Paul Graham’s essays shaped a generation of founders: default-alive vs default-dead, schleps as secrets, and the idea that early startups should do unscalable work. FTN’s Graham playbook places him in context; this list is the essay archive plus the book collection.
Canonical Essays (Online)
How to Get Startup Ideas
Paul Graham · Essay
Authentic problems vs brainstorm theatre—still assigned across accelerators worldwide.
Do Things That Don't Scale
Paul Graham · Essay
Manual early work as discovery mechanism—core YC pedagogy.
Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule
Paul Graham · Essay
Calendar design as productivity thesis—especially for engineering-led founders.
Books
Hackers & Painters
Paul Graham · Book
Collected essays—startup, Lisp, inequality, maker culture; read selectively by chapter interest.
Talks
YC Startup School / essays as video
Y Combinator · Speech
Video versions of classic advice—useful for classroom settings.