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. YC's partners walk through concrete business models that were not viable before large language models: full-stack law firms,... Y Combinator (Lightcone Podcast) Video · ~45 min Startup Ideas You Can Now Build With AI (Lightcone Podcast) Garry Tan, Harj Taggar, Diana Hu, Jared Friedman
  2. Video · About 55 minutes The Lean Startup | Eric Ries | Talks at Google Eric Ries
  3. Video · About 30 minutes Rahul Vohra (Founder/CEO, Superhuman) - The Product-Market Fit Engine Rahul Vohra
  4. Video · About 50 minutes Julie Zhuo: How a Facebook Designer Thinks Julie Zhuo
  5. Video · ~45 min Obviously Awesome: April Dunford's Positioning Do-Over April Dunford
  6. Video · About 40 minutes Challenges and learnings of building for the next billion users (Google I/O '18) Google (Next Billion Users team: Nithya Sambasivan, Josh Woodward and colleagues)
  7. Alexandra Watkins wrote the book on naming, and here she explains in plain terms why a name that people have to stop and spell... Ebaqdesign / On Branding Podcast Video · ~50 min interview How To Create Brand Names with Alexandra Watkins (On Branding Podcast) Arek Dvornechuck (host), Alexandra Watkins (guest)
  8. Video · video How to name your startup: David Placek, named Vercel, Azure and BlackBerry Scaling DevTools
  9. Video · short explainer How to Choose the Right Domain Name for SEO (And Avoid Big Mistakes) YouTube
  10. Video · 76 minutes Learn Copywriting in 76 Minutes Harry Dry
  11. Video · about 43 minutes Responsive design made easy Kevin Powell
  12. Video · Short YouTube comparison Which Platform Wins? Framer vs Webflow Full Comparison YouTube
  13. Video Designing for the Next Billion (Droidcon NYC 2016) Raveesh Bhalla
  14. Most branding advice is one designer's taste, this is the opposite: a short, research-backed walkthrough from Nielsen Norman... Nielsen Norman Group Video · About 3 minutes Trustworthiness in Web Design: 4 Credibility Factors (Video) Aurora Harley
  15. Video · short talk Dave Gerhardt's Top Advice on Building a Founder Brand in 2025 Dave Gerhardt
  16. Video · ~15 min The Strategy for Rebranding Our $40M Company Kit (Nathan Barry)
  17. Video · Short tutorial (under 20 minutes) Figma Logo Design Tutorial for Beginners (Step-by-Step) TEDKSTUDIO
  18. Video · About 16 minutes How to clarify your message so people listen (TEDxNashville) Donald Miller
  19. Video · Short video, roughly 15 to 20 minutes How to Write A Landing Page That Converts Alex Cattoni
  20. Video · ~5 min Write like you speak! Dr Clare Lynch (Doris & Bertie Writing School)
  21. Video · About 60 minutes Landing Page Critiques (Masterclass) Demand Curve
  22. Video · Short YouTube video I tried ChatGPT. Here's what happened... Alex Cattoni
  23. Video · 37 min The YouTube Playbook in 37 Minutes Colin and Samir
  24. Video Technical SEO Best Practices for Beginners (Ahrefs SEO Course 4.2) Ahrefs

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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