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. Apple India's store page for the MacBook Pro, from the 14-inch with the M6 chip, 16GB of memory and 1TB at ₹2,39,900 up to M5... apple.com Tool · Store page Buy MacBook Pro (India) Apple
  2. Lenovo India's listing of ThinkPad E laptops, the business line with a good keyboard and service network: the E14 Gen 7 (AMD)... lenovo.com Tool · Store page Lenovo ThinkPad E series (India) Lenovo
  3. TechRadar's tested buying guide, updated November 2026. It names the MacBook Air 13-inch (M5) the best laptop overall and the... techradar.com Article · 20 min read The best laptops 2026, tested, reviewed and rated TechRadar
  4. Video · 13 min MacBook Neo Review: Better than you Think! Marques Brownlee
  5. Figma's whiteboard. FigJam is included with all seats on every Figma plan, including the free Starter plan, with stickies,... figma.com Tool · Product page FigJam Figma
  6. Excalidraw's paid tier adds saved workspaces to the free, open-source whiteboard. The free plan has the full editor with... excalidraw.com Tool · Pricing page Excalidraw+ pricing Excalidraw
  7. A free, instant collaborative whiteboard in the browser, quick to open and share during a call. tldraw.com Tool · Web app tldraw tldraw
  8. Apple's free whiteboard app for iPhone, iPad and Mac, built for drawing with the Apple Pencil and sharing a board with others... apps.apple.com Tool · App Store page Freeform (App Store, India) Apple
  9. Microsoft's whiteboard, which works inside Teams meetings and on Windows and touch screens, with more than 60 free templates. microsoft.com Tool · Product page Microsoft Whiteboard Microsoft
  10. Zapier's tested comparison of online whiteboards, updated June 2026, covering which suits brainstorming, teaching and product... zapier.com Article · 15 min read The 5 best online whiteboards in 2026 Zapier
  11. The free, open-source diagram editor (also known as diagrams.net): free forever, no sign-up, and your files stay wherever you... drawio.com Tool · Web and desktop app draw.io draw.io
  12. Lucidchart's pricing page. The free plan allows 3 editable documents with up to 75 shapes each; Individual is $9 a month billed... lucidchart.com Tool · Pricing page Lucidchart pricing Lucid
  13. Mermaid turns a few lines of text into flowcharts, sequence diagrams, ER diagrams and more. Because the diagram is text, an AI... mermaid.js.org Tool · Docs and live editor Mermaid Mermaid
  14. GitHub's guide to drawing Mermaid diagrams directly in READMEs, issues and pull requests. docs.github.com Article · 5 min read Creating diagrams on GitHub GitHub
  15. The open-source tool that draws UML diagrams (sequence, class, activity and more) from simple text descriptions, standard in... plantuml.com Tool · Docs PlantUML PlantUML
  16. Video · 2 min Build a flowchart (draw.io Beginner Academy) draw.io
  17. Canva's own plans page. Canva Free covers templates and basic editing with limited AI; Pro is US$144 a year for one person with... canva.com Tool · Pricing page Canva pricing (India) Canva
  18. A free photo editor in the browser with Photoshop-style professional tools. It runs locally, so your images are not uploaded. photopea.com Tool · Web app Photopea Photopea
  19. Pixlr's browser and phone photo editors. Plus is $1.99 a month billed yearly ($2.49 monthly) for ad-free use with 80 monthly AI... pixlr.com Tool · Pricing page Pixlr pricing Pixlr
  20. Zapier's tested roundup of Canva alternatives, naming Adobe Express the best overall and Pixlr the affordable pick, with what... zapier.com Article · 15 min read The 7 best Canva alternatives Zapier
  21. Video · 15 min Adobe Express vs Canva in 2026: Which One Should You Actually Use? Phil Pallen
  22. Video · 2 min How is Affinity now free? Affinity
  23. Zapier's tested comparison of AI image generators, updated October 2026, with what each is best at and its free option. zapier.com Article · 15 min read The 6 best AI image generators in 2026 Zapier
  24. Canva's free logo maker: pick a template or start blank, set your name in a font, and download. Fast and free for a first logo. canva.com Tool · Product page Free logo maker Canva

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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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