The Startup Checklist by David S. Rose Summary

The Startup Checklist provides a 25-step actionable roadmap for launching and scaling a high-growth business. It covers foundational elements like crafting a business model, building a lean business plan, assembling teams, allocating equity, securing funding, and leveraging technology. Designed as a practical guide, it emphasizes execution over theory, with tools for avoiding common pitfalls and optimizing operations from inception to exit.

Aspiring entrepreneurs, early-stage founders, and startup advisors will benefit most. It’s tailored for those seeking structured guidance on legal incorporation, investor negotiations, team management, and scalable systems. Angel investors and mentors also gain insights into evaluating startups’ viability.

Yes. Unlike generic entrepreneurship books, it delivers tactical steps—like creating minimum viable products (MVPs) and negotiating term sheets—with real-world examples. The companion website (gust.com/checklist) offers downloadable tools, making it a hands-on resource for avoiding critical early mistakes.

It prioritizes execution over abstract strategy, offering a linear, checklist-style format. Unique sections detail equity distribution (e.g., reserving 10–20% for employees), investor psychology, and institutional-grade financial tracking. It also integrates modern tools like crowdfunding and cloud-based analytics.

Critical steps include:

1. Validating your business model using the Business Model Canvas.
2. Allocating equity to avoid founder disputes.
3. Launching a MVP to test market fit.
4. Securing funding via angel investors or platforms like Gust.
5. Implementing scalable technologies for HR, finance, and analytics.

Rose advises reserving 60–70% for founders, 10–20% for employees (via stock options), and 20–30% for investors. This balances incentivizing talent, rewarding risk, and maintaining control. He warns against equal splits among co-founders to prevent decision paralysis.

Investors prioritize scalable models, strong teams, and clear exits. The book guides founders on crafting pitch decks, highlighting traction metrics, and negotiating term sheets. It also explores alternatives like crowdfunding and stresses transparency to maintain investor relationships post-funding.

Central. The canvas helps clarify value propositions, customer segments, and revenue streams. Rose advocates iterative refinement based on market feedback, ensuring alignment between product-market fit and operational capabilities before scaling.

Top pitfalls include:

• Underestimating competitors’ strategic moves.
• Poor equity management leading to team conflict.
• Overbuilding products without validating demand.
• Failing to track key metrics like CAC (customer acquisition cost) and LTV (lifetime value).

It replaces lengthy documents with a one-page plan focusing on core objectives, KPIs, and milestones. This “lean” approach emphasizes agility, allowing rapid pivots based on data from MVP tests or customer feedback.

The Gust platform (gust.com/checklist) provides free cloud-based tools for tracking progress, legal templates, and investor outreach. Supplemental materials include equity calculators, term sheet examples, and links to startup-focused SaaS tools.

Rose advises continuous monitoring of competitors’ pricing, marketing, and product updates. Strategies include identifying gaps in their offerings, benchmarking performance metrics, and leveraging differentiators in branding. Regular SWOT analyses ensure proactive adaptation.