For founders
What running a round on Fools looks like.
Fools.com - Raise your friends, family, and fools round. Fools is a workspace for a round you run yourself. Here is what that looks like, in the order it happens.
Your pitch, in your own words
Video, skin in the game, receipts, terms. You record every second and write every word. The workspace asks the questions backers will ask anyway: what did you give up to build this, who was your first customer and what did they pay, what happens if this raise does not close.
Receipts are things that already happened. The plan goes in your video. When you are ready, you see the pitch exactly as backers will see it.
Contacts and follow-ups
Start with the people who already know you are building this. Add them by relationship (family, close friend, friend, former colleague, customer, community) and by the check size you would be comfortable asking for.
- $100 to $500
- $500 to $1k
- $1k to $10k
- $10k to $25k
- $25k+
Each contact carries a status you set: not yet asked, asked, thinking, committed on the portal, passed. Follow-up dates come from your timeline, and the round page tells you who is due today.
The timeline
Three dates make the plan: soft launch, public, close. Soft launch aims for 25% of the target from close ties. Public aims for 65% from your wider network. Then you close strong, in the last days. The follow-up schedule is derived from those dates.
The cancellation window sits on the timeline too. Backers can cancel until 48 hours before the close, so the round is not done until it is done.
Readiness and Form C
A checklist in three groups: before you file, Form C, before launch. It is there so you never arrive at the portal unprepared. The round itself closes on a licensed funding portal, which files the Form C with the SEC and runs identity checks, payment and escrow. Fools never holds funds and never files for you.
Updates every two weeks
Backers who commit hear from you in the workspace. Every two weeks is the usual rhythm. You write the update in your own words; before you post, Fools checks it for forward-looking claims and shows you the sentence. You decide: edit, or keep as written.
Plainly: Fools drafts nothing and sends nothing for you. The round closes on a licensed funding portal. Fools is uncompensated for the pilot.