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. Doshi is unusually sharp on why most execution problems are really prioritization and strategy problems in disguise. You get... Lenny's Podcast Podcast · About 90 min Shreyas Doshi on pre-mortems, the LNO framework, and prioritization Shreyas Doshi
  2. ICE (Impact, Confidence, Ease) is RICE's lighter cousin, and it is often the right tool when you are moving fast and just need... Growth Method Article · 12 min read The ICE Framework: the original prioritization framework Stuart Brameld
  3. Not all features move satisfaction the same way, and Kano gives you a lens to tell basics from performance features from... Product School Article · 12 min read The Kano Model: prioritizing features that delight Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
  4. This is a focused piece on the outcomes over output idea in our short answer, and it catches a common trap: writing goals that... romanpichler.com Article · 10 min read Get the Outcomes on Your Product Roadmap Right Roman Pichler
  5. A tight essay separating the work of figuring out what to build (discovery) from building it well (delivery), and arguing you... Silicon Valley Product Group Essay · 8 min read Discovery vs. Delivery Marty Cagan
  6. Once you understand RICE, you still need somewhere to actually score your ideas, and this free Notion template gives you the... Notion Marketplace Template · Ready to use template RICE Prioritization Worksheet (Notion template) Notion Marketplace
  7. Video · 20 min video When to Launch Your Startup and When to Wait Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel, Brad Flora
  8. 37signals built five products and Rails with seven people by relentlessly shipping less, sooner, and this free online book is... 37signals (Jason Fried, DHH) Book · Free online book Getting Real: Start Your Engines (Ship It) Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson, Matt Linderman
  9. Charles, VP of Product at Ramp (a company known for shipping fast), lays out the operating practices that keep small teams... Geoff Charles (Medium) Article · 15 min read How to Increase Product Velocity Geoff Charles
  10. This tackles the exact tension a founder feels every week: ship faster or polish more. The Levels team argues that for an... Levels (Medium) Article · 12 min read Should You Prioritize Velocity of Shipping or Quality of Product? David Flinner
  11. A runaway roadmap is usually a list of every decent idea, and this piece is the antidote. Build half a product that is great... Basecamp (37signals) Essay · ~3 min read Getting Real: Half, Not Half-Assed Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
  12. Before you can run short cycles you have to decide what goes in them, and this is a founder grade framework for that from the... Y Combinator Startup Library Video · ~30 min How to Prioritize Features Emmett Shear
  13. If you want to actually run a Now-Next-Later roadmap rather than just read about it, this is the tool built for it by the... ProdPad Tool · software, free trial ProdPad (Now-Next-Later roadmap tool) Janna Bastow, Simon Cast
  14. If reading is not enough and you want to drill the skill, this is Torres's own course on running interviews as an ongoing... Product Talk Academy Course Continuous Interviewing (course) Teresa Torres
  15. GV's free step by step playbook for finding your bullseye customer and running interviews, including the recruiting scripts and... GV / Michael Margolis Template Learn More Faster (GV Bullseye Customer playbook) Michael Margolis
  16. This is the clearest argument for the exact thing your short answer names: run two synchronized systems (a planning rhythm and... David Sacks, Craft Ventures Essay · 20 min read The Cadence: How to Operate a SaaS Startup David Sacks
  17. A veteran founder makes the case that a steady, brisk (but not burning) cadence is one of the highest leverage things a young... Michael Wolfe, Point Nine Land Essay · 12 min read The Rhythm of the Fight: Why a Startup Needs Cadence To Succeed Michael Wolfe
  18. The mechanics behind a high shipping cadence: small batches, feature flags, fast pipelines, and the safeguards that let a... Intercom Blog Article · 12 min read The safety of speed: How we ship code 180 times per day Danny Fallon and Ryan Sherlock, Intercom
  19. A detailed look at a team obsessed with velocity: almost no estimating, minimal planning ceremony, and a bias toward shipping... Lenny's Newsletter Article · 25 min read How Ramp builds product Lenny Rachitsky
  20. Duolingo's VP of Product walks through their planning cadence, org structure, and the team rituals that let many small teams... Lenny's Newsletter Article · 25 min read How Duolingo builds product Lenny Rachitsky
  21. Cutler argues that cadence and closed feedback loops matter more than any framework, and that rituals should exist to move... John Cutler, The Beautiful Mess Essay · 12 min read TBM 12/52: The Basics John Cutler
  22. A founder's practical account of designing the recurring meetings and reviews that keep a scaling company aligned, and which... Travis May, Medium Article · 12 min read Building the Right Operating Cadence Travis May
  23. A ready made doc that lays out planning, review, and communication rituals across weekly, monthly, and quarterly horizons,... Phil Farhi, Coda Template · Interactive doc Product Operating Rhythm Phil Farhi
  24. A free, focused summary of how empowered teams operate: given problems, held to outcomes, and coordinated by a light cadence... Silicon Valley Product Group Article · 10 min read Empowered Product Teams Marty Cagan

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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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