Startup Toolkit

Know Your Competition: Kompyte, Google Alerts, 

Competitive Chart: Gartner Magic Quadrant, Petal Diagram

Business Model: Business Model Gallery

Articles/Additional Resources:

• “Why Competition May Be the Best Thing for Your Business” – Inc.
• “How to Analyse a Competitive Landscape: A Framework for VCs and Founders” – Medium
• “Competition is for Losers with Peter Thiel (How to Start a Startup 2014: 5)” – Y Combinator
• “How Competition Strengthens Start-ups” – Harvard Business Review

MVP, Landing Pages: QuickMVP, Lander, Optimizely, Unbounce

Surveys: Google Forms, Survey Monkey, Typeform

Crowdfunding: Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, GoFundMe

Angel Investors: GUST

Articles/Additional Resources:

• “Financial Management for Startups” – Business News Daily
• “Crowdfunding: What It Is, How It Works, and Popular Websites” – Investopedia
• “Angel Investor: Definition and How It Works” – Investopedia
• “Fundraising Strategy for an Early-Stage Startup From A to Z” – Seedstars
• “A guide to seed fundraising” – Y Combinator
• “Kirsty Nathoo – Managing Startup Finances” – Y Combinator
• “A Guide To Investor Pitch Decks For Startup Fundraising” – Forbes
• “13 Tips on How to Deliver a Pitch Investors Simply Can’t Turn Down” – Entrepreneur
• “How to Pitch Your Company” – Y Combinator

Business Modeling: Strategyzer

Articles/Additional Resources:

• “Entrepreneurship” – Hackernoon
• “The Lean Startup” – Eric Ries
• “Lean Business Planning” – Tim Berry
• “Startup Idea: Ideation Guide for To-Be Entrepreneurs” – Medium
• “Lean Startup: Defined, How It Differs From a Traditional Business” – Investopedia
• “How To Succeed With Lean Startup Methodology” – IdeaBuddy
• “Six Powerful Business Models of Successful Startups” – Medium
• “These 9 Questions Will Tell You If You Have a Great Business Model” – Inc.
• “What Pivoting is, When to Pivot, and How to Pivot Effectively” – Founder Institute
• “Everyone Pivots: The Truth About A Startup Pivot” – Startups.com
• “Executing a successful startup pivot” – Silicon Valley Bank

• “Brainstorming for New Startup Ideas: A Framework to Spur Creative Thinking” – forEntrepreneurs

Legal Services: Bizee, Clerky, Avvo

Articles/Additional Resources: 

• “Startup legal mechanics” – Y Combinator
• “Startup Cheat-Sheet: How to Incorporate Your Company” – Medium
• “15 Big Legal Mistakes Made By Startups” – Forbes

Design: Flipsnack

Logo: 99designs

Business Cards: Moo, Vista Print, Express Copy

Email Marketing: MailChimp, ConstantContact, VerticalResponse, Boomerang

Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, TikToK

Social Media Management: HootSuite, EveryPost, Klear, ClickToTweet

Design: Canva, Noun Project, Promo, FreeLogoDesign, Creative Market 

Event Invitations: Eventbrite, Splash

Articles/Additional Resources:

• “7 Creative Strategies for Marketing Your Startup on a Tight Budget” – Entrepreneur
• “Don’t Call It Work From Home—We Work From Anywhere Now” – Forbes
• “The Ultimate Startup Marketing Strategy” – Venture Harbour
• “10 to 100 Customers and Beyond | The Startup Chat with Steli Efti and Hiten Shah” – Close
• “Best Video Editing Software in 2024 — 15 Free + Paid Tools” – Buffer
• “How Startups and Entrepreneurs Can Use TikTok to Grow Their Businesses” – StartupNation
• “Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition” – forEntrepreneurs
• “LTV and CAC: What Are They and Why Do They Matter?” – Toptal
• “Your Startup’s Hidden Weapon — Creating a Good Value Prop” – Medium
• “5 Steps to Write a Compelling Value Proposition” – Inc.
• “Valuing Startup Ventures” – Investopedia

Build a Website: Wix, Shopify, Squarespace, Webflow

Wireframing: Balsamiq, Moqups, Invision

Prototyping: Draw, Marvel, Proto, MakerHub, 

App Development: Airtable, Bubble

Articles/Additional Resources:

• “Best Website Builders for Small Business: Compared for 2024” – WebsiteBuilderExpert
• “Learn HTML” – Codecademy
• “12 Best Paid and Free App Builders in 2024” – DesignRush
• “How to Start an App – 8 Steps You Must Take Before Starting Mobile App Development“- BuildFire
• “3D Printing in NYC: 9 Options We Recommend” – All3DP

Project Management: Basecamp

Task Management: Asana, Trello, Slack

Company Profiles: GUST, Crunchbase, Wellfound, LinkedIn

Customer Relationship Management: Salesforce, PipeDrive, Insightly

Articles/Additional Resources:

• “Startup pricing 101” – Y Combinator
• “How To Price Your Early Stage Startup Product” – Forbes

Build the Team: Wellfound, Cofounders Lab

Founders Agreement: Founder Accord, Slicing Pie

Articles/Additional Resources:

• “How to set up, hire, and scale a growth strategy and team” – Y Combinator
• “Team Building and Knowing When to Step Away – with Ken Nguyen” – Techstars