Start Here
This knowledge base contains 50+ articles on entrepreneurship, synthesized from 19 practitioner sources. This guide organizes everything into a learning path — read it in order, or jump to the section that matches where you are right now.
If You Have 30 Minutes
Read these 5 articles for the essential foundation:
- the-startup-lifecycle — The 6 phases from idea to endurance (the map)
- product-market-fit — The most important concept in the entire wiki (50+ incoming links)
- do-things-that-dont-scale — What to do before anything scales
- startup-failure-modes — How startups die (so you can avoid it)
- execution — Focus, intensity, and the CEO’s five jobs
If You Have 2 Hours
Add the 5 synthesis articles — they connect everything:
- the-validation-stack — From hypothesis to proven PMF in 4 layers
- the-money-playbook — From ramen profitability to raising capital
- building-the-team — From cofounders to culture at scale
- the-leadership-modes — Wartime/peacetime, founder/manager, editing
- case-study-airbnb — Every framework applied to one company
Learning Paths by Stage
”I have an idea” → Validation Path
| Order | Article | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ideation | Is your idea organic or manufactured? Apply the Well test. |
| 2 | customer-development | Get out of the building. The Mom Test interview framework. |
| 3 | minimum-viable-product | Build the smallest experiment, not the smallest product. |
| 4 | lean-startup | Build-Measure-Learn. Speed of learning is your advantage. |
| 5 | product-market-fit | The only milestone that matters before scaling. |
| 6 | pivoting | If the data says pivot, pivot. 70% of successes do. |
”I have PMF” → Growth Path
| Order | Article | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | growth | Never lose momentum. One metric. Post it visibly. |
| 2 | distribution | One channel will dominate. Find it. Nail it. |
| 3 | user-acquisition | Founder-led sales first. The 3Ws framework. |
| 4 | go-to-market-strategy | Leslie’s Compass: is your product bought or sold? |
| 5 | network-effects | The strongest moat — but they asymptote and break down. |
| 6 | scaling | Blitzscaling: when speed beats efficiency. When it doesn’t. |
| 7 | startup-metrics | AARRR pirate metrics. Measure the right stage. |
”I need money” → Finance Path
| Order | Article | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | the-money-playbook | The full financial journey in one synthesis. |
| 2 | unit-economics | CAC, LTV, payback. “We’ll make it up in volume” is a lie. |
| 3 | pricing-strategy | Charge early. Charge more. The 10-5-20 rule. |
| 4 | business-models | SaaS, marketplace, freemium — which fits? |
| 5 | fundraising | Lines not dots. Default alive or dead. The danger zone. |
| 6 | bootstrapping | The contrarian path. Fried’s 37signals model. |
| 7 | legal-foundations | Delaware C-Corp, SAFE notes, 83(b), vesting. |
”I need to build a team” → People Path
| Order | Article | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | building-the-team | The full people journey in one synthesis. |
| 2 | cofounder-dynamics | Choose well. Vest. Have hard conversations early. |
| 3 | hiring | Barrels vs ammunition. Don’t compromise on quality. |
| 4 | company-culture | Hire, fire, promote. It compounds like religion. |
| 5 | founder-psychology | 87.7% face mental health issues. Pace yourself. |
| 6 | operations | Editing metaphor. Delegation matrix. Anomaly principle. |
”I need to lead” → Leadership Path
| Order | Article | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | the-leadership-modes | Three frameworks mapped to the startup lifecycle. |
| 2 | wartime-peacetime-ceo | 17 contrasts. Know which mode you’re in. |
| 3 | founder-mode | Stay engaged. Skip levels. Selective depth. |
| 4 | execution | Focus and intensity. The CEO’s five jobs. |
| 5 | competitive-strategy | Competition is for losers. Build a monopoly. |
By Source
The knowledge base draws from 19 practitioner sources. The most influential:
| Source | Key Concept | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Marc Andreessen | Product-market fit | andreessen-only-thing-that-matters |
| Paul Graham | Do things that don’t scale | pg-do-things-that-dont-scale |
| Paul Graham | How to find ideas | pg-how-to-get-startup-ideas |
| Paul Graham | Default alive/dead | pg-default-alive-dead |
| Paul Graham | Founder mode | pg-founder-mode |
| Paul Graham | 18 startup mistakes | pg-18-mistakes |
| Sam Altman | The startup playbook | altman-startup-playbook |
| Steve Blank | Customer development | blank-customer-development |
| Eric Ries | Lean startup | lean-startup-principles |
| Peter Thiel | Zero to one | thiel-zero-to-one |
| Rahul Vohra | PMF engine | superhuman-pmf-engine |
| Rob Fitzpatrick | The Mom Test | mom-test |
| Keith Rabois | How to operate | rabois-how-to-operate |
| Ben Horowitz | Wartime/peacetime | horowitz-wartime-peacetime |
| Jessica Livingston | What goes wrong | livingston-what-goes-wrong |
| Jason Fried | Bootstrapping | fried-bootstrapping |
| First Round Review | GTM framework | leslies-compass-gtm |
| a16z | Network effects | a16z-network-effects |
| Fractl | Startup failure data | startup-failure-study |
Case Studies
Real companies, mapped to frameworks:
- case-study-airbnb — From air mattresses to $100B. Trust as hidden bottleneck.
- case-study-stripe — The schlep nobody wanted. 7 lines of code.
- case-study-slack — Greatest pivot in SaaS. Failed game → $27.7B messaging platform.
- case-study-wework — FAILURE: $47B → bankruptcy. Every anti-pattern in one company.
Also Worth Reading
- where-the-experts-disagree — 7 tensions between sources, with resolutions
- cheat-sheet — The entire wiki on one page
- founder-faq — 30+ common questions mapped to wiki articles
- founders-operating-system — Daily/weekly/monthly rhythms for running a startup
Beyond the Basics
- ai-era-entrepreneurship — What AI changes and what it doesn’t (2026)
- second-time-founders — How the playbook differs with experience
- diverse-founder-perspectives — Bias in standard advice; overlooked market opportunities
- deep-tech-startups — Hardware, biotech, energy: different rules apply
- international-expansion — When and how to go beyond your home market
- regulatory-navigation — Regulation as obstacle or moat
- storytelling — The founder’s most versatile skill
- community-building — Community as growth engine and competitive moat
- board-management — Building and running a board of directors
- exits-and-acquisitions — How startup journeys end
- product-led-growth — PLG flywheel and the bottom-up enterprise wedge
- marketplace-dynamics — Cold start problem, atomic networks, liquidity
- moats — 7 startup moats with scoring framework
- retention-and-churn — Why retention > acquisition; the churn death spiral
- technical-decisions — Ship fast; tech debt; the rewrite question
See Also
- the-startup-lifecycle — The comprehensive 6-phase overview
_concepts.md— Full glossary of all 40 concepts