Writing.

Structured advice for early-stage founders. Most of this came out of direct work with hundreds of startups. Read in order, or jump to what you need.

1. 01

   Always Start Here: Don't Skip Customer Validation

   You're gonna hate this and ignore it. But skipping validation will cost you more time and money than anything else.

2. 02

   How to Talk to Customers and Validate Your Idea

   The #1 reason startups fail is building something nobody wants. Here's how to avoid that fate before you write a line of code.

3. 03

   Customer Interviews: Questions That Reveal Real Pain

   Do not pitch. Investigate. Your job is to understand their life as it exists today, not to convince them your idea is good.

4. 04

   Your First MVP: Build the Smallest Thing That Tests Your Idea

   Before you write code, hire a contractor, or spend a dollar, build the ugliest thing that works. Learn first. Polish later.

5. 05

   Your One-Liner: Make People Instantly Understand What You Do

   It's not a tagline. It's not a brand campaign. It's the unit of word of mouth. If it can't travel, neither can your company.

6. 06

   Founder-Led Sales: Your First 100 Customers Without Ads

   Don't run ads. Don't hire a consultant. Don't build a 'growth engine.' Talk to people. One at a time. Manually. On purpose.

7. 07

   Your Key Metrics: Pick One Number and Track It

   If you don't measure the boulder you're pushing up the hill, you can't know if it's moving. Pick one number. Make it unavoidable.

8. 08

   Avoid Premature Optimization: Focus on What Matters Now

   Don't try to get into YC. Build a company YC wants to accept. Don't try to raise a round. Build a company investors want to fund.

9. 09

   Startup Events: When to Go and When to Skip

   Your default answer is no. Feeling like a founder is not the same as building a company.