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. Video · 20 min watch Y Combinator's Michael Seibel: You Are Nothing Until You Launch Michael Seibel
  2. A fast, watchable version of the giver/taker/matcher framework if you don't have time for the full book. It's a good gut-check... TED Video Adam Grant: Are you a giver or a taker? Adam Grant
  3. Video · 20 min How To Keep Your Users Y Combinator Startup School (YouTube)
  4. Video Never Split the Difference | Chris Voss | Talks at Google Chris Voss
  5. Two YC partners talk plainly about why founders who avoid rejection end up avoiding their customers altogether, and why the... Y Combinator Video Dalton & Michael: Successful founders are OK with rejection Y Combinator
  6. Video · about 30 min The Cold Email Formula That Made Over $1,000,000 with Sam Parr Sam Parr
  7. Video Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone, Macworld 2007 Apple / Macworld keynote
  8. Duarte studies presentations for a living, and this talk (using the Jobs iPhone launch as one of her two case studies) shows... TED (TEDxEast) Video The secret structure of great talks TED (TEDxEast)
  9. Video · 35 min video Founder-Led Sales for Y Combinator Demo Day Sam Blond
  10. Video Follow Up or Die: Why "Maybe" Is Killing Your Business (Interview with Steli Efti of Close.io) Steli Efti
  11. Video How to Write the Ultimate Cold Email, Framework Alex Berman (YouTube)
  12. Video How many times should you Follow Up? Alex Berman
  13. Video How To Cold Email Clients (WINNING Cold Email Templates) Alex Berman
  14. Video How To Get Clients Through LinkedIn Cold Outreach Patrick Dang
  15. Video · ~15 min How To Build A Lead List For Cold Email Alex Berman
  16. Video · about 10 min How To Write Cold Email Subject Lines: Prospecting For Business Development & B2B Sales Patrick Dang
  17. Video 50+ Cold Email Subject Lines To Test (Free Download) Alex Berman
  18. A YC partner walks through the mechanics of actually landing an investor meeting, not just pitching once you're in the room.... Y Combinator (Aaron Harris) Video How to Get Meetings With Investors and Raise Money Y Combinator (Aaron Harris)
  19. Video How I Write Cold Emails That Get 15%+ Response Rate YouTube (Smartlead)
  20. Video How to Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for Your Domain PowerCert Animated Videos (YouTube)
  21. Video · about 10 minutes No Replies? Increase response rates using THIS cold email template Steli Efti
  22. Video Cold Email is Changing Alex Berman
  23. Video I Sent 10 Million Cold Emails - These 5 Scripts Made the Most Alex Berman
  24. Video · ~12 min How to Write Emails That Get Opened Ramit Sethi

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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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