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. Built from interviews with 65 practitioners working across borders, this is the deeper read for when localization becomes... Whitney Quesenbery and Daniel Szuc Book · Book, ~256 pages Global UX: Design and Research in a Connected World Whitney Quesenbery and Daniel Szuc
  2. A foundational, if older, collection of guidelines and case studies on international interface design edited by Jakob Nielsen.... Nielsen Norman Group Book · Book Designing User Interfaces for International Use Jakob Nielsen (editor)
  3. A clean, example driven overview that ties the pieces together: flexible layouts, script aware typography, sensible date and... Phrase Article · 12 min read How to Create Good Multilingual UX Design Phrase
  4. Your short answer leans on icons that read without words, and this catalogs which icons are genuinely understood across... LogRocket Blog Article · 12 min read 32 Universal Icons for a Cross-Culturally Clear UI Betim Zaman
  5. For users who are not comfortable typing in any script, voice can be the real entry point, and this shows how Indian products... Think with Google APAC Article · 8 min read How Is Voice Making Technology More Accessible in India? Think with Google
  6. Widens the lens from language to literacy and access, arguing for pairing written labels with clear icons so people of varied... Google Design Article · 12 min read Designing for Global Accessibility, Part 1 Nithya Sambasivan and Astrid Weber
  7. This is the most practical starting point for anyone whose dashboard reads like a wall of numbers. Knaflic (ex Google People... Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic Book · 288 pages Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
  8. Instead of theory, this book shows dozens of real dashboards across sales, finance, support, and operations, then explains why... Steve Wexler, Jeffrey Shaffer, Andy Cotgreave Book · 440 pages The Big Book of Dashboards Steve Wexler, Jeffrey Shaffer, Andy Cotgreave
  9. Cairo teaches you to treat a chart as a tool with a job, not decoration, which is exactly the mindset that turns a wall of... Alberto Cairo Book · 384 pages The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization Alberto Cairo
  10. This is the source of the data-ink idea: every pixel that is not carrying information should be questioned or removed. If your... Edward Tufte Book · 200 pages The Visual Display of Quantitative Information Edward Tufte
  11. A short, concrete post that shows a single chart being stripped of clutter step by step until it reads clearly. If you only... Storytelling with Data blog Article · 10 min read Declutter Your Data Visualizations Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
  12. A free, focused reference showing a cluttered chart transformed into a clean one, with each removal explained. It is quick to... Data to Viz Article · 8 min read Decluttering Your Chart Yan Holtz and Conor Healy
  13. NN/g explains preattentive processing, the reason some numbers pop out in milliseconds and others get lost. Understanding this... Nielsen Norman Group Article · 12 min read Dashboards: Making Charts and Graphs Easier to Understand Page Laubheimer, Nielsen Norman Group
  14. A practical, founder-friendly walkthrough of building a dashboard from purpose to layout, with the top-left rule and context... Geckoboard Article · 20 min read Effective Dashboard Design: A Step-by-Step Guide Geckoboard
  15. Google's guidelines give concrete rules on hierarchy, color, and dashboard layout that you can apply straight to a product... Google Material Design Article · 20 min read Material Design: Data Visualization Guidelines Google
  16. Anand S, co-founder of the Indian data visualization firm Gramener, shares how he turns dense data into a clear narrative. It... Analytics Vidhya Article · 15 min read Decoding the Art of Storytelling with Anand S Analytics Vidhya
  17. A gallery of worked examples from an Indian data viz team showing how a clear narrative frame makes numbers readable. Seeing... Gramener Blog Article · 12 min read Visual Data Storytelling Examples Gramener
  18. A running collection of real chart and dashboard makeovers, each showing the cluttered original beside the cleaned up version.... Storytelling with Data Article · Gallery Storytelling with Data Makeovers Storytelling with Data
  19. A thorough, practical walkthrough of turning a messy backlog into a prioritized roadmap, from sourcing ideas to sizing them... Product Growth (Aakash Gupta) Article · 20 min read How to Prioritize a Roadmap Aakash Gupta
  20. ICE (Impact, Confidence, Ease) is RICE's lighter cousin, and it is often the right tool when you are moving fast and just need... Growth Method Article · 12 min read The ICE Framework: the original prioritization framework Stuart Brameld
  21. Not all features move satisfaction the same way, and Kano gives you a lens to tell basics from performance features from... Product School Article · 12 min read The Kano Model: prioritizing features that delight Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
  22. This is a focused piece on the outcomes over output idea in our short answer, and it catches a common trap: writing goals that... romanpichler.com Article · 10 min read Get the Outcomes on Your Product Roadmap Right Roman Pichler
  23. A tight essay separating the work of figuring out what to build (discovery) from building it well (delivery), and arguing you... Silicon Valley Product Group Essay · 8 min read Discovery vs. Delivery Marty Cagan
  24. 37signals built five products and Rails with seven people by relentlessly shipping less, sooner, and this free online book is... 37signals (Jason Fried, DHH) Book · Free online book Getting Real: Start Your Engines (Ship It) Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson, Matt Linderman

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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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