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Best Free Tools to use for Startup Founders

Posted by | March 1, 2024

Best Free Tools to use for Startup Founders

What exactly are the best free tools to use for startup founders when going through the validation process?

We have already gone through the process of how to take your idea from your mind and into reality using the step by step validation process in our past blogs.

First things first, it will be very easy to get shiny object syndrome. You will see tons of products and tools that everyone will be saying you have to use.

We have had to go through the processes of using hundreds of tools and vetting out which ones are truly must haves (and free of course) for the validation-phase of your start up.

Google Workspace

To start you need to be using Google Workspace.

The tools in the Google Workspace that you will be using are Google Drive, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Forms, and Google Meets.

DO NOT use Google Docs and Google Slides to put together pitch presentations and business plans. That is for those who want to procrastinate actually getting their business off the ground.

You should be using Google Docs to write down the problem, ICP, assumptions, interview questions, and analysis from early customer calls.

Google Forms will be used to write down responses from your customer discovery calls and you can export that data into Google Sheets automatically to analyze the data.

Next is Google Meets. Use this to host your calls with your ideal customers if you are doing them remotely.

It is free and works like a charm.

You should also set up a free Gmail account with [business name]@gmail.com.

Down the road once you get traction, you should get a domain and an email for the domain to be more professional. Gmail will work for now.

Calendly

In order to book these calls, we recommend using Calendly. It is free and you can easily embed the link into your landing page and connect it automatically to Google Meet.

It is easy to set up and even easier to integrate with your other tools.

Ufoünd

This platform is perfect for idea-stage founders looking for initial users or ideal customers to interview.

Essentially, all you have to do is provide a user interview yourself, and then you get one in return.

It is the perfect alternative to spending hundreds of hours or hundreds of dollars finding initial customers.

It is currently free for a limited time so we highly suggest checking it out!

…yes it is our platform 🙂 and it will soon be known as one of the best free tools to use as an early startup founder.

Versoly

I know we have mentioned Versoly in a previous blog post, but it really is just that good.

Versoly is a simple landing page builder that allows you to set up a quick (and beautiful) one-page site in under an hour.

Especially in the early stages of validation, a tool like this could be used to show potential customers what you are trying to solve for them and is a simple way to try and validate if it is something people are interested in before actually building out your business.

Stripe

I think Stripe is our favorite tool to use as an early startup founder.

Not just because it is how you get money…well maybe.

Jokes aside, it is almost scary how easy it is to get it up.

Stripe should be your go-to payment processing choice.

In 15 minutes you can create an account for free, create a payment link, and add it to a button on your website.

Just like that you have a way for potential customers to pay you (and you only pay Stripe 2.9% + 30c when someone converts).

Figma / Canva

I am putting Figma and Canva together because they truly compliment each other.

They both have free versions that are more than enough for your early design needs.

You can create logos, one-pagers, dashboard mockups, ads, and more on Canva.

Figma is a great tool where you can easily build initial click-through website or app prototypes.

For more on Figma see our last blog post on how to build an MVP with $0.

Tally

We recently started using Tally and it has been an amazing alternative to Google Forms.

It is a survey tool that you can use to onboard new users, track user interview responses, or any other survey related needs.

The interface is clean and it is simple to set up with pre-made templates to choose from.

They have a free version which is really all you need at this stage (as with all the tools we are mentioning).

Social Media (i.e., LinkedIn , Reddit , Discord , X , Facebook , Instagram , TikTok )

Social media is an amazing tool to find ideal customers to interview.

In the list above we have ranked our most used first to last in that order.

For every business it will be very different, so try and think of where your ideal customers live, and target them on the related platform (for you TikTok and Instagram may be the most ideal).

The one problem with these platforms is the distraction that comes with it.

Remember, although social media is one of the best free tools to use as an early startup founder, you end up paying with your attention (or lack thereof in this case).

We like to think about it as if we are not only searching for a needle in a haystack but that at the same time the haystack is filled with candy, other people screaming at you, and whatever other distractions you can think of.

So be observant when using social media to find customers. Stay focused and call yourself out when you start to go down a rabbit hole.

Youtube

Youtube is technically classified as a social media, but we have decided to put it on it’s own since we are looking at it as a tool for learning, not for lead generation.

You can certainly use it as a lead generation tool by creating your own account and trying to funnel people from there to your site, service, or other social media to convert.

We have used Youtube as a way to learn about the world of start ups.

Do be careful though as there are many “experts” here that will lead you down the wrong path.

We recommend watching YCombinator videos, Starter Story, and any other founders you can find who have the credentials and proof of experience in this world.

Zapier

Zapier is an incredible automation tool.

You can use it to take your mind off of repetitive tasks and focus on what matters.

For example, we currently use Zapier to send our sign ups an email automatically, reminding them to book onboarding calls.

We also use it to automatically add sign up emails to a google spreadsheet/CRM to keep track.

Although the free plan is limited, it is still extremely useful.

Microsoft Clarity

Microsoft Clarity has to be one of our favourite tools.

It is used to track user sessions on your site as well as heatmaps, clicks, and scroll rates.

We have officially replaced Netflix with watching our users on Clarity.

It is a must for founders as the value it provides in helping you optimize your landing page and UX/UI of your software is unmatched.

Founders Podcast

We are going to say one thing: You need to start listening to this podcast. Now.

We don’t care if you aren’t a podcast listener. Start listening to this in the car instead of your music, at the gym, and whenever you have free time to listen to something.

It is a game-changer for your mindset, knowledge, and outlook on life.

No this is in not sponsored (we wish it was, that would mean we knew David Senra), the podcast is just that f**king good.

If there is one tool out this list of best tools to use for an early startup founder, make it this one (or ufoünd of course).

LeanStack.com

Lean Stack is a site that provides useful templates for startup founders.

The one we recommend doing at this stage is the Lean Canvas.

Don’t spend too much time on it but it is a great exercise to put down on paper the key assumptions you currently have about your idea and the problem you are solving.

StartUp School

This is a free online video library put together by YCombinator filled with incredible insights and knowledge on how to start a startup.

Unlike Youtube, you cannot get distracted easily here as any video you choose will teach you something valuable.

ChatGPT

We probably don’t use this as much as others, but you probably already know the power of this tool.

Use it to bounce ideas off of, get quick research done, or write up some copy.

It is also very easy to get distracted here, so make sure you have a goal for why you are using it in any given session, and close the tab the second you find yourself asking it what the meaning of life is.

Namelix

More of a nice-to-have than the others, but we thought it would be fun to include this.

Namelix is essentially a business name generator.

For some reason though, unlike others out there, this one really provides great names.

Set a timer for five minutes and if you don’t find anything then close the tab and forget about it.

The name is not that important so just pick something and move on.

Well, there you have it. The best free tools to use as an early startup founder.

There are many more tools out there that we could have included, but after doing this for the past year we realized that you really don’t need anything more than this.

Of course, it depends on the type of startup you are building. We have focused mostly on SaaS.

Regardless, we have spoken and been around many other founders within the idea-phase and have rarely seen any more tools that are necessary (that are free).

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