Originally published on the SoftLayer Blog on August 25, 2015.
Building and running a startup is both difficult and expensive. From salary to servers to services, the demands on your budget are constant and come from all directions. On the Catalyst team we know this firsthand—our program was created as a way for startups to access SoftLayer’s robust platform before they have revenue or funding.
After moving to Boulder, Colorado in 2012, the first startup I joined was a member of the Catalyst program. Without Catalyst, our organization would have been paying out of pocket for the bare metal servers we needed. Instead, that money was freed up for other essentials (like food to keep us alive).
Infrastructure isn’t the only area in which startups can leverage free offerings. Since joining the Catalyst team one year ago, I’ve tracked and collected other free resources for startups. I compiled my research into a presentation that I’ve given at a few events. (a free online presentation platform, what else?) and is constantly being updated. Some highlights are below:
Big Company Programs
The Catalyst program is a model on how big companies can meaningfully engage with startups, and we’re not the only ones doing it.
- SVB: Silicon Valley Bank offers a program called Accelerator. Perks including free checking and financial mentorship. While saving on business checking won’t make a big dent in your cash flow, the financial mentorship is top notch. The SVB team consists of experts in banking who can offer advice on fundraising, financial instruments, and cash management.
- SendGrid: Email deliverability is crucial for your company, so start with the best in the business. The free plan includes 10,000 emails per month, up from 200 emails per day when I first started giving this talk. Go to the pricing page and scroll down to the bottom for the free plan. (Full disclosure: SendGrid is a former partner.)
- NASDAQ Exact Equity: I was recently at a VC conference, where I had two separate conversations about investors’ frustrations with disorganized or downright undocumented cap tables. The NASDAQ Exact Equity freemium tool will not only help you wrangle your cap table, but it will also signal success to the investor by showing that you’re thorough and organized.
Startup Freebies
I’m not going to cover the basics, such as Evernote, Trello, Asana, Pivotal Tracker, Launch Rock, Bootstrap, Google Drive, etc. You probably already know about these programs. Instead, I’ll share a few great ones you may not know about.
- Docracy: If you need any sort of legal document, Docracy should be your first stop. The legal documents were prepared by lawyers and are available for free. The choices range from SaaS Terms & Conditions to founder agreements.
- HTML5 UP: Need a quick, easy, and responsive template for your site? When WordPress is too much of a hassle for a splash page, head over to HTML5 UP for dozens of choices of free templates.
- UI Kit: As you’re moving from the free HTML5 UP template toward being able to build out your site with the free Bootstrap toolkit, save yourself coding time and get the UI Kit for free design elements such as lightbox, slider, accordions, and more.
- SlideBean: I love SlideBean. While searching for “free PowerPoint templates,” I discovered that all the templates were hideous. Then I stumbled across SlideBean and fell in love with it. It makes putting together a presentation quick and easy, and keeps it from looking like you traveled to 1999 to get your template.
Collections
Below are my favorite collections of resources for any freebies that I haven’t already covered.
- Product Hunt List: The founder of CrazyEgg and KISSmetics has an exhaustive list of free and freemium products for your startup.
- Freebie.supply: Over 400 resources are grouped by category. I especially love the design resources.
- Startup Stash: Not all of the free deals, mostly in the form of percentage discounts. But if you’re going to pay for something, check F6S first for a discount.
And finally, the best piece of advice when trying to save money can be found in my last post: A Grandmother’s Advice for Startups: You never know ‘til you ask.
Have a free resource that you absolutely love that’s missing from my list? Email me atrmaloy@softlayer.com or tweet me @stoneybaby and let me know!