Top Startup Tools

Published in

Where Entrepreneurs Take Off

4 min readFeb 20, 2015

The love of tools is deeply engrained in our DNA.

As entrepreneurs, we can thank our hunter-gatherer ancestors who started using tools some 2.6 millions years ago. The first known use of stone tools has been traced back to the Ethiopian town of Gona.

Since then, every generation has been enabled by the set of tools handed down to it, including modern-day entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial tools help startups execute and manage their tasks easier, better and faster. They help reduce work-load, increase productivity and boost efficiency.

Without further ado, here are some of the top startup tools to consider.

Top startup tools for incorporating

Northwest Registered Agent — We used this fantastic firm to set up Go For Launch as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and serve as Go For Launch’s registered agent
LegalZoom is also a good resource to help incorporate your business and handle other small business legal matters

Top startup tools for domain registration and web hosting

GoDaddy and IWantMyName — great places to register and manage your domain names
WP Engine — for reliable and secure WordPress hosting. They are the hosting provider of Go For Launch. I also use Siteground (to host BrandonUttley.com).
LeadPages — to quickly create attractive, cost-effective landing pages. Even before launching this website, I used LeadPages to test getting traffic (and traction) while capturing emails in tandem with ConvertKit.

Top startup tools for email and phone service

Google Apps — for primary email accounts, plus document/file storage, company calendars and more
Grasshopper — for affordable small business phone service

Top startup tools for project and general management

Dropbox — to store all sorts of files in the cloud and share them within others seamlessly
Asana and Trello — for managing multiple projects, collaborating with different teams and engaging in other aspects of centralized project management. For more granular time tracking and project management of distributed teams, check out Hubstaff.
Quora — for getting valuable opinions about everything from managing a project to running your entire business. From Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to Ashton Kutcher, Quora has an elite population that excels in providing actionable tips and insights.
StackOverflow — Another high-quality Q&A site; it has been around longer than Quora and is geared to providing more technical advice

Top startup tools for boosting workplace productivity

Evernote — an essential tool for storing virtually any kind of information about your company
Slack — for communicating with co-workers in any location, along with integrating with dozens of other apps to boost your team’s productivity and cut down on email
HelloSign — to reduce the amount of documents you have to physically sign. It uses digital signatures integrated within Google Mail to make signing documents easier.

Top startup tools for sales and marketing

HootSuite — for managing multiple social media accounts from a single web-based dashboard. You can automate content marketing by providing a list of preferred keywords, themes and industry segments. The software curates content, save itfor your review and let’s you publish updates easily.
LinkedIn — to make professional connections from around the world and grow your network
Google AdSense — for information, suggestions, learning resources and other help on paid search advertising
MailChimp — for email marketing. It allows you to send up to 12,000 emails for free each month. Aweber is another excellent email campaign management system (used by Go For Launch!).
SalesForce or Nimble — to manage and track customer relationships in the most comprehensive way possible.
Streak — for managing customer relationships with the help of Google plugins. Streak allows you to keep track of your sales funnel and more, all inside Gmail

Top startup tools for time tracking and invoicing

Harvest — a great system for creating and managing projects, tracking your time and billing customers (including online payment options)
InvoiceHome — a free and/or low-cost way to create and send simple invoices and get paid online, if you don’t need a lot of bells and whistles

Top startup tools for web analytics

Google Analytics — to get comprehensive details about the performance of your website and sales and marketing strategies, as well as suggestions, tips and free learning resources
SEMRush — for insights into your ranking for competitive keywords and tips for improving your website traffic, search rankings and other marketing performance
MOZ — for similar help, except at a cheaper cost
KISSmetrics — for a more personalized assessment of your website and marketing performance. Unlike Google Analytics or other analytical software, KISSmetrics focuses on the “people aspect” of performance. It tells you who is coming to your website and how your site is performing vs. competitors.