Tools & Resources for Founders

Curated books, tools, and resources to help you build a successful lean startup. Handpicked by founders, for founders.

Essential Reading

The foundational books every founder should read before and during their startup journey.

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The Lean Startup

by Eric Ries

The foundational text for the Lean Startup methodology. Learn about the Build-Measure-Learn loop, validated learning, and how to build a startup that isn't destined to fail.

Methodology Essential
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The Mom Test

by Rob Fitzpatrick

How to talk to customers and learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you. The essential guide to customer discovery interviews.

Customer Discovery Essential
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The Startup Owner's Manual

by Steve Blank & Bob Dorf

The step-by-step guide for building a successful company. Detailed processes for customer development and business model validation.

Process Comprehensive
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Running Lean

by Ash Maurya

Iterate from Plan A to a plan that works. Practical frameworks including the Lean Canvas and systematic validation approach.

Lean Canvas Practical
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Testing Business Ideas

by David J. Bland & Alex Osterwalder

A field guide for rapid experimentation. 44 experiment cards to test your business hypotheses quickly and cheaply.

Experiments Practical
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Lean Analytics

by Alistair Croll & Benjamin Yoskovitz

Use data to build a better startup faster. Learn which metrics matter at each stage and how to measure what counts.

Metrics Data-Driven
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Founder Tools

Software and tools that help you build, validate, and grow your startup.

Carrd

Landing Page Builder

Build simple, responsive one-page sites for any purpose. Perfect for landing page tests and smoke tests during validation.

Landing Pages Low-Cost
Try Carrd

ConvertKit

Email Marketing

Email marketing built for creators. Great for building your early audience and nurturing leads through customer development.

Email Creators
Try ConvertKit

Calendly

Scheduling

Schedule customer discovery interviews without the back-and-forth. Essential for high-velocity customer research.

Scheduling Interviews
Try Calendly

Loom

Video Messaging

Record quick videos to share ideas, demos, or feedback requests. Great for async customer communication.

Video Async
Try Loom

Mixpanel

Product Analytics

Understand how users engage with your product. Track the metrics that matter for validating product-market fit.

Analytics Retention
Try Mixpanel

Bubble

No-Code App Builder

Build web apps without code. Perfect for building MVPs and testing product hypotheses before investing in development.

No-Code MVP
Try Bubble

Courses & Learning

Structured learning to accelerate your founder journey.

Startup School

Y Combinator (Free)

Free online course covering the fundamentals of starting a startup. Includes curriculum, weekly group sessions, and mentorship.

Free Comprehensive
Join Free

Strategyzer Masterclass

Business Model Canvas

Learn to design, test, and build business models and value propositions from the creators of the Business Model Canvas.

Business Models Official
View Course

LeanPivot Playbooks

Free Founder Guides

Our free, comprehensive playbooks covering the Founder Foundation, ideation, customer discovery, and more. Written for practical implementation.

Free Practical
Read Free

Communities

Connect with other founders on the same journey.

Indie Hackers

Community for Bootstrappers

A community of developers and founders building profitable online businesses. Great for inspiration and tactical advice.

Free Active
Join Community

r/startups

Reddit Community

Active subreddit for startup founders. Weekly feedback threads, AMAs with successful founders, and tactical discussions.

Free Feedback
Visit Subreddit

LeanPivot Community

Coming Soon

Connect with other founders using LeanPivot methodology. Accountability partners, feedback sessions, and shared learning.

Coming Soon Lean Focused
Join Waitlist

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