Startup Reading

Startup Reading

Start(up) Reading: The best curated list of written advice from across the web for startup founders.

Building a successful enduring startup is one of the hardest endeavors of life.

Surprisingly it is statistically way harder than climbing Everest. In fact, those that attempt climbing Everest are about 6 times more likely to succeed than someone that attempts to build a startup.

It is said that around 9 in 10 startups fail. Sometimes this is because it was the wrong idea, maybe wrong timing, wrong people, wrong strategy or simply wrong execution.

However the consistent overarching theme that drives both success and failure is centered in decision making. And every startup journey is full of decisions. Decisions that go right and decisions that become mistakes - mistakes that often in hindsight could have been avoided if the right advice was sought or provided.

This is the thinking behind Start(up) Reading. A resource of the best written advice from thought leaders from across the web specifically curated for early stage founders.

It aims to help you make better decisions, avoid common mistakes and improve your chances of success.

If there is one piece of advice I can give, it is to read a lot when you are making critical decisions - so start(up) reading.

Opportunity

Problem
Customer
Market size & dynamics
Competition
Timing

Solution

Purpose & vision
Product
Pricing
Brand
Communications
Sales & Go-To-Market
Financial Model
Technology
Founding Team
People & culture
Diversity
Legal

Traction

Product Market Fit
Metrics
Failure

Capital

Investors
Raising money
Term sheets
Negotiation
Exits
Legal agreements

Other good reading

Various topics
Joining an accelerator
First principles thinking
Network effects

Who we are?

Start(up) Reading was created by Todd Deacon, Managing Director @ Techstars, General Partner @ Wildcard Ventures and Partner @ The Fund.

The idea behind Start(up) Reading is to help early stage founders better navigate their decision making through great advice. However there is so much written on the web on building startups, it's a huge pain to decipher between the great from the average. So Start(up) Reading set about building a curated list of excellent written pieces cataloged across 30 topic areas that makes sense for early stage startup founders and their teams along their journey.

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Please share it to your networks to help out other founders make better decisions.

Todd.