❦ STACKS · By founder stage · 8 guides
The stack you need depends on the stage you're in.
For each founder stage, here's what to set up — across hosting, database, payments, sales, marketing, support, and finance. Two or three options per category, with the reason for each. No single-vendor lock-in.
Non-tech founder
Can't code, won't learn (right now). Building with no-code and hired help.
Read →$100–500
Vibe coder
Shipping with AI as your co-pilot. Not classically trained. Faster than the engineer you didn't hire.
Read →$60–200
Side-project founder
Still has the 9-to-5. Building nights and weekends. Time, not money, is the constraint.
Read →$0–100
Newsletter-first creator
The product is the audience. Email is the distribution. Trust is the moat.
Read →$30–250
First-time founder
Just incorporating. Pre-product. Solo with savings runway.
Read →$0–60
Solo + AI
One founder. AI doing the work of the team you can't afford yet.
Read →$100–300
Team of two
Co-founder pair. Product working. No employees yet.
Read →$300–700
Growing team (5–15)
Post-PMF. Hiring active. Multiple departments, real revenue.
Read →$2000–6000
❦ Your stack
Submit what you actually run.
The stage guides above are recommendations. Your real stack — line items, dollar amounts, and the tradeoffs you'd explain to another founder — is what we publish next.
Submit your stack