12+ Best & Free Notion Templates for Startups and Indie Hackers (2024)

Discover the best Notion templates for startups and indie hackers in 2023. Streamline your operations, boost productivity, and customize Notion to meet your specific needs. Explore templates for finance tracking, social media planning, project management, OKR tracking, and more.
Minimalist Avatar of Blog Author Giorgia Dalla Valle
Giorgia Dalla Valle
July 15, 2024

Explore the best Notion Templates for Startups

When you're launching a new venture or scaling up your existing one, every minute counts. That's where Notion has become the go-to tool for startups, entrepreneurs, and business owners, thanks to its flexibility and customization options.

But here's the kicker: Notion's true power lies in its ability to adapt to your specific needs. Every startup is different, and with Notion, you can adapt the tool to your needs, not the other way around, as other apps force you to do.

Notion is really a perfect partner for startup, and even more considering that Notion offer special offer for startup.

Currently (September 2023), startups can apply to get up to 6 months free, including unlimited AI. You can apply here.

Do Startup Use Notion?

Yes, and a lot. Here some statistic so you can do the math for yourself.

  • 90% of Forbes Cloud 100 companies use Notion
  • 50% of YC companies use Notion
  • 70% of users replaced 2+ tools with Notion. (Just imagine what that mean for your recurring expenses)

In this blog post, we'll dive deep into the world of Notion startup templates, exploring the top contenders that can help you streamline your operations, boost productivity, and get your startup off the ground. And if you are interested in learning more about how startup all around the world use Notion, be sure to keep reading until the end.

It's time to discover the best Notion startup templates that are tailor-made for success.

Let’s dive in!

Want more Notion templates and updates? Join our mailing list and check out our several other Notion template round-ups! You can also check out our 99+ free templates for Notion articles, and our 55+ Aesthetic Templates for Notion articles, and the best **45+ Best & Free Notion Template for Students  where you can find even more templates ready to download!

Explore all Notion Templates roundup

Best Startup Templates for Notion

Notion Startup OS

Free? No

Startup OS is a comprehensive tool designed to help you plan, launch, and grow your startup effortlessly. It's like having a one-stop-shop for all your startup needs, built on the popular platform Notion.

What’s Included

  1. Wide Range of Templates: With over 60 ready-to-use templates, Startup OS covers everything from creating a Company Dashboard and Business Model Canvas to crafting a Pitch Deck and Financial Statements. Plus, there are an additional 52 templates, including Project Dashboards, Task Management, CRM, and more.
  2. Process-Oriented Approach: Instead of just providing templates and pages, Startup OS is designed as a structured process. It's based on proven and continually improving processes, serving as your roadmap to success.
  3. Efficiency and Collaboration: By using Startup OS, you can turn your ideas into startups much faster. It saves you over 200 hours that would have been spent searching for various documents. You can focus on the most profitable tasks, maintain control over your finances, and keep your entire team and investors engaged.

Startup OS is a great tool that you can use to grow your startup with ease and without the hassle of hunting for templates or tools. It's ideal for entrepreneurs seeking organization, indie hackers juggling multiple projects, and anyone who wants to streamline their startup journey.cts, and even students looking for a structured approach to startup development.

Template Available Here

UserBooster

Free? No

UserBooster is a toolkit designed to help startup founders and entrepreneurs successfully launch their products and gain early traction in the market.

What’s Included

  1. Launch Strategies & Prioritization: Proven strategies to help prioritize actions and optimize resources for an effective product launch.
  2. 70+ Hand-Picked Launch Tools: A comprehensive toolkit with over 70 resources to streamline the launch process, even with limited resources.
  3. 40+ Curated Educational Resources: Access to educational materials and insights from successful founders to navigate the complexities of the launch process.
  4. 10 Detailed Tips for Leveraging Acquisition Channels: Tips on identifying and maximizing effective acquisition channels for your product.
  5. 40+ Tips & Tools for a Successful Product Hunt Launch: Guidance and tools to increase visibility and traction on Product Hunt.

