The 14 Best Blogs for Startup Founders
There are thousands of startup blogs and most are noise. This is the short list founders in our community actually cite: organized by what each one is best for, so you can read the right thing for the problem in front of you instead of everything.
A reading strategy that works: pick one fundraising blog, one growth blog, and one strategy blog. Depth beats breadth, and three good archives will answer most questions your first two years will raise.
Fundraising and Venture
How investors think, what terms mean, and how rounds actually come together.
Best for: first principles on startups
The canon. "Do Things That Don’t Scale", "How to Raise Money", and "Default Alive or Default Dead" have aged better than almost anything else written about startups.
Best for: tactical operator interviews
Long-form, heavily edited interviews with operators about hiring, sales, product, and management. Consistently the highest signal-to-word ratio in startup publishing.
Best for: seeing your pitch from the VC’s chair
Written by a two-time founder turned VC. The archive on fundraising process, investor psychology, and "lines, not dots" is required reading before your first raise.
Best for: SaaS fundraising and scaling benchmarks
Blunt, prolific, and specific about SaaS: what metrics matter at each ARR milestone, when to hire which executive, and what investors expect at every stage.
Best for: data-driven market analysis
Short, chart-driven posts on venture math, software markets, and benchmarks. When you need the median instead of the anecdote, start here.
Product and Growth
Finding product-market fit and growing after you have it.
Best for: product and growth playbooks
The largest product newsletter in the world for a reason: concrete answers to questions like "how do I find my first 1,000 users" backed by surveys of people who actually did it.
Best for: growth loops and network effects
Essays on acquisition loops, marketplace dynamics, and the cold start problem, from someone who ran growth at Uber before becoming a VC.
Best for: stage-by-stage startup advice
Videos and essays from YC partners organized by topic: idea, launch, growth, fundraising. The Startup School content alone covers most questions a pre-seed founder has.
Strategy and Analysis
Understanding the markets and technology waves you are building into.
Best for: tech strategy and aggregation theory
The reference for how platforms, aggregators, and business models interact. Reading it consistently changes how you position your company.
Best for: optimistic deep dives on companies and trends
Long, energetic breakdowns of interesting companies and theses. Useful for narrative craft: watch how he makes a complicated business legible and exciting.
Best for: company teardowns and investor profiles
Meticulous profiles of companies and the investors behind them. A good way to research a firm before you pitch them.
Best for: sector theses from a mega-fund
Whatever a16z is publishing about your sector is a preview of the questions better-prepared investors will ask you in a pitch meeting.
From The Founders’ Group
Our own writing, closest to what founders in our community are actually going through.
Best for: unfiltered answers from an active angel
An investor answering founder questions directly: what makes him say yes, what kills a deal, and what founders consistently get wrong in the room.
Best for: deck teardowns and fundraising guides
Deck teardowns, fundraising guides, and lessons pulled from our founder community. Pairs with the free tools and benchmarks on this site.
Reading is preparation. When you’re ready to raise, upload your deck and see which investors actually match your startup.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best blogs for startup founders?
For fundraising: Paul Graham’s essays, First Round Review, Both Sides of the Table, and SaaStr. For product and growth: Lenny’s Newsletter and Andrew Chen. For strategy: Stratechery, Not Boring, and The Generalist. For data on what metrics investors expect: Tomasz Tunguz, plus the free startup benchmarks on this site.
Which blogs should a first-time founder read before fundraising?
Start with three: Paul Graham’s "How to Raise Money", Mark Suster’s archive on how VCs decide (Both Sides of the Table), and SaaStr if you are building SaaS. Then look at real numbers for your stage and sector, so you know whether your traction is fundable before you pitch.
Are there blogs written by active angel investors?
Yes. Both Sides of the Table is written by a VC who angel-invests, and Ben’s Investor AMA on this site is an active angel investor answering founder questions directly, including what makes him commit to a deal.