85 Great Resources for London Startups

If you’re setting up a web-based business in London, there are lots of resources that can come in handy once you know about them. I thought I’d share some of my favourites here in case there a few you don’t yet know about.

This is a selection of everything from interesting events to attend and good books to read through to tools to boost your effectiveness. Some of them will only be useful if you’re based in London or often visit here; the others are more widely applicable:

1. BootLaw – free events where you can get your legal questions answered (and be entertained, too!)
2. Microsoft BizSpark – startup community offering free Microsoft software
3. DrinkTank – drink beer with startup founders and occasional investors
4. Launch48 – meet potential co-founders and try to start a business in a weekend
5. Startup Weekend – meet potential co-founders and try to start another business in a weekend
6. Minibar – see entrepreneurs pitch their startups while you drink free beer
7. London Business School Entrepreneurial Leadership Lectures – hear experienced founders talk
8. UK Business Forums – get nuts and bolts advice from owners of small businesses
9. SeedSummit Term Sheets – see how the investment terms you’ve been offered stack up against ‘standard’ ones.
10. Don’t Make Me Think – learn how to make your website easier to use
11. Visual Website Optimizer – run A/B tests easily and get more from your website
12. Google Apps (free edition) – host up to 10 email accounts for free
13. Ajax Whois – quickly check whether domain names are available
14. MailChimp – send mass emails and track what happens to them (and get UI inspiration!)
15. Viral Marketing – a nice article on the Maths behind viral marketing
16. Super Conversion Button – create good call-to-action web buttons [no longer available]
17. Load Impact – easily run load tests on your website
18. Linode – get cheap, reliable hosting in UK or US data centres (but set the servers up yourself)
19. Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords – learn how to run Adwords campaigns
20. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – understand how to nudge people into doing what you want
21. TechCrunch Europe – read the European bit of the blog that every startup person reads
22. Fiverr – get small tasks done for $5 (try this out for fun at the very least!)
23. Pingdom – get an alert if your website goes down while you’re at Minibar drinking beer
24. Lean Startup – methodology to help figure out whether you’re starting the right business
25. Mixergy – learn from interviews with successful entrepreneurs
26. Hacker News – read what technically-minded startup people are finding interesting at the moment
27. Hacker News London – meet technically-minded startup people in the flesh. Drink beer with them
28. Business Link – find official government information about business regulations
29. WordPress – build all sorts of websites quickly and cheaply (definitely not just for blogs)
30. Woothemes – get a great-looking theme for your website
31. Clicky – get realtime analytics for your website (and impress your co-founders with their very cool ‘big-screen’ display)
32. SurveyMonkey – run surveys easily
33. SendGrid – make sure your emails get delivered
34. TechHub – work surrounded by fellow entrepreneurs at this startup-centric office space
35. OpenSoho – have drinks with startup and digital media folks
36. Facebook Developer Garage – find out the latest goings-on in the world of Facebook (update: no longer running)
37. Mobile Monday London – find out the latest goings-on in the world of mobile
38. LRUG -meet smart Ruby developers and learn clever coding tips and techniques
39. Moo – order yourself some cute mini business cards
40. TweetDeck – track lots of things at once on Twitter
41. Magento – set up a powerful e-commerce website
42. Bit.ly – see how many times people click on the links you share
43. Starbucks – get fairly reliable free wifi almost anywhere in London
44. Le Pain Quotidien – hang out in a nice cafe environment with free wifi
45. British Library Business & IP Centre – get free access to market research reports
46. Out-law.com – find legal information about IT and e-commerce
47. 99designs – get a logo designed
48. SeedSummit – find seed investors
49. The E-myth Revisited – learn why you should create a system
50. Seth Godin – learn why you should forget your system
51. Getting Real – read how to build web apps faster and more easily
52. The Ultimate Sales Machine – read ideas about how to sell more effectively
53. Appsumo – save money on stuff for your startup
54. Google Alerts – find out whenever someone mentions your startup online
55. SEOMoz Search Ranking Factors – learn what’s important for appearing high up in search engine results
56. The Four Steps to the Epiphany – read the original bible of the Lean Startup movement
57. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development – read the cheat-sheet version of the Lean Startup bible
58. Ogilvy on Advertising – understand advertising better
59. Google+ – get dabbling. It could become important for SEO
60. Twitter – follow fellow entrepreneurs to pick up some great tips
61. Paul Graham’s Essays – pick up entrepreneurial wisdom from the guy behind Y-Combinator
62. Futuristic Play – learn more about online marketing
63. A Smart Bear – absorb entrepreneurial wisdom from an experienced founder
64. Adwords Keyword Tool – find out how many people are searching for something
65. oDesk – hire people on the other side of the world
66. PickyDomains – challenge people to find you a great domain name or slogan
67. Enternships – hire entrepreneurially-minded interns
68. Seedcamp – get money and coaching in return for a share in your business
69. UserTesting – find out whether anyone can use your website
70. PSD2HTML – convert that slick PSD your designer created into CSS and HTML
71. Sedo – buy a decent domain name
72. VirtualBox – run a virtual Windows machine so you can test old and annoying versions of IE, even if you have a new and shiny Mac
73. Dropbox – share documents with your co-founders
74. Google Docs – share documents with your co-founders and edit them together
75. ProductTank – hobnob with product managers
76. London Startup Digest – get a curated email of London’s startup-related goings-on
77. Social Innovation Camp – do something good with your talents
78. Toastmasters – become more confident talking in front of an audience
79. Enterprise Finance Guarantee – get backing from the government to help you get a loan
80. The Gary Halbert Letter – improve your copywriting
81. PatternTap – web UI design patterns
82. Technology Strategy Board – enter funding competitions and apply for grants
83. The Equity Kicker – read views from Nic Brisbourne, a London VC
84. Dragon’s Den – entertain your friends and family by pitching your business on TV
85. OpenCoffee – attend weekly coffee meetups and mingle with budding entrepreneurs

Last, one bonus resource [something I’ve set up]:

• PaymentBrain – compare online payment processors

I hope that’s helped you discover at least a few new things that will come in handy.

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Photo by Lillais.Burke.