The Ultimate List of Resources and Tools for Entrepreneurs and Startups

These are some of the best startup resources around the web for entrepreneurs, startups, aspiring entrepreneurs and busy professionals. It is a healthy mix of tools, apps, ebooks and blogs you will find useful in starting and growing your business.

Free Newsletters for Entrepreneurs

1/ Requests for Startups: A place to discover ideas that VCs & angels want to fund

2/ Email1K: A free 30 day course to double your email list.

3/ Design for Hackers: 12 weeks of design learning, right in your inbox.

4/ Product Psychology: This Explains Everything: A Course on User Behaviour

5/ Foundry: What are founders reading today?

6/ Startup Digest: Personalized newsletter for all things startup in your area.

7/ Startup Curated: The best of the week for founders, in one minimal email

8/ Mattermark Daily: Curated newsletter from investors & founders.

9/ ChargeWhatYou’reWorth: Free course on charging what you’re worth.

10/ Postantly Weekly: The best and most insightful posts from top publishers.

11/ UX Newsletter: Tales of researching, designing, and building.

12/ Highbrow: Expand Your Knowledge Universe in just 5 minutes a day

13/ SaaS Weekly: The week’s two or three best stories about business, product, marketing, sales, and growth.

14/ UX Design Weekly: Best user experience design links every week.

15/ Remove: Email digest of tips on remote work and productivity.

16/ Primer: No-nonsense, jargon-free marketing lessons (by Google).

17/ KeepYourFriendsClose: A free e-book about maximizing Customer Lifetime Value.

18/ Pricing Course: A free 9 day course on charging what you’re worth.

19/ Charged newsletter: Weekly roundup of the best tech news and tips.

20/ Email Course for Sponsorships: How to get sponsorships for anything.

21/ Startup Sales Course: A free course to help you become a better marketer.

22/ Build an online course: A free course to help you build an online course.

23/ Upvoted Weekly: Enjoy the best reddit content you may have missed

24/ FirstSiteGuide: The beginner’s guide to successful blogging.

25/ MailCharts: A FREE email course to help you become a better marketer.

Free Ebooks for Entrepreneurs and Startups

1. The 4 Hour Workweek (The first 50 pages) by Tim Ferriss

2. Transform Your Habits+Mastering Creativity by James Clear

3. Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin

4. Getting Real by 37 Signals

5. Lessons by 50 Founders on Why Their Startups Failed by Thomas Oppong

6.  Creative Entrepreneurship by kbs _ Ventures

7. EBooks the Smart Way by Pat Flynn

8. 279 Days to Overnight Success by Chris Guillebeau

9. Breaking The Time Barrier by Mike McDerment and Donald Cowper

10. Learn How to Build a Happy Startup by The Happy Startup School

11. 50 Ways to Plan for Small Business Success by YFS Magazine

12. Intercom on Customer Engagement by intercom.io

13. The OSF Playbook Let’s Author The Future Together (NEW)

14. Marketing Guides by Kissmetrics

15. Get More Clarity: Straight Up Startup Advice by Clarity

16. Instant Startup Guide by Harvard University (Office of Technology Development)

17. The Smart Way by Pat Flynn

18. Developer’s Guide to App Marketing by Paddle.com

19. Getting From Employee 5 to 50 by Workable

Apps for Remote Workers and Digital Nomads

1. Nomad List 2.0: Find the best cities to live and work remotely.

2. Docady: Snap a photo of all the important documents you don’t want to carry around.

3. Remote | OK: A daily aggregator of all remote jobs.

4. PandaDoc: Create, share, and sign documents with legally binding electronic signature software.

5. Docracy: An open collection of legal contracts and the best way to negotiate and sign documents online.

6. Clarity: Schedule a call with an experienced entrepreneur and get expert advice on your business no matter where in the world you are.

7. Uber – get a ride, right from your smartphone.

8. Solo: A great assistant and an elegant way to ensure your freelance projects run smoothly.

9. Sunrise: Plan your days with a calendar that connects to your favorite apps, including Facebook, Evernote, or Trello.

10. Focus@Will: The site boasts of a neuroscience-based approach to selecting background working music, and it really seems to work.

11. Momentum: Momentum is everything you need to get motivated, stay on track, and accomplish your goals.

12. Workfrom: Workfrom has recommendations for a number of major cities to help you find your next favorite place to work remotely.

