Frequently asked questions

Editorial control sits with the named bylines — Hadley Tomkins, Priya Anand-Wells, and a collective “Editorial Team” for collaborative pieces. Full bios are on the contributors page.

Operating costs are covered out of pocket today. We do not sell sponsored content, do not accept pay-to-be-ranked, and do not run programmatic ads. If we run a low-volume newsletter sponsorship slