Launch a Startup

Lesson plan

• 01
  Meet your new mentor

  Get to know course guide Alexis Ohanian and learn why he’s driven to support startup founders.

  In this lesson, you’ll hear all about the ups and downs of startup life from the co-founder of Reddit himself. He explores the hardships of starting your own company and explains why early guidance and support is crucial to success. You’ll get a glimpse at everything this course has to offer, including:

  • Steps and strategies for building a successful startup
  • Real-life experiences and hard lessons from founders
  • Complicated issues that startups must handle early on

  
• 02
  About this course

  Meet the Knowable team and learn why they created this course.

  This lesson introduces you to the members of the Knowable team, including their individual backgrounds as entrepreneurs and founders. They created this course to teach people what they wished they’d known when starting out. You’ll also learn about the design, contents, and additional resources and materials of this audible-only course.

  2 resources for further study

  
• 03
  Are you founder material?

  Learn what makes a successful founder and confront your fears about starting a business.

  This lesson teaches you how to prepare for the demands of entrepreneurship, evaluate your personal strengths and weaknesses, and face the fears and misgivings common among founders. The founder and CEO of Knowable discusses the mentality and key attributes required of any would-be startup founder, including the ability to:

  • Make sacrifices
  • Shoulder great responsibility
  • Maintain vision, energy, and relentless optimism
  • Make mistakes
  • Navigate an unstructured environment

  3 resources for further study; 5 suggested books for aspiring founders

  
• 04
  High-growth startups

  Learn the unique characteristics of high-growth startups.

  This lesson will familiarize you with the differences between high-growth startups and other small businesses, including how they scale and get funded. You’ll also hear about the common mistakes that lead to failure for 7 out of 10 startups, including:

  • The wrong team
  • Poor execution
  • Financial pressure
  • Growth mismanagement
  • Founder conflict

  6 resources for further study

  
• 05
  Your idea

  Learn to generate and evaluate business ideas.

  In this lesson, you’ll learn why the best businesses solve real problems, how to come up with your own business ideas, and how to test and validate them. Three successful founders and CEOs will teach you the steps to generating, developing, and vetting your idea, including why you should:

  • Mine your frustrations
  • Consider your own interests and hobbies
  • Find your people
  • Evaluate and vet your idea with a list of key questions
  • Get feedback

  1 action item; 3 resources for further study

  
• 06
  Competitive analysis

  Learn to identify and evaluate competitors to better understand your market.

  This lesson teaches you how to research your market, understand your competition, and use your research to identify business opportunities. You’ll learn unique ways to research competitors and organize your findings in a spreadsheet for comparison. This lesson explains how to research by:

  • Talking to people
  • Signing up for newsletters
  • Reading reviews
  • Using market intelligence tools
  • Exploring trade events

  Competitive analysis spreadsheet; 1 action item; 2 resources for further study; 7 market intelligence tool recommendations

  
• 07
  What if you can't code?

  Learn why coding skills aren’t required to build a startup.

  Discover why now is the best time in history to launch a startup regardless of your tech (or non-tech) background. Many successful startups were founded by people with no coding experience, and one such founder will give you personal advice on how you can solve the problem of engineering. You’ll also receive helpful resources—whether you want to do some of the technical work yourself or hire a third-party developer.

  1 action item; 3 resources for further study; 8 links to no-code product development tools; 3 links to no-code maker communities

  
• 08
  Lean startup method

  Learn the proven method for agile startup business planning.

  You’ve probably heard about the lean startup method, but this lesson will dive deeper into what it’s all about: experimentation, iteration, and validated learning. You’ll discover why agility and adaptability are essential for any startup, how to learn from your earliest users, and why the ultimate goal is product-market fit. You’ll also learn how to:

  • Draft a one-page business plan
  • Adapt your initial vision
  • Implement the three stages of the lean startup method
  • Talk to prospective users

  Lean canvas template; 1 action item; 6 resources for further study; 3 lean startup tools

  
• 09
  MVP

  Learn the customer-focused process for developing your product.

  This lesson familiarizes you with the concept of an MVP or “minimum viable product.” Successful startup founders will teach you how to:

  • Build your MVP, get to market, and learn from real users
  • Utilize the build-measure-learn cycle
  • Measure progress to improve your strategy
  • Pivot or shift your idea based on feedback
  • Determine your growth engine

  1 action item; 4 resources for further study; 8 no-code product development tools

  
• 10
  Co-founders

  Learn how to find a co-founder and divide ownership.

