The Startup Primer

1. Before You Start
2. On Founders
1. Just for Non-Technical Founders
3. Team
1. Starting the Team (Co-Founders)
2. Building the Team
3. Keeping (and motivating) the Team
4. Boards and Advisors
5. Marketing
1. Social Media
6. Product

Before You Start

• A startup is an organization formed to search for (not execute) a repeatable and scalable business model – http://bit.ly/f5qcGv
• So you want to do a startup, eh? – http://slidesha.re/iQrovv
• 5 things you should know before starting a company – http://bit.ly/ql9xcj

On Founders

• How Great Entrepreneurs Think - http://bit.ly/fbewnn (Hint: Effectual Reasoning)
• How Running A Business Changes The Way You Think - http://bit.ly/qVzb8W
• The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur: 47% of successful entrepreneurs have at least a Master’s degree - http://t.co/kj4WICE
• 5 Surprising Traits Of Successful Entrepreneurs - http://huff.to/nuHzPu
• What’s The Most Difficult CEO Skill? Managing Your Own Psychology - http://tcrn.ch/gOxnNf
• 13 Things You Must Do Every Week As A Startup CEO - http://bit.ly/gLuaCK
• Before product-market fit, find passion-market fit - http://bit.ly/qvczRJ
• “The notion that working longer hours is correlated to better business results is a pernicious social pathology” - http://bit.ly/peikcO

Just for Non-Technical Founders

• Tips For Getting Started For The Non-Technical Web Entrepreneur - http://bit.ly/juR4ZG
• How to pull your weight as a non-technical co-founder - http://bit.ly/ne66h1
• Please, please, stop asking how to find a technical co-founder. “You don’t find a technical co-founder, you earn one.” - http://bit.ly/j9K54Z

Team 

Starting the Team (Co-Founders)

• The Co-Founder Mythology - http://bit.ly/ksqNiA
• How to pick a co-founder – Venture Hacks - http://bit.ly/fwZddI
• 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Picking a Business Partner - http://bit.ly/pXfVxr

Building the Team

• The Best Resources on Hiring for Founders - http://bit.ly/jCikuW
• One of the best essays on recruiting a high performing team for your startup - http://bit.ly/fYcqj9
• What to look for in a UI designer - http://bit.ly/ecXnfM
• Hiring Developers: You’re Doing It Wrong - http://bit.ly/gbNFxs
• Why Engineers Distrust Business People - http://bit.ly/lS4rVk
• How Designers Want to be Contacted - http://bit.ly/p9dPQN
• Don’t Hire Senior People, Hire People Who Punch Above Their Weight Class - http://read.bi/ibVrw6

Keeping (and motivating) the Team

• Reminding your team “why?” can double productivity. Why does your organization exist? - http://bit.ly/fn4MYk
• Bored People Quit - http://bit.ly/ofhvwn
• Do it Without Titles - http://bit.ly/pNqAF3
• 5 Reasons Why Your Business Should Embrace The Virtual Office - http://bit.ly/oTBAJj
• Caring - http://bit.ly/mItMB6
• Three Signs You Have A Management Problem, And That Problem Might Be You - http://read.bi/eBBwxZ
• How to Build a Bootstrapping Culture - http://bit.ly/gNmzdL

Boards and Advisors

• It’s Time to Reinvent the Boardroom - http://bit.ly/pVShG9
• The Benefits Of The Perfect Independent Board Member - http://t.co/8P5juNX
• How to ask for help - http://bit.ly/kSx2gH
• Don’t hate on VCs; Generalizing is dangerous - http://awe.sm/5Ilib

Marketing

• 17 Mutable Suggestions For Naming A Startup - http://bit.ly/pfGuNZ
• The New Rules of Branding Your Business Online - http://bit.ly/egoqGS
• The 5 Minute Guide To Cheap Startup Advertising - http://bit.ly/ih8O24
• “My Friends” is Not a Market Segment - http://bit.ly/lT04Qy
• How Engineering-Based Marketing can “beat the stuffing” out of Traditional Marketing - http://bit.ly/pZD9cb
• Do Not Build Your Startup Messages for Your Grandmother - http://bit.ly/oYB01O
• Email Is (Still) Important And Here Is Why - http://bit.ly/q2oVOg
• When failure is cheap, why not give it a go? - http://bit.ly/gqLlBx
• The real reasons why startups go into stealth mode - http://bit.ly/gW3dsV

Social Media

• How to Use Social Networking Sites to Drive Business - http://bit.ly/eIoANf
• 5 Tips To Make Your Startup’s Twitter Account Stand Out - http://t.co/YUI03lc
• Why I Will Never, Ever Hire A “Social Media Expert” - http://read.bi/kwh0b3
• Gary Vaynerchuk: “99.5% of the people that walk around and say they are a social media expert or guru are clowns” – http://tcrn.ch/kctz9Q

Product

• How to start your startup in 4 steps - http://bit.ly/l4KuQZ
• Never say “no,” but rarely say “yes.” - http://awe.sm/5Iix1
• Personas: The Foundation of a Great User Experience from @uxmag - http://bit.ly/hivV32
• Crash Course: Design for Startups - http://bit.ly/g8Chci
• Business Objectives vs. User Experience - http://bit.ly/dYDnZk
• Good Software Takes Ten Years. Get Used To it - http://bit.ly/gavKUj
• Launch your site too soon - http://bit.ly/kyUsdX

Special Bonus: Equity and Funding

This primer is not intended to be a comprehensive resource for those seeking investors but these articles should give you a starting point for exploring your options.
• Intro to Stock and Options for Startup Employees and Founders - http://bit.ly/U5Ro6z
• Where to Look for Different Amounts of Funding – http://bit.ly/lSsHfp

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