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.

Cialdini's chapters on scarcity are the underlying psychology behind why a waitlist feels persuasive at all, and why that... Amazon Book · Book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition Robert Cialdini
If you have decided a waitlist genuinely fits your situation, this is a practical, current playbook for running one well,... a16z speedrun Article · 10 min read The Growth Meta: How to Build a Waitlist a16z speedrun
CRED launched invite-only, restricted to people with a credit score above 750, and turned that restriction into both a real... Forbes India Article · 8 min read Inside Cred's growth strategy Manu Balachandran
This short essay explains why fancy language in a launch post reads as a warning sign to your reader, since ornate writing... Paul Graham Essay · 5 min read Write Simply Paul Graham
HN's own posting guidelines tell you plainly what a technical, skeptical audience wants from a launch post: no editorializing,... Y Combinator Article · 5 min read Hacker News Guidelines Y Combinator
Nathan Barry walks through the real, unpolished early drafts of the ConvertKit landing page and how a copywriter's feedback... Nathan Barry Article · 20 min read Step-By-Step Landing Page Copywriting Nathan Barry
This is a working copywriter's breakdown of what actually goes into a launch message that lands, including the parts founders... Copyhackers Article · 15 min read How to write launch emails that sell out your next launch Copyhackers
Figma spent years building quietly before a genuinely coordinated launch, and this piece walks through how that transition was... First Round Review Article · 20 min read How to Launch Your Startup Out of Stealth, from Figma's First Marketer First Round Review
Gary Vaynerchuk's core argument, document your actual work instead of manufacturing polished content from scratch, is the... garyvaynerchuk.com Essay · 6 min read Document, Don't Create: Creating Content That Builds Your Personal Brand Gary Vaynerchuk
Pieter Levels wrote up, in public, exactly how he built and launched a project while narrating each step on Twitter, and this... levels.io Essay · 10 min read Building a startup in public: from first line of code to frontpage of Reddit Pieter Levels
This is a direct, practical answer to the flatline problem: specific things to do in the days after your launch day,... Product Hunt Article · 6 min read 4 strategies to keep momentum going post-launch Product Hunt
A short, concrete framework for the actual first message you send someone you don't know: lead with something useful, not with... justinwelsh.me Essay How to Write a (Successful) Cold DM Justin Welsh
Ferrazzi's whole thesis is that networking works when it's generosity-first and ongoing, not a favor you cash in only when you... Keith Ferrazzi Book Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time Keith Ferrazzi
Bohns' research shows founders usually get the psychology backwards: people underestimate how much sway an ask has and how... Vanessa Bohns Book You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion, and Why It Matters Vanessa Bohns
Flynn's research found people underestimate by as much as 50% how often others will say yes to a direct ask, which is useful... Stanford Graduate School of Business Article · ~7 min Francis Flynn: If You Want Something, Ask For It Marguerite Rigoglioso
A short, blunt essay that names the exact problem in your question: treating social capital like an infinite chit you can cash... Rachel Mazza Essay · ~5 min Burning Through Social Capital Rachel Mazza
The book's whole argument is that the founders with the most useful networks aren't the ones who ask the most, they're... Scott Gerber and Ryan Paugh Book Superconnector: Stop Networking and Start Building Relationships Scott Gerber, Ryan Paugh
A practical guide built around one idea worth sitting with: network before you need something, so you're not always showing up... First Round Review Article Networking First Round Review
If you're going to spend a big ask on a launch that really matters, this research tells you how to spend it well: in-person or... Harvard Business Review Article · ~6 min Need a Favor? Research Suggests It's Best to Ask In Person Mahdi Roghanizad and Vanessa Bohns
A short, no-nonsense walkthrough of which handful of numbers actually matter at your stage, straight from YC's own coaching... Y Combinator Startup Library Article · 10 min read Key Startup Metrics Y Combinator Startup Library
This is the piece that pushes you to write down your success number before you launch, exactly the discipline our answer asks... Y Combinator Startup Library Article · 8 min read Setting KPIs and Goals Y Combinator Startup Library
Balfour argues that a big, splashy launch to everyone actually hurts you: it buries the signal you need under noise from people... Brian Balfour Essay · 15 min read How To Launch A Product or Feature To Maximize Growth Brian Balfour
The Naukri.com founder, using Zomato as the case study, makes the same case as our answer from an Indian boardroom: valuation... Forbes India Article · 8 min read Startups Must Move Away From Vanity Metrics Sanjeev Bikhchandani
Rand Fishkin writes with total candor about the mistakes, product failures, and eventual founder exit that shaped Moz, then... Penguin Random House Book Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World Rand Fishkin

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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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