13. Pocket helps you to stay focused on your tasks. Save articles for for later and read it offline whenever and wherever you have time to.

14. Boomerang lets you bring an email back into your inbox exactly when you need it, rather than just keeping it there as a reminder for weeks.

15. Freedom: Block distracting websites and apps to skyrocket your productivity.

16. Canva: Any design related stuff is a piece of cake even for non-designers with this free, drag-and-drop app.

17. Airbnb: Rent unique places to stay from local hosts in 190 countries

18. Wisestamp lets you set up multiple dynamic signatures that can include social media icons and latest posts, as well as standard contact information.

19. Rescue Time automatically tracks how long you spend on different tasks, from writing the next big content gig to browsing Facebook feeds.

20. Headspace is one of the best apps to learn meditation and stick to it. The guided meditation helps you to set up your new habit as a daily routine.

21. Buffer: The easiest way to manage social media on the go.

22. World Time Buddy: (WTB) is a convenient world clock, a time zone converter, and an online meeting scheduler.

Apps to Make Your Life Easier as an Entrepreneur

1. Streaks: The to-do list for habits.

2. Product Hunt LIVE: Chat with some of the world’s most interesting makers.

3. Sumry: Changes the way companies and the recruiting industry work.

4. FoundersKit: $6k of discounts for the best startup tools for only $39

5. Taco: All your tasks. One screen.

6. Startup Retreats: Find remote work retreats for you and your startup.

7. Frontify: Create free style guides in less than 5 minutes.

8. The Pitch: The podcast where early stage startups pitch investors.

9. Graava: The first ever camera that automatically edits its own video.

10. Buffer for Video: All-in-one video scheduling & management for social media.

11. Hotjar: See how your visitors are really using your site – for free.

12. Lrn: learn to code at your convenience.

13. Bookicious: Book recommendations from founders & makers

14. Pixels 2.0: The best free stock photos in one place

15. Launch Kit: A smart, simple website for your app

16. Really Good Emails – Take a look at some of the best email marketing from top businesses.

17. Google Keep – Save your thoughts on your phone, tablet, or computer.

18. Sortd for Gmail: Transform your email into organized lists

19. Handle: To-dos + Email + Calendar

Apps to Help You Build Productive Habits

1/ 42Goals  — A simple tool for tracking your daily goals and keeping a log of your daily activities.

2/ HabitList — An app to create good habits and break unhealthy ones

3/ Zenlist — Simplify each day with three goals

4/ Human — Move 30 mins or more, every day

5/ stickK — empowers you to better your lifestyle.

6/ Momentum — Daily todo on your new tab page

7/ Do nothing for 2 minutes — Refocus your mind in just 2 minutes

8/ RescueTime — Analytics on your daily habits and productivity

9/ Handle — Time-based to-do app that brings together your to-dos, email, and calendar

10/ 21 Habit — Make or break a habit in 21 days

11/ Fitocracy — The easiest way to reach your fitness goals

12/ PocketRocket — One article from Pocket to your inbox every day

13/ Productivity Owl — A Chrome Extension that forces you to be productive

14/ Forest — An app helping you put down your phone and focus on what’s more important in your life.

15/ Calm — Take a break and meditate

16/ HabitForge — A proven motivator in creating new habits.

Apps For Productivity @Work

1. GetFlow – –Get things done in your team.

2.  Highrise —CRM for your business made simple.

3.  Expensify — Track every expense in your business.

4.  Basecamp— Project management the easy way.

5.  Trello — Project management and collaboration app.

6.  Things —Personal task management app for every entrepreneur.

7. Asana—Task management for your team.

8. OmniFocus—Personal task management.

9. Any.do—Mobile task manager with life planning tools.

10. Rapportive—Learn more about your contacts right inside your inbox

11. inDinero.com—Track financial info of your startup.

