FounderFold: the layer on top
- Find candidate companies
- Optimize the company you buy
AI models: they do the analysis, and they’re built in
Search fund software. “Eight months in, and I can’t tell if I’m searching badly.”
FounderFold is the layer on top of AI models: search fund software that finds candidate companies and, once you buy, generates the strategy to optimize the one you run. It keeps why you said no in March.
Early access is by invitation.
On top of AI models, for the whole search
FounderFold for search funds is a layer on top of AI models for a search: it finds candidate companies, keeps why each one continues or stops, holds your thesis with its version and, after the purchase, generates the strategy to optimize the company you run. The AI is already built in. It never says which company to buy. It is not investment advice.
FounderFold: the layer on top
Find candidate companies
The Explorer searches the web for businesses with your criteria and shows each fact with its source. What you bring from your lists gets added, and each candidate carries its status and reason.
Optimize the company you buy
After the close, it becomes a running project with its figures, improvement plan and a review every Monday. What you saw in due diligence stays in the same portfolio.
AI models: they do the analysis, and they’re built in
What is a search fund?
A search fund is a vehicle through which one or two entrepreneurs, called searchers, look for a single established company to buy and run as its chief executive. In the traditional model, a group of investors funds the search and then decides whether to invest in the acquisition; in a self-funded search, the searcher pays for it.
What you tell yourself in month eight
“Eight months in, and I can’t tell if I’m searching badly.”
According to IESE (October 2026), searchers who end up buying sign their first LOI around month 6; those who don’t, around month 8.
“I said no to this one in March. Why?”
The owner calls you back, and your note from then is somewhere else.
“What do I tell investors this quarter?”
You’ve got calls, lists and letters, and no view of how the funnel is doing.
“My thesis has changed three times and nobody wrote it down, including me.”
March’s companies were ruled out on a thesis that’s no longer yours.
“We closed. Who remembers what we saw in due diligence?”
On day one, the list of what needed fixing is in a folder.
AI models read the CIM. FounderFold runs the search.
| AI models | AI models + FounderFold | |
|---|---|---|
| Reading and screening | They read documents and screen deals on the criteria you give them. | When you add the company’s record, you note your conclusion under “What you already know”, with its link. |
| The candidate list | They work on the spreadsheets and files you give them, and search the web with citations. | Each company has its record, with a fixed number and status: “New, undecided”, “Under study”, “On hold” or “Ruled out”. |
| The one I already turned down | Memory of your chats, and search across past ones. | It stays “Ruled out” with its reason and date, and the record is never deleted. |
| Your thesis | Project instructions, which you edit as they change. | Your criteria and reasons to discard belong to the portfolio (“How it’s scored” and “Reasons to discard”), and each change raises its version. |
| The week | A scheduled task with connectors, which you describe and maintain. | The Monday review by FounderFold’s CEO, its AI agent of your records: what moved and 3 actions at most. |
| The investor update | They write what you ask from what you pass them. | “Download report”: a PDF with the funnel, calculated from the records. “Schedule this report” sends it for you. |
Indicative comparison with features offered by some AI models and general assistants as of October 30, 2026; they vary by provider and plan, and change quickly. The column with FounderFold only lists what already works in the panel.
Early access is by invitation.
An uncomfortable question
If your lead investor asks today how the search is going, what do you show them?
- How many have you really looked at?
- Why did you drop the last ten?
- Is your thesis still the one you sold them?
How FounderFold runs a search
The search as one project
The search has its own reference lifecycle: search capital, sourcing, letter of intent, due diligence and financing, close, and transition.
Candidates through evaluation stages
Each candidate company moves through screening, first analysis, due diligence, committee and close, with the reason it stopped.
Criteria agreed before you look
Sector, size, geography and type of company are written down with your investors, and every candidate is checked against them. That is not investment advice.
Kill criteria with dates
No letter of intent after twelve months of search capital is a criterion written in advance, so the decision does not drift.
Investors kept informed
The board report and custom reports show the funnel, the candidates and the decisions, calculated from the records.
The company after the close
Once you buy, the company enters as a running project, with a diagnosis and an improvement plan for the transition.
A searcher’s first eighteen months
Illustrative data — Fictional company, ideas and figures, shown for illustration only.
A fictional traditional search: one searcher in Porto, search capital from twelve investors and criteria for an industrial services company.
Agree the criteria
Sector, revenue range, geography and owner profile are written down and agreed with the investors before the first call.
Run the funnel
In nine months, 340 companies that fit the criteria are contacted and 26 owners agree to talk. Each company that stops keeps its reason.
Evaluate the candidates
Five candidates reach first analysis. For each one, the agents return points to check against the agreed criteria.
Sign a letter of intent
In month eleven one owner signs a letter of intent, inside the twelve-month kill criterion written at the start.
Close and take over
Due diligence and financing close in month seventeen. The company enters as a running project, with a transition plan and its starting figures.
Eighteen months in, the investors have seen the whole funnel, from 340 companies to one, and the searcher runs the company on the same record.
Run your search on one record, from the first call to the company you run.
Early access is by invitation.
How a search starts, in four steps
Write the criteria
Sector, size, geography and owner profile, agreed with your investors.
