Beginner path

Write clearly like a founder

Direct, practical essays by Shreyas Doshi, Elad Gil, Jason Cohen, Paul Graham, April Dunford and Patrick McKenzie, shortest first. You'll practice short sentences, concrete examples and arguments that get to the point, ending with Graham's long essay on doing great work.

8 essays

Essays in this path

  1. Step 1

    by Shreyas Doshi

    A Twitter thread contrasting good and great product managers across research, strategy, execution, communication and career growth.

    Beginner · Short

  2. Step 2

    by Elad Gil

    Elad Gil argues that the best startups usually come from founders driven by some form of career, financial, product, or mission desperation.

    Intermediate · Medium

  3. Step 3

    by Jason Cohen

    Jason Cohen proposes replacing the minimum viable product with a simple, lovable, and complete first version that customers enjoy.

    Intermediate · Medium

  4. Step 4

    by Paul Graham

    Analysis of what makes writing good and useful, focusing on importance, novelty, correctness, and strength of writing.

    Beginner · Medium

  5. Step 5

    by April Dunford

    April Dunford lays out a five-step exercise for positioning a product so customers quickly understand its distinctive value.

    Intermediate · Medium

  6. Step 6

    by Paul Graham

    Why startups should focus on doing unscalable things to get started, with examples from successful companies.

    Beginner · Medium

  7. Step 7

    by Patrick McKenzie

    Career advice for software engineers, focusing on business value and communication rather than technical skills.

    Intermediate · Long

  8. Step 8

    by Paul Graham

    If you collected lists of techniques for doing great work in a lot of different fields, what would the intersection look like? I decided to find out by making it.

    Beginner · Long