Lean Tools

The software, websites, and educational resources below are intended to offer a full-stack knowledge base to anyone who is in the process of launching and/or building a startup. We’re always trying to keep this page updated with the latest and greatest in B2B tooling and knowledge-building. If your team currently uses a tool that is not listed and you’d like to recommend we add it, please reach out!


Prototyping & Wireframes
Balsamiq:  Wireframing and mock up tool
Bootstrap:  Responsive, mobile first projects
InVision:  Prototyping and collaboration
Keynotopia:  Best if familiar with ppt/keynote
Bhuma: AI-based UI design & UX workflows
Marvel: Prototype your app
Moqups:  Mockups & UI testing
Test Flight: Test IOS apps

Website Development
Built With: What tech websites use
Code Climate: Code review
Launchrock:  Create landing pages quickly
Shopify: Open an online store
Squarespace:  Simple with beautiful layouts
Strikingly:  Mobile-friendly website in minutes
Volusion:  Open an online store
Webflow: Low-code web design

Design
Canva: Graphic design for media assets
Figma: No-code design tool for teams
Looka: Logo design

Business Operations
Hightouch: Data warehouse syncing
Retool: Build internal tooling
Zapier: Workflow automation tool

Miscellaneous
CoFoundersLab: Find a cofounder
Collective Catalyst: CTO as a service
Doodle:  Find a meeting time that works
FlexTeam:  Augmented management team
GK Training:  Pitch coaching
Stacklist: Curated list of tools
Tanooki Labs: Technical co-founders
Uber conference: Free conference calls

Team Operating System
Airtable: Collaborative database platform
Notion: All-in-one workspace
Slack: Instant messaging built for business
Superhuman: World’s fastest email system

Project Management
Asana: Project management tool
Basecamp:  Project management tool
Jira: Agile project management
Slack: Team communication tool
Trello:  Project management tool

Technical/Entrepreneurial Literacy
Codecademy: Learn how to code
General Assembly:  In person classes
Khan Academy: Learn for free
One Month: Online classes
TechSpeak: Learn to manage tech teams
Thinkful: Online mentorship
Udemy: Online education marketplace

Legal
Cooley Go:  Resources & education
Hire an Esquire:  Legal Labor Marketplace
Orrick Total Access:  Resources & education
Traklight: Track and protect IP
Upcounsel:  Hire legal professionals

Domain Name Generators
Domain Name Soup
Hipster Business
Panabee

Contracting
Dribbble: Find and contract designers
Fiverr: Freelancer marketplace
Upwork: Freelancer marketplace
 

 

User Feedback / Engagement
Curalate:  Measure social media marketing
Optimizely:  A/B testing for websites
Survey Monkey: Create surveys
Unbounce: Build and A/B test landing pages
Usertesting:  Get feedback on your site

CRM / Marketing
Animoto: Create animated videos
Appboy: Engage mobile customers
Customer.io: Send email based on behavior
Hubspot: marketing and sales-focused CRM
Mailchimp:  Email Marketing
Muckrack: PR Software
Powtoon: Create animated videos
Sailthru: Email Marketing
Salesforce: enterprise-grade CRM
SendGrid:  Email Marketing
Streak:  CRM inside Gmail 
Zoho: CRM software

Data / Analytics
Baremetrics: Metrics for SAAS businesses
Chart Mogul: Subscription analytics
Crashlytics: Mobile crash reporting tool
Data.ai: App analytics
Equals: Data analytics for startups
Metabase: UX-friendly biz intelligence tool
Mixpanel: Analytics for mobile
Tableau: Business intelligence and analytics