12. Pipedrive—A powerful sales CRM for your small teams

13.  Remember The Milk —To-do list made simple.

14. TSheets—Time tracking & reporting made easy

15. Beeminder-–A great way to track your goals.

15.  Wunderlist— Organize your life and business.

16. Dropbox–—Take your docs, and files anywhere.

17.  Grasshopper—-A phone system for your small business.

18. Yammer —-Work-group chat app on steroids.

19. Evernote—Take, sync, and share notes from anywhere.

20.  Boomerang for Gmail-–Schedule an email to be sent later.

21.  Doodle— Scheduling made simple.

22.  Freshbooks—Simple and intuitive  accounting.

23. Github —Host your code here. Period.

24. Skitch—Get your point across with fewer words.

25. Fantastical —A great calendar app you need.

26.  Mailbox—Makes email light, fast, and mobile-friendly.

27. Clear— To-do list app to help you stay on track.

28. Sunrise—Beautifully designed calendar app.

29. Google Docs—-Performs all the Microsoft office functions and it’s free.

30. Collaborate—A project manager app for work groups.

31. Addappt —Keep your contact list up to date automatically.

32. Workflowy —Organize your brains.

Apps To Improve Email Productivity

1.   Postbox – Be focused, be organized, be awesome. Gmail client for Mac and Windows.

2. OtherInbox – Free, innovative organizational tools to make email better.

3. PowerInbox – Brings apps to your emails just like apps on your iPhone.

4. WiseStamp – Bring life to your email by promoting things you care about.

5. CloudMagic – Blazingly fast exchange and Gmail search.

6.  Unroll.me–Unsubscribe from unwanted email subscriptions and discover new ones.

7.  SaneBox –This tool filters out non-urgent emails to help you focus on what’s important.

8. ToutApp – Supercharge your business emails with groups, analytics and templating.

9. Shortmail – Length-limited email (500 characters) means less spam, better conversations.

10. BrandMyMail – Live social content, blog posts, signatures and more in your emails.

11. ActiveInbox – Effortless email excellence. Organize email tasks and folders.

12. SaneBox – Filters your email so you don’t have to. Saves 2 hours per week on average.

13. MailPilot – Email, re-imagined. Get your email done and get on with your day.

14. Boomerang – Scheduled sending and reminders in Gmail.

15.  AwayFind – Mobile notifications for priority messages.

15.  NudgeMail – Use easy inbox reminders to achieve inbox zero.

16. Scrubly – Remove duplicate contacts in Outlook, Mac, Gmail and Google Apps.

17. WriteThat.Name – Keeps your address book up-to-date based on contact’s signatures.

18.  Rapportive – Get rich contact profiles right inside Gmail.

19.  Contactually – Keep your network strong right in your email.

20. Attachments.me – Organize all the files in your email.

21. Mailbox –A completely redesigned inbox that makes email light and mobile-friendly.

Amazing Company Blogs That are Rocking Content Marketing

1) QuickSprout

KISSmetrics and Crazy Egg co-founder Neil Patel writes more blog posts — on Quick Sprout and all over the web than most marketing experts out there and there’s always something to learn. He focuses on his business experiments and offers a fascinating look at the psychology of marketing and sales.

2) Copyblogger

This is what you get from Copyblogger. 15 high-impact ebooks on content marketing, SEO, email marketing, landing pages, keyword research, and more. A 20-part Internet marketing course that lays out a comprehensive path for your own online strategy. And an organized reference guide to the “best of the best” of Copyblogger.com, and how it all fits together.

3) CopyHackers

Joanna Wiebe’s blog is the epitome of content designed to convert. She seems to understand the difference between content creation and copywriting better than anyone, and her advice on persuasion and conversion is second to none.

4) Groove 

The Groove blog came to our attention when the company’s team first started documenting their journey to hit $100k in monthly recurring revenue. They’ve since passed that goal and are now on their way towards $500k – and the blog is still going, much to the satisfaction of their thousands of subscribers.

Founder Alex Turnbull writes in great detail about the people, books, blogs and strategies that inspire him, and recently he’s been featuring interviews with other founders about their own journeys to $100k.

5) HelpScout

Customer support is itself a marketing practice, which is the primary reason this blog belongs on our list. The simple design, clear writing and insightful posts make the Help Scout blog irresistible.

6) LessAccounting

This is one of the blogs on this list that has really turned on the jets recently, going from not blogging much at all to publishing fantastic, high-value content about growing a small business. And they

7) WP Curve

Dan Norris and Alex McClafferty have hustled WP Curve into a rapidly growing startup, and they’re sharing much of what they learn along the way. For obvious reasons, I love seeing other companies bare all on their blogs. They have great content on dominating marketing.

8) Zapier

Zapier has built partnerships with nearly 400 companies. If that sounds like a huge challenge, that’s because it is. So it’s not a surprise that their team is super-productive. Coincidentally, their blog also houses some of the best productivity content on the web. Just check out Zapier and find out for yourself.

