Poor Founders

'Coz life ain't gonna wait for your IPO

We are a group of Founders that buy Secondary shares from other founders & early-employees in companies that are post-product-market fit and absolutely crushing. The typical founders we buy from are rich on paper but poor IRL and need liquidity. Buying a house or starting a family isn't gonna wait for your IPO 🤷

We'll reply in 24 hours, terms in 5 days, and close in less than 3 weeks. LFG.

Back Story

We did a secondary round several years before our last company Streamlabs was sold. Back then, founder secondaries were not common. The only reason we got a chance to do it was because we had an acquisition offer on the table, and the VCs wanted us to not sell the company. That small liquidity-dose changed our personal lives, eased stress, increased risk tolerance and allowed us to go much further and longer with Streamlabs.

We hope to give other founders this optionality. Selfishly, by buying assets that most investors don't, we also hope to generate superior returns over time.

The Tribe

We are a like-minded collection of ~20 founders who are all investing their personal money individually. No partner-approvals, no 30-page docs, no red-tape. $50 million+ of liquidity. We'll promise to reply in 24 hours, give you an initial Yes/No within 5 days, and close in less than 3 weeks.

Ali

Rainmaker, Optimist, Champion of Underdogs
20 Years. 3 Exits. Many Failures and stories. Money is the root of all good.

ali@poorfounders.com

Murti

Contrarian, Product Guy, Surfer.
Same startup journey as Ali. 20 years and many failures in.

murti@poorfounders.com

Founders & Early Employees

You are the founder or early stage employee and your company is absolutely crushing it. And yet, life doesn't wait. You just got engaged, or want to start a family. Wouldn't it be nice to have some funds to buy a house? Whats the use of being a millionare on paper if you have to wait 10 years to see the first dollar? We can help. Consider selling us a small part of your equity. You still keep almost all the upside and get some cash now to get on with life.

Target Profile
Company Stage Series-A through Pre-IPO. Earlier the better.
Company Metrics $1m - $100m ARR. Typically growing 100%+
Check Size $250K to $5 million.
Instrument Secondary shares, purchased from Founders or early employees. Typically common shares. Can also do alternative instruments like Right-to-Buy.
Avg. Holding Period 'till death do us part (or exit or IPO)
Past Deals Airbnb, Gumroad, Udemy, Invenia
Focus Products we use and love ourselves ❤️
Ready to Chat?

Shoot us an email at ali@poorfounders.com and we promise to get you back to by tomorrow.

The List

If you are the founder or an early employee in one of these companies please hit us up. These are companies that we are fans of, and would love to increase our positions.


Figma

Airtable

Stripe

Patreon

SpaceX

Rivian

Cameo

Canva

Notion

Roam Research

Discord


This isn't a definitive list, ofcourse. We're tracking dozens of other earlier-stage companies that we like, but would be too much to list here. And we're happy to look at inbound deals as well. You miss all the shots you don't take - so don't hesitate to get in touch.

Contact

ali@poorfounders.com

Shoot us an email and we promise to get you back to by tomorrow.