UserBooster is a good option for founders who are committed to a successful product launch and believe that with the right strategies, tools, and resources, they can confidently launch their product and gain traction.

Template Available Here

Social Media Planner

Free? No.

Growing a startup can often include a structured social media strategy. With the Ultimate Social Media Planner, you can grow your audience faster and help drive awareness for your brand.

What’s Included?

  1. Strategy Building: Clarify your values and mission and create a winning social media strategy with content generation and marketing prompts.
  2. Branding Assistance: Define your brand identity, mission, and values while building a visual identity that resonates with your target audience.
  3. Comprehensive Planning: Plan and monitor content from idea to publication with daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly planning options.
  4. Goal Setting: Set S.M.A.R.T. goals for your content strategy and align them with your posting strategy for confident goal achievement.
  5. Platform Integration: Support for major platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, TikTok, blogs, LinkedIn, and email, all pre-set for your convenience.
  6. Content Strategy Guide: Access a 25+ page workbook content strategy guide with examples to go from beginner to expert in audience growth.
  7. Pre-Built Templates: Major platforms come with pre-built templates, including Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Blog, Email, LinkedIn, and TikTok, streamlining your posting process.
  8. Integrated Review System: Achieve your social media goals with strategic reviews, allowing you to reflect on weekly, monthly, and yearly results, fine-tune your strategy, and optimize what works.

Key Features

  1. Social Media Planning: Plan and execute your social media strategy across various platforms easily and stress-free.
  2. Streamlined Content Creation: Quickly plan and schedule a week's worth of social media posts using an interconnected content calendar and task manager.
  3. Intuitive Dashboard: A user-friendly dashboard with customizable navigation for easy access to all features, providing an overview of your schedule, upcoming posts, tasks, and platforms.

If your strategy for your startup includes social media growth, this is your go-to solution for simplifying social media management.

Template Available Here

StartOS

Free? No.

StartOS is an integrated startup operating system designed to help startups and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) streamline their operations and save time. It was created by founders who experienced the challenges of using expensive and fragmented SaaS tools. It includes multiple tools that work seamlessly together.

What's Included:

  • Starter Bundle: Essential templates and canvases for business planning.
  • CompeteOS: Competitor research and analysis tools.
  • ConnectOS: Contact and company database with CRM features.
  • ProjectOS: Project and task management tools.
  • TeamOS: Team management, job board, and onboarding resources.
  • FinanceOS: Funding tracking, accounting, and financial projection tools.
  • LaunchOS: OKR tracking, product roadmap, and growth metrics.
  • SalesOS: Customer persona generation, sales management, and marketing planning.
  • ContentOS: Content creation and management with AI-assisted features.
  • Clickable Flowchart Generator: Easily create system maps for navigation.

Key Features:

  1. Efficient Integration: StartOS integrates various modules to provide a comprehensive solution for startups and SMEs. It includes tools for Company Specs, Lean Canvas, Business Model Canvas, Pitch Deck Templates, Value Proposition Canvas, and more.
  2. Competitor Research: CompeteOS offers a comprehensive database for competitor research, market trends, and emerging technologies. It allows you to store and tag information, automate data collection, and analyze competitor data.
  3. CRM and Contact Management: ConnectOS provides a powerful CRM system with automation capabilities. It enables you to manage contacts, tag them based on various criteria, and integrate with other StartOS modules. Slack integration ensures seamless communication within your team.

StartOS comes with the mission to help startup founders save time, reduce the cost of expensive SaaS subscriptions, and eliminate the fragmentation of knowledge and resources across multiple applications.

Template Available Here

FinanceOS

Free? No.

FinanceOS is a financial and accounting tool for startups. You can buy it alone or buy StartOS and get access for free.

Key Features:

  1. Track Income and Expenses: FinanceOS allows you to track various financial aspects, including salaries, subscriptions, revenue, and fundraising activities.
  2. Fundraising Management: It helps you plan and execute fundraising efforts, including managing your investor cap table. You can add funding round information and automatically calculate conversions, ensuring accurate and up-to-date records.
  3. Financial Planning and Projection: FinanceOS provides integrated tools for estimating your runway and company value. It offers AI-based financial projections that can generate forecasts much faster than traditional methods.

