Fc Apply

Let's build your application. I'll walk you through each question. For each one, I'll draft an answer, then we'll refine it together.

Step 2: The Application (Question by Question)

For EACH question below, follow this exact flow:

Flow per Question:

1. Show the question — display the application question
2. Show what they're really asking — the subtext behind the question (what separates good from great answers)
3. Draft an answer — based on codebase context, write a strong first draft
4. Critique it — point out weaknesses an evaluator would flag
5. Ask the founder — via AskUserQuestion, present options:
   • "Use this draft" — move on
   • "I want to edit it" — let them provide their version, then critique that
   • "This is wrong, let me explain" — they correct your understanding, you redraft
6. Lock it in — save the final answer

The Questions:

Q1: Company name

• Just confirm it. Move fast.

Q2: Company URL (if any)

• Check if there's a deployed URL in the codebase (Vercel, Netlify, custom domain in config)

Q3: One-line description of your company (max 70 characters)

• This is THE hardest question. Most founders can't do it.
• What they want: Could your mom understand this in one read? No jargon. No "platform." No "leveraging AI to..."
• The test: Read it to someone who knows nothing about tech. Do they get it?
• Draft 3 options. Let the founder pick and refine.

Q4: What does your company do? (max 200 words)

• What they want: A smart friend should understand after reading this. If they don't, you've failed.
• Structure: [Who has the problem] + [what the problem is] + [what you built] + [why it works]
• No buzzwords. No "revolutionary." No "disruptive."

Q5: Where do you live? Where is the company based?

• Quick answer. Move on.

Q6: Founders (name, role, background, equity split)

• From git history, identify contributors
• Ask the founder to fill in backgrounds
• What evaluators care about: Technical co-founder? Full-time? Equal-ish equity split? (Unequal splits are a red flag)

Q7: How long have the founders known each other?

• Why this matters: Long relationship = less likely to break up. Accelerators have seen too many co-founder divorces.

Q8: Progress — What have you built? How many users/customers?

• The most important question after the one-liner.
• What they want: Evidence you can execute. Code > slides. Users > plans. Revenue > users.
• Pull from codebase: what's actually built (routes, features, integrations)
• Pull from git: how long have they been building, how fast
• Red flags to avoid: "We plan to..." "We're about to..." "We will..."
• Green flags: "We have X users." "We're doing $Y/month." "We shipped Z last week."

Q9: How will you make money? (Revenue model)

• What they want: You've thought about it. It doesn't have to be perfect. But "we'll figure it out later" = reject.
• Look for: Stripe integration, pricing page, subscription code, billing models in the codebase

Q10: How much money have you raised? From whom?

• Ask the founder directly.

Q11: Have you incorporated?

• Ask directly. Delaware C-Corp is standard for US startups.

Q12: Why did you pick this idea to work on?

• What they want: Founder-market fit. Personal pain > market research. Domain expertise > MBA analysis.
• The magic answer structure: "I experienced [specific problem] when I was [specific context]. I tried [existing solutions] and they all [specific failure]. So I built [your solution]."

Q13: What domain expertise do you have?

• Related to Q12. What makes YOU specifically the right person?

Q14: What do you understand about your business that other companies don't?

• This is the "secret" question. PG's famous question.
• What they want: A non-obvious insight. Something counterintuitive. Something earned, not researched.
• Bad answers: "We use AI." "The market is big." "No one is doing this."
• Good answers: Specific, surprising, earned through direct experience.

Q15: Who are your competitors? What do you understand that they don't?

• What they want: You know the landscape deeply. You respect competitors but see a gap they don't.
• Red flag: "We have no competitors." (Everything has competitors. If you think otherwise, you don't understand the market.)

Q16: How will you get users? (Growth strategy)

• What they want: A specific, believable plan. Not "social media marketing."
• Good: "I'm going to personally email 100 [specific people] this week because [reason]."
• Good: "Our users share because [specific mechanism in the product]."

Q17: 1-minute founder video

• Generate a video script (see below)

Step 3: The Founder Video

The 1-minute video is often the deciding factor. Generate:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              1-MINUTE FOUNDER VIDEO SCRIPT                    │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                              │
│  0:00-0:05  INTRO                                            │
│  "Hi, I'm [name]. I'm building [company]."                   │
│                                                              │
│  0:05-0:15  THE PROBLEM                                      │
│  "[Specific problem]. [Who has it]. [Why it matters]."       │
│                                                              │
│  0:15-0:30  THE SOLUTION + DEMO                              │
│  "[What we built]. Let me show you."                         │
│  [Screen share of the actual product working]                │
│                                                              │
│  0:30-0:40  TRACTION                                         │
│  "[What's happened since we launched]."                       │
│  "[Specific numbers]."                                        │
│                                                              │
│  0:40-0:50  WHY US                                           │
│  "[Why we're the right team]."                                │
│  "[What we know that others don't]."                          │
│                                                              │
│  0:50-1:00  THE ASK                                          │
│  "We're applying to [program] because [specific reason]."     │
│  "[What we'll accomplish in the program]."                    │
│                                                              │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  TIPS:                                                        │
│  - Look at the camera, not a script                          │
│  - Film in good lighting, quiet room                         │
│  - Show the product (screen share > slides)                  │
│  - Energy matters. Be yourself but be excited.               │
│  - One take is fine. Don't over-produce it.                  │
│  - If you have co-founders, both should appear               │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Step 4: Final Application Output

After all questions are complete, write to application.md:

# Application — [Company Name]

### Submission-Ready Answers

[All finalized answers, formatted for copy-paste]

### Application Strength Assessment

Overall: X/10

Strongest answers: Q[X], Q[Y] — because [reason]
Weakest answers: Q[X], Q[Y] — because [reason]

### Pre-Interview Prep

If you get an interview, they will ask about:
1. [weakness #1 in your application]
2. [the metric you cited — be ready to go deeper]
3. [your growth plan — have specifics]

Run `/fc-interview` to practice.

### Video Script

[The 1-minute script from Step 3]

Style Rules

1. One question at a time. Never show all questions at once. The interactive flow is the whole point.
2. Draft first, then ask. Don't make the founder stare at a blank page. Give them something to react to.
3. Be the critic. For every draft, point out what an evaluator would challenge. Then fix it.
4. Concrete > abstract. "We have 47 paying customers at $29/mo" beats "We have strong traction."
5. The one-liner is everything. Spend extra time on Q3. Get it perfect.