Over my time working in and with startups, I've used countless tools and resources to build new ventures. I'll like to share with you my one-stop startup resources toolkit - a curated library for entrepreneurs and founders.

"You don't know what you don't know."

Entrepreneurial thinking toolkit

Design thinking

d. school resources - open sourced tools on design thinking. d.school was founded by David Kelley, the founder of IDEO.
The design squiggle - a simple illustration of the design process. Simple but helpful in understanding feeling unease is ok.
Double diamond process - illustration of the divergent and convergent thinking journey.
100%Open innovation toolkit - a 30-piece toolkit for corporate innovation.
This is Service Design Thinking, Marc Stickdorn - designing and marketing of services that improve the customer experience.
Board of Innovation - frameworks and hand-outs.

Customer-centricity

The Startup Owner's Manual, Steve Blank - considered the startup bible, most often known for customer discovery model.
Jobs to be done, Clayton Christensen (summary) - thinking past continuous improvement to customer satisfaction. Really helpful when approaching a Value Proposition Canvas.
Start with the why, Simon Sinek - articulate the 'why' over the 'what' and 'how' to share and attract customers.
Helix Personas, Roy Morgan - deep psychographic insights

Lean methodology

The Lean Startup, Eric Ries - the book on lean methodology's build-measure-learn cycle.
The Lean Startup Summary / Principles - for those who need convincing in buying the book.
Why the lean startup changes everything - Steve Blank's assessment on the adoption of the lean startup.
A MVP is not a product, it's a process - often used in context of super early stages, but lean is an ongoing habit.
Minimal lovable products - a long article saying 'go beyond the viable, build something that people actually want.'
Market-product fit - approaching new products from establishing market demand.

Online courses

Y Combinator - a free 8-week startup school.

Frameworks and toolkits

Startup Science - 50+ pdf and editable tools.
Startup Stash - a curated directory of 400 resources and tools.
Disciplined Entrepreneurship, Bill Aulet - 24 steps to a successful startup.
Business model canvas - a visualisation of a business in nine segments.
LUMA Workplace - a digital workplace for individuals and teams to learn and build/apply design thinking.

Legals / Governance resources (AU)

Disclaimer: whilst I'm a fan of keeping costs down (as you may see below), please consult with an experienced professional advisor. Reach out if you would like recommendations.

Registration

Business.gov.au - AU government's website, they have recently revamped and it's so easy to use.
LegalVision Startup Manual - a legal handbook for founders covering structuring, capital raising, team, suppliers, IP.
Thomson Reuters' ClearDocs - the legal profession's short cut to company/trust registration.

Templates

Allens Accelerate - 15 free core legal documents for companies (but different to the core set-up documents).
AIC Open Source Seed Financing documents (formally AVCAL) - a well-informed starting point for Australian seed capital raising.
ESOP templates (by AirTree & K&L Gates) - a guide and templates to employee option plans by a VC and startup lawyer.
ATO ESOP templates - government issued standard suite of documents (yes, which are different to what a lawyer would provide).
Constitution for Equity CSF - open source constitution by PledgeMe and McCullough Robertson. With equity crowdsourced fundraising it may not be appropriate to have a shareholders agreement, this integrates it in.

Splitting the pie (co-founders, vesting, employee shares)

Dynamic equity split - an approach to fairly diving up ownership in early stages.
Vesting - shareholder protection for early departures.

Intellectual property

The Real Value (or Lack Thereof) of Your Tech Startup Patent -
Trade marks for startups - three things to consider when approaching trade marks.
AU Trade Mark Search (powered by TrademarkVision) - a visual search of existing trade marks, use when in final stages of new logo selection (especially when using a freelance marketplace).

AU tax incentives

ESIC for early stage investors - 20% non-refundable tax offset and no CGT for investors.
ESIC issue with IP subsidiaries - ineligibility of holding companies (two level corporate structures) seeking ESIC tax incentive.
ESVCLP for early stage investors in funds - 10% non-refundable tax offset and no income & CGT for investors.
Employee share schemes tax guidance -

Set-up / get-up

Namechck - a tool to quickly check availability of domain names and social handles.
Namecheap - my recommended domain registry, there are many out there.
Squarespace - my preferred simple website builder; particularly worth it if you're eligible for their 50% off education discount.
Google Workspace - utilising Gmail as email host for your own domain and manage G Suite apps for growing teams. Contact me for promotion code of 10% off the first year.

Startup programs

AWS Activate - access to AWS infrastructure with credits, support, and training. Also supported by an amazing AWS Startups team globally. Activate Founders package includes USD$1,000 over 2 years.
AirWallex - a better business account for scaling startups. Referral link for $0 fees and 0% margin on first $20,000 in FX conversions.
HubSpot for Startups - if you're considering HubSpot, they offer startup concessions on a sliding scale.
SendGrid Accelerate - an email service with scalability and deliverability front of mind.
Startups with IBM - $1,000 for 12 months credit.
Segment for Startups - $25,000 over 2 years.

