
Our Startup Handbook - yarapavan
https://versionone.vc/startup-handbook/
======
brenden2
> It’s better to use LinkedIn as a source for candidates, but when possible,
> send a short and personal email to initiate contact. You can save time by
> using a service like Upwork to send emails to candidates on your behalf, but
> make sure that all emails read as though they come from you personally.

Please, _please_ , do not do things like this.

The rest of the advice in the doc seems okay, but it really only scratches the
surface of what's involved in starting a company. One thing that seems notably
absent is the difficulty of the ups and downs in a startup, and the challenge
of getting through the dark times.

~~~
palakchokshi
To add to this I would like to say that if you do reach out to candidates be
cognizant of the fact that you interrupted their life with this solicitation
so be sure you provide all relevant information about the job, position,
duties and details about your startup in the email so the candidate can make a
decision if they are interested or not from your email.

If they have to go out and spend 30 minutes to an hour to google stuff about
you then it's probably not going to happen.

Lastly if they don't respond to a LinkedIn message or email within a week just
move on and don't keep sending follow up emails. There is a reason the
candidates didn't respond because they don't want to and shouldn't have to
spend even 5 minutes responding to your unsolicited email

Thanks

~~~
pseudoramble
This is by far the most important aspect to me with getting a message. I've
only been sent around 2-4 messages with this much detail. These are the ones I
actually reply to, even if I'm not interested at the moment. It's usually
somebody who I'd at least want to stay in touch with. And often, if they've
written something like that, it's usually something I'm somewhat interested
in.

Maybe the cost versus the returns on these kind of messages aren't worth it to
companies. But I really appreciate them.

------
sorent
I find these recommendations useful, and more importantly, I think it shows
how the authors of the guide (who are partners at V1) think about building
scalable startups. I wish all funds were this transparent!

Anyone considering taking investments from V1 should read this guide because
it shows that:

1\. They will point founders to the best external advice the team has come
across (including most of the solid references pointed out by ignoramous
below). This means they won't come up with a bunch of BS that is not best
practice.

2\. That the V1 team cares about its founders! If you see the section "Invest
in yourself", it's clear that they care about YOU as a founder! I love this
human approach - that's NOT the case for every investor out there!

Disclaimer: Version One Ventures is 1 of 33 investors on our captable - and
they stand (very positively) out!

------
ngngngng
So there's gotta be a million of these. What's the best one for pre seed to
post seed, startup school and paul graham?

~~~
ignoramous
Startupschool lectures are really what you're looking for [0]. Paul Graham's
essays are worth the time too [1]: He's written many classics in a well
structured persuasive style. Sam Altman's _Startup Playbook_ [2] is super nice
as is Marc Andreseen's _Startup Guide_ [3]. Some VCs like A16Z [4] and
FirstRound Capital [5] post great content. Stripe [6], Indiehackers [7], and
Patrick McKenzie [8] are other sources that are quite not as focused on
startups but worth a look nonetheless.

Twitter is a gold mine where you'd find relevant content, but you'd have to
literally _mine_ it out.

I'd say though you could drain yourself going through all of this, but the
fact remains that every company is different and what works for someone might
not work for you. Also, there's lot of contradictory advice you need to sift
through, a lot of obvious advice you need to internalize, a lot of advice you
should simply ignore, and a lot of counter-intuitive advice you need to accept
[9].

\---

[0] [https://startupschool.org/library](https://startupschool.org/library)

[1] [http://paulgraham.com/articles.html](http://paulgraham.com/articles.html)

[2] [https://playbook.samaltman.com/](https://playbook.samaltman.com/)

[3]
[https://pmarchive.com/guide_to_startups_part1.html](https://pmarchive.com/guide_to_startups_part1.html)

[4] [https://a16z.com/content/](https://a16z.com/content/)

[5] [https://firstround.com/review/](https://firstround.com/review/)

[6] [https://stripe.com/en-us/atlas/guides](https://stripe.com/en-
us/atlas/guides)

[7] [https://www.indiehackers.com/learn](https://www.indiehackers.com/learn)

[8] [https://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-
hits/](https://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/)

[9] [https://blog.ycombinator.com/advice-for-first-time-
founders/](https://blog.ycombinator.com/advice-for-first-time-founders/)

~~~
CalChris
> Twitter is a gold mine where you'd find relevant content, but you'd have to
> literally mine it out.

This is true and by comparison, Facebook isn't. It's a barren wasteland.

------
5cott0
Interview homework & backchannel reference checks. Sounds like a complete
nightmare.

------
iuguy
1\. Click on PDF.

2\. Cmd-F

3\. Enter _profit_ , hit return.

4\. Zero results.

5\. Close PDF.

~~~
timavr
Handbook on how to build an army, that is going to be slaughtered 99% of the
time.

------
rorytbyrne
I feel like a handbook for startups shouldn't start with a guide on how to
hire.

~~~
bwertz
As we mention in the intro to the guide, we don't address product-market-fit
questions in the handbook (or other things you need to figure out in the
earliest stages of your company creation) - we are really focused on the time
between seed and Series B and hiring is a key aspect of that phase.

------
mynegation
Heads up: your ePub version still embeds a title "A Guide to Marketplaces"
(can be seen in Apple Books app) and the ePub content is pre-formatted and
does not reflow on small screens.

~~~
Lucasoato
Also from Opera and Google Chrome Mobile I can't download the pdf version... I
just get a corrupted file.bin from the Dropbox :/

~~~
js4ever
Same, here is a fixed version:
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-f7GSHhGWJ2YfgJBf1xxJ43vuZL...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-f7GSHhGWJ2YfgJBf1xxJ43vuZLUcUl9/view)

~~~
akingyens
Thank you!

