7 tools that give startup founders superpowers. Better AND cheaper alternatives to enterprise bloat. From email to demos to design.
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As a startup founder, you know the drill. One minute you're designing a landing page, the next you're conducting user interviews, then you're building that same landing page you just designed. We wear so many hats that sometimes I forget which one I'm supposed to have on.
But here's the thing—we aren't experts at everything. And that's perfectly fine. What matters is finding the right tools that can help us get things done without breaking the bank or our sanity.
The question I get asked all the time is: Can a tool be not only "better" but also "cheaper"?
DEFINITELY YES!
Here's the secret: We don't need thousands of features, complex access controls, and other enterprise-ready solutions that are not only costly but also require precious time to learn. Time is money!
Luckily, there are incredible tools that just fit our needs perfectly. Simple, easy to learn, but they do the job great—and many times they're more affordable than the bloated alternatives.
After years of testing tools and burning through different solutions, here's my battle-tested toolkit that actually moves the needle:
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My experience with Loops has been very impressive. It's incredibly easy to learn and kick start your email campaigns. The tool does the core work beautifully—transactional emails, campaigns, and everything else you need.
The real kicker? It offers tons of professionally designed templates, so I don't need to dig through my inbox to see how other companies structure their campaigns. The learning curve is practically non-existent, which means you can start engaging with your users immediately rather than spending weeks figuring out how to send a simple welcome email.
Best for: Founders who need to start email marketing yesterday but don't want to get lost in Mailchimp's maze of features.
Why I stick with it: I created my landing pages a couple of years back, so people might prefer Framer now, but I honestly have zero complaints about my Webflow experience.
Here's the workflow: You can easily buy a great template from their marketplace, and if you have basic HTML/CSS knowledge, this will absolutely do the job. No need for a design team or expensive custom development—just customize a template and you're live.
The advantage: You're not just building a landing page; you're learning a skill that scales. Once you understand Webflow, you can iterate quickly, A/B test different designs, and respond to market feedback without depending on anyone else.
Best for: Founders who want design control without the designer price tag.
Why it's my favorite: This is hands down one of my favorite apps, and I'm sure it's the same for many product makers out there.
The problem with alternatives: There are so many wonky interactive demo makers out there that promise the world but deliver complexity. Screen Studio just lets you create beautiful demo videos easily—no learning curve, no overwhelming feature set.
Why it beats Loom: While Loom is great for quick screen recordings, Screen Studio is specifically built for product demos. The output quality is professional-grade, and the editing tools are intuitive enough that you can create something that looks like your marketing team spent weeks on it.
Best for: Product demos that actually convert prospects into customers.
Figma: Nothing much to say here. If you're not using Figma, just start using it. It's become the standard for a reason.
Jitter for animations: For motion graphics, Jitter does the job perfectly! It's so easy to learn and the core features work beautifully. Here's the crazy part—I've created animations with Jitter and been asked if I used a design agency so many times that I've lost count.
The value proposition: Instead of hiring a designer for every small animation or graphic, you can create professional-quality visuals yourself. The time savings alone make this worth the small monthly cost.
Best for: Founders who need professional-looking visuals but can't justify hiring a full-time designer yet.
The real pain: Talking to users is hands down the most crucial part of our work as founders. But in reality, taking notes, updating CRM, and managing all the follow-up tasks is honestly a lot of work.
How Shadow changes the game: Shadow takes care of 90% of this administrative burden. It automatically starts capturing when you join a video call and ends when you leave. Without you thinking about it, it extracts key insights like BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) from sales calls exactly as you customize it.
The result: You can focus only on the conversation—building rapport, asking the right questions, really listening to your users—instead of frantically scribbling notes and worrying about follow-up tasks.
Best for: Sales calls and user interviews where every insight matters but note-taking kills your flow.
What we don't need: We don't need Asana with its overwhelming feature set, Jira with its enterprise complexity, or wonky custom project management setups in Notion that break every other week.
Why Linear works: Linear is built specifically for product teams who actually ship. Clean interface, powerful keyboard shortcuts, and it just gets out of your way. No endless configuration sessions or training videos—just create issues and ship features.
The philosophy: Linear embodies everything I look for in a startup tool: powerful enough for real work, simple enough to start using immediately, and designed for makers, not managers.
Best for: Product teams who want to spend time building, not configuring project management systems.
After using dozens of tools over the years, I've noticed a clear pattern in what works for early-stage founders:
We need tools built for makers, not managers.
The best startup tools share three characteristics:
These tools let me focus on building my product instead of learning software. They're force multipliers that give small teams the capabilities of much larger organizations.
As founders, we're constantly making trade-offs between time, money, and quality. The tools in this toolkit help tip those trade-offs in our favor. They're not just cheaper alternatives—they're often better solutions for the specific challenges we face.
The key is recognizing that we don't need enterprise-grade complexity. We need startup-grade efficiency.
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