Collaboration
Founder Story
Tell the whole world your story.
- Category
- Collaboration
- Stage
- Pre-launch
- For
- Makers building apps or websites who want to share their progress transparently over time.
About
A home for makers who build their app or website in the open: the problem, the doubts, the decisions and the numbers, told over time instead of launched once.
Features
- Problem
- Builders may feel they need traction, branding, or a launch before they can share.
- How it works
- Makers publish why they chose a problem, then can return at day 30, 60, and 90 with what actually happened.
- Result
- Early-stage makers can begin telling their story before their product is finished.
- Why
- The format centers ongoing, specific progress rather than a polished launch moment.
- Problem
- Generic product narratives can obscure what actually happened.
- How it works
- Stories are reviewed for specificity; submissions can be sent back with a reason and republished after revision.
- Result
- Readers get more useful and credible builder stories.
- Why
- Editorial review favors concrete writing, including honest accounts of products that did not work.
- Problem
- A single upvote cannot express why someone values a project.
- How it works
- Readers can give one of three reactions per project: "I believe in this," "I would use this," or "Strong story."
- Result
- Project feedback is more meaningful than a single popularity score.
- Why
- Each reaction captures a separate signal: confidence in the maker, personal product demand, or value of the writing.
- Problem
- Unlimited endorsements make support signals cheap.
- How it works
- Each person can back one project per calendar week across the site.
- Result
- Backings communicate more deliberate support.
- Why
- The constrained backing is intended to represent a higher-cost, higher-weight signal.
- Problem
- Opaque rankings can be manipulated or hard to trust.
- How it works
- Trending uses recent unique signals, weighted reactions, followers, updates, logarithmic compression, update recency, and a bounded newcomer boost; sponsorship is excluded.
- Result
- Discovery is transparent and oriented around active projects.
- Why
- The formula rewards current momentum and continued writing rather than accumulated audience size or payment.
- Problem
- Paid placement can undermine editorial and organic discovery.
- How it works
- Sponsorship offers clearly labelled, time-boxed placements with outbound click tracking, without altering Discover rank, engagement counts, or editor’s picks.
- Result
- Sponsors can receive explicit placement without changing organic prominence.
- Why
- Sponsored visibility is kept separate from editorial selection and the trending formula.
Product questions
What does Founder Story do?
Founder Story is a publishing platform where makers document the real, ongoing story of building an app or website—from the problem they chose through decisions, setbacks, updates, and optionally numbers.
Who is Founder Story for?
Makers building apps or websites who want to share their progress transparently over time.
Screenshots
