Core concepts

A few ideas explain most of how FounderSync behaves. This page covers startups, the people in them, the layout of the dashboard, notifications, and where your data is stored.

Startups#

A startup is the workspace everything else belongs to: its idea, PRD, tasks, launch checklist, agreement, cap table and documents. One account can belong to several startups, for example a main company and a side project.

• The switcher at the top of the sidebar shows the startup you are working in, your title in it and how many members it has. Open it to switch or to create a new startup.
• Switching changes every page at once. Idea drafts, launch progress and tasks never carry over from one startup to another.
• FounderSync remembers your last startup in this browser and opens it next time. If none is stored, it opens the first one in your list.
• A startup has a stage (for example Idea, Validating, MVP, Pre-seed or Seed). You set it on the Idea page.

Founders, members and roles#

Everyone on a startup's team is stored as a member record with a role, a title, weekly hours, an equity percentage and permissions. The Team page shows them as the founding team.

• The person who creates the startup is the creator. The Team page marks them with a Creator badge, and they cannot be removed.
• People you invite join with the role cofounder. Their title is the role you suggested in the invitation, or "Cofounder" if you did not suggest one.
• Only the creator can edit another member's title, change their permissions or remove them. Removing someone deactivates their membership, and they lose access to the startup's data until you invite them again.
• Two permissions can be switched per member: Can invite new members, which is off for people who join by invitation, and Can edit agreement, which is on.

The data model also has the roles advisor and early team member. The Team page does not currently offer a way to assign them.

The dashboard#

The dashboard has a sidebar, a top bar and a content area.

• Sidebar. Overview, then Build (Idea, PRD, Roadmap, Launch), Team (Team, Agreement, Fairness), Operate (Tasks, Meetings, Analytics) and Company (Cap table, Vault). Roadmap is hidden until the startup has a PRD. The Agreement entry shows a count when agreement reviews are open. You can collapse the sidebar, and on screens narrower than 1024 pixels it becomes a drawer opened from the menu button.
• Top bar. A breadcrumb with the startup name, search (Ctrl or Cmd plus K), a help menu with the product tour and documentation, notifications, and your account menu for your profile, settings and signing out.
• Cap table. It opens in its own layout with a separate sidebar. See the cap table overview.
• Settings. Profile, work style, appearance, notifications, integrations, AI agents, security, data and privacy, and support.

Notifications#

The bell in the top bar lists your most recent notifications, up to 50. New ones appear without a page refresh, and a dot shows when any are unread. From the list you can open a notification, which takes you to the related page and marks it read, mark one or all as read, or dismiss it. The app creates notifications for events such as a cofounder accepting your invitation or you being removed from a team.

Settings, then Notifications, lets you choose which in-app and email notifications you want and a frequency: instant, daily digest or weekly digest.

Where your data lives#

Your startup data is stored in FounderSync's hosted database, and uploaded files are kept in its file storage. Because it is stored on the server, your cofounders, your other devices and any connected AI agent see the same information.

A few things stay in your browser instead:

• An unsaved Idea draft is held in your browser until you choose Complete Setup on the last step of the Idea page. See Idea and PRD.
• The roadmap start date you pick is stored per startup in your browser.
• Your last active startup is stored in your browser, and FounderSync also tries to save it to your profile.

If you clear site data or switch browsers, these items start fresh.