Set the deadlines
Kill criteria with dates for each stage of the search.
Run the funnel
Companies screened with their reason. Import your company lists, including exports from databases such as SABI or Orbis, when your license allows it.
Report to the investors
The board report, calculated from the records, every quarter.
Halden MutualNew lines 2027Board report · Q3 2026Weighted value per year rose to €3.1M; two decisions need the board.
- Weighted value per year
- €3.1Mbetween €1.4M and €5.6M
- Recurring revenue
- €7,000a month; 1 of 4 projects with data
- Ideas discarded this quarter
- 57Top reason: competition
Decisions requested
- Pass the gate for Event cancellation for small venues (Exploration → Pilot).
- Decide on the kill criterion on “Watch” for Landlord rent guarantee.
Cutoff Sep 30, 2026 · Portfolio New lines 2027 · Page 3 of 24
Why searches drift
Most searchers do not run out of companies. They run out of time and capital before the funnel produces a letter of intent.
A funnel nobody measures
Hundreds of owners contacted, dozens of calls, and no clear view of where companies drop out or why.
Criteria that loosen with time
After a year of searching, a company outside the criteria starts to look acceptable, and nobody wrote the line down in advance.
Investors updated by email
Every quarter the searcher rebuilds the same update for the investors, from notes, calls and spreadsheets.
The reference lifecycle of a search
The stages of the search-and-acquisition lifecycle, from raising search capital to the transition in the company you buy.
Projects by stage
Lifecycle: new business line in an existing company · Halden Mutual
Illustrative data — Fictional company, ideas and figures, shown for illustration only.- Milestone done
- In progress
- Pending
- Gate
- No risk
- Watch
- Triggered
- Search kill criterion
- No letter of intent after 12 months of search capital Example criterion from the reference search lifecycle. Illustrative data.
What a searcher can do with it
Search criteria
Sector, size, geography and owner profile, agreed with the investors and kept on record.
Sourcing funnel
Companies contacted and conversations held, counted at each stage, with the reason each company stopped.
Candidate evaluation
Points to check against your criteria for each candidate company.
Investor updates
The board report and custom reports, built from the records, for every investor update.
Transition and first year
The company you buy as a running project, with a diagnosis and an improvement plan.
What your search gets
A funnel you can read
Where companies drop out, and why, in figures your investors can follow.
Criteria that hold
The line was written before the search began, so a tired month does not move it.
A deadline you set yourself
Kill criteria with dates tell you when the search needs a decision, not a hope.
Updates without rebuilding
Investor reports come from the records, so the searcher spends the time searching.
Questions searchers ask about FounderFold
Does FounderFold tell me which company to buy?
With third-party deals, the agents return points to check against your own thesis; they never say whether to invest. It is not investment advice. You and your investors decide.
Does it work for self-funded searches?
Yes. The lifecycle is the same; in a self-funded search, the search capital stage records your own budget instead of the investors’ capital.
Can the funnel show where companies drop out?
Yes. The funnel counts the companies contacted and the conversations held at each stage, with the reason each company stopped.
How does a searcher get access, and what does it cost?
For search funds, FounderFold is in early access by invitation, and pricing is not published. Request access with a few lines about your search. FounderFold is software and does not provide investment services.
My CRM and an AI model are enough. Why change?
You don’t have to. The CRM keeps the contacts and the model does the analysis. FounderFold keeps the decision on each company, your thesis with its version and the investor report.
Do I have to connect or pay separately for an AI model?
No. The AI comes with your FounderFold membership, with a monthly AI limit in plain sight, and there’s nothing to connect. If you already use a model, keep using it for your own work.
I’m paying from my search capital. What does it cost?
For search funds, FounderFold is in early access by invitation, and pricing is not published. Tell us in a few lines how your search works and we’ll talk about what fits a team of one or two.
Does the Explorer tell me which company to buy?
It searches and shows what it finds, with each fact’s source. Weighing and deciding is up to you and your investors: it never says which company to buy.
Can my investors follow the search?
Yes. Give them access to the search’s portfolio as readers: they follow the funnel and the reports without changing anything.
What happens to the search project after the close?
It closes when the transition ends, with its retrospective, and the company you bought carries on as a running project with its own lifecycle.
Is our data used to train AI models?
No. FounderFold uses AI under commercial terms in which, by default, inputs and outputs are not used to train models. Each request carries only your organization’s data.
Who decides in a search using FounderFold
You decide, with your investors, and each decision stays on record with its evidence. The agents return points to check against your criteria and never say which company to buy. FounderFold is software: it is not investment advice and it does not provide investment services.
Search fund or private equity?
A search fund is one or two people buying a single company to run themselves. A private equity firm runs many deals and several portfolio companies at once, with a deal team and a committee.
Run your search on one record, from the first call to the company you run.
Early access is by invitation.
Tell us who you are and what you want to solve. If it is a fit, we create your organization and send the owner an invitation.Leave your details and we’ll email you when the Founder membership opens. Nothing to pay now.Leave your details if you are interested in deal analysis and we will email you about it. Signing up does not give you access to any service or commit you to anything.
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