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. A copy-and-fill template built for exactly the founder in this question: it is structured around a five-minute read (matching... Founder Institute Template · template The 5-Minute Investor Update Template Founder Institute
  2. This is the concrete clause mechanic your answer needs. Clerky spells out that vesting normally commences on the date shares... Clerky Template · 6 min read What are customary stock vesting terms for startup founders? Clerky
  3. This is the government's own sample SHA, published on the official Startup India (DPIIT) templates page alongside term sheets... Startup India Template · 13-page template Shareholder Agreement of Company (Sample SHA Template) Startup India (Invest India, DPIIT)
  4. For a contractor in another country, the two things that bite you are IP ownership and misclassification, and this free... Deel Template · template Independent Contractor Agreement Template (with country-specific IP guidance) Deel
  5. Written by the talent team at a VC that hires for its portfolio full-time, so it is a recruiter's actual playbook, not generic... SignalFire Template · 15 min read Startup Job Description Template Crystal Guerrero (Director of Talent Operations)
  6. This turns your 'written, specific milestones on day one' into an actual document you can hand a new hire, with a phased... Asana Template · 15 min read How to write a 30-60-90 day plan (with template and examples) Asana
  7. This is the single doc your first hire should walk into. It is built for a founder without an HR team, splits the first three... FirstHR Template · downloadable DOCX, 15 min to adapt Free 30-60-90 Day Plan Template for Small Business FirstHR
  8. This is the concrete, copy-paste artifact the other two essays lack: a real JD skeleton (summary, Who You Are, nine... vChief Template · 12 min read Chief of Staff Job Description, Duties & Interview Questions vChief
  9. This is the lean counterweight to GitLab: a real, Creative-Commons handbook you can fork today, written as short human sections... GitHub (basecamp/handbook) Template · 30 min read The 37signals (Basecamp) Employee Handbook 37signals
  10. Your answer says 'write the decision, the reasoning, and who owns it in one place', and this is the copy-paste template for... GitHub Template · 30 min read Decision Record: how to initiate and complete decisions for teams Joel Parker Henderson
  11. Jerry Colonna was a top-tier VC before he became the coach founders call when the company is doing fine but they are not.... Reboot.io Tool · Site plus podcast archive Reboot: CEO Coaching and the Emotional Side of Leadership (Jerry Colonna) Jerry Colonna
  12. This is the room the answer tells you to find. SheThePeople has run a women-founder community for over a decade (70,000+ women... SheThePeople Tool · Recurring community + annual summit She Leads India: SheThePeople's Women Founder Community and Summit Shaili Chopra, SheThePeople
  13. When the answer says 'call someone in India tonight,' this is the number to call. Vandrevala runs a genuinely free, private,... Vandrevala Foundation Tool · Helpline: call or WhatsApp +91 9999 666 555 Free 24x7 Mental Health Counselling Vandrevala Foundation
  14. When the advice is 'find two or three founders who have shut down and talk to them,' this is where you actually find them. It... founderpledge.com Tool · Directory, 80+ resources Founder Mental Health Pledge: Resources Directory Founder Mental Health Pledge
  15. This is the fastest in-person on-ramp for The Anywhere Founder who has no co-founder and no ready-made peer group. Headstart is... Headstart Tool · Ongoing community, chapters in 30+ cities Headstart Network: India's largest grassroots founder community Headstart Network Foundation
  16. This is the authoritative government listing of live Indian grand challenges and national competitions, filterable by... Startup India Tool · browse, filterable Startup India: Programs and Challenges (live directory) DPIIT, Government of India
  17. This is a curated, actively maintained list of 448+ Indian and India-open competitions with the prize size, deadline, and stage... Startup Grants India Tool · browse, filterable StartupGrantsIndia: Competitions and Hackathons directory Nexora Technology
  18. This is the actual portal you apply through, not a blog paraphrase, so the tiers here are current: up to $5,000 for self-funded... AWS Tool · 10 min read AWS Activate: Credits for Startups (official program page) Amazon Web Services
  19. The official docs page (updated May 2026) spells out the one fact that matters most for an Anywhere Founder with no VC on the... Microsoft Learn Tool · 8 min read What is Microsoft for Startups? (Founders Hub official overview) Microsoft
  20. SIDBI's own page lays out how its Fund of Funds machinery actually works: it does not write you a cheque directly, it... SIDBI Tool · 8 min read SIDBI Fund of Funds and technology development schemes overview Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
  21. This is NABARD's own page for its INR 750 Cr blended-capital fund built specifically for agriculture and rural enterprise, with... NABARD Tool · 10 min read AgriSURE: Agri Fund for Start-Ups and Rural Enterprises NABARD / NABVENTURES Ltd.
  22. This is the official portal for grant-in-aid up to INR 25 lakh (seed) and INR 5 lakh (idea stage) routed through a network of... Government of India Tool · 15 min read RKVY-RAFTAAR Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Programme Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
  23. This is the one scheme built for the exact moment you describe: an idea and no company. NIDHI-PRAYAS funds up to 10 lakh to... NIDHI, Government of India Tool · portal page NIDHI-PRAYAS: Proof-of-Concept Grant for Young Innovators (DST) Department of Science and Technology (NIDHI Programme)
  24. This is the single directory that saves you from chasing scattered scheme pages: 107 pages, written by DPIIT itself, mapping... Startup India Template · 107-page PDF Playbook of Government Schemes and Initiatives for Startups (June 2026) DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry

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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