The decision to go startup

Note this guide is US centric at this time and generally silicon valley focused in terms of playbook.

Pre deciding to do a company

• Should you start a startup? Sam Altman (2014)

• How to Start a Startup: Before the startup Paul Graham (2012) 

• Why to Not Not Start a Startup Paul Graham (2012) 

• Startups Are Here to Save the World Nivi 2013

Inspiration

• Elon Musk on how to build the future Sam Altman and Elon Musk (2025)

You’ve decided to start a company

General

• YC's essential startup advice Y Combinator staff compilation (2020)

• How to succeed with a startup Dalton Caldwell & Michael Seibel (2021)

• Mark Zuckerberg on building a startup, Mark Zuckerberg (2016)

• Vinod Khosla on How to Build the Future

• Hackers and Painters Paul Graham (2003)

• It’s Time to Build Marc Andreessen (2020)

• How to Make Wealth Paul Graham (2004)

• Startups in 13 Sentences Paul Graham (2009)

Avoiding mistakes

• Biggest mistakes first-time founders make, Michael Seibel (2019)

• The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups Paul Graham (2006)

Idea/market identification

• Idea Generation Sam Altman (2019)

• How to spin your scientific research out of a university and into a startup, - Inigo Martínez‑de‑la‑Fuente (2021)

• How to get startup ideas Jared Friedman (2021)

• Founder market fit  Chris Dixon (2011)

• How to Get New Ideas Paul Graham (2023)

• Causal Formations Gomila, Lastovich (2025)

Co-founders

• How to find the right co-founder Harj Taggar (2021)

• How do you convince someone to join your startup? Caldwell (2019)

• How to pick a co-founder Naval Ravikant & Nivi (2009)

Registration

• Stripe Atlas 

  • [Doesn’t allow custom vesting or founders preferred shares]

• Cooley Go

• EIN registration

Bank account

• Mercury, Brex, SVB 

URL registration

• Namecheap, Cloudflare

Founding decisions

• How to split equity among co-founders Michael Seibel (2021)

Planning and reaching MVP

• How to plan an MVP Michael Seibel (2019)

Pitch deck 

• How to design a better pitch deck Kevin Hale (2020) 

• Sequoia Capital Pitch Deck Template Sequoia Capital (2012)

Naming a company

• How to name a company Jude Gomila (2012)

Incubators

• How to apply and succeed at Y Combinator, Dalton Caldwell (2018)

Payroll selection

• Gusto, Rippling

Cap table 

• Carta, AngelList, Pulley

• How to make a cap table

Product market fit

• How to find product-market fit David Rusenko (2018)

• How to Start a Startup: Finding Product-Market Fit Sam Altman (2014)

• Levels of product market fit [First round capital] First Round Capital (2024)

• How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product/Market Fit, Rahul Vohra (2017)

• The Real Product–Market Fit, Michael Seibel (2017)

• Zero to Product/Market Fit, Andrew Chen (2018)

Second order effects

• Options pool shuffle Nivi (2007) 

Guide to locations

• The Starter Guide to SF for Founders Michelle Fang (2024)

Time management

• Marc Andreessen On Productivity, Scheduling, Reading Habits, Work, and More Marc Andreessen & Sriram Krishnan (2020)

• Dalton & Michael: How future billionaires get sh*t done Dalton Caldwell & Michael Seibel (2022)

Mindset

• The asymmetric upside of being positive Dalton Caldwell (2023) 

• Building Confidence In Yourself and Your Ideas Dalton Caldwell & Michael Seibel (2024)

Immigration to US

• Lighthouse - Fast US visas

• O1 guide Sigil Wen (2023)

• Deel Immigration 

Fund raising

• A Guide to Seed Fundraising Geoff Ralston (2016)

• Invest in Lines, Not Dots Mark Suster (2011)

• How to Email Early-Stage Investors Michael Seibel (2017)

• The Case for the Fat Startup Ben Horowitz (2010)

• High-Resolution Fundraising Paul Graham (2010)

Scaling

General

• High Growth Handbook Elad Gil (2018)

Engineering

• Building an engineering team Ammon Bartram & Harj Taggar (2018)

On unicorns

• What’s different about unicorns Jessica Livingston (2017)