Starting Up

The resources founders actually use.

Every essay, video, podcast, book and tool behind 1,327 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. First Round Review turns storytelling from a buzzword into concrete pitch structure, drawing on a former Pixar CTO's approach.... First Round Review Article · 20 min read Take Your Fundraising Pitch from Mediocre to Memorable with Storytelling First Round Review In 5 answers
  2. A ready-to-use version of the update format YC recommends to its founders. Removes every excuse for not sending a clean,... Visible.vc Template · copy-paste template Y Combinator Investor Update Template Y Combinator / Visible.vc In 5 answers
  3. A curated collection of YC's best primary guidance on how to find, evaluate, and test a co-founder, straight from the people... YC Startup Library Article · Curated essay + video collection Finding a Co-Founder (YC Startup Library) Y Combinator In 5 answers
  4. The canonical dynamic-equity framework for fairly splitting ownership based on real contributions before funding, when nobody... slicingpie.com Tool · Framework + software + handbook Slicing Pie: Dynamic Equity Split Model & Calculator Mike Moyer In 5 answers
  5. The most popular guided path to a Delaware C-corp for global and first-time founders, with Cooley-drafted templates, EIN,... stripe.com/atlas Tool · Guided incorporation service Stripe Atlas: Incorporate your startup (Delaware C-corp) Stripe In 5 answers
  6. YC's full curated body of hiring wisdom, from when to hire to how to close and evaluate early employees. The best free,... YC Startup Library Article · Curated essays + talks Hiring & Recruiting (YC Startup Library collection) Y Combinator In 5 answers
  7. A clear-eyed post-mortem of real Indian startup shutdowns, pattern-matching the recurring killers so you can learn from the... yourstory.com Article · medium Year in Review: What Took Down India's Biggest Startups YourStory In 5 answers
  8. A YC partner who has read thousands of applications tells you plainly what separates the founders who get in from the ones who... YC Startup Library Essay · Long-form essay / talk How to Apply and Succeed at Y Combinator Dalton Caldwell In 5 answers
  9. Finding an advisor is only half the job; extracting value is the harder, less-discussed half. This piece is a concrete tactical... First Round Review Article · medium 7 Tactics to Get the Most Out of Your Startup's Advisors First Round Review In 5 answers
  10. This is the primary channel for selling products and services to the Indian government, a Section 8 company under the Ministry... gem.gov.in Tool · self-serve portal + onboarding modules Government e-Marketplace (GeM), Official Seller Portal Government e-Marketplace (GeM) In 5 answers
  11. This is a tight founder-and-investor conversation squarely on the question of reading whether a wave is real or you are just... a16z Podcast Podcast · ~18 min Marc Andreessen on Startup Timing Marc Andreessen and Jonathan Lai In 5 answers
  12. This is the clearest argument we know for reframing the whole early-vs-late question: it says being first or being a fast... NFX Essay · ~15 min read Why Startup Timing Is Everything Pete Flint In 5 answers
  13. Moore's classic maps the market you are timing your entry into: innovators and early adopters buy for very different reasons... Goodreads Book · ~250 pages Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers Geoffrey A. Moore In 5 answers
  14. Video · ~35 min How to Pitch Your Startup Kevin Hale In 5 answers
  15. For a two-sided marketplace, the first real decision is which side to define and win first, and this essay makes the case... NFX Essay · Long read (about 25 minutes) 19 Tactics to Solve the Chicken-or-Egg Problem and Grow Your Marketplace James Currier In 5 answers
  16. Lavingia's whole thesis is the one you need as a part-time founder: start with a community you already know and belong to, then... Penguin Random House Book · 288 pages The Minimalist Entrepreneur: How Great Founders Do More with Less Sahil Lavingia In 5 answers
  17. Instead of theory, this is hundreds of interviews with real solo founders who started a profitable business on the side of a... Apple Podcasts Podcast · episodes run 45 to 75 minutes Indie Hackers Podcast Courtland Allen In 5 answers
  18. When you and your technical hire are arguing about the stack, this essay reframes the whole fight: the goal is not the best or... mcfunley.com Essay · ~20 min read Choose Boring Technology Dan McKinley In 5 answers
  19. This is the piece that gives you permission to stop waiting for a big study. Nielsen shows that just five people uncover... Nielsen Norman Group Article · About a 10 minute read Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users Jakob Nielsen In 5 answers
  20. This is Google's own field research on building for people coming online in markets like India, and it names the exact... Google Design Article · ~12 min read Connectivity, Culture, and Credit: Designing for the Next Billion Users Google Design (Next Billion Users team) In 5 answers
  21. If you plan to register in India, a free handle and a free domain still will not save you if the name is already a registered... mca.gov.in Tool Check Company/LLP Name on the MCA portal Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India In 5 answers
  22. This is the reference everyone quietly copies when they first try to write down their brand voice, and it is public, free, and... Mailchimp Content Style Guide Article Voice and Tone, Mailchimp Content Style Guide Mailchimp In 5 answers
  23. This is the canonical structure for the investor cold email, written by a YC partner who reads them from the other side. It is... Y Combinator Startup Library Essay · 5 min read How to Cold Email Investors Aaron Harris In 5 answers
  24. Once you know your curve should flatten, the next question is where it should flatten, and this piece answers it with concrete... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~10 min read What is good retention? Lenny Rachitsky In 5 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

What are good startup ideas in India right now? The ideas Indian investors are backing in 2026 sit in a few places: AI built into one industry's daily work (vertical AI for B2B, where software fu... Beginner 5 resources → How do I find product-market fit? Narrow until a small group cannot do without you, then widen. Pick the segment where usage is strongest, talk to those people every week, and chang... Intermediate 9 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 → How do I build an MVP for my startup, step by step? Write down the one assumption that kills the idea if it is wrong, then build the cheapest thing that tests it and get it to real users within weeks... Beginner 9 resources → Which tool should I use to analyse qualitative data like interview notes? For a founder with a dozen interviews, Gemini Notebook, which is free, or Claude, free or $20 a month on Pro: load the transcripts, ask for the rec... Beginner 6 resources → How do I get my first client as a freelancer? Your first client is most likely someone who already knows you or someone they know, so start there before marketplaces. 1) Pick one service for on... Beginner 6 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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