How ideas get into the database — and how they are verified
13 ideas at launch, 0 confirmed with the founder. The database grows from the newsletter: every Selfmade Founders issue that profiles a founder appends a row, and a reader can send one.
every row: a founder · a pinpointed source · numbers as ranges · first customers in the founder's words
Two kinds of row
- Founder-confirmed — we spoke to the founder (or they replied to the issue) and confirmed the ranges we print. We never publish their documents; the range is the fact.
- Public source — the numbers are as a named source published them (an interview, a founder's own post, a press profile), linked on the row. We say it is not yet confirmed with the founder, and we ask them.
What a row must have
- A named founder who is happy to be named (anonymised on request).
- A pinpointed source: the issue, the interview, the public post — with a date.
- Start-up capital and revenue as ranges or as the source printed them, never precise to the dollar unless the founder said the figure publicly.
- How they got their first customers, in their words where possible — the part nobody publishes.
- A cross-check where one exists (Starter Story's public snippet, a second interview).
What is refused
Ideas without a founder. Revenue claims from a screenshot. "Passive income" anything. Franchise and MLM pitches. Rows are not for sale and no founder pays to be listed.
Send one, fix one
Running a business in Southeast Asia and willing to share ranges? Write to [email protected] — we reply with the five questions. A wrong number: same address; fixed within a week and noted on the row. Published by Selfmade Modal.