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For Founders

Idea to first customers, in order

A first-time founder's arc from choosing to start through finding an idea, building a first version, launching, and landing early users. Each essay is practical and still true today, ordered so each builds on the last.

12 essays · in order

Start path →0 of 12 done
  1. ✓1.
    You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss12 minStart here: why ambitious builders should own their work rather than take a safe big-company job.
  2. ✓2.
    Why to Not Not Start a Startup31 minDismantles the common excuses that keep you from starting, so you commit instead of deliberating.
  3. ✓3.
    Before the Startup21 minOnce committed: learn domain expertise, pick cofounders by trust, and let ideas emerge from curiosity.
  4. ✓4.
    How to Get Startup Ideas31 minNow find an idea by noticing problems you urgently need, not inventing plausible-sounding ones.
  5. ✓5.
    Schlep Blindness5 minDeepens idea-finding by surfacing the unpleasant schleps your unconscious avoids.
  6. ✓6.
    Organic Startup Ideas5 minRefines the search: build from what's broken in your own life, especially early on.
  7. ✓7.
    Relentlessly Resourceful4 minBefore building, adopt the core founder trait: relentless resourcefulness in the face of obstacles.
  8. ✓8.
    Startups in 13 Sentences7 minA compact checklist for the build phase: understand users, launch fast, stay cheap.
  9. ✓9.
    Do Things that Don't Scale19 minLaunch tactic: recruit your first users manually and delight them with unscalable effort.
  10. ✓10.
    What I've Learned from Users10 minWith users in hand, focus weekly on the one problem blocking growth and iterate on feedback.
  11. ✓11.
    Startup = Growth22 minMeasure weekly growth as the compass for every decision once you have traction.
  12. ✓12.
    Default Alive or Default Dead?7 minFinally, know if you're default alive or dead, and avoid overhiring before you're sure.

Curated automatically from the full catalog, like the stage tags. Feedback welcome.