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. Canva's licence for its stock content. Among the things it prohibits is using any of the content as part of a trade mark,... canva.com Article · Legal page Canva Content License Agreement Canva
  2. An AI logo maker you can try free with no account. You pay once, with no monthly charge, and the purchase includes full... brandmark.io Tool · Web app Brandmark Brandmark
  3. Video · 5 min How to Design a Logo, From Start to Finish Shantanu Kumar
  4. YouTube's help page on public, private and unlisted videos. Unlisted videos can be seen and shared by anyone with the link but... support.google.com Article · 5 min read Change video privacy settings (YouTube Help) YouTube
  5. Vimeo's plans: Creator at $9 a month billed annually with 50GB managed storage and password protection, and Core at $24.50 for... vimeo.com Tool · Pricing page Vimeo pricing Vimeo
  6. Wistia's plans: Free with 25GB of storage for one user, and Business at $79 a month billed annually with branding removed,... wistia.com Tool · Pricing page Wistia pricing Wistia
  7. Bunny Stream charges for use only: encoding is free, storage from $0.01 a GB and delivery from $0.005 a GB, with a free player... bunny.net Tool · Pricing page Bunny Stream pricing bunny.net
  8. Cloudflare's docs on Stream pricing: $5 a month for each 1,000 minutes of video stored and $1 per 1,000 minutes delivered, with... developers.cloudflare.com Article · Docs Cloudflare Stream pricing Cloudflare
  9. VdoCipher hosts video with DRM encryption against piracy, and lists Indian ed-tech companies among its customers. Starter is... vdocipher.com Tool · Pricing page VdoCipher pricing VdoCipher
  10. Zapier's tested comparison of business video hosts, including Vimeo and Wistia, with what each is best for. zapier.com Article · 12 min read The 5 best video hosting sites for businesses Zapier
  11. Video · 13 min I Compared The Top 8 Video Hosting Solutions Capture
  12. The free, open-source audio editor and recorder. It has always been free and the team says it will remain free for everyone. audacityteam.org Tool · Download page Audacity Audacity
  13. Apple's free recording studio for the Mac, listed free on the App Store. It records several tracks and edits a simple podcast... apps.apple.com Tool · App Store page GarageBand (Mac App Store, India) Apple
  14. Adobe Podcast's free AI filter that cleans up spoken audio, removing echo and background noise from a recording made on an... podcast.adobe.com Tool · Web app Enhance Speech from Adobe Adobe
  15. REAPER is a full studio audio editor. A licence is $60 for individuals and for businesses with yearly gross revenue under... reaper.fm Tool · Pricing page Purchase a REAPER licence Cockos
  16. Video · 66 min How to Edit a Podcast From Start to Finish Descript
  17. Video · 8 min Audacity Podcast Tutorial: Quickly Edit a Podcast and Sound Great Mike Russell
  18. Lenny Rachitsky's interviews with product, growth and startup leaders on how they build. The most practical weekly show for... lennysnewsletter.com Podcast · Weekly episodes Lenny's Podcast Lenny Rachitsky
  19. Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal tell the full story of one great company per episode, from founding to today. acquired.fm Podcast · Long episodes Acquired Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
  20. Harry Stebbings interviews venture investors and founders on how deals, rounds and markets work. thetwentyminutevc.com Podcast · Several episodes a week The Twenty Minute VC (20VC) Harry Stebbings
  21. Amit Varma's long conversations on Indian economics, policy and society, the best background for a founder building in India. seenunseen.in Podcast · Long episodes The Seen and the Unseen Amit Varma
  22. EChai's own shelf of recent podcast episodes from the shows founders here listen to, Indian and global, sorted by what they... echai.ventures Podcast · Curated shelf eChai podcast shelf eChai
  23. David Senra reads the biographies of entrepreneurs and pulls out what they did and why, one founder per episode. founderspodcast.com Podcast · Weekly episodes Founders David Senra
  24. A March 2026 explainer of the One Person Company limits: OPCs used to be forced to convert once turnover passed Rs 2 crore or... razorpay.com Article · 6 min read OPC turnover limit: the old conversion rule and what changed in 2021 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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