The Ultimate Guide To Founding A Startup
The Complete Day Zero Guide to Launching Your Startup: Playbooks, Resources, Investor Lists & More
Welcome to NEW ECONOMIES, rooted in my experiences working in venture. From inside the venture world, one thing is clear: we’re not just in a tech boom—we’re living through a full-blown economic rewrite.
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THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FOUNDING A STARTUP
Now is the time to build…
We are living in a transformative era for startups, where innovation and technology are continuously evolving, reshaping how we work, interact, and create. AI, in particular, has emerged as a focal point for many founders, with nearly 40% of all venture funding directed toward the sector. For instance, $60 billion was invested in AI startups in the first quarter of this year.
However, for both first-time and repeat founders, venturing out on this journey can be daunting. Not only is the road ahead challenging, but finding reliable resources on how to start can feel overwhelming, especially with so much misinformation out there. That’s why we’re here—to support you as your go-to technology newsletter.
In this edition, you’ll find the following resources designed to guide and support you throughout the startup journey:
The Startup Tech Stack: The tools to organize and scale your startup.
The Most Active Accelerators: The complete list to help discover your startup potential.
Most Active Mentors: Experienced operators supporting early-stage startups.
Operators Investing: Former and current operators investing in early stage startups.
Most Active Investors (VCs and Family Offices): Thousands of investors, investing by region and sector.
Pitch Deck Library & Templates: Access hundreds of pitch decks made up of companies building across AI and those which have reached unicorn status.
Meet The Latest Funds: The latest VC funds which have been announced since the beginning of 2024.
The Most Active Angels: The most active angel investors investing globally.
Let’s dive in!
THE STARTUP TECH STACK
Finding the best and most effective tools when building can be incredibly time-consuming. That’s why we’ve curated a list of the most popular tools used by startups—to help plan and streamline your tech stack efficiently. We have categorized the tools into the following categories:
Finance: Payroll, collecting payments.
CRM: Managing customers.
Sales: Landing new customers.
HR: Onboarding new employees and providing benefits.
Fundraising: Cap table management and managing your investors.
Design: Design tools.
Meeting Notes: Automated note-taking tools.
Cloud: Cloud providers.
Customer Support: Tools to support your customers.
Productivity: Tools to speed up your productivity.
KYC: KYC and security tools.
Team Collaboration: Tools for collaborating internally and externally.
Product: Tools for product and dev teams.
Marketing: Tools for marketing teams.
Legal: Legal tools.
Become a paid subscriber to access these tools and all resources mentioned in this edition.
THE MOST ACTIVE ACCELERATORS
For first-time founders, many choose to join an accelerator to help refine their ideas, raise capital, and potentially find a co-founder or build their founding team.
Discover the most active accelerators (or investors who run similar programs) globally and those within your region.
FINDING YOUR ADVISORS AND MENTORS
Building a company is incredibly hard and often very lonely. Finding those advisors, mentors, and operators who are well-networked and have a lot of experience within your category of interest can be one of the most rewarding milestones within the early stages of building.
Discover the most forward-thinking advisors, mentors, and operators who are actively supporting early-stage startups who are ready to support you.
OPERATORS INVESTING IN EARLY-STAGE STARTUPS
Having a former or current operator from a notable tech company on your cap table can be incredibly valuable—especially those with expertise in product, marketing, growth, or sales.
Whether you're building for the first time or the tenth, having one of these operators on your cap table is a game-changer. They bring deep industry experience, strong networks, and valuable insights specific to your category. Plus, they’re often interested to invest in or even join an early-stage company at the right moment.
Finally, having operators on your cap table can provide a valuable entry point for acquiring customers, particularly through the operator's previous employers and networks.
THE ULTIMATE LIST OF INVESTORS
Fundraising can be one of the most exciting parts of the startup journey—however, it can also be one of the most frustrating.
Identifying the right, most aligned, and supportive investors takes time. You need to research who they are, which competitors they've backed, where they’re based, and what stage they invest in.
To save you time, we’ve curated a list of forward-thinking investors who specialize in your sector, region, and stage—helping you find the right partner for your journey.
AI PITCH DECKS RAISE $650M (Q1 2025)
These 30 AI startups have just raised $650M—all within the last few months!
To help you navigate the startup journey, we’re sharing 30 pitch decks from AI startups that have collectively raised over $650 million in recent months. You'll get an inside look at how they structured their decks, what they included, and how they successfully raised.
The startups include:
HelloSky: The AI talent & company intelligence platform.
Artisan: Industry-leading AI employees.
SplxAI: Continuous security testing for AI assistants and agents.
Doctronic: Your AI doctor will see you now...
Nexad: Native ads system built for the AI era.
noto: Modern software for lesson-based businesses.
Qevlar AI: Give your SOC superpowers.
HoneyHive: Modern AI observability and evaluation.
Solve Intelligence: Write high-quality patents with AI.
Delos: Empower your transition to generative AI.
Series: The first AI social network for students.
Incentify: Optimizing tax credit and incentive management.
pyannoteAI: State-of-the-art conversational speech AI.
Chef Robotics: Accelerating the advent of intelligent machines.
Linguana: The global monetization solution for content creators—localizing, dubbing, and distributing your videos globally.
LTV.ai: AI-driven personalized email/SMS marketing for ecom brands.
DeepIP: Better patents, faster.
Ignota Labs: Reviving promising drugs and giving patients new hope.
Auxia: The agentic marketing platform for 1:1 customer journey orchestration.
Capalo AI: Maximize the value of energy storage systems.
Onyx AI: Open source enterprise search & AI assistant.
Avataros: Authentic 3D avatars—your avatar, every platform, zero compromises.
Alta: Grow your revenue with data and AI—from strategy to execution.
Breakout: AI agents that grow your inbound pipeline with personalized conversations.
Charta Health: Automated chart reviews to boost healthcare revenue and quality.
EnCharge AI: Building the future of AI compute to unlock new intelligence levels.
RoboForce: Creating the world's most advanced Robo-Labor system.
Auquan: AI agents for deep knowledge work in financial services.
Coram AI: Video intelligence systems for businesses.
Synthesia: Create professional instructional AI videos from text—in 140+ languages.
Qventus: AI teammates to automate hospital operations.
THE JOURNEY TO $100M ARR
At some point, we will witness the first single-employee unicorn company. This highlights the immense opportunity ahead—AI-powered startups with small teams are shaping the future, reaching $100M+ in ARR faster than ever before. And there are many already on this path.
Discover 30+ of the most promising AI startups already generating $100M+—and those well on their way. Discover their pitch decks in full now.
MEET THE LATEST VC FUNDS
Although startups might be finding it harder to raise, VC funds continue to raise capital from LPs. Since the beginning of 2024, over 120 firms have announced new funds, with 30% being first-time funds. We take a closer look at who they are and their area of focus.
MEET THE MOST ACTIVE ANGEL INVESTORS GLOBALLY
Angels are among the most valuable forces driving the tech ecosystem forward. The 18 most active angels globally have collectively invested in nearly 4,500 companies—and there are many more super angels out there who are well worth watching and having on your cap table.
DISCOVER 160+ ADDITIONAL ANGEL INVESTORS WHO HAVE BACKED SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST NOTABLE COMPANIES. THESE INVESTORS SHOULD BE ON YOUR CAP TABLE.
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