Post on 21-Apr-2017
31+ STARTUP TOOLSboth online and offline
By Holly Cardew from Pixc.com
Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. I use it when I am making lists of investors, advisors, and mentors to contact and need to move them along to another list (e.g. ‘to be contacted, ‘contacted’, ‘follow up’ etc.). Other people use it as their everyday task list.
1. TRELLO
2. ASANAAsana is my favourite task tool. You can create detailed task lists for projects with your team. I highly recommend it. It free too up to 15 members.
3. GOOGLE DRIVEIt has never been so handy to work on collaborative documents with the team. No need to save and update or sync the latest files. I use Presentations, Sheets and Docs for our team.
4. WHATSAPPI have a distributed team, as well as customers in 200+ different cities. Whatsapp is a great way to instantly message anyone in the world for free.
5. BUFFERNeed to schedule a lot of social media posts across all different platforms? Use Buffer. You can also schedule pins to Pinterest now.
7. GROWTH GEEKSNeed some growth experiments done? Hire a growth geek.I have used Growth Geeks for a few tasks and there are some great people on it, but there are also others that are clearly just outsourcing the work. The quality has varied over time.
8. STOCKSYBeautiful stock images (that don’t look ‘stock-y’) to get your website started. Images from only $10.
9. UNSPLASHFree stock images — they have a great range! (Including the image that I used for the cover of this slide deck)
10. OUTREACHThis is the latest software that I have been using as a sales tool to contact potential customers. Even though they have raised $2m, it still needs a bit of work but I am looking forward to seeing what they do.
11. CLOSE.IOI have only tried Close.io for a limited period of time and it wasn’t for us but it looks fantastic for sales teams. They also produce great videos to help you.
12. INSTAGRESSGrow your Instagram fan base (with real fans). Try it for yourself... you will know what I mean after three days!
13. INTERCOMAgain another favourite! Intercom is essentially a CRM and live chat tool in one. It’ll require some tech skills to integrate with your site but after that it’s very easy to use. I can built email funnels to get in touch with leads and customers, I can see how many times customers have been on the site and when they placed an order, and I can also send them targeted in-app messages and emails.
14. UPWORK & FREELANCER
They’re great if you need a task done and don’t have the time to do it.
15. PRESSFRIENDLYGet your PR done via PressFriendly as a monthly service. I have just signed up so I will let you know how it goes.
16. PIXCProduct image editing and optimization for your eCommerce store! (You can also use it for your LinkedIn profile or team page — yes I am biased!)
17. INSTACARTBeing busy, I found that I started getting lazy and reaching for the closest snack. In San Francisco, this is usually a pastry, cookie or muffin at the closest coffee shop. So, yes, I outsource my shopping when I stay at the office until 10pm and need my groceries delivered. I now have no excuse not to be healthy!
18. MOQUPSMoqups allows you to quickly sketch up wireframes for your website / landing page layout which you can then easily pass to a designer.
19. INVISIONAPPI have only recently started working with a Product Manager. Previous to this, I was the product manager and I would spec everything out in a word document and in moqups. Now, we use Invision which allows everyone to add comments on the wireframes and design. We are definitely more efficient.
20. 99DESIGNSNeed a logo? Throw it up on 99Designs, run a contest and see what you get back
20. CREATIVE MARKETA marketplace full of fonts, graphics, icons, photoshop brushes and more.
21. ENVATOEnvato is collection of multiple websites and tools (started by an Australian couple in 2006) but my favourite is ThemeForest where you can get all these themes you want to start a website. If you are bootstrapping your company, I definitely would not design something from scratch.
22. LINKEDINDuh! — Although... it is not that common in Australia to use LinkedIn however it sure is the best way to network and keep in touch with everyone around the world.
23. ANGELLISTIf you haven’t already, create an AngelList profile for you and your company. This is the best way to recruit and connect with investors.
24. FOUNDER'S NETWORK
I am part of a small members only network in San Francisco which allows me to build close and honest relationships with other founders. I think when you are building a company, this is really important.
25. MEETUPUse MeetUp to attend events that you are interested in. Be careful that you don’t get caught up attending any old event if you are busy building a company. This will suck your time.
26. 500 BRUNCHESGo to brunch with a group of people that has been carefully curated. This is a great way to meet other people in San Francisco.
27. WEAVEThink Tinder meets LinkedIn. Swipe right / left to meet people in your industry. I have met all sorts of people from marketing, growth, technical, to artists.
29. UBER & LYFTI could not live without Uber and Lyft. You can get anywhere you need at the tap of your phone.
30. NUTRIBULLET Best (offline) tool of them all! I bought a NutriBullet and I blend everything. Kale, spinach, quinoa, LSA, bananas, beetroot, carrots, celery.. basically anything I have in the fridge including raw eggs.
31. GETAROUNDGetaround is peer-to-peer car rental which I use when I want to drive beyond San Francisco. I have had some bad experiences with Getaround but last weekend was great! We rented a Mini Cooper S which was $11/hour and 5 minute walk from where we had lunch. The app allows you to book within 5 minutes and unlock the car with your phone.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Holly is building her own company, Pixc.Over the past year she has used hundreds of tools and thought it would be great to share them with other business owners and startup founders.Holly loves eCommerce, food and travelling.
Follow Holly on Twitter @hollyccc