FinanceOS includes several modules and functionalities like accounting and cash flow statements, salary and subscription tracking, burn rate and runway estimation, cap table management, VC contacts and firms integration, and startup valuation using a discounted cash flow model. These features make it a better choice for financial management than some more generic tools.

Template Available Here

Product Launch OS

Free? No

LaunchOS is a resource-packed toolkit designed to help individuals, startups, and product-focused companies successfully launch their products. It offers a structured approach to every phase of the product launch process, from planning to post-launch activities.

What's Included:

  1. Launch Strategy: This kit provides a functional launch strategy that guides you through a smooth and successful product launch. It covers various aspects of planning, execution, and post-launch activities.
  2. Resources: You'll have access to a vast library of over 1,000 resources, including product launch platforms, communities, tools, and marketing platforms. These resources are aimed at making your launch more efficient and effective.
  3. Templates: The kit offers over 100 customizable graphic templates for platforms like Product Hunt and social media. These templates can save you significant time in designing promotional materials.
  4. Community Database: It provides a database of 600+ curated community links, including subreddits, Facebook groups, Slack communities, LinkedIn groups, and more. This helps you find early adopters and build an initial user base through communities.
  5. Product Launch Strategy: The kit assists you in defining a clear product launch strategy. It includes planning templates for timelines, objectives, team management, task management, product messaging, and channel strategy.

Key Features:

  1. Checklist: The kit includes a launch checklist with actionable tips to track your progress from planning to post-launch activities, ensuring you don't miss important steps.
  2. Flexibility: Its individual component structure allows you to personalize templates to meet your specific launch objectives and goals. You can choose different views and use pre-made dashboards for easy navigation.
  3. Launch Strategy Dashboard: The system offers a launch strategy dashboard that provides insights into the ideal launch time and platforms for marketing, helping you reach your target audience effectively.

Overall, LaunchOS is a great kit to help you manage all aspects of launching a new product and can be a valuable resource for startups or businesses that frequently launch new products.

Template Available Here

Funding OS with Investors Database

Free? No

Funding OS is a tool that helps startups manage venture capital for their projects, ideas, or existing businesses. It is like a specialized CRM system designed for handling investor relationships. It provides support during the fundraising process and gives access to a large database of over 25,000 investor contacts.

Key Features

  1. Extensive Investor Database: Access a database with over 25,000 investor profiles covering various investment topics, making it easier to find potential backers for your venture.
  2. Blockchain Investor Focus: In addition to the general investor contacts, this package includes a dedicated list of more than 1,000 investors with a specific interest in blockchain, decentralized applications (dApps), decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
  3. Flexible Data Usage: The data is accessible via Notion, making it user-friendly and easy to navigate. You can also download it in CSV or XLSX formats for compatibility with popular spreadsheet apps, email services, or CRM systems.

Funding OS Pro offers a versatile and comprehensive solution for entrepreneurs and businesses seeking financial support, with a special emphasis on blockchain-related ventures. It is worth taking a look, especially if you are searching for investor profiles to submit your startup.

Template Available Here

Startup OS for Notion

Free? No

Start OS is designed to enhance business operations and boost productivity.

What’s Included?

  1. OKRs: Align your team's objectives with your business goals, monitor progress, and gauge success.
  2. Team: Manage team information, roles, and responsibilities, ensuring everyone stays on the same page.
  3. Team Member Dashboard: Empower team members with control and oversight of their projects and tasks, offering real-time updates for better project management.
  4. Job Board: Easily find and recruit suitable candidates by creating job postings, handling resumes, and scheduling interviews.
  5. CRM Client Board: Keep all client information, communication history, and deals organized in one place.
  6. Projects and Task Management: Efficiently track project progress and assign tasks to team members for seamless collaboration.
  7. Finance Management: Stay on top of your finances, from invoices and expenses to budget management.
  8. Invoices: Simplify the creation and tracking of invoices sent to clients.
  9. Content Planner: Strategically plan your content, manage a content calendar, and collaborate with your team.
  10. Company Resources: Store crucial company documents, policies, and procedures in one centralized location.

