Hey everyone! After my last post, I got a bunch of DMs asking for more specific tools and methods I use when building and marketing startups and ecommerce sites. So, I’ve put together a more detailed list, organized by their primary functions.

You can find the last post on my profile. As a TL;DR of that one, I went from wasting months of time building products that got zero traction to hitting $30k+/month across my two primary startups by simply changing the way I approach building MVPs. If you’re not familiar, MVPs are essentially early versions of the product with the minimum amount of functionality to validate customer interest and guide your product going forward.

These are the tools I use for both B2B SaaS and ecommerce projects. They’re the tools that have worked for me, but I’m super interested in hearing about the tools you swear by, so please share your recommendations!

Website Design + Building

Pro tip for MVPs: Launch early. A simple, clean site that clearly states what you do is far superior to a “perfect” product launched without user feedback.

• Framer: This is a one-stop-shop from design mockups to going live. It’s user-friendly, with a UI that’s very similar to Figma’s in allowing you to design pretty much anything. Unlike Figma, it lets you immediately publish and update your site through their platform. It’s got fewer plugins than WordPress but comes with built-in analytics and payment systems—perfect for validating your startup’s initial interest.
• WordPress.org: WordPress is the original king of CMSes—free, open-source, and incredibly powerful. You’ll need to handle your own domain and hosting, but it’s worth it for the flexibility and the vast plugin ecosystem if you need more complex blog/CMS functionality. You can also find a bunch of themes on places like Envato or even WordPress’s free theme marketplace that let you focus on actually building and talking to customers instead of tweaking your site for months.

Ecommerce Site Builders:

For those of you building a store with a variety of products, these are my top picks. To be honest, you don’t need a full-on ecommerce platform if you’re just selling a single product, but if you’re looking to build a store I’d highly recommend using one. Even beyond the basic functionality, both of these platforms have a wide variety of plugins that become extremely useful as you scale.

• Shopify: It’s an all-in-one solution, handling everything from storefront to payments under one subscription. Ideal for stores with multiple products.
• WooCommerce: Built on WordPress, it’s a robust choice if you’re looking for customizable ecommerce functionality. It’s open-source and free, with a huge number of plugins available for all sorts of use cases.

Analytics:

A lot of people, myself included, tend to vastly overestimate how complex your initial product needs to be. Oftentimes, a simple email list/form on your site with some basic automation is more than enough for an MVP. That’s what these tools allow you to do.

• Google Analytics: It’s a free and powerful tool that’s integrated into most site builders. The interface can be complex, but it’s worth the effort.
• HotJar: Provides deeper insights into user interactions with features like heatmaps and surveys. It’s free for limited use, but the paid plans can get pricey.

Automation:

A lot of people, myself included, tend to vastly overestimate how complex your initial product needs to be. Oftentimes, a simple email list/form on your site with some basic automation is more than enough for an MVP. That’s what these tools allow you to do.

• Pipedream: A NodeJS-based tool that lets you connect APIs with more coding control, making it great for MVPs that you plan to scale. Essentially, Pipedream lets you connect with almost any API/service and run workflows based on the data received.
• Zapier: It’s similar to Pipedream but shines with its vast array of integrations.

Email Marketing:

A solid email list is key for engagement, feedback, and upselling post-launch.

• Mailchimp: Mailchimp is probably the best known email marketing service, and while there’s better competitors for niche use cases it’s generally my favorite for starting something quickly. It integrates with almost any service, and has a free tier for up to 500 contacts and 1000 sends per month.

Marketing Your MVP

Beyond tools, engaging with online communities can be an extremely effective way to promote your startup, validate interest, and get to know your target customers better.

What you can and should use depends somewhat on what stage you’re at, but I’d highly recommend posting updates on different communities.

• ProductHunt: It’s competitive but can give your launch a significant boost if you’ve got a ready product and a community of early adopters.
• IndieHackers: A great forum for indie entrepreneurs, offering networking opportunities and market insights.
• Reddit: Ideal for niche engagement and finding early customers. Active participation in relevant subreddits can be incredibly rewarding.

For example, when I launched a chargeback handling tool for merchants, I found multiple people who were ideal beta users on Reddit simply by keeping an eye out for posts by people talking about their problems with chargebacks and DMing them to ask if they’d be willing to talk to me about their issue on a call.

Most of them later became customers once we launched the product, and it can be a really invaluable tool to learn more about your target customers’ products even if you don’t want to actually DM people.

Even before you have a landing page ready, you can start engaging in relevant communities to find out more about your target customers, their problems, and start building a positive reputation that can pay off down the line when you actually launch (and launch again).

Sales/Direct Outreach:

Direct outreach can be a game-changer, especially for B2B products. If you don’t know where to start, I’d recommend a combination of LinkedIn Sales Navigator + email finding tools to reach out to prospects directly.

• LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Use the free trial to gather leads and validate interest without upfront costs.
• GetEmail/Hunter: These tools help you find emails from LinkedIn profiles, often offering free trials to get you started. There’s a bunch of similar tools you can find, most of which have free trials, so I recommend trying a few different ones and seeing what works best for your specific use case.

Make sure you’re offering genuine value with your outreach, and not just sending out the same message to everyone in a given industry. The name of the game here is to develop real relationships with these people to where they’re willing to tell you about the problem they have and help guide you in creating the solution.

Payments

• Stripe: It’s not just for processing payments; Stripe’s ‘Authorize’ feature lets you validate product interest by simulating transactions without charging customers until you’re ready to ship.

TL;DR of Tools for Building & Marketing Startup/Ecommerce Sites:

• Framer: All-in-one platform for web design to live publishing, with built-in analytics and payments. Easier than WordPress, fewer plugins.
• WordPress.org: Free, open-source site builder with extensive themes and plugins. Requires domain and hosting.
• Shopify: Comprehensive ecommerce site builder with subscription-based model.
• WooCommerce: Free, open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress with extensive customization.
• Google Analytics: Free, powerful analytics tool, integrated into most site builders but complex to use.
• HotJar: Provides in-depth user interaction data like heatmaps and surveys, free for limited use.
• Pipedream: Workflow automation tool with more control over code, ideal for scalable MVPs.
• Zapier: Workflow tool with a broad range of integrations, less code control than Pipedream.
• Mailchimp: Email marketing service with a free plan for up to 500 contacts and 1000 sends per month.
• ProductHunt: Platform for launching products with a competitive environment.
• IndieHackers: Community for indie entrepreneurs to connect and learn about the market.
• Reddit: Useful for engaging with niche communities and finding early customers.
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Tool for finding potential B2B clients, with a month-long free trial.
• GetEmail/Hunter: Tools for finding emails from LinkedIn profiles, often with free trials.
• Stripe: Payment processor with an ‘Authorize’ feature for validating interest without charging.

I hope this list was useful for you guys and as above, would love to hear what you guys are using so I can get more ideas and add them to the list. I’m working on a site to compile the best tools in different domains and would really appreciate any recommendations!