9) Nir and Far

Nir Eyal is an expert when it comes to building sticky, habit-forming products. His take on marketing psychology is always fascinating and his Hooked Model has quickly become a conversation starter in marketing departments around the world.

10) Shopify

Shopify understands every pain point that e-commerce marketers experience. The blog is designed to specifically address these issues, and they do a damn good job of it – making it what we think is one of the top e-commerce blogs out there.

11) Signal v. Noise

Most marketers are familiar with 37signals (now Basecamp). But if you aren’t, welcome to their blog Signal v. Noise, which just so happens to be the greatest repository of marketing and business writing on the Internet! To drive home just how good they are, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson have turned their blog into two New York Times bestselling books.

12) Sujan Patel

You can find content marketer extraordinaire Sujan Patel’s work on every respectable marketing outlet on the web. His writings appear regularly in big pubs like The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur and Forbes, but this blog serves as his home base. If you want to see what hustle looks like, read and learn.

13) KISSmetrics

One of the first SaaS companies that realized that quality content marketing can have an explosive impact on your business, KISSmetrics was one of our biggest inspirations for this blog and continues to churn out some of the best online marketing content on the web.

14) Seth’s Blog

I’m not sure there’s a marketing blogger more legendary than Seth Godin. He’s been blogging every day for over 10 years, and the amount of power his posts pack into just a couple of paragraphs (often less) make me realize how much work I have to do to become a more effective writer. I take time to read every post from Seth. He is a big deal.

15) Buffer

Every single post on Buffer’s blog is impressive in its richness and research. Courtney, Kevan and the rest of the team work tirelessly to keep the blog ahead of the curve on the latest in social media, and I find myself clicking through to a Buffer post on their blog. Every post is worth your time.

16) OKdork

Noah Kagan is the founder of AppSumo, and was the first marketer at Mint (along with a stint at Facebook). The guy understands data-driven marketing like few others, and his blog shares lessons from Noah (and an impressive list of guest bloggers) that even experienced marketers will get a ton of value from.

17) Gleam

Gleam is a tool aimed at helping businesses earn more subscribers and run competitions, and their blog is full of detailed posts that offer incredibly useful ways to grow your own business with their software. Whether you use Gleam or not, it’s worth checking out.

19) Appsumo

 The Appsumo team specialize in awesome deals on softwares and online tools to help you grow your business.  Noah Kagan, the founder of AppSumo, also maintains a great marketing blog you should check out. AppSumo is a daily deal site for apps.

20) Moz

Moz is an established industry authority on SEO. Moz runs an SEO and Inbound marketing blog that brings together experts in the marketing industry. They regularly collaborate with other startups, including Buffer and Optimizely, to host webinars on topics. Moz is an analytics company that specializes in SEO and market intelligence tools.

21) Uberflip

The Uberflip Blog is your source for content marketing, social media, tech, and entrepreneurial insight! And they deliver just that. Their content is presented in a Pinterest style and they combine text and image pretty well. Most importantly, they don’t compromise on great content. Uberflip empower marketers to control their content experience.

22) HubSpot

The HubSpot Inbound Internet Marketing blog (one of the most influential blogs) covers all of inbound marketing – SEO, Blogging, Social Media, Landing Pages, Lead Generation and Analytics. HubSpot is an inbound marketing software platform.

23) Unbounce

Unbounce has created over  23 million leads and built up a base of over 6,000 customers. Their blog, which gets 140,000 unique visitors per month, has been a big part of that success. They blog on landing page & conversion rate optimization and marketing. Unbounce builds landing pages for marketers.

Other useful resources

1. 59 of The Best Tools for Building a Profitable Online Business from Anywhere

2. 68 Actionable Ideas from 6 of The Most Influential Business Books

3. The Complete Guide to Building Your Blog Audience

4. How To Launch a WordPress Website (or Blog) on Hostgator in 5 Minutes or Less

5. The Beginner’s Guide to Growth Hacking

6. The Complete Startup Toolkit (The Best Online Startup Resources Right Now)

7. The Complete Guide for Finding (and Doing) What You Love

8. How To Find Your Next Million Dollar Business Idea

9. 10 Reasons You Should Start Your Own Blog

10. Social Media Tools: The Complete List of 609 Tools (2017 Update)

11. The Complete Guide to Building a Huge Email List: How We Added 56,000 Subscribers in 30 Days

12. 45 Free Business Templates