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Founder Tools

Your private founder toolkit. Sign in to use the tools — your entries sync across devices and are visible only to you.

Email
Password

Email + password. Forgot it? Enter your email and we'll send a reset link from alet@velab.org. We only store what you enter in these tools.

Founder Tools

Five working tools — each kept only because Paul Graham's essay calls for it. Your entries sync to your account across devices.

"Now you see why, when I meet a founder, the first thing I ask about is their growth rate."PG

Growth Rate Dashboard

Track the rate of change, not just revenue. Enter six months of MRR to see if growth is accelerating or stalling.

Growth trend

"Your own needs are uniquely valuable, because your needs predict future demand."PG

Friction Journal ● auto-saved

Log raw personal pain points — capture first, judge later. Your needs are the seed of a billion-dollar idea.

What friction did you hit?
Domain
Frequency
Do others hit this too?
Startup potential (1–5)
"The key to starting a successful startup is to understand some group of users so well that you can make exactly what they want."PG

User Insight Log ● auto-saved

Capture verbatim user quotes and tag the pain. Forces evidence over assumption.

User
Date
Verbatim quote
Pain category
Pain intensity (1–10)
"You don't have enough experience yet to know what other people need. But… your own needs predict future demand." PG funds founders who have lived the problem.On founder-market fit

Founder-Market Fit

Has this founder truly lived the problem? Rate each dimension 0–2.

Founder-market fit

"You not only don't have to cheat to make this happen… The key is not exploitation but empathy."PG

Empathy vs. Exploitation Audit

Before scaling any growth lever, check you're growing because users love you — not because you're extracting value.

Audit result

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