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. ClearTax gives the plain-language walkthrough of the four-step process (DSC, DIN, SPICe+ name reservation, incorporation... ClearTax Article · 12 min read Company Registration in India: How to Register, Types, Documents, Fees ClearTax
  2. Dharmesh Shah (HubSpot co-founder) makes the exact separation your question needs: salary pays for work, equity is ownership,... OnStartups Essay · 10 min read Startup Founder Compensation: The Good, The Bad and The Irrelevant Dharmesh Shah
  3. A startup lawyer names the specific trap in your answer: founders who let unpaid salary pile up as owed salary on the books,... Flux Law Article · 9 min read Founder Salary & Compensation: What's Reasonable and What to Watch Out For Ryan Howell
  4. The India-specific piece your set needs. It spells out exactly how a founder-director who defers salary in the early years... IncorpX Article · 12 min read Director Remuneration in Private Company: Rules & Tax IncorpX
  5. This is the trigger checklist, spelled out: it names the exact moments that force incorporation (bringing on a co-founder,... Capbase Article · 10 min read When Should My Startup Incorporate? Capbase
  6. The side-by-side an Indian founder actually needs: a compliance matrix and a 5-year cost table for both entities, written from... IncorpX Article · 18 min read US LLC vs India Pvt Ltd for Indian Founders: Tax and Compliance Comparison IncorpX
  7. This is the single checklist that tells a first-time founder every recurring ROC and MCA filing a Pvt Ltd owes each year and in... ClearTax Article · 15 min read Annual Compliance Checklist for Startups ClearTax
  8. This is the honest side-by-side you want before spending a rupee on a Delaware C-corp: Atlas at $500 one-time (files your 83(b)... Rho Article · 12 min read Stripe Atlas vs. Clerky: 2026 Incorporation Guide for Startup Founders Rho editorial team
  9. Founders conflate two very different things: non-competes while employed (usually enforceable) versus after you quit (usually... Anirudh Associates Article · 10 min read Section 27 and Post-Termination Non-Compete Clauses: How Far Can Employers Go? Anirudh Associates
  10. This is the canonical explainer on the exact mechanism that closes your ownership gap: founders assign pre-incorporation IP to... Stripe Atlas Article · 20 min read Equity for Founders Stripe Atlas
  11. This is the one checklist that names the exact triggers, not just the list of registrations. It spells out EPF at 20+... MPVD & Associates (Chartered Accountants) Article · 12 min read Compliance Checklist After Company Registration in India MPVD & Associates
  12. For the US side of a two-entity setup, this is the canonical founder-facing reference on the EIN (your federal tax ID), federal... Stripe Article · 20 min read Business taxes: A Stripe Atlas Guide Stripe Atlas
  13. This is the India-specific FEMA reality check almost every cross-border founder gets wrong. It is written by a practicing CA... CA Abhinav Gulechha Article · 18 min read Indian Resident Individual Planning to Incorporate in US? Ensure Compliance with Indian FEMA Law Abhinav Gulechha
  14. For a contractor in another country, the two things that bite you are IP ownership and misclassification, and this free... Deel Template · template Independent Contractor Agreement Template (with country-specific IP guidance) Deel
  15. Written by the talent team at a VC that hires for its portfolio full-time, so it is a recruiter's actual playbook, not generic... SignalFire Template · 15 min read Startup Job Description Template Crystal Guerrero (Director of Talent Operations)
  16. This is real India data, not a US survey with an Indian byline: 46 percent of Indeed India postings disclosed salary in 2023,... Indeed India (Hiring Insights) Article · 10 min read The Importance of Pay Transparency in India Indeed Editorial Team
  17. Elaine Wherry posted a fake engineer profile, got hit by 382 recruiters, and dissected every message, so this is a real... First Round Review Article · 20 min read The Inside Story of How 382 Recruiters Pursued an Imaginary Engineer First Round Review
  18. Bartel built Gem (a recruiting tool) after running recruiting at Dropbox, so this is a founder-to-founder playbook for sourcing... First Round Review Podcast · 45 min The founder's guide to making your first few hires: Steven Bartel on recruiting at Gem and Dropbox First Round Review
  19. This is the single best playbook for the exact call you are dreading: the candidate has a bigger offer and you have to close... First Round Review Article · 18 min read Make Stronger Offers to Engineering Candidates and Boost Your Closes Adil Ajmal (CTO, LendingHome), via First Round Review
  20. This is the mechanics-and-speed piece: it makes the case that your unfair advantage against a big company is turnaround time,... Gem Article · 15 min read Startup Hiring 101: A Founder's Guide, Part 19, Selling and Closing Gem (recruiting team, drawing on Y Combinator talks)
  21. This is the operational manual, not a theory piece: it lists the exact paper trail Indian courts look for (appointment letter,... Corrida Legal Article · 18 min read Probation and Confirmation Policy for Indian Companies: A Practical Drafting Guide for Employers Corrida Legal
  22. This turns your 'written, specific milestones on day one' into an actual document you can hand a new hire, with a phased... Asana Template · 15 min read How to write a 30-60-90 day plan (with template and examples) Asana
  23. A plain-language read on the legal footing itself: it explains that a probationer has no lien on the job, so termination during... IndiaFilings Article · 10 min read Understanding Probation Period in Employment Services IndiaFilings
  24. This is the single doc your first hire should walk into. It is built for a founder without an HR team, splits the first three... FirstHR Template · downloadable DOCX, 15 min to adapt Free 30-60-90 Day Plan Template for Small Business FirstHR

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 →