Founder guides
Practical, sourced guides on validating an idea, sizing a market, and testing real demand, written for a first-time founder. Teach first, one action you can take today, no fluff.
The product market fit survey and the Sean Ellis test, explained
The one-question survey that tells you whether you have product market fit, and the 40 percent bar.
Read the guideMarket research for startups: a checklist with cited sources
A practical, sourced checklist for startup market research: demand, competitors, customers, and costs.
Read the guideHow to validate a business idea before you build
Define your riskiest assumption, talk to real customers, and test demand for real, in a week.
Read the guideHow to run a fake-door test with a waitlist landing page
Prove real demand with a waitlist landing page before you build a thing.
Read the guideHow to build an investor pitch deck from research, not a template
The slides investors expect, why evidence beats a pretty template, and the one thing that sinks most decks.
Read the guideHow to prepare your Y Combinator or Techstars application
What YC and Techstars actually screen for, and a checklist to prepare an application backed by real evidence.
Read the guideThe pre-seed fundraising checklist for first-time founders
What to have ready before you raise your first round, and why evidence beats a flashy deck.
Read the guideHow to write a startup business plan investors will not pick apart
Why the standard template fails a startup, what investors check first, and where each number should come from.
Read the guideProduct market fit: what it means and how to know you have it
The definition, the signals that mislead, how to measure it, and what changes once you have it.
Read the guideFounder market fit: why the right founder for this market matters
The four advantages that actually count, and how to assess yours without flattering yourself.
Read the guideThe startup one pager: what goes on it, and what does not
The seven things that belong on one page, what to cut, and when to send it instead of a deck.
Read the guideLinkedIn post ideas for founders: six that work, and what to leave out
Six kinds of post that work for founders, a worked opening line for each, and what to leave off.
Read the guideHow to post a PDF carousel on LinkedIn
LinkedIn calls it a document post. How to make the PDF, upload it, and design pages people actually swipe.
Read the guideSocial media without a marketing team: a system one founder can run
Batch instead of posting daily, choose two platforms, and turn one thing you learned into a week of posts.
Read the guideHow to monitor competitors without guessing what they are thinking
The five pages worth watching, how often to check each, and why a change never tells you why.
Read the guideHow to get international clients for your agency, and get paid
Where funded work abroad sits, how to win it, and the three real routes to getting paid.
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