30+ Free Resources For Startups

Looking for a template for your pitch deck? Free stock photo? What investors to talk to? Legal document templates? A google search is often your friend, but it can be hard to cut through the clutter and find the most relevant resources. To help you out and hopefully save you a few bucks along the way we have compiled this list of our favourite free resources out there.

Photo editing/design

• Unsplash (free high-resolution photos)
• Pixabay (free quality images, vectors, and art illustrations)
• Piktochart (easy-to-use infographic maker)
• Canva (simple graphic design software)
• Pixlr (online image editing tool, a light version of Photoshop)

Legal documents (Sweden focused)

• Terms and conditions, Founder’s Agreement, employee agreement, NDA template and more via The Hub tools section (provided by Jansson & Norin, and Erik Byreniusat Startupdocs).
• How to set up a Swedish limited company (aktiebolag) (Niklas Rudemo at Qoorp) (In Swedish)
• How to set up a stock option program — step by step guide (also Niklas Rudemo) (In Swedish)
• Free legal hotline -discuss your legal challenges in confidence and receive professional legal counselling in your efforts to reach an optimal solution. (Provided by Jansson & Norin via Thehub.se)

Fundraising

• Pitch deck template (via The Hub)
• A collection of real startup pitch decks (provided by Ryan Gum & the Attach team)
• Before the Angel (a collection of resources aimed at preparing for the first round of angel or seed investment. By Joseph Michael)
• Together (provided by Aurore Belfrage at EQT Ventures)
• Overview of Investors that are active in the Nordics via The Hub funding list.
• How to raise money (via Sam Altman at Y Combinator in the “How to start a startup” video series)
• Fundraising Field Guide (by Carlos E. Espinal at Seedcamp).
• Pre-money & post-money valuation (Niklas Rudemo at Qoorp) (In Swedish)

Budget/accounting

• Budget template (provided by PwC)
• Financial Plan for SaaS startups (provided by Christoph Janz at Point Nine Capital)
• KPI dashboard for SaaS startups (also Point Nine Capital)

Growth marketing & Sales

• Guides for marketing strategies & techniques (provided by Kissmetrics)
• Marketing Hell Week Batch 17 (provided by 500 Startups)
• Weapons of Mass Distribution (also 500 Startups)
• Digital PR Academy through Mynewsdesk Sverige (In Swedish)
• Growth Hacking Secrets (large Facebook group founded by Alexander Rangevik)
• How to get things done online (free online courses in digital marketing and how to get viral. Provided by Jesper Åström, a digital tactician)
• The follow-up formula (Provided by Steli Efti at Close.io)
• “Your Growth Hacks Aren’t Working” -How to do cold-calling right in 2017 (even if you have zero sales experience). (also Steli Efti at Close.io)
• Playbook with actionable insights into how to launch products on Product Hunt(Provided by Daniel Verten at Founders)

Blogs & newsletters

• Exponential View is a highly-cited newsletter read by more than 20,000 industry insiders. Exponential technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), self-driving cars, dominant platforms, business, the future. (Weekly by Azeem Azhar (azeem).
• Series F is a weekly newsletter sent out every Sunday bringing you the future of venture capital. (Curated by Neil S W Murray)
• Intercom books worth reading. Intercom books have helped over 100,000 readers with everything from customer support to product management.
• Essays on growth, tech, and startups. Provided by Andrew Chen, Head of Rider Growth at Uber.
• Thinking about Startups. Editor: Hampus Jakobsson.
• Newsletter curated by Benedict Evans, at Andreessen Horowitz. 

Theis is a selection of resources that we love and use. Check out more tools for startups on The Hub. Got a great resource that is free to use for startups that we should know about? Please let us know in the comments below.

The Hub is an open digital platform tailored to the needs of growth startups. We aim to give visibility to all Swedish startups and via the platform assist startups with the recruitment of talents, fundraising, best practices, useful tools, and also by listing all the relevant tech events out there.The Hub is made by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs. It’s free of charge to use.