  In this lesson, you’ll learn why choosing a co-founder (or not) is one of the most difficult and important decisions you’ll ever make. A successful founder and a startup lawyer will teach you:

  • The pros and cons of having a co-founder
  • Why the right chemistry is crucial
  • Tips for finding a co-founder
  • Cautionary tales of partnering with friends or family
  • How to formalize the business relationship and divide equity

  Example founders agreement; 1 action item; 12 resources for further study; 1 tool for meeting co-founders

  
• 11
  Going full time

  Learn why you should probably wait before going all in on your business.

  This lesson discusses why the “all-in founder” route might not be the best for you, how staying in your day job gives you a better chance of success, and how to know when you’re ready to give your startup 100%. You’ll receive expert advice like:

  • How to balance two jobs at once
  • A checklist of things you should do before going all in
  • How to calculate your personal safety net before quitting your job

  1 action item; 5 resources for further study

  
• 12
  Brand

  Learn the basics of brand building, including naming and identity design.

  In this lesson, our experts will teach you the fundamentals of branding for startups, including how to create your brand even if you’re not a copywriter or designer. You’ll learn the importance of:

  • Naming your company
  • Creating a logo and professional identity
  • Showcasing your business through a quality website
  • Establishing your web presence
  • Crafting your social media strategy

  1 action item; 5 resources for further study; 4 business naming tools; 8 logo design tools; 8 no-code website design tools; 3 domain registration tools; 10 social media management tools

  
• 13
  Marketing and community

  Learn why your user community is your most valuable marketing asset.

  This lesson will teach you why you should utilize your community as a marketing tool before resorting to paid PR and marketing. The co-founder of Reddit will tell you his own personal marketing story and teach you how to keep people coming back to your company with lessons like:

  • Chasing press is a waste of time
  • Communicate personally with your users
  • Be real
  • Know your community
  • Invest in customer service

  1 action item, 9 resources for further study, 4 links to startup marketing tools

  
• 14
  Incorporation and legal

  Learn the fundamentals of incorporation and startup law.

  This lesson explains why you should incorporate your business and why you need a trusted lawyer for this and other legal tasks during your startup journey. Unlike many things in the early stages of your startup, this is not stuff you should DIY, so an experienced startup lawyer will explain:

  • Why getting a lawyer early on is important
  • The basics of incorporation
  • How to hire a good lawyer
  • How to find a startup specialist

  Example Delaware incorporation documents, 1 action item, 7 resources for further study, 5 links to legal tools

  
• 15
  Team and culture

  Learn why hiring is your most important job.

  A strong team is the single biggest predictor of success for startups. In this lesson, you’ll find out how to hire the right team members and what matters most when creating a company culture. Several founders will explain:

  • How to find great candidates
  • “Culture fit” vs. “culture add”
  • Team diversity
  • Choosing between full-time vs. freelance
  • Remote teams

  Example contractor agreement; example NDA; 1 action item; 8 resources for further study on hiring; 3 resources for further study on full-time vs. freelance; 6 resources for further study on workplace diversity; 5 resources for further study on remote teams; 3 hiring and team management tools; 4 recruiting tools; 4 productivity tools for teams

  
• 16
  Fundraising and venture capital

  Learn to connect with investors and win them over.

  This lesson breaks down the basics of raising capital, how investors do their jobs, and what you can expect from the process as a founder. One experienced venture capitalist will teach you about:

  • The fundamentals of fundraising
  • What investors look for in your company
  • What you should look for in a lead investor
  • Incubators and accelerators
  • How to meet investors

  Example cap table; convertible note; term sheet; Sequoia pitch deck template; 1 action item; various resources for further study on fundraising, pitches, and venture deals

  
• 17
  Self-care

  Learn to navigate the personal challenges of being a founder.

  In this lesson, several startup founders will teach you why self-care is crucial in this business. They’ll explain why “hustle porn” is toxic and that it’s okay to be vulnerable. As a startup founder, you won’t have free time, but you shouldn’t forget to take care of yourself. You’ll learn tactics to handle the stress of work, including:

  • Striving for work-life balance
  • Talking about your concerns
  • Exercising
  • Unplugging
  • Setting small goals

  1 action item; 5 resources for further study; 4 links to self-care tools

  
• 18
  The road ahead

  Reflections on the founder’s journey from Alexis Ohanian.

  This lesson leaves you with a few final thoughts on entrepreneurship from the co-founder of Reddit. He’ll provide you with details about furthering your education through this course and how to get in touch before saying goodbye with some words of inspiration and encouragement for your startup journey!