Apply

To be considered for funding, please…

1. Answer each question in 120 words or less.
2. Just send a plain text email and don't edit the questions. (Copy questions below.)
3. Send to apply@founderscoop.com
4. (Hint: you can get a sense for the kinds of ideas we like to fund by reading this post)

We don't make any formal promise about secrecy, but Seattle is a small town, life is long and we don't gain anything by burning our relationship with smart young entrepreneurs. We don't plan to let anyone outside Founders Co-op see these applications, including other startups we fund. Feel free not to tell us secrets, but understand this will weaken your application.

P.S. - Thanks to Y Combinator for showing us the way on this open application idea.

******** Begin Copy here and send to apply@founderscoop.com ********

1. Please list your company's name, URL (if any) and phone number (preferably cell).
2. What does your company do?
3. What's new about what you're doing?
4. What do you understand about your business that other companies don't?
5. How will you acquire customers?
6. How will you make money?
7. Who are your competitors, and who might become competitors?
8. If your project is software, what development stack will you use?
9. If you've already started working on it, how long have you been at it?
10. If you have an online demo, what's the URL?
11. How long will it take before you have a prototype? A beta? A version you can charge for?
12. Why would your idea be hard for someone else to duplicate?
13. What are the biggest unknowns or risks in your idea (what keeps you up at night)?
14. For each founder, please list: name, age, school, degree, email address, personal URL (if any); and present employer and title (if any)
15. What products or companies have any of you built before? (Include URLs if possible)
16. How long have the founders known one another and how did you meet?
17. If you're already incorporated, when were you? Who are the shareholders and what percent does each own?
18. If you've previously received funding, how much did you take and at what valuation(s)?
19. If you're not incorporated yet, please list the percent of the company you plan to give each founder, and to anyone else (advisors, etc.).
20. If you expect to have any major expenses beyond salary, hosting and development tools, what will they be?
21. How long do you expect to work on this idea?
22. Do any founders have other commitments for the next 12 months?
23. Are any of the founders covered by noncompetes or intellectual property agreements that overlap with your project?
24. Was any of your code written by someone who is not one of your founders? If so, do you have the right to use it? (Open source is OK)
25. Please share one personal fact about each founder that helps us understand who you are as a person.