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. Ready-made SWOT boards on an online whiteboard, so a team can fill in the grid together in a call. miro.com Template · Templates SWOT Analysis templates (Miroverse) Miro
  2. A line-by-line guide to how an income statement (P&L) is built: revenue, cost of goods sold, gross profit, operating expenses,... corporatefinanceinstitute.com Article · Guide Income Statement Corporate Finance Institute
  3. HBS Online's plain explanation of what goes into an income statement and how accountants prepare one from the trial balance,... online.hbs.edu Article · Article How to Read and Analyze an Income Statement Harvard Business School Online
  4. The classic explanation of why stopping a test the moment it looks significant produces false winners, and how to avoid it by... evanmiller.org Essay · Essay How Not To Run an A/B Test Evan Miller
  5. YouTube's own help page for its built-in A/B test: creators can test and compare up to 3 titles and thumbnails on one video,... support.google.com Article · Help page A/B test titles and thumbnails (YouTube Test & compare) YouTube Help
  6. Meta's own help page for the A/B test feature in Ads Manager, which splits your audience so versions of an ad, audience or... facebook.com Article · Help page About A/B testing for Meta Ads Meta Business Help Center
  7. An open-source experimentation and feature-flag platform. The Starter plan is free for up to 3 users with unlimited experiments... growthbook.io Tool · Pricing page GrowthBook pricing GrowthBook
  8. Google's notice that Optimize and Optimize 360 are no longer available as of 30 September 2023, which is why older A/B testing... support.google.com Article · Help page [Sunset September 2023] Google Optimize Google Analytics Help
  9. A worked guide to the break-even formula in units and in sales, with the contribution margin behind it. corporatefinanceinstitute.com Article · Guide Break-Even Analysis Corporate Finance Institute
  10. A 2026 India-specific guide with an annotated mutual NDA (and a one-way variant): the clauses, the four standard exclusions,... blog.ipleaders.in Template · Guide with template How to draft an NDA in India: clauses, enforceability and a free template (2026) iPleaders
  11. A free standard mutual NDA written by a committee of experienced lawyers and used by over 2,000 companies, with a cover page... commonpaper.com Template · Template Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (Common Paper Standard) Common Paper
  12. An open-source standard mutual NDA, free to use under CC BY 4.0, with a cover page that carries the deal-specific terms. github.com Template · Template Bonterms Mutual NDA Bonterms
  13. ICANN's own answer to whether you can own a domain forever: registrars sell registrations in one-year increments and the... icann.org Article · FAQ FAQs: How long does a domain registration last? ICANN
  14. ICANN's guide to renewal: if you do not renew before the domain expires you risk losing it for a short time or for good, and... icann.org Article · Guide Renewing Domain Names ICANN
  15. Cloudflare's registrar charges only what the registry and ICANN charge, with no markup, and redacts WHOIS details by default. developers.cloudflare.com Tool · Docs Cloudflare Registrar (developer docs) Cloudflare
  16. Stripe's India pricing: 2% for cards issued in India and 3% for cards issued outside India, with no setup or monthly fees;... stripe.com Tool · Pricing page Stripe India pricing Stripe
  17. Paddle acts as merchant of record for SaaS and apps, handling global sales tax and compliance, for 5% plus 50 cents per... paddle.com Tool · Pricing page Paddle pricing Paddle
  18. The founder-led community of Indian SaaS builders, now growing into AIBoomi, with its Playbook, annual conference, roundtables... saasboomi.org Tool · Community SaaSBOOMi SaaSBOOMi
  19. The government's own figures for the ecosystem as of 31 January 2026: 2,12,283 DPIIT-recognised startups, 1,02,054 with a woman... pib.gov.in Article · Press release (17 March 2026) Over 1 lakh startups have at least one woman director among 2.12 lakh recognised by DPIIT Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
  20. The latest reported count: 2,50,046 DPIIT-recognised startups across more than 770 districts with over 25.42 lakh jobs, 52%... policyedge.in Article · Article (27 October 2026) DPIIT Reports 2.5 Lakh Recognised Startups as Business Approvals Move Online The Policy Edge
  21. Inc42's report of the ministry's FY26 numbers: over 55,200 startups recognised in the year, the most since 2016, taking the... inc42.com Article · News (April 2026) Centre recognises record 55,200 startups in FY26 Inc42
  22. The most complete founder guide to setting up a holding company in India: the Companies Act definitions, the two-layer limit,... treelife.in Article · Guide Holding Company Structure in India: Compliance, Investment, Tax Treelife
  23. A legally reviewed 2026 explainer of pure and mixed holding companies and the steps to start one in India. kanakkupillai.com Article · Guide (June 2026) Holding Company: Meaning, Types and Steps to Start in India Kanakkupillai
  24. A guide to the company forms under Indian law, including holding and subsidiary companies, to place a holding structure among... razorpay.com Article · Guide Different Types of Companies in India Razorpay Rize

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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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