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. This piece names the exact trap founders fall into: sending the same generic "just checking in" message everyone else sends,... Predictable Revenue (Steli Efti) Article Why Your Competitors' Follow-Ups Aren't Working (and Yours Can) Collin Stewart
  2. When your short answer says follow up on the date whether or not they replied, eventually you reach the point where you need a... HubSpot Template The Power of Breakup Emails: 7 Templates To Close the Loop HubSpot
  3. This is a tight, practical breakdown of why most recap emails fail: they bury the action item under a long summary. It argues... 30MPC (30 Minutes to President's Club) Article 3 Steps for Crafting the Perfect Sales Recap Email 30MPC (30 Minutes to President's Club)
  4. A CRM built specifically around follow-up: it reminds you to send that recap, flags the date you promised to circle back, and... Close Tool Close Close
  5. Josh Braun teardowns real cold emails line by line and explains exactly why each sentence works or doesn't, which is more... Josh Braun (LinkedIn) Thread This cold email hits all the right notes Josh Braun (LinkedIn)
  6. Your subject line decides whether the rest of your email gets read at all, and this piece is entirely dedicated to getting that... Demand Curve Article Cold Email Subject Line Do's and Don'ts Demand Curve
  7. This collection was built for asking strangers for small favors like introductions and advice, which is a gentler version of... 80,000 Hours Article The Best Email Scripts for Cold-Emailing Benjamin Todd
  8. This is a mainstream, practical rundown of the fundamentals: research, subject lines, and why you're writing to this specific... HubSpot Blog Article The Ins and Outs of Cold Emailing That Delivers Results Jay Fuchs
  9. Graham draws a sharp line between persistence and mere obstinacy: the persistent stay flexible on method while locked onto the... paulgraham.com Essay The Right Kind of Stubborn Paul Graham
  10. This is the actual data behind the "follow up more than you think" advice: only 8.5% of cold emails get a reply on their own,... Backlinko Article We Analyzed 12 Million Outreach Emails: Here's What We Learned Backlinko (with Pitchbox)
  11. Video How many times should you Follow Up? Alex Berman
  12. A practical, no-nonsense breakdown of the tradeoff between too few follow-ups (leaving replies on the table) and too many... lemlist Article How Many Cold Email Follow-Ups Should You Send to Increase Your Replies? lemlist
  13. This lays out an actual day-by-day schedule for spacing your follow-ups, which is the part most advice skips in favor of just... GrowthList Article Cold Email Follow Up Timing: Best Schedule GrowthList
  14. The single biggest reason founders under follow-up isn't strategy, it's forgetting. This tool auto-reminds you (or auto-sends a... Boomerang for Gmail Tool Boomerang for Gmail: Email Follow-Up Reminders Boomerang for Gmail
  15. A compact stat sheet built from Woodpecker's own send data across many campaigns, showing that adding even one follow-up lifts... Woodpecker Article These Stats Prove The Importance of Follow-up Emails Margaret Sikora
  16. A clear-headed synthesis of the various industry numbers (the classic 80/5 stat that 80% of sales need about five touches, plus... Nutshell Article How Many Follow-Up Emails Should You Send? Nutshell
  17. Barry documents, with real numbers, how he grew ConvertKit through direct outreach and relentless follow-up rather than a... nathanbarry.com Essay Direct Sales for Bootstrapped SaaS Startups: from $1,300 to $725,000 MRR Nathan Barry
  18. A real, specific account of the actual cold email that got a company its first paying customers before it even had a name or a... Indie Hackers Thread The cold email that started a $100M/yr company Indie Hackers
  19. Video How To Cold Email Clients (WINNING Cold Email Templates) Alex Berman
  20. A direct, practical comparison of the two channels this exact question is about, including what each is better suited for and... Cleverly Article Cold Email vs. LinkedIn Outreach: What Gets Better Results? Cleverly
  21. A practical library of short LinkedIn opening messages organized by scenario, which you can adapt instead of guessing at tone... Sales Bread Template 37 Best LinkedIn Cold Message Templates That Get Replies Sales Bread
  22. A free five-day email course covering the whole cold email process end to end: defining who to target, finding accurate contact... Hunter.io Course · 5 days Hunter's Cold Email Course Hunter.io
  23. A tool built specifically around sequencing cold email and LinkedIn touches together, which matches the exact combine-them... lemlist.com Tool lemlist lemlist.com
  24. Merge's founders sent hundreds of cold emails over six months, not to pitch but to understand who actually had the integrations... First Round Review Article Merge's Path to Product-Market Fit: The Importance of Founder-led Sales First Round Review

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

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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