Startup Bootup Kit (Presale)
Going from 0-1 is the hardest part of building a startup. It's a whirlwind of design, development, fundraising, hiring, firing, losing money, making money, feeling invincible and feeling hopeless...all within the first few weeks.
It doesn't have to be stressful or chaotic, in fact it can be calm, organized and predictable if you understand a few key steps.
Over the past 20+ years, I have been at the early stages of several companies that have grown to millions of users:
- Vimeo - First 8 employees, served as Head of Design and in 2021 it IPO'd at $5.7b
- Staked - Designed Brand/UI with early team of 5 and in 2021 it sold to Kraken for one of the largest acquisitions in crypto history
- Follow Up Boss - First 10 employees, served lead designer and in 2023 it sold to Zillow for $400m
I've also been on the front lines of many existing software companies: (for a full list go to http://jackzerby.com)
- Gumroad - Head of Design, team of 25 devs/designers, paying out product creators $2,906,825 just last week
- Teachable - Design Consultant, in 2018, had $26M revenue and 12K customers, and in 2020 it sold to Hotmart for $250m
- Kraken - Design Contractor, $1.09 billion in trading volume
Every single time I start a new project I go through the same process. Any time I have veered from that process I have lost a crap ton of money and time.
What's in the kit?
I've coached dozens of friends on how to execute this process, and it has saved them 100's of thousands of dollars and countless hours of wasted time, energy and stress. Below is a list of everything you'll get:
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✅ Tactical Notion Template - You will get the exact same Notion Template I use daily to manage 8 different teams (we also use this same approach at Gumroad). It includes a step-by-step instructions on how to use the board to keep your team on track and avoid micromanagement.
- How to write a database spec that will give your backend dev a massive head start
- How to write a requirements doc that makes a dev's like 10x easier
- How to write a easy-to-understand feature ticket
- How to write an effective bug ticket
- How to scope features with problem, appetite, solution framework
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✅ Copy and Paste Figma Templates - You will get the exact same Figma Template I use to manage the design process, and build a reusable Lego-like design system. It includes organized pages that tell you exactly what to put in each one.
- A list of pages that help organize the design process into stages: ready, working, and built
- An icon library and Tailwind color palettes for easy reusable design system tools out of the box
- Sample wireframe styles that you can use to sketch out the flow for your designer
- A template for how to map out visual database specs for your backend developer to understand easily
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✅ Startup Stack Checklist - I've tried dozens of services, but I end up using the same ones for every project.
- What I use for banking, revenue tracking and finances
- What I use for real-time conversations, and how to set them up for asynchronous success
- What I use for screen recording for UX research
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✅ Bulletproof Hiring Guide - I have hired and fired dozens and dozens of contractors and full time employees over the years, and I distilled down my process into predictable hiring process that weeds out the under-performers.
- What service I use for every project to find me amazing talent (I'm spending over $100k per month with them)
- How I conduct the interview
- How I set them up for success by setting clear expectations and communication frameworks.
When will it be available?
This product is currently for pre-sale till December 18th at a discounted rate.