How to Name Your Startup (A Practical Guide)
How to name your startup: what makes a name work, a step-by-step process, the .com and trademark checks that matter, and why the name matters less than founders think.
How to name your startup: what makes a name work, a step-by-step process, the .com and trademark checks that matter, and why the name matters less than founders think.
How to run customer discovery interviews that reveal real problems: who to talk to, what to ask, the mistakes that fake validation, and how to act on it.
How to bootstrap a startup: fund growth from revenue, stay default alive, decide when bootstrapping beats raising, and the trade-offs of keeping full ownership.
How to calculate runway and burn rate, what 'default alive' means, when to start raising, and the levers founders use to extend runway before the money runs out.
What a SAFE is, how valuation caps and discounts work, post-money vs pre-money, SAFEs vs convertible notes, and how dilution sneaks up on early founders.
When to make your first startup hire, who to hire first, how to attract talent without a big salary, and the offer and onboarding that set an early team up to win.
Where the first customers really come from, why unscalable tactics win early, and a channel-by-channel playbook for getting a startup's first 100 customers.
When to incorporate a startup, how to choose between an LLC and a C-corp, why investors expect Delaware C-corps, and the founder paperwork to get right early.
How to build an MVP that actually tests your idea: scoping the one thing to validate, choosing the lightest build, and the trap of shipping too much too soon.
Angel investors vs venture capital: how they differ on check size, control, speed and expectations, and which is the right fit for your stage and ambition.
How to choose the right startup accelerator and actually get in: what top programs offer, whether the equity is worth it, and how to build a standout application.
A 30-day validation sprint for startup ideas: problem interviews, a smoke test, and pre-sales — with clear kill criteria so you build the right thing.
How to find startup jobs, evaluate early-stage roles and equity, and stand out to founders — a practical guide to joining a startup at the right stage.
The roles a founding team actually needs, how to find and align them, and the team-building habits that keep early startups from imploding under pressure.
A clear-eyed look at founding solo versus with a co-founder: the real trade-offs, when each path works, and how to decide before you commit years to it.
A repeatable way to find startup ideas: where good ones come from, how to spot real problems worth solving, and how to pick a business model that can pay.
The pitch deck structure investors expect, what each slide must prove, and the storytelling mistakes that quietly kill early-stage fundraising rounds.