Privacy Policy

Welcome to the website (including all websites to which this Privacy Policy is posted, the “Site”) operated by Founding teams Management, LLC and its Affiliates (defined below) (collectively “Founding teams,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). This Site provides, among other things, information about our people, organization and application process, tools for applicants to submit applications and go through the application process, a platform for applying to work at Founding teams startups, a free online course on how to start a company, our blog, and profiles of founders and companies that have participated in the Founding teams program (collectively, the “Services”).

For deletion requests, please contact us at https://foundingteams.ai/. See Section 4 for additional information regarding deletion of Personal Information (defined below).

For California residents (defined below), please click here for additional disclosures, our Notice at Collection and Use of Personal Information, and a description of your rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (with any implementing regulations, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), and as may be amended from time to time, “CCPA”).

This Privacy Policy explains what Personal Information we collect, how we use and disclose that data, and your choices concerning our data practices. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and forms part of our Terms of Use.

Before using the Services or submitting any Personal Information to Founding teams, please review this Privacy Policy carefully and contact us if you have any questions. By using the Services, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not access the Site or otherwise use the Services.

We collect information that alone or in combination with other information in our possession could be used to identify you (“Personal Information”).

• Personal Information You Provide. We may collect Personal Information when you create an account, subscribe to our newsletter, sign up for an event, or communicate with us as follows:
• Hacker News Information: If you create a Hacker News profile, we may collect your Hacker News ID, email address (only if you choose to provide it) and any information you choose to provide in the “about” field (“HN Information”).
• Event Information: If you attend one of our events, or if you are an investor and you sign up to attend Demo Day, you will be asked to provide Personal Information, including your name, the name and a description of your company or your fund, your contact information and other information that we will use to manage and administer your participation in our various events (“Event Information”).
• Work at a Startup Information: If you sign up for our Work at a Startup program (“WaaS”), we will collect your name, email, LinkedIn profile, and other information relevant to the type of job you are seeking, such as your location, eligibility to work in the United States, and your work experience, education, and skills (“WaaS Information”).
• Startup School Information: If you sign up for our Startup School program (“SUS”), we will collect your name, email, location (city and country), LinkedIn profile, gender (only if you choose to provide it), education, area of expertise, company information, and cofounder email addresses (“SUS Information”).
• Application Information: When a company submits an application to Founding teams, we will collect Personal Information relating to the founders of the applicant company, such as names, email addresses, telephone numbers, education, employment history, and the city/country in which they live. We will also collect information about the applicant company, such as the name, industry, and status of the company (together with Personal Information relating to founder(s) and any other information submitted in connection with the application process, “Application Information”).
• Communication Information: When you subscribe to our newsletter or otherwise communicate with us, we may collect your name, contact information, and the contents of any messages you send (“Communication Information”).
• Personal Information We Collect Through Our Social Media Pages. We have pages on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn (“Social Media Pages”). When you interact with our Social Media Pages, we will collect Personal Information that you elect to provide to us, such as your contact details (“Social Information”). In addition, the companies that host our Social Media Pages may provide us with aggregate information and analytics regarding the use of our Social Media Pages.
• Personal Information We Receive Automatically From Your Use of the Site. When you visit, use, and interact with the Site, we may receive certain information about your visit, use, or interactions (“Technical Information”). For example, we may monitor the number of people that visit the Site, peak hours of visits, which page(s) are visited, the domains our visitors come from (e.g., google.com, yahoo.com, etc.), and which browsers people use to access the Services (e.g., Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, etc.), broad geographical information, and navigation pattern. In particular, Technical Information includes the following, which is created and automatically logged in our systems:
• Log data: Log data is information that your browser automatically sends whenever you visit the Site. Log data includes your Internet Protocol address, browser type and settings, the date and time of your request, and how you interacted with the Site.
• Cookies: Please see the “Cookies” section below to learn more about how we use cookies.
• Device information: Includes name of the device, operating system, and browser you are using. Information collected may depend on the type of device you use and its settings.
• Usage Information: We collect information about how you use our Services, such as the types of content that you view or engage with, the features you use, the actions you take, and the time, frequency, and duration of your activities.
• Session replay information: Session replay information includes Device Information, broad geographical information, and the contents of your screen.
• Cookies: We use cookies to operate and administer our Site, gather usage data on our Site, and improve your experience on it. A “cookie” is a piece of information sent to your browser by a website you visit. Cookies can be stored on your computer for different periods of time. Some cookies expire after a certain amount of time, or upon logging out (session cookies), others survive after your browser is closed until a defined expiration date set in the cookie (as determined by the third party placing it), and help recognize your computer when you open your browser and browse the Internet again (persistent cookies). For more details on cookies please visit All About Cookies.
• Session Replay: We use PostHog for session replay on SUS to help us analyze how users use the Site and to improve user experience.
• Analytics: Among other service providers, we use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyze how users use the Site and enhance your experience when you use the Site. For more information on how Google uses this data, go to www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. We also use New Relic, Amplitude, and PostHog.
• Online Tracking and Do Not Track Signals: We and our third party service providers may use cookies or other tracking technologies to collect information about your browsing activities over time and across different websites following your use of the Site. Our Site currently does not respond to “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) signals and operates as described in this Privacy Policy whether or not a DNT signal is received. If we do respond to DNT signals in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy to describe how we do so.
• Your Choices. On most web browsers, you will find a “help” section on the toolbar. Please refer to this section for information on how to receive a notification when you are receiving a new cookie and how to turn cookies off. Please see the links below for guidance on how to modify your web browser’s settings on the most popular browsers:
  • Internet Explorer
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Google Chrome
  • Apple Safari
• Please note that if you limit the ability of websites to set cookies, you may be unable to access certain parts of the Site and you may not be able to benefit from the full functionality of the Site.
• Advertising networks may use cookies to collect Personal Information. Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of targeted advertising. If you would like to find out more information, please visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s online resources at http://www.networkadvertising.org and follow the opt-out instructions there.
• If you access the Site on your mobile device, you may not be able to control tracking technologies through the settings.

