Key takeaways
- Follow founders who post about their own work, sorted by the stage you care about: starting, scaling or running solo.
- Following a few dozen accounts and replying more than you post trains the For You tab within a week or two.
- TechTwitter IO keeps a free, grouped who-to-follow list of real accounts next to its satirical daily paper.
The startup founders to follow on Twitter are the ones who post about the work itself: Paul Graham and Garry Tan for how startups start, Patrick Collison and Tobi Lütke for how they scale, and Pieter Levels or Marc Lou for how one person can run a product. Our who-to-follow page keeps these and other real accounts in groups, each with a short note on why it is worth a follow.
Below is a founder-only cut of that page, sorted by what each account teaches you.
Founders who explain how startups begin
- Paul Graham (@paulg). He co-founded Y Combinator, and his essays are the first thing many founders read.
- Garry Tan (@garrytan). He now runs Y Combinator as president and CEO, so his feed tracks what the accelerator cares about.
- Naval Ravikant (@naval). A co-founder of AngelList who writes short posts about startups and building wealth.
- Greg Isenberg (@gregisenberg). He shares a startup idea most days and hosts The Startup Ideas Podcast.
Founders running large companies
- Patrick Collison (@patrickc). The Stripe CEO, also a co-founder of Arc Institute, posts about science and the books he is reading.
- Tobi Lütke (@tobi). He leads Shopify and still writes code.
- Amjad Masad (@amasad). The Replit CEO reposts what people build with its agent.
- Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas). The Perplexity co-founder and CEO replies to user complaints himself.
- Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) and Kunal Shah (@kunalb11). The founders of Zerodha and CRED, worth following for Indian startups and consumer behavior.
Founders who build small and post the numbers
| Founder | What they run | Why follow |
|---|---|---|
| Pieter Levels (@levelsio) | Photo AI, Nomads.com | A one-person company that shares revenue openly |
| Marc Lou (@marclou) | ShipFast, DataFast, TrustMRR | Ships small products fast and posts the results |
| Tony Dinh (@tdinh_me) | TypingMind | A solo build, with revenue and lessons shared |
| Arvid Kahl (@arvidkahl) | Podscan | Builds in public as The Bootstrapped Founder |
| Jason Fried (@jasonfried) | 37signals | Writes about calm companies and small teams |
How to turn this into a good feed
Do not follow everyone on the list at once. Pick the group that matches what you are building, follow a few dozen accounts from it, and add more later. Then like and reply to the founder posts you want more of; within a week or two the For You tab starts showing you similar people. At first, a thoughtful reply under a founder's post will reach more readers than a post from your own new account. If an account turns noisy, mute words or unfollow. Nobody gets told.
When you want a break from the serious feed, read today's TechTwitter IO paper. It is a free satirical daily about tech Twitter, with the launches, layoffs and feuds rewritten as parody, plus daily puzzles such as Twordle, Connections, Jumble and Who Tweeted It. Unless a post there links to its source, the people and quotes in it are invented, so read it for laughs and not for facts. Old editions sit in the Morgue.
One honest note: if you already know the three founders you care about, X's own search and follow suggestions will get you there just as fast. A curated list helps most when you are starting from zero.
FAQ
Who should a first-time founder follow on Twitter? Start with Paul Graham and Garry Tan for how startups begin, then add one solo founder such as Pieter Levels who shares real numbers.
Is the TechTwitter IO list only founders? No. It also groups AI researchers, engineers, DevRel people, news accounts and culture posters. This article only pulls out the founders.
Can I suggest a founder for the list? Yes. The page has a form for suggesting an X handle with a line on why, after a quick sign-in.
Frequently asked questions
Who should a first-time founder follow on Twitter?
Paul Graham and Garry Tan for how startups begin, then a solo founder like Pieter Levels who shares real numbers.
Is the TechTwitter IO list only founders?
No. It also covers AI researchers, engineers, DevRel, news accounts and culture posters.
Can I suggest a founder for the list?
Yes. The page takes suggestions of an X handle with a short reason, after a quick sign-in.
Sources
- How to get into tech Twitter: who to followTechTwitter IO
- TechTwitter IO, today's paperTechTwitter IO