Start OS offers these key features to enhance business efficiency, align objectives, and simplify various aspects of your operations.

Template Available Here

Lean Startup OS

Free? No

Lean Startup OS is designed for Indie Hackers, solo entrepreneurs, and side project enthusiasts. It's a tool to help you bring your business ideas to life and succeed in the market.

What's Included:

  • Idea Validation: Test your startup concepts before investing heavily.
  • User-Centric Approach: Create products that resonate with your target audience.
  • Project Planning: Organize your projects, marketing plans, and launch checklists.
  • Financial Tracking: Monitor revenue and costs for project success.
  • Agile Management: Adapt to changes and respond to market needs swiftly.
  • Smart Timeboxing: Ensure on-time product delivery and goal-focused teams.
  • Customization: Tailor the template to your unique business needs.
  • Comprehensive Wiki: A helpful resource for getting started.

Template Available Here

Best Free Notion Templates for Startups

Startup in a Box

Free? Yes.

Startup in a Box is a comprehensive package designed by Notion Team to simplify the process of setting up and running a company using Notion. It includes a collection of pre-made Notion pages that cover various aspects of building and managing a business, from the initial idea to scaling up.

What’s Included

  • Real Notion templates for different business use cases.
  • Organized templates that align with the stages of a founder's journey.

Key Features:

  1. Ready-to-Use Templates: Access a wide range of pre-designed Notion pages tailored to different aspects of your startup, making it easy to get started without the need for extensive setup.
  2. Founder's Journey Organization: Templates are categorized to match the stages of a founder's journey, ensuring you can quickly find and use the resources most relevant to your current needs.
  3. Startup Program Benefit: If you're new to Notion, you can apply to the startup program and enjoy up to 6 months of free access with unlimited AI capabilities, helping you kickstart your business journey with powerful tools at your disposal.

Template Available Here

Venture Capital Firm in a Box

Free? Yes.

Notion simplifies the management of your venture capital firm. It provides a comprehensive template that covers all aspects of running a VC firm.

What’s Included

  1. Database of all your portfolio companies.
  2. Custom team pages for your Investment and Community teams.
  3. A centralized home page for the entire firm.

Key Features:

  1. Streamlined Data Management: Easily access and update information about your portfolio companies in one organized database.
  2. Team Collaboration: Create custom team pages for your Investment and Community teams, fostering better communication and collaboration.
  3. Centralized Hub: Maintain a central home page to keep everyone at the firm connected and informed about ongoing activities, such as sourcing, portfolio CEO collaboration, and talent

Template Available Here

Idea to MVP

Free? Yes.

Template Available Here

Fundraising tracker

Free? Yes

Investor Contact Tracker will help you track your investor interactions, keeping them organized and avoiding awkward mishaps. It's a single place to monitor all your contacts and communication history.

Key Features:

  1. Comprehensive Contact Tracking: Easily record every interaction with investors to stay on top of your game.
  2. Versatile Data Management: Store various types of information, such as funding details, emails, or warm leads, in one central database.
  3. Progress Visualization: Monitor your investor relationships, track wins and losses, and measure your progress. Additionally, access specific investor profiles for meeting notes and pitch preparation.

No more embarrassing moments or missed opportunities—stay prepared and professional with the Investor Contact Tracker.

Template Available Here

Funding OS

Free? Yes.

Funding OS will help you secure venture capital for your upcoming project or existing business. It offers a specialized CRM system tailored for fundraising needs and supports various funding rounds, including Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, and Series B, with funding amounts typically ranging from $10,000 to $2,500,000.

