta 4 Theory of Successful Startups Kunal Shah In 6 answers
  5. Des Traynor makes the case that "no" is the product strategy, and that adding a feature for one loud customer quietly costs... Intercom (Des Traynor) Article · ~8 min read Product Strategy Means Saying No Des Traynor In 6 answers
  6. Cohen answers the fear founders have about niching down, that naming one very specific, concrete customer actually attracts... A Smart Bear Essay · 15 min read Selling to Carol: Why targeting an ICP brings 10x more customers than you expected Jason Cohen In 6 answers
  7. The customer-development originator's clearest statement on scoping the minimum feature set to reach your earliest believers.... steveblank.com Article · ~8 min read Perfection by Subtraction, The Minimum Feature Set Steve Blank In 5 answers
  8. The single most-cited usability framework in the field, from the definitive UX research authority. A checklist you can hold... Nielsen Norman Group Article · ~15 min read 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design Jakob Nielsen In 5 answers
  9. The original, primary source where the RICE framework was introduced, cite this, not the SEO reposts. The clearest way to... Intercom Blog Article · ~12 min read RICE: Simple Prioritization for Product Managers Sean McBride In 5 answers
  10. A structured, practical walkthrough from a reputable product team covering name types, domain checks, and trademark basics in... Webflow Blog Article · 12 min read How to come up with a brand name: the ultimate guide Webflow Team In 5 answers
  11. Ahrefs' official, regularly-updated SEO fundamentals guide, a canonical primary source, not blogspam, covering the five things... Ahrefs Article · 30 min read SEO Basics: Beginner's Guide to SEO Success Joshua Hardwick (Ahrefs) In 5 answers
  12. First Round has coached hundreds of founding teams through 0-to-$1M ARR; this is their tactical guide to selling in the... First Round Review Article · ~20 min read Founder-led sales First Round Review In 5 answers
  13. Lenny distills how the best product teams pick a single North Star that captures real customer value and drives the whole... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~20 min read The North Star Playbook & Choosing Your Growth Metrics Lenny Rachitsky In 5 answers
  14. Justin Welsh built a multi-million-dollar solo business purely on a systematized personal-brand engine; his free, no-fluff... justinwelsh.me Article · Weekly newsletter + archive The Saturday Solopreneur (Justin Welsh) & LinkedIn Content System Justin Welsh In 5 answers
  15. David Skok's For Entrepreneurs work is the foundational, near-universally cited source on SaaS unit economics and modeling.... forentrepreneurs.com Article · long-form reference SaaS Metrics 2.0, Detailed Definitions David Skok In 5 answers
  16. A focused a16z piece on the single ratio that most captures a business's efficiency and drives its valuation. Great for... a16z.com Article · article Why Do Investors Care So Much About LTV:CAC? Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) In 5 answers
  17. 37signals wrote the playbook for building profitable software without VC, and Getting Real is free to read online. Their... 37signals.com Book · book (free online) Getting Real (and the 37signals bootstrapping philosophy) 37signals (Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson) In 5 answers
  18. A modern, tactical fundraising and pitch playbook aggregating advice from top operators and investors. Strong on how to build... Lenny's Newsletter Article · 25 min read A Playbook for Fundraising (and building your pitch) Lenny Rachitsky In 5 answers
  19. First Round Review turns storytelling from a buzzword into concrete pitch structure, drawing on a former Pixar CTO's approach.... First Round Review Article · 20 min read Take Your Fundraising Pitch from Mediocre to Memorable with Storytelling First Round Review In 5 answers
  20. A curated collection of YC's best primary guidance on how to find, evaluate, and test a co-founder, straight from the people... YC Startup Library Article · Curated essay + video collection Finding a Co-Founder (YC Startup Library) Y Combinator In 5 answers
  21. The official source for DPIIT recognition, the free registration that unlocks tax benefits, self-certification, and scheme... startupindia.gov.in Article · Official portal page DPIIT Startup Recognition & Tax Exemption (Startup India) Startup India / DPIIT In 5 answers
  22. The official government overview of how to incorporate and register a startup in India, including the SPICe+ route on the MCA... startupindia.gov.in Article · Official overview Startup India Scheme (Incorporation & Registration Overview) Startup India / DPIIT In 5 answers
  23. A clear-eyed post-mortem of real Indian startup shutdowns, pattern-matching the recurring killers so you can learn from the... yourstory.com Article · medium Year in Review: What Took Down India's Biggest Startups YourStory In 5 answers
  24. Finding an advisor is only half the job; extracting value is the harder, less-discussed half. This piece is a concrete tactical... First Round Review Article · medium 7 Tactics to Get the Most Out of Your Startup's Advisors First Round Review In 5 answers

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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