We may use Personal Information for the following purposes:

• To provide and administer access to the Services;
• To grant access to and track attendance at our events;
• To respond to your inquiries, comments, feedback, or questions;
• To send administrative information to you, for example, information regarding the Services and changes to our terms, conditions, and policies;
• To analyze how you interact with our Services;
• To maintain and improve the content and functionality of the Services;
• To develop new programs and services;
• To prevent fraud, criminal activity, or misuses of our Services, and to ensure the security of our IT systems, architecture, and networks;
• To ensure compliance with sanctions regulations; and
• To comply with legal obligations and legal process and to protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or that of our Affiliates, you, or other third parties.

Aggregated Information. We may aggregate Personal Information and use the aggregated information to analyze the effectiveness of our Services, to improve and add features to our Services, and for other similar purposes. In addition, from time to time, we may analyze the general behavior and characteristics of users of our Services and share aggregated information like general user statistics with prospective business partners. We may collect aggregated information through the Services, through cookies, and through other means described in this Privacy Policy.

The Services may contain links to other websites not operated or controlled by Y Combinator, including social media services (“Third Party Sites”). The information that you disclose to Third Party Sites will be governed by the specific privacy policies and terms of service of the Third Party Sites and not by this Privacy Policy. By providing these links we do not imply that we endorse or have reviewed these sites. Please contact the Third Party Sites directly for information on their privacy practices and policies.

You use the Services at your own risk. We implement commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and organizational measures designed to protect Personal Information both online and offline from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no Internet or email transmission is ever fully secure or error free. In particular, email sent to or from us may not be secure. Therefore, you should take special care in deciding what information you send to us via the Services or email. Please keep this in mind when disclosing any Personal Information to Y Combinator via the Internet. In addition, we are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Services, or third party websites.

By using our Services, you understand and acknowledge that your Personal Information will be transferred from your location to our facilities and servers in the United States.

The Services and our business may change from time to time. As a result we may change this Privacy Policy at any time. When we do, we will post an updated version on this page, unless another type of notice is required by the applicable law. By continuing to use our Services or providing us with Personal Information after we have posted an updated Privacy Policy, or notified you by other means if applicable, you consent to the revised Privacy Policy and practices described in it.

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or information practices or need to access this Privacy Policy in a different format, please feel free to contact the legal team at our designated request address here. For a downloadable copy of our Privacy Policy, please click here.