Foundersbase Blog
Practical, founder-tested guides on co-founder matching, early teams, equity and getting startups off the ground.
Dilution isn't losing your company — it's owning a smaller slice of a bigger pie. How each round, the option pool, and SAFEs dilute founders, with a worked example.
Kai Lindemann
September 12, 2026 · 6 min read
Co-founder conflict sinks more startups than the market ever does. Here is how to spot the root causes early, prevent them, resolve live fights, and part ways cleanly.
A realistic, itemized breakdown of what it actually costs to start a startup — incorporation, tools, the MVP, and the runway that matters most.
Start a startup while working full-time without blowing up your finances or your job: the contract landmines, what to validate first, and when to quit.
Why do startups fail? CB Insights data names a few repeat killers — no market need, running out of cash, the wrong team — and how to avoid each.
When a startup needs advisors, how to find the right ones, how much equity to give, and how to structure the relationship so advisors actually move the needle.
The most common startup business models — SaaS, marketplace, transactional, freemium and more — how each makes money, what it takes to work, and how to choose yours.
Why startups don't need a 40-page business plan, the lean one-page alternative that works, what each section should contain, and how to keep it alive.
How to build a startup waitlist before launch: why most waitlists fail, how to drive real signups, keep them warm, and convert them into paying customers at launch.
Which startup metrics actually matter by stage: the few KPIs that reveal whether your business works, vanity metrics to ignore, and how to build a simple dashboard.
A founder's guide to startup pricing: why value beats cost-plus, how to choose a model, common pricing mistakes, and how to raise prices without losing customers.
What an 83(b) election is, why founders and early employees with vesting equity file one, the 30-day deadline that can't be missed, and how to actually do it.
A founder's playbook for raising a seed round: how much to raise, the traction investors expect, running a tight process, and closing the round cleanly.