25+ Free Resources for Founders

I felt guilty this week because I didn’t produce any free content for all of you. One of those weeks where I had to prioritise other things meaning I didn’t get to spend my usual few hours creating content.

So instead of posting nothing at all (or worse yet, something half-assed), here are some things that might be useful to you!

I’ve been a fan of Notion for years. I use it to store all my interviews, project boards and just manage life in general - from interviewing customers on the phone or online to keeping track of tasks that need completing by adding them into this handy app! It’s intuitive because they have so many free templates you can edit with ease if needed-and their new startup programme is definitely worth checking out too :)

Grammarly is an invaluable tool for ensuring that what comes out of your mouth doesn’t sound like something from a 14-year old’s bedroom journal. It checks grammar, spelling and punctuation so you can be confident in whatever it reads!

For remote working, being able to quickly record my screen and describe things makes it much easier working. I’d be lost without something like Loom to communicate and document some of the design and engineering decisions in a more interactive way.

I created my podcast cover, newsletter photos and nearly everything you see me post on social media with Canva. It’s an easy-to-use tool for all skill levels that provide the ability to create engaging content. Canva gives you a one-stop-shop in creating images, graphics and posters from any background or theme imaginable with incredible ease.

Zapier is an amazing tool that helps you automate repetitive tasks between two or more apps without coding. I use it to sync my calendars and some other mundane jobs.

There are dozens of newsletter tools out there. I love the experience of creating newsletters in Revue. It’s easy for writers and publishers to send editorial emails with beautiful designs, all whilst getting paid if you want.

“the end of writer’s block” - copy.ai is a service that makes writing copy easy by leveraging artificial intelligence to literally write your words for you.

With Calendly, you can schedule meetings professionally and efficiently. Eliminate the hassle of back-and-forth emails so get back to work.

Pocket is an app I use to sync my articles across devices and discover new content. That’s how I curate all my articles for this newsletter.

The Tactical Field Guide for Founders contains everything you need to know about solving the most difficult early-stage problems.

Dribbble is a show and tell for designers. It’s a great place to get inspired for your projects and see how creative people can be with their illustrations and UI designs.

Product Hunt is a website where founders, product enthusiasts and geeks can share the best new products they’ve found. It’s an easy way to get attention for your tech startup but for me, it’s great to keep a finger on the pulse of what’s newly released.

There are quite a few sites you can use for this but the more the merrier for finding the best images for your project.

Why do startups fail? The main idea in this course is learning how to rapidly develop and test ideas by gathering massive amounts of customer feedback. Many don’t get started or continue with their business because they validate it early on, but not enough people ask for help from real-life customers before launching a product into the market - which can lead them right back where you start if your solution isn’t well-received.

Chris Haroun teaches this course. This course is an amalgamation of business advice that Chris has compiled from his many meetings with successful business people over the past two decades as well as observations of why brilliant entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg have become incredibly successful.

This course will teach you how to manage people in a practical, everyday sense. It doesn’t matter if your workplace is the office or shop floor - these skills apply everywhere! You’ll get into some HR theories and then see them come alive as you go through exercises.

Learn how to optimise your eCommerce website for Google in just one hour with this course. You will have a thorough understanding of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) concepts, and by the end you’ll know what it takes be successful online.

4-week free course from Harvard. When you’re looking to lead a team or run your own company, it is essential that skinned with the right skills. That’s why this course teaches everything from complex problem solving and relationship formation techniques, all of which will help in any leadership position.

A 6 month, self-paced course. You’ll explore the underlying theory and foundation of a successful business strategy in this course. You will gain tools that can help you understand how it works, so when presented with any type or situation from competition analysis to creating value recommendations-you are prepared.

Well I mean, I can’t believe this podcast isn’t award-winning yet… Okay, okay, yeah it’s some shameless self-promotion but I do think there is a tonne of value from the guests on the show.

Spoon-feeding you interesting businesses you can start tomorrow. And hey, maybe it’ll help you get your first million users, revenue, profit, employees (that’d be wild), or whatever it is you want a million of.

A documentary series about entrepreneurial life. The show has been downloaded tens of millions of times since its launch in 2014.

James Church, a recent guest on my podcast is giving away free copies of his best selling book. With communication being so key in the business world, it’s no wonder that too many brilliant ideas are lost due to poor pitching. Investable Entrepreneur has created an exceptional process for clarity with ‘The Six Principles Of The Perfect Pitch’. This proven method will help you make your pitch powerful and get noticed.

Naval Ravikant’s Almanack is a collection of his insights and experiences from the last ten years, seizures as wisdom. It’ll captivate you with its principles for building wealth while creating long-term happiness.

Gary Boron was one of the top copywriters and teachers and should be ranked among the very best who ever practised the craft. Gary Halbert is now most famous for the Boron Letters – a series of letters he wrote to his son while imprisoned for tax fraud. You can get the book on Amazon or just click through the links above.

That’s all for this week, stay awesome, and I’ll chat to you next week, my beautiful friends! 👋