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. This is the standard free tool for measuring how your page actually performs, and it defaults to a mobile view, which is... Google (web.dev) Tool · A test runs in under a minute per URL PageSpeed Insights Google In 3 answers
  2. Coolors is the fastest way to lock a brand palette and walk away with the exact hex codes your site, deck, and designer all... Coolors Tool · Web tool, minutes to build a palette Coolors: The Super Fast Color Palette Generator Fabrizio Bianchi In 3 answers
  3. If you cannot yet hear which of your sentences read as translated, this free tool shows you. Paste your draft and it highlights... Hemingway App Tool · Free web version, paid desktop app Hemingway Editor Hemingway App In 3 answers
  4. A free one-page template for capturing what you actually learned from a single interview, so the insight does not evaporate. It... Product Talk Template · 1-page template The Interview Snapshot template Teresa Torres In 3 answers
  5. The free course from the person who coined get out of the building, the core idea that no facts about your idea live inside... Udacity Course · Self-paced, ~8 lessons How to Build a Startup: The Lean LaunchPad Steve Blank In 3 answers
  6. When you cannot easily reach users, cheap tests can substitute for some of the hard questions, and pretotyping gives you the... Pretotyping.org Tool Pretotype It: Make Sure You Are Building the Right It Alberto Savoia In 3 answers
  7. The one thing you cannot outsource is staying on top of your first conversations, and this is a free CRM that lives inside... streak.com Tool Streak CRM for Gmail Streak In 3 answers
  8. This playbook helps you name the single metric that represents the value your product delivers, plus the few inputs that move... Amplitude Template · Guide (PDF) The North Star Playbook Amplitude In 3 answers
  9. An interactive page that improves an ugly wall of text step by step in front of you, so you feel exactly which changes matter... jgthms.com Tool · 4 min interactive Web Design in 4 Minutes Jeremy Thomas In 3 answers
  10. Interactive comic style teardowns of real products like Airbnb, Duolingo, and Spotify that show UX and psychology principles in... Growth.Design Tool · browsable, ~5 min each Growth.Design Case Studies Growth.Design In 3 answers
  11. A crisp, opinionated set of principles for building software: work in cycles, say no to busy work, keep momentum, and let the... Linear Tool · Reference site Linear Method: Practices for building Linear In 3 answers
  12. A living list of problem areas YC actively wants founders to tackle, useful as raw material and as a way to spot where the... Y Combinator Tool · Browse Requests for Startups Y Combinator In 3 answers
  13. A community where founders openly share the problems they are solving, what is working, and what is not. Reading real people... Indie Hackers Tool · Browse Indie Hackers Indie Hackers In 3 answers
  14. A short, practical guide you can lift straight into your own process: how many times to follow up, what to say at each touch,... Close Template The Follow Up Formula Steli Efti In 3 answers
  15. Sethi has spent years publicly refining cold outreach scripts and testing subject lines with real recipients, and this collects... Ramit Sethi Template 50 Proven Email Scripts Ramit Sethi In 3 answers
  16. A short form that produces a starter interview script tailored to your product, built on the same rules as Wilcox's videos... Customer Development Labs Tool Customer Interview Script Generator Justin Wilcox In 3 answers
  17. Best-in-class visual builder for pixel-precise marketing sites and CMS-driven content, used by 300k+ teams. Ideal for a landing... webflow.com Tool · platform Webflow, Visual Web Design Platform Webflow In 2 answers
  18. The simplest way to build client portals and internal tools on top of Airtable, Notion, or Sheets. Low learning curve, fast to... softr.io Tool · platform Softr, Portals & Internal Tools, No Code Softr In 2 answers
  19. The flagship Indian growth community, built by ex-CRED growth leaders, combining cohort learning, in-city events and a peer... GrowthX Course · Community + cohort programs GrowthX, India's Largest Growth Community Abhishek Patil & Udayan Walvekar In 2 answers
  20. The attorney-favourite platform for clean, fundable startup paperwork, run by startup lawyers obsessed with avoiding... clerky.com Tool · Legal paperwork platform + founder handbooks Clerky: Startup Legal Paperwork & Delaware Incorporation Clerky In 2 answers
  21. Most government grants require an incorporated entity, and Rize makes getting one fast and low-friction, Pvt Ltd, LLP, or OPC... Razorpay (razorpay.com/rize) Tool · Platform + resources Razorpay Rize, Incorporation & Early-Stage Founder Resources Razorpay Rize In 2 answers
  22. WEP is the official government front door for women founders, a single platform aggregating incubation, mentorship, funding... Women Entrepreneurship Platform (wep.gov.in) Tool · Platform + directory Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), NITI Aayog NITI Aayog, Government of India In 2 answers
  23. The single biggest killer of government-selling startups is the payment gap, not the sale. TReDS is the RBI-regulated fix, turn... sidbi.in Tool · explainer + platform links TReDS, Bill Discounting to Survive Slow Government Payments (SIDBI) SIDBI In 2 answers
  24. If live calls drain you, Clarity lets you watch how real people actually use your product without ever getting on a call. You... Microsoft Tool Microsoft Clarity Microsoft In 2 answers

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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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