Last Updated: 11/18/17
Here are some of the best posts I’ve found on a range of topics dealing with Startups.
Have suggestions? Contact me on Twitter with your recommended link!
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Board Meetings
Thanks to my investor, Webb Investor Network (Maynard Webb’s investing arm) for this list
- Fred Wilson: The Board Of Directors – Board Meetings
- Bryan Schreier (Sequoia): Preparing a Board Deck
- WIN Affiliate Jeff Bonforte (First Round Review): The Secret to Making Board Meetings Suck Less
- Mark Suster: Running More Effective Board Meetings at Startups
- FounderExchange: What do you look for in board materials?
- FounderExchange: Common CEO mistakes when dealing with boards
- FounderExchange: CEO tips and tricks when dealing with boards
- FounderExchange: Ideal board agendas
Blogging and Content Marketing – Production
How to start a professional blog: 10 tips for new bloggers
A 3-step process to help you curate content and build a list off your blog
How to publish like a big content team when it’s only you
A Simple Content Marketing Case Study that Works – by Jay Baer
Building Social and Web Products
Market Networks. A combination of marketplaces and networks. By James Currier, a really smart dude.
How to design successful social products with 3 habit-forming feedback loops
How to solve the cold-start problem for social products
How to create a profitable Freemium startup (spreadsheet model included!)
What’s your viral loop? Understanding the engine of adoption
The highest ROI way to increase signups: Make a minimal homepage
Video: Making Something People Love – Renowned entrepreneur and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, will inspire you to think of unique ways to connect with your customers, and to build a community of users who want your business to succeed.
How to Get Meaningful Customer Feedback During Product Development – a great article that any aspiring Product Manager should read.
An in-depth look at The Network Effect by Andreesen Horowitz
Design
A comprehensive reading list for and by designers
The Big List: 40 Design and Prototyping Resources
Startup Directory
Startup Stash – A curated directory of resources & tools to help you build your Startup
ECommerce
The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Ecommerce Conversion Rates
Growth Strategy / Growth Hacking
Why Most Companies Fail at Moving Up or Down Market – by Brian Balfour
Market – Product Fit – by Brian Balfour
Inside the 6 Hypotheses that Doubled Patreon’s Activation – by Brian Balfour
The ONLY Metric That Matters – by Josh Elman (good dude from Greylock Partners)
How to Hire
Best Practices on Hiring for a Startup (Powerpoint download by Jacqueline Duncan – GM of Hired.com – presented at the SofTech VC CEO conference. Used with permission)
Worthless Questions No Interviewer Should Ask by Dharmesh Shah, CEO of Hubspot
Leadership Secrets
Six Habits of Remarkably Likable People
Making Decisions Under Uncertainty
How to be an Impactful Engineering Leader
Marketing and Growth
Marketing your App in the App Store
The Ultimate Startup Marketing Strategy – explains all the basics of digital marketing that you need.
http://marketingstack.io/ – A curated directory of marketing resources & tools
A great guide on developing a kick-ass content marketing strategy
7 Rules for A/B Testing That Triple Conversion Rates
115 Inbound Marketing Resources
Driving Traffic Through Facebook
Developing a real content marketing strategy
19 Growth tips for SAAS and Ecommerce companies
19 Linkbuilding strategies that work
How to use slideshare for content amplification
How to Find And Hire Writers For Your Blog
The definitive guide to YouTube and video SEO – by Brian Dean
What we learned about YouTube Ranking Factors – Brian Dean
SEO Tools 2017 Edition – by Brian Dean
Guide to Increasing Website Traffic – by Brian Dean
Most highly recommended copywriting books – by Nick Laight
16 Reasons Why Startups Fail at SEO
How to Build a Great Email List
Another good article on building an email list
Marketplaces
TakeLessons is known as a two-sided marketplace – meaning, we’ve created a platform where two parties (a buyer and seller) transact business. Here are articles I’ve found helpful about creating and growing marketplace models.
Core Principles of Online Marketplaces by Jeff Jordan (Andreessen Horowitz)
Networking
Why you should give before you get
On Becoming a Good CEO
5 traits of the best growth-stage CEOs
Personal Growth
The Seven Step Evening Ritual That Will Make You Happier
Product Development
Slack’s Founder Shares Their Epic Launch Strategy – good article to think about when building your product. Touches on the importance of testing and listening.
The Purpose of Minimum Viable Products – good article by the Father of the Lean movement, Eric Reis
On Product Management – a download from the team at Intercom
User Onboarding: A great site from a a pro.
Create Animation Videos – great for training, intros, marketing.
Gamification for your site – adds virality and engagement
Raising Money
A good playbook for SAAS companies raising money
Guy Kawasaki’s Startup Pitch Deck
Remote Workers
Building a Remote Worker Culture:
Startups
A delightful group of notes and actionable advice from Startup School.
Y-Combinator’s Handshake Deal Protocol. This is a guide to getting clear between investors and Founders on moving a deal forward.
Playing in the Right Business Zone Marcelo Calbucci of EveryMove outlines eight ‘zones of opportunity’ he thinks startups and VCs should use when determining the scale of a business
Startup Documents
Here’s the Y-Combinator Simple Agreement for Future Equity document. It’s company favorable and set up to take the place of convertible notes. I’ve personally never used it, but understand its merit.
Selling Your Company
The Founders Guide to Selling Your Company – by the Y-Combinator guys
Speaking and Presenting
How To Present Like Tony Robbins
What Presenters Can Learn From Steve Jobs
3 Steps to Leveraging Storytelling in Your Presentations
Why Great Presentations Require Tension and Discovery