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. Charles, VP of Product at Ramp (a company known for shipping fast), lays out the operating practices that keep small teams... Geoff Charles (Medium) Article · 15 min read How to Increase Product Velocity Geoff Charles
  2. This tackles the exact tension a founder feels every week: ship faster or polish more. The Levels team argues that for an... Levels (Medium) Article · 12 min read Should You Prioritize Velocity of Shipping or Quality of Product? David Flinner
  3. The single essay behind our line that a roadmap is a direction, not a contract. It argues that a long plan is just a guess you... Signal v. Noise (Rework excerpt) Essay · ~4 min read Planning is Guessing Jason Fried
  4. A roadmap that lists solutions ages fast, while a roadmap of problems stays useful. Intercom shows how to write a tight problem... Intercom Blog Article · ~8 min read For Better Products, Start With a Problem Statement Intercom
  5. This is the clearest argument for the exact thing your short answer names: run two synchronized systems (a planning rhythm and... David Sacks, Craft Ventures Essay · 20 min read The Cadence: How to Operate a SaaS Startup David Sacks
  6. A veteran founder makes the case that a steady, brisk (but not burning) cadence is one of the highest leverage things a young... Michael Wolfe, Point Nine Land Essay · 12 min read The Rhythm of the Fight: Why a Startup Needs Cadence To Succeed Michael Wolfe
  7. The mechanics behind a high shipping cadence: small batches, feature flags, fast pipelines, and the safeguards that let a... Intercom Blog Article · 12 min read The safety of speed: How we ship code 180 times per day Danny Fallon and Ryan Sherlock, Intercom
  8. A detailed look at a team obsessed with velocity: almost no estimating, minimal planning ceremony, and a bias toward shipping... Lenny's Newsletter Article · 25 min read How Ramp builds product Lenny Rachitsky
  9. Duolingo's VP of Product walks through their planning cadence, org structure, and the team rituals that let many small teams... Lenny's Newsletter Article · 25 min read How Duolingo builds product Lenny Rachitsky
  10. Cutler argues that cadence and closed feedback loops matter more than any framework, and that rituals should exist to move... John Cutler, The Beautiful Mess Essay · 12 min read TBM 12/52: The Basics John Cutler
  11. A founder's practical account of designing the recurring meetings and reviews that keep a scaling company aligned, and which... Travis May, Medium Article · 12 min read Building the Right Operating Cadence Travis May
  12. A free, focused summary of how empowered teams operate: given problems, held to outcomes, and coordinated by a light cadence... Silicon Valley Product Group Article · 10 min read Empowered Product Teams Marty Cagan
  13. A practical guide to deciding which meetings to keep, which to make async, and how often each should happen. It maps live time... Range Article · 10 min read The Perfect Meeting Cadence: How to Set One for Your Team Range
  14. This is the piece about the conversation itself, so the customer feels heard even when the answer is no. It walks through... Intercom Article · 8 min read The right way to respond to feature requests Paulina Welnic
  15. This names the failure mode you are trying to avoid: shipping feature after feature and mistaking motion for progress. Perri... Melissa Perri Essay · 6 min read The Build Trap Melissa Perri
  16. This is the principle behind the first half of your answer: a request is a proposed solution, so back up to the problem before... Intercom Article · 8 min read Start with the problem to achieve better solutions Stephen Forbes
  17. A practical, scripts-included guide aimed squarely at saying no without burning the relationship. It covers acknowledging the... Canny Article · 9 min read How to say no to product feature requests Jenna Potter
  18. Elman helped grow Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, and his rule is exactly your short answer in practice. Decide the core... Medium Article The Only Metric That Matters Josh Elman
  19. Your short answer tells founders to set a rough threshold before shipping, and this gives you real benchmarks so your threshold... Lenny's Newsletter Article What is a good activation rate Lenny Rachitsky
  20. Retention on the exact flow you shipped is one of the signals your short answer names, and this is the hands-on guide to... Lenny's Newsletter Article How to measure cohort retention Olga Berezovsky
  21. Cagan draws the exact line at the heart of your question: output is what you shipped, outcome is the result it produced, and... Silicon Valley Product Group Essay Outcomes Are Hard Marty Cagan
  22. Tavel gives you a ladder for what working actually means: users completing the core action, coming back, and eventually pulling... Medium Essay The Hierarchy of Engagement, Expanded Sarah Tavel
  23. This answers the exact fear behind your question: does keeping code clean slow you down? Fowler separates internal quality... martinfowler.com Article Is High Quality Software Worth the Cost? Martin Fowler
  24. Written by a fractional CTO for exactly your stage, this frames debt as a trade you make on purpose, not a moral failing. It... damiangalarza.com Article What Is Technical Debt? A Pragmatic Guide for Startup Teams Damian Galarza

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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