Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Getting a new web property off the ground is a tough challenge, even tougher doing it for the first time with no web experience. The easiest part turns out to be coming up with an idea and building the application. Much tougher is finding, attracting, converting and keeping your users.

To be able to profit from the work of others is a beautiful thing and the best example of the camaraderie and transparency of the web entrepreneur community is the amount of free and extremely practical advice offered by those that have gone before.  We're not talking about general stuff like "if you aren't embarrassed by your app, you waited too long to launch" either. This is specific and detailed information.

The following list contains some of the best information available but is not comprehensive. Please let us know what you think should be added and we will update the list with your suggestions.

Practical Advice

Dave McClure best know for his   Metrics Presentation

Startonomics the initial 2008 conference including all speakers video and slideshare presentations.

pmarca Marc Andreesen the founder of Netscape blog. Practical advice from hiring, to operations.

Andrew Chen another great source for metrics and cohort analysis.

VentureHacks gives very practical advice on raising funding.

On Startups Dharmesh Shah co-founder of Hubspot.

Redfin Financials the actual first two years financials of an online realty site.

Lessons Learned Eric Ries xCTO of IMVU  advocate of Lean Startups


Less practical but thought provoking and dealing with the bigger picture.

Umair Hague edge economist

Paul Graham principal of YCombinator

The information provided to the community by these authors and presenters is several careers worth of experience and advice. To be able to take advantage of this wealth of knowledge is a privealege and unprecedented in any industry.