Key Features:

  1. Dashboard View: Get a quick overview of your funding rounds, investor relations, and upcoming activities. Easily add new activities or investor opportunities directly from the dashboard.
  2. Funding Management: Efficiently manage your funding rounds and track your progress towards securing the desired funding. Funding OS supports Seed, Series A, and Series B rounds.
  3. Investor Management: Keep all your investor information in one place and quickly add potential candidates. Manage the entire deal process with each investor through a status pipeline (researched, contacted, pitched, diligence, won).

Template Available Here

How Startups Can Use Notion?

Notion is a versatile tool that can be used by startups in various ways to enhance productivity, collaboration, and organization. Here are some common use cases for startups:

Project Management

Startups can use Notion to create project boards, task lists, and timelines. You can set up Kanban boards, Gantt charts, or simple to-do lists to keep track of project progress and deadlines.

Knowledge Base

Notion is excellent for building a knowledge base or wiki for your startup. Documenting internal processes, best practices, and onboarding materials can help streamline operations and facilitate new team member training.

Team Collaboration

Notion's collaboration features allow teams to work together on documents, databases, and notes in real-time. It's an excellent platform for brainstorming, meeting agendas, and collaborative decision-making.

Content Calendar

For startups focused on content marketing, Notion can serve as a content calendar and editorial planning tool. You can organize your content ideas, schedule publication dates, and track content performance.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

Use Notion to build a simple CRM system to keep track of customer interactions, leads, and sales pipelines. Create databases to store contact information, sales notes, and follow-up tasks.

Task and Goal Tracking

Notion can help startups set and track individual and team goals. You can create OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) or SMART goals, and then monitor progress over time.

Product Roadmap

Plan and visualize your product roadmap using Notion. You can outline features, prioritize development tasks, and communicate your vision to the team.

HR and Onboarding

Use Notion to streamline the onboarding process for new employees. Provide them with access to company policies, procedures, and training materials.

Customer Support and FAQs

Create a customer support hub in Notion to manage customer inquiries, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and support articles. This can help provide better customer service and reduce response times.

Financial Tracking

Startups can use Notion to track expenses, revenue, and financial forecasts. You can create tables, charts, and reports to monitor your financial health.

Meeting Notes and Documentation

Keep all meeting notes and documentation in one place. This makes it easier to reference past discussions and decisions, ensuring that important information is readily available.

Idea and Innovation Hub

Encourage employees to share and develop new ideas within Notion. Create a space for brainstorming and innovation where team members can collaborate on new concepts.

Marketing Campaign Planning

Plan and execute marketing campaigns using Notion. You can create content calendars, track ad spend, and analyze campaign results.

These are just a few examples of how startups can use Notion. The great thing about Notion is its flexibility, and there are endless applications and templates available to support startup management and growth.

Which startup uses Notion?

Lots of startups and small businesses use Notion. Notion is popular because it can be customized and has lots of features. Sometimes, the startups that use Notion don't tell everyone. Here are some examples of startups and small businesses that have used Notion or said they use it:

  1. Superhuman: Superhuman is an email client startup that has mentioned its use of Notion for internal documentation and processes.
  2. Loom: Loom, a video messaging platform, has used Notion for project management, knowledge sharing, and documentation.
  3. Zapier: Zapier, a company that connects different web apps to automate workflows, has documented some of its processes and workflows using Notion.
  4. Figma: Figma, a design collaboration platform, has used Notion for project management and documentation.
  5. Buffer: Buffer, a social media management platform, has used Notion for documentation and knowledge sharing among its remote team members.
  6. Webflow: Webflow, a web design and development platform, has mentioned its use of Notion for documentation and project management.
  7. ConvertKit: ConvertKit, an email marketing platform, has used Notion for various purposes, including project management and documentation.

Wrapping Up

There is no doubt that staying organized and having a system in place are crucial for the success of your startup or venture. Notion is definitely a tool of choice that has been increasingly chosen by startups and business owners all around the world. I have explored some of the best startup templates that offer a comprehensive solution for entrepreneurs and startups looking to streamline their social media management, product launches, financial management, and fundraising efforts. Whether you are an indie hacker bootstrapping solo on your project or a startup founder part of a big team, these templates provide the structure and guidance needed to achieve success in your startup journey.

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