The SFD Web App is Here

Hey Startup Founder Daily community!
 
I’ve missed being in your inbox the last two weeks, but it’s been for a good reason! We are so excited to share that our Web App is now live in beta!

This platform is designed to empower founders to gain the exposure and recognition your startup deserves. Let me walk you through the features:

Weekly Voting Cohorts

We’re calling on the startup community to help us find the next unicorns! Each week we will host a cohort letting you vote on your favorite companies. The top three companies each week will receive free marketing in the form of:

• A full-length article on our blog

• Features across our social channels

• Inclusion in the Founder Roundup newsletter

• A guest appearance on the Backseat Startup Podcast

Create your company profile

The company profiles are designed to be a snapshot overview of your company and team. From your stage, location and vertical to details about your team and company, this is your space to show why you’re the next unicorn. You can also upload an elevator pitch or product demo.

Your profile becomes an evergreen digital asset that appears in search results, helping potential customers find your startup easily. It's an additional avenue for visibility and growth.

Engage with the community

Once you log in, voting isn’t the only way you can support your favorite companies. Be sure to leave a comment letting the founders know what you think! Fill out your personal bio so we know who you are and what you do.

How to get started

If you want to compete in our inaugural voting cohort, head to our new and improved site to create a company profile! You’ll need to create a personal profile first (hit “Login”). You will then be able to create a company by clicking “Create Company” in the upper righthand corner. We plan to launch our first cohort on Monday, July 10th.

If you would like a rundown of the companies under consideration each week, you can subscribe to our companion newsletter, the SFD Digest.

Pardon the mess

While we wanted to get the web app into your hands as quickly as possible, we know there may be some bugs that need to be worked out. If you notice any issues with the site, please respond to this email and let us know! You’d really be doing us a solid.

We look forward to seeing you on the SFD web app and celebrating your successes together.

I can’t wait to build this with you all!

Luke

The SFD origin story

SFD started as a simple hobby. I was looking for a way to get more plugged into the startup ecosystem and Twitter seemed like a good place to start. I started tweeting out what founders were working on– it was a fun way to meet new people and learn about the next great companies being built.

This seemed to resonate with the community and the account grew quickly. I instituted an application process where companies would fill out a form with their basic information. Then, I would select the best applications and feature those companies. I also brought on my Brother-in-Law, Henry, to help me expand to blog, newsletter, and the Backseat Startup podcast.

This was the process for several months, featuring over 75 great companies. In early 2023 I had an idea– what if we what let the community decide which companies were selected?

I built a simple MVP on our website to test out this theory. I want to stress that I am a woefully nontechnical person. The voting system was actually a simple “Update live item” Zapier + Webflow automation.

I was hoping a few hundred people would vote on that first cohort. We received 7,000 votes. I had to upgrade my Zapier subscription three times to accommodate the traffic.

One key metric we wanted to track was the number of users that opted into the SFD Digest newsletter when voting. We were pumped to see a ~20% conversion rate, adding over 1,400 subscribers in the first week.

Still, there were a lot of issues– we couldn’t effectively screen for fake or duplicate email addresses. You had to refresh the browser to see vote changes. Plus, it looked terrible. After three weeks, we decided the idea was sufficiently validated. We decided to double-down on this idea and build it properly.

We have so much planned for the future of SFD. I truly appreciate your support as we build a platform we believe will transform the startup ecosystem.

A big thank you to Vermillion Sky for their excellent work on this platform. If you need an app built, I can’t recommend Ken and his team enough.