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.

This is the founder-facing counterpart to the DSCI summary: instead of restating the law, it turns it into an 8-step... Corrida Legal Article · 15 min read Compliance under the DPDP Act for startups collecting customer data Corrida Legal
A second, lighter India-specific template if the DPDPA.com one feels heavy for a v1. It is a ready-to-adapt privacy policy... Arohana Legal Template · 15 min read Startup Privacy Policy: Elements and Template Arohana Legal
Supplements and wellness founders get burned by the same trap: assuming a product sits under FSSAI when a dosage or a claim... PharmaNow Article · 15 min read Nutraceuticals in India: FSSAI vs CDSCO, Complete Regulatory Guide PharmaNow editorial team
This is the actual filing portal, not a summary of it. India joined the Madrid System in 2013, so from your existing Indian... WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) Tool · 20 min read The Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks WIPO
The India-specific mechanics WIPO glosses over: you file Form MM2 through India's Trade Marks Registry, your international mark... Intepat Article · 14 min read Madrid Protocol India: International Trademark Guide (2026) Intepat IP Services
This nails the exact cost trade-off in your answer: file the PCT within 12 months of your first Indian patent filing, then you... S.S. Rana & Co. Article · 12 min read PCT National Phase Application in India S.S. Rana & Co.
This is the India-context checklist you negotiate from: it lays out exclusive vs sole vs non-exclusive, how royalty and... iPleaders Article · 20 min read IP Licensing Agreements (with a sample agreement template) iPleaders (Blog)
A clean, plain-language breakdown of the ten terms that make up any license deal, so you can read the scope, exclusivity,... McInnes Cooper Article · 12 min read 10 Key Intellectual Property (IP) Licensing Agreement Terms Michael J. Melvin and Patrick Kerr
Real, downloadable license agreements from one of the most active tech-transfer offices in the world, including both an... Harvard OTD Template · reference Sample Licensing Agreements (Exclusive and Non-Exclusive) Harvard Office of Technology Development
This is the exact calendar of the boring recurring filings that quietly strike off companies: AOC-4 (annual accounts, Oct 30),... ClearTax Article · 12 min read ROC Compliance Calendar 2025-2026 (Private Limited Company) ClearTax
Written by a founder-side sales veteran, this walks the exact traps in a big-company paper: net 90-120 payment terms you should... AWS Startups Blog Article · 12 min read Contract and Legal Traps to Avoid (Startup Founder Sales Series, Part 11) Mark Birch
A startup lawyer's clause-by-clause breakdown from the vendor side: it explains that a liability cap does not erase risk, it... Startup Lawyer Article · 25 min read The Startup Commercial Contracts Guide Ryan Roberts
Templates in the abstract are cheap; this reproduces the actual cold messages that landed real cheques and dissects why each... 22 Astronauts Article · 8 min read 5 Cold DMs That Led to Funding Ilir Aliu
The craft of the cold email is universal, but who you send it to and what they expect is not: this maps the actual Indian angel... StartUpMandi Article · 14 min read How to Find Angel Investors in India (2026 Founder Playbook) StartUpMandi editorial team
This is the guide that maps advisor structure to your exact stage, so you can see why a formal board is overkill at pre-seed.... Allied Venture Partners Article · 15 min read Strategic Advisory Boards Guide: Pre-Seed to Series B Allied Venture Partners
This is the India-context piece for when you actually grant an advisor equity, written by a firm that does startup ESOP and... Treelife Article · 10 min read All About Advisor Equity: Types, Granting Process, Benefits Treelife
This is the piece that names portfolio founders as the single strongest intro path and then ranks every other channel below it... OpenVC Article · 15 min read How to get warm intros to VCs OpenVC
You connect your Gmail and Signal maps your invisible network against 3M+ founder to VC connections, so you can see which of... NFX Tool · 30 min to set up Signal: the free network map that reveals your intro paths to specific VCs NFX
Beyond the intro itself, this manual gives you the operating system around it: a shared tracker with an owner assigned to every... NFX Essay · 40 min read The NFX Fundraising Manual NFX
This is the operating manual for the group you want to start yourself. It gives you the exact numbers to decide on before your... Forbes Article · 9 min read 9 Things To Know Before You Start Your Own Mastermind Sarah Kathleen Peck
This is the exact playbook the answer describes, spelled out step by step: research 10-15 attendees before you go, send 3-5... Growing Partners Article · 12 min read An Introvert's Guide to Killer Conference Networking Growing Partners
A tight, credible framing of the core bet the answer makes: stop trying to work the room and instead play to introvert... Fast Company Article · 7 min read The Introvert's Networking Playbook Fast Company
Written by a fund built entirely around go-to-market, so it treats sales/hiring/pricing as distinct functional problems, not... Stage 2 Capital Article · 10 min read Startup Founders: How to Find the Right Advisor for Your Business Liz Christo
India-founded (Bengaluru) and thick with Indian operators who solved your exact problem recently: growth leads, founder-led... Topmate Tool · tool Topmate: book 1:1 time with operators and functional experts Ankit Agarwal and Dinesh Singh

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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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