20 Recommended Quora Threads for Startups

The Q&A site Quora has become an indispensable trove of knowledge and expertise when it comes to the tech industry. Ask a question and get an answer – that is, after all, what all Q&A sites offer. But Quora boasts active participation from entrepreneurs, engineers, investors, designers, journalists and so on, so that the quality of the responses are quite high. Want to know, for example, why Foursquare uses MongoDB to store check-in information? Who better to answer than the company’s engineering lead.

This weekend, Polaris Venture Partners’ Ryan Spoon wrote a post on his blog, offering with a curated list of “must-read” Quora threads for entrepreneurs. Commenters on his post gave a few more suggestions.

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So drawing on Spoon’s post, here’s a list of 20 recommended threads that address questions of team-building, financing, and press coverage. You can “follow” these so that you receive notification when new responses are added.

1. What would the ideal web technology start-up team be composed of?
2. How does one hire really good product managers?
3. What are the best ways for gauging or assessing product “spidey sense” during an interview?
4. What is the best way to evaluate a potential startup to work at (full-time)?
5. Are there examples of good start up term sheets?
6. What interview questions would you ask a prospective User Experience design leader for a Web 2.0 startup?
7. What are the top 5-7 questions a start-up CEO should ask of an angel investor early on, to determine if they and you (& your project) are a potential fit?
8. What are the best ways to manage relationships with VC contacts prior to fundraising?
9. What are the top qualities to look for in angel investors?
10. What key values led to early PayPal’s culture of entrepreneurship?
11. What companies are the best examples of great corporate culture?
12. What percentage equity should an “involved” advisor receive?
13. What are the most common mistakes first-time entrepreneurs make?
14. How did Startup X get traction?
15. What is the number one reason startups fail?
16. What are some blogs a new startup should send press releases to?
17. How should startups compensate an attorney?
18. What essential skills do startup founders generally lack?
19. What is the best advice you could give to a young, first time startup CEO?
20. What is the most useful, shortest and most generally applicable piece of wisdom you know?

Do you have any other favorite Quora threads? If so, leave us a comment.

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