Checklist for New Startups

Company Start by laying the foundation for your business. Secure a good domain (preferably .com)

### Company Start by laying the foundation for your business. - [ ] Secure a good domain (preferably .com) before deciding on the company's name. *Good domains are short and easy to read/spell.* - [ ] Incorporate (consider using Stripe Atlas, especially if you'll be using Stripe for payments). *I recommend incorporating in Delaware. Choose C Corporation (Inc.) if you plan on raising VC. Otherwise, choose LLC.* - [ ] Create a founders' agreement if you have co-founders - [ ] Create a Crunchbase and LinkedIn company page to enhance visibility ### Brand Create a strong identity that resonates with your audience. - [ ] Design a logo - [ ] Establish a color scheme - [ ] Create simple and easy brand messaging and tagline - [ ] File for trademarks for both the company name and the logo ### Online Presence Ensure your startup is visible and accessible to your target audience. - [ ] Build a great website - [ ] Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and optimized for SEO - [ ] Secure usernames on all main social accounts (X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, etc.) and create the accounts ### Product Focus on what you will offer to the market. - [ ] Identify and deeply understand the **pain point** that the product will solve - [ ] Develop a minimum viable product (MVP) focused on solving that pain point better than anybody else - [ ] Test your product with early **users that suffer with that pain** and gather feedback - [ ] Choose the best tools for building your product, always search for better alternatives. This can make a huge difference in the long-term, especially for software products. ### Marketing Develop strategies to reach and engage your audience. - [ ] Identify your potential customer segments - [ ] Discover where your customers are and focus on creating content on these platforms - [ ] Build a marketing funnel - [ ] Set up analytics tools to track engagement and conversions ### Financials Establish robust financial practices for sustainability. - [ ] Open a business bank account - [ ] Set up accounting software to manage finances - [ ] Create a budget and keep track of expenses and runway - [ ] Do your taxes ### Team Build a complementary team. Make sure everyone has unique skills and responsibilities. - [ ] Have a passionate and driven visionary member who is the product person. - [ ] Have a high execution technical member who is eager to learn, push limits, and can deliver the vision. - [ ] Define roles and responsibilities within your team. - [ ] Establish clear communication channels and meeting routines. - [ ] Establish a collaboration, communication, and documentation channel (we use socra for all of those). - [ ] Give everyone freedom and autonomy to do their best work and make key decisions on the areas they're responsible for. - [ ] Give everyone fair equity, with a vesting period. ### Launch - [ ] Launch early, launch frequently. Each major improvement is an opportunity for a new launch.

By Eduarda Ferreira