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.

Each episode sits a working community professional down to talk about the worst advice they followed and what it actually cost... Community Marketing Revolution Podcast · Episodes run roughly 30 to 45 minutes Bad Community Advice Seth Resler
Priya Parker's whole argument is that people show up (and stay engaged) when a gathering has a clear, specific purpose and... Riverhead Books (Penguin Random House) Book · ~320 pages The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters Priya Parker
Justin Jackson builds from Vernon, a small town in British Columbia, not a metro tech hub, and he started the MegaMaker... justinjackson.ca Podcast · Ongoing show, episodes ~30 to 60 min Justin Jackson's podcasts (MegaMaker, Build your SaaS, Product People) Justin Jackson
Video · ~45 min Jatin Chaudhary on Building Global Startup Communities with eChai Ventures KU Podsquad (guest: Jatin Chaudhary)
This is the cleanest short explainer we found on the exact fork in your question: a community tied to your brand and customers... Turf Essay · ~8 min read Customer Community vs Community of Practice: What Is the Difference? Hannah Rafter
David Sacks argues that the strongest companies rally people around a cause and a change in the world, not around the product... Bottom Up (David Sacks) Article · ~15 min read Your Startup Is a Movement David Sacks
Pat Flynn's whole argument is that people become superfans because of a mission and a set of shared moments, not because of any... Pat Flynn Book · 224 pages Superfans: The Easy Way to Stand Out, Grow Your Tribe, and Build a Successful Business Pat Flynn
This is the clearest breakdown we found of which numbers actually signal a healthy community versus which ones just look good... Circle Blog Article The Complete Guide to Community Analytics Pedro Hernandes (Circle)
Of the tools we checked this is the one still built squarely for community health, since Common Room has since pivoted toward... Circle Tool Circle Community Analytics Circle
FeverBee is the most credible voice on running online communities, and this piece makes the honest case that written guidelines... FeverBee Article · 8 to 10 min read Community Guidelines Richard Millington (FeverBee)
This is a short, plain-language code of conduct adopted by thousands of communities (including nine of the ten largest open... Contributor Covenant Template · 1 page, interactive builder Contributor Covenant: A Code of Conduct for Digital Communities Organization for Ethical Source
Shirky's classic essay is the deepest argument for why a community's real norms come from how the group behaves and how the... shirky.com Essay · 25 to 30 min read A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy Clay Shirky
When you are the only person shipping code and also the only person showing up in the community, the real question is how you... PlanStacker Article · ~10 minute read How Solo SaaS Founders Manage Their Time for Maximum Impact Christopher Chee
A solo technical founder does not need a community team, but you do need to stop doing the same small tasks by hand every day.... Zapier Tool · Setup in an afternoon Community Management Automation with Zapier Zapier
Patrick O'Keefe ran online communities for two decades, so this is a practitioner talking, not a growth-hacker. It is the... Managing Online Forums (managingcommunities.com) Article · ~10 min read How to Revive a "Dead" Online Community Patrick O'Keefe
David Spinks founded CMX and has coached hundreds of community builders, so his take on a flatlined community carries weight.... Enough Already with David Spinks (Substack) Essay · ~15 min read How to Bring a Community Back to Life: The 6-Step Process for Growing Engagement David Spinks
The real signal of product market fit is not a headline retention number, it is whether your cohort retention curve stops... andrewchen.com Essay · Short read (tweetstorm plus commentary) Magic metrics indicating product/market fit (cohort curves that flatten, and the power user smile) Andrew Chen
Benchmarks only matter once you can plot your own cohorts and see whether your curve is flattening, and Amplitude's Retention... Amplitude Docs Tool · Reference documentation plus free product Amplitude Retention Analysis (chart documentation) Amplitude
For the users who will never reply to an email or take a call, you need to catch a reason at the exact moment they cancel, and... paddle.com Article · About a 10 minute read How to build cancellation and exit surveys that reduce churn Paddle
Most churned users will never reply to your email or hop on a call, so your best shot is a one-line reason captured right where... tally.so Tool · Set up in under 10 minutes Subscription Cancellation Survey Template Tally
This turns the principle into screens you can actually build. It covers the concrete tactics (tooltips, empty states, short... Appcues Article The Aha Moment Guide: How to Find, Optimize, and Design for Your Product Appcues
Before you pick a number, you need to decide who gets rewarded and with what, and this piece walks through one-sided versus... Voucherify Article · about 15 min read Double-Sided Referrals: Worth the Hassle or a Margin Trap? Julia Gaj
This is the local reality check behind the freeloader worry: an India-native account of how growth targets get gamed, with... Inc42 Article · about 12 min read Indian Startups Take Shortcuts In Chase For Funding Nikhil Subramaniam
The specific worry in the question is people gaming the program, so here is a concrete, working example of what fraud detection... Rewardful Tool · product page Rewardful: Self-Referral Fraud Detection Rewardful

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

eChai Partner Brands The partnership →