Branding

Brand archetypes - 12 brand personification groups to resonate with your audience.

Growth marketing

#first-reads

Startup Founder's Guide to Analytics - tools and approach broken down by company stage.
Pirate metrics, Dave McClure - the startup marketing framework.
Growth101, 500 Startups - a self-diagnosis for growth advice and library from 500's 'Hell Weeks.'
The North Star Playbook - how to approach developing your north star.

Competitor analysis

Alexa - SEO and competitor analysis.
Similarweb - website market analysis.
WhatRunsWhere - paid ads analysis.

Website assessment

Builtwith - website tech stack.
Wappalyzer - Chrome extension.
CompeteShark - monitor competitors' web activity.
HotJar - behaviour analytics and recording.
Optimizely - website A/B testing. Would recommend Google Optimize 360 as an alternative.

Retargeting

AdRoll / Criteo - advertising network marketing for website ads.
Facebook pixel - go through Facebook Business Manager.
LinkedIn Insight Tag - it's expensive but might be worth it for very niche markets.
Twitter Conversion Tracking - super niche audience.
Segment - data, analytics, and API aggregator.

Search

Google Trends - search trends from the search engine.
SEMRush / SEOmoz toolkit - SEO toolkit, competitor and self analysis.
Keyword Discovery - aggregated keyword research tool.

Email tools

Drip / Mailshake - automated email sequences
Mixmax - turns your Gmail into an absolute beast.

Marketing automation

Autopilot - visual customer journey builder.

Content marketing

Canva's guide to content marketing - driving traffic to 1 million visits with search overtaking social traffic.
BuzzSumo - content insights.

Product

Customer

Product

Product management eBook, Intercom -

#nocode

Kanye Text case study, Chris Drake -
How to build software with no code -

Capital raising for startups

Guides

Caxton Inc's Entrepreneur's Guide - startup to IPO capital markets guide.
A Guide To Seed Fundraising, Geoff Ralston (Y-Combinator) - a starting point read for capital raising.

Strategy / experiences

Alan Jones (Medium) - an angel investor, experience EiR, previous founder and Yahoo! PM.
Beware The Advisor Offering Fundraising Help To Your Startup, Steve Baxter
Fundraising Mistakes Founders Makes, Sam Altman (Y-Combinator)
How I Killed My Startup Hours Before Closing A Seed Round, T.A. McCann
Instilling Confidence In VC'S From Your Pitch, Quora thread
The Pitfalls In Asking An Investor To Sign An NDA, Dan Gavel (Blacksheep Capital)
The Real Reasons Why A VC Passed on Your Startup, Sarah Downey
There Are No Shortcuts - Why Showing Up in Person is Everything, Mark Suster
What I've Learned From Seeing 20K Startup Pitches, Elizabeth Yin
What Traction Do I Need To Raise Money?, Elizabeth Yin
What VC's Want to See Before Funding, Michael Pena
Why Startup Founders Fail to Raise Funding, Basil Tambanis
Early Stage VC for Founders, Jyri Engestrom - how VC funds work.

Raising from Angels

10 Commandments Of Obtaining Angel Funding, Richard Harroch
How Should One Seek Angel Investment For A Startup?, Quota post

Term Sheets / pro-formas

AIC Open Source Seed Financing documents (formally AVCAL) - a well-informed starting point for Australian seed capital raising.
Collider Accelerator - a pre-seed accelerator term sheet. (disclaimer: I worked for Collider and developed this term sheet)
Angel Loop - Queensland angel group standardised term sheet.
AirTree Open VC - open source standard form seed stage term sheet.
How Terms Sheets Can Screw You, Alex Graham (US) - an extensive term sheet breakdown.

Pitching

Pitch Deck Templates

Guy Kawasaki - the only 10 slides you need in your pitch.
CEA simple template - guided by Kawasaki's 10 slides with supporting examples.
Gaddie Pitch - 3 Steps To The Perfect Elevator Pitch - try it, it works
150 Second Pitch Tool
Peter Thiel's Pitch Template - circa 2012
Pitch Deck Template - The fundamental guide to building a winning pitch deck

Pitch Deck Examples

30 Legendary Pitch Decks And What You Can Learn From Them - Aaron Lee
All The Public Startup Pitch Decks In One Place - Medium article by Andy Sparks
Best Pitch Decks - site shows numerous great decks
World's Largest Pitch Deck Collection - 92 pitch decks

