Skip to content
Resources · the library

The best of everything, curated.

One library for founders, investors and corporates going global. We took the great collections apart - Steve Blank's, Y Combinator's, Techstars', Founder Institute's, Sequoia's and others - kept what has actually helped our startups, said in one line why, and shelved it by the question you are asking. Sources noted; many of them are republishing too. The open shelf is for everyone; the full library is for the people behind the door.

The open shelf.

28 of 28 · free · no login
Culture codesfield guide
Culture CodesHow business is actually done, market by market - the unwritten rules a founder otherwise learns the expensive way.
The Yellow Doorours · teaser open, full codes behind the doorfor Founders · Investors · Corporatesopen →
Startingessay
Do Things That Don’t ScaleThe permission slip every early founder needs: recruit users by hand, delight them absurdly, worry about scale later.
Paul GrahamYC Library · paulgraham.comfor Founderspaulgraham.com ↗
Startingessay
How to Get Startup IdeasNotice problems you have yourself; the good ideas look like bad ideas. We hand this to every Big Ideas applicant.
Paul GrahamYC Libraryfor Founderspaulgraham.com ↗
Startingcourse
Startup SchoolThe whole YC curriculum, free and self-paced. Our Intensive assumes you have done it.
Y Combinatorycombinator.com · freefor Founders · Investorsstartupschool.org ↗
Customersbook
The Four Steps to the EpiphanyWhere customer development began. Get out of the building; the answers are not in the office.
Steve Blanksteveblank.comfor Founderssteveblank.com ↗
Customerstalk
How to Talk to UsersThe five questions that get truth instead of politeness. Required before Week 1 of the Intensive.
Eric MigicovskyYC Startup Schoolfor Foundersyoutube.com ↗
Customersbook
The Mom TestHow to ask about your idea so that even your mother cannot lie to you. Short; read it in an evening.
Rob Fitzpatrickrepublished by Techstars & FI toolkitsfor Foundersmomtestbook.com ↗
Productessay
12 Things About Product-Market FitThe clearest definition of the only thing that matters before scale - and the signs you have not got it yet.
Tren Griffina16zfor Foundersa16z.com ↗
Productframework
The PMF FrameworkThree kinds of fit - Hair on Fire, Hard Fact, Future Vision - and what each demands of you. Our north star reads it aloud to founders.
Sequoia Arcsequoiacap.com/arcfor Founderssequoiacap.com ↗
The pitchtemplate
Writing a Business PlanThe ten-slide skeleton every deck we see in Moscow is a version of. Start here, then break it on purpose.
Sequoiasequoiacap.comfor Founderssequoiacap.com ↗
The pitchguide
How to Build Your Seed Round Pitch DeckSlide by slide, what an investor is actually looking for. Read before Mega Pitching Week.
Aaron HarrisYC Libraryfor Foundersycombinator.com ↗
The pitchtalk
How to Pitch Your StartupClear, concise, and why a legible pitch beats a clever one. The Crash Test audience will confirm it.
Kevin HaleYC Startup Schoolfor Foundersyoutube.com ↗
Raisingguide
A Guide to Seed FundraisingWhen to raise, how much, from whom, and how to close. The one document to read if you read only one.
Geoff RalstonYC Libraryfor Foundersycombinator.com ↗
Raisingbook
Venture DealsBe smarter than your lawyer and your VC. The Techstars founders wrote it; the free course runs twice a year.
Brad Feld & Jason MendelsonTechstars · venturedeals.comfor Founders · Investorsventuredeals.com ↗
Raisingessay
How to Raise MoneyFundraising says nothing about your worth. It is a distraction, so finish it fast and get back to work.
Paul GrahamYC Libraryfor Founderspaulgraham.com ↗
Terms & paperdocument
The SAFE - Simple Agreement for Future EquityThe standard early instrument, with the post-money user guide. Know it before anyone hands you one.
Y Combinatorycombinator.com/documentsfor Founders · Investorsycombinator.com ↗
Terms & paperdocument
FAST - Founder / Advisor Standard TemplateHow much equity an advisor gets, for what, over how long - settled in one page so it never becomes an argument.
Founder Institutefi.cofor Foundersfi.co ↗
Terms & paperdocuments
NVCA Model Legal DocumentsThe term sheet, charter and investor-rights agreement the Valley actually uses. Read the term sheet at least.
NVCAnvca.orgfor Founders · Investorsnvca.org ↗
Going globalguide
How to Set KPIs and GoalsOne primary metric, a few secondary. The discipline that makes a new-market test readable.
Adora CheungYC Libraryfor Foundersycombinator.com ↗
Going globalessay
Kickstarting and Scaling a MarketplaceHow the big marketplaces found their first thousand on each side. Useful far beyond marketplaces.
Lenny RachitskyLenny’s Newsletterfor Founderslennysnewsletter.com ↗
Teamessay
How to Find a Co-FounderWhat to look for, what to agree on first, and why to do it early. Then come to Next Steves.
Y CombinatorYC Libraryfor Foundersycombinator.com ↗
Teamguide
How to Split Equity Among Co-FoundersThe conversation every team avoids until it is expensive. Have it in month one, with vesting.
Founder Institutefi.cofor Foundersfi.co ↗
Investingcourse
Kauffman Fellows - the curriculumThe venture profession’s finishing school and the north star of our Intensive for Investors. Their journal is open.
Kauffman Fellowskauffmanfellows.orgfor Investorskauffmanfellows.org ↗
Investingguide
AngelList - syndicates, SPVs & how they workThe plumbing of angel investing: syndicates, carry, SPVs. Read before your first cross-border cheque.
AngelListangellist.com/learnfor Investorsangellist.com ↗
Investingessay
How to Be an Angel InvestorPick founders, not ideas; expect most to fail; the returns come from the ones you almost passed on.
Paul Grahampaulgraham.comfor Investorspaulgraham.com ↗
Corporate venturereport
State of CVCWhere corporate venture money went last year and where it is going. The benchmark before you design a fund.
CB Insightscbinsights.com · annualfor Corporatescbinsights.com ↗
Corporate ventureessay
Corporate VenturingWhy most corporate funds die within four years, and the structural choices that let the others live.
Josh LernerHarvard Business Reviewfor Corporateshbr.org ↗
Corporate venturecourse
GCV InstituteThe professional body for corporate venturers. Their programme is the closest thing to a standard; ours runs annually alongside it.
Global Corporate Venturinggcvinstitute.comfor Corporatesgcvinstitute.com ↗

A first shelf, seeded from what our own founders were sent most often. The full compile from the source libraries continues. Missing something that saved you a year? Write to info@yellowdoor.ru.

● The full library · by key

The rest of the shelves, behind the door.

Open to portfolio startups, Society members, Night Climbers and their clients, and Intensive alumni. If you are one of them you already have a key; if you should be, ask below.

Culture Codes - the full codes, all markets Soon
Intensive materials - decks, templates, the reading list Soon
Investor library - term sheets, syndicate documents, diligence checklists Soon
Corporate library - CVC structures, decision protocols, pilots Soon
The guides' notes - what mentors tell climbers, written down Soon
Recordings - workshops, fireside chats, Future of the Future lectures Soon
§ ask for a key30 seconds · no spam, ever
Should you have a key?

Tell us who you are and how you know the door. We answer ourselves, usually within a day.

By sending you agree that we may write back to this address.