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. A venture investor's reading of the Budget 2026 change to buyback taxation and what it means for founders, early employees and... Inc42 Article · 6 min read Union Budget 2026: The Buyback Blowback For Founders Siddarth Pai
  2. A chartered accountant's note on the December 2025 change to the small company limits, listing the Companies Act relaxations... Sandeep Ahuja & Co. Article · 6 min read MCA Expands Small Company Definition to ₹10 Cr Capital & ₹100 Cr Turnover CA Surekha S Ahuja
  3. OpenAI's documentation of its three crawlers and what each robots.txt setting does, including the one that decides whether your... OpenAI Article · 5 min read Overview of OpenAI Crawlers OpenAI
  4. Google's free research notebook (formerly NotebookLM): load interview transcripts and ask questions answered with citations to... notebook.google Tool Gemini Notebook Google
  5. NN/g's step-by-step guide to thematic analysis: coding transcripts, grouping codes into themes, and the tools that help. nngroup.com Article How to Analyze Qualitative Data from UX Research: Thematic Analysis Nielsen Norman Group
  6. Dovetail's own pricing page: Bronze is $4,800 a year for up to 5 users, with AI credits at 15 cents each; Gold has a 30-day... dovetail.com Tool Dovetail pricing Dovetail
  7. Looppanel's own pricing page: Pro is $49 a month or $540 a year for one researcher; Team is $395 a month. looppanel.com Tool Looppanel pricing Looppanel
  8. Condens's own pricing page: Lite from EUR 15 a month or EUR 165 a year for one contributor, with a 15-day trial. condens.io Tool Condens pricing Condens
  9. Instantly's own pricing page. The Growth outreach plan is $47 a month with unlimited email accounts and warm-up; lead-database... instantly.ai Tool Instantly pricing Instantly
  10. Smartlead's own pricing page. Base is $39 a month for 2,000 contacts and 6,000 sends; Pro is $94 a month. smartlead.ai Tool Smartlead pricing Smartlead
  11. Lemlist's own pricing page. The Email plan is $55 a month billed yearly ($69 monthly) for up to 50,000 emails a month;... lemlist.com Tool lemlist pricing lemlist
  12. Woodpecker's own pricing page, which shows rupee prices from India. Email outreach starts at Rs 3,700 a month and the email... woodpecker.co Tool Woodpecker pricing Woodpecker
  13. Apollo's own pricing page. The free plan stays free with no time limit; paid Basic and Professional seats add credits,... apollo.io Tool Apollo pricing Apollo.io
  14. April Dunford on why founders sell the future like they pitch investors, when buyers need proof you beat their current... aprildunford.com Article Why your investor pitch is ruining your sales pitch April Dunford
  15. Meta's public search of every ad currently running on Facebook and Instagram. Search a competitor's page to see the offers and... facebook.com Tool Meta Ad Library Meta
  16. Google's public record of ads by advertiser across Search, YouTube and Display, searchable by company name. adstransparency.google.com Tool Google Ads Transparency Center Google
  17. The archive of past versions of websites. Compare a competitor's homepage and pricing page over time to see how their... web.archive.org Tool Internet Archive Wayback Machine Internet Archive
  18. A step-by-step guide to interviewing buyers who chose you or a rival, which is where the most honest competitive intelligence... klue.com Article How to Conduct Win-Loss Interviews Klue
  19. Figma's first business hire, Claire Butler, on how the company built its designer community through stealth, beta and launch... review.firstround.com Article The 5 Phases of Figma's Community-Led Growth First Round Review
  20. WhatsApp's own help page on Communities: topic-based groups under one community, with admin announcements that reach every member. whatsapp.com Article About communities WhatsApp
  21. Discord's page for running a community server: channels, roles, events and moderation tools, free to set up. discord.com Tool Discord for communities Discord
  22. Skool's own pricing page: Hobby $9 a month and Pro $99 a month, both with unlimited members and courses. skool.com Tool Skool pricing Skool
  23. Real cold emails rewritten side by side, showing how cutting the pitch and leading with the reader's situation changes the reply. joshbraun.com Article Before and After Cold Emails Josh Braun
  24. Instagram's free phone editor, ranked No. 1 in Photo and Video on India's App Store today, built for Reels and Shorts. apps.apple.com Tool Edits: Video Editor (App Store India) Instagram

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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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