Guidance

Give Your Pitch Deck A Makeover In 60 Minutes - Josh Henderson
Great Slideshow On How To Build A Great Pitch Deck - Steve Schlafman
How Eight Successful Startups Explained Their Addressable Markets To Investors - David Skok
How To Present Your Startup Financials In 3 Slides - Omry Ben David
How To Talk About Your Competitive Landscape In Your Pitch - Donna Griffit
Idea Email Deck - Elizabeth Yin
Investors Fund People - Not Pitch Decks - Jon Westenberg - Startupsmart
Lessons From The Study Of Perfect Pitch Decks - Tech Crunch
Perfect Pitch - Keep It Simple, Stupid - Micah Baldwin
Pitch Decks 101: The Ultimate Guide To Sealing A Deal In The Boardroom - Medium article by Startup.co
Understanding Market Sizing - great 40 minute YouTube video by Minder Chen
Want A Better Pitch - Watch This - Medium article by Andy Raskin
Ways to Think About Marketing Sizing - Benedict Evans
What Is The Best Way To Explain Your Startup? - Mark Suster
What's The Best Vc Pitch Deck Or Video That I Can See Online - Quora post
What We Learned From 200 Startups Who Raised Money - Docsend research report

Presentation

7 Brilliant Ways Successful Leaders Start Presentations - Jacqueline Smith
How To Give A Killer Presentation - HBR article
How To Pitch Your Startup On Stage - Justin Kan
Seedstars Pitch Judging Criteria - see what judges look for
Should I Have an Exit Slide in My Pitch Deck - Phil Hayes St Clair
The 7 Questions You Should Answer In Your Fund-Raising Pitch - Tomasz Tunguz
The Best Startup Pitches are Great Stories - Alan Jones
The Team Slide - You Had Me At Hello - Josh Hannah
The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Your Startup’s Investor Pitch Deck - Donna Griffin
Thoughts on Building Your Pitch Deck - Eric Paley from a series of Tweets
Transform The Way You Give Presentations - Nicole Kahn
What Are Your Secret Weapons During A Pitch - Quora post

Tools

Pitcherific - site to help you build your pitches
Pitchplanner - A canvas tool that helps create a pitch
Pixar's Story In a Box - an exploration of the storytelling process that will help founder's deliver their story

Finance / Accounting

Accounting

Wave - free accounting software with paid plug-ins.

Unit economics

Market sizing

TAM, SAM and SOM: Learn Your Lingo So You Can Woo Your Investors - Benjamin Chong

Tax incentives / grants

State specific startup grants - New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia
R&D tax incentive -
Early stage innovation company (ESIC) -
ATO employee share scheme -

Strategy - marketplaces

SaaS

Metrics

Pricing

The ultimate guide to SaaS pricing models, strategies, and hacks -

Boards

Startup Boards, Mark Suster -
11 Quick Tips to Get More Value Out of Your Board - Mark Suster
A Field Guide to Identifying and Integrating Independent Board Members - Michelle Wilson
Being an Independent Board Director in a Venture-Backed Startup - Greg Sands
Dealing With the Board - Matt Barrie
How and When to Appoint an Advisory and Formal Board to your Startup - Garry Visontay
Managing Series A Board Meetings - John Vrionis
Preparing a Board Deck - Sequoia Capital
Re-shaping The Behaviour of Boards in Startups - Judith MacCormick & Jeffrey Tobias
The Startup Board Report - A new playbook for founders & board members of Australian startups - by KPMG and Think & Grow
The Value of a Board to a Startup - An Excerpt of An Email Sent to A CEO of An Australian Startup Around How A Board Should Be Valued
What Do Boards Actually do? - Mark Suster
What Makes An Awesome Startup Board Member ? - Brad Feld

Advisory Committees

Team

Under development.

Media

Guides

How to pitch to TechCrunch (Myriad blog) (video) - TechCrunch's editor-at-large, Josh Constine's secret to pitching to media.
Global 4.8k+ tech journalist - a snapshot of tech journalists across the world.

Channels

Anthill Online - Anthill is about innovation, entrepreneurship and business in Australia.
Australian Financial Review: Technology Section & Entrepreneurship Section - business and finance published by Nine. Notable reporter: Yolanda Redrup.
Smart Company - Australia focus for growth businesses and entrepreneurs. Also manages StartupSmart. Notable reporter: Stephanie Palmer-Derrien.
Startup Daily - ANZ tech startup focus.
The Australian - a national general publication. Notable reporter: David Swan (technology).

Startup Resources Toolkit

Entrepreneurial thinking toolkit

Design thinking

Customer-centricity

Lean methodology

Online courses

Frameworks and toolkits

Legals / Governance resources (AU)

Registration

Templates

Splitting the pie (co-founders, vesting, employee shares)

Intellectual property

AU tax incentives

Set-up / get-up

Startup programs

Branding

Growth marketing

#first-reads

Competitor analysis

Website assessment

Retargeting

Search

Email tools

Marketing automation

Content marketing

Product

Customer

Product

#nocode

Capital raising for startups

Guides

Strategy / experiences

Raising from Angels

Term Sheets / pro-formas

Negotiation

Due diligence

Convertible notes

Capitalisation tables

Valuations

Shareholder communications

Exits

Pitching

Pitch Deck Templates

Pitch Deck Examples

Guidance

Presentation

Tools

Finance / Accounting

Accounting

Unit economics

Market sizing

Tax incentives / grants

Strategy - marketplaces

SaaS

Metrics

Pricing

Boards

Boards

Advisory Committees

Team

Media

Guides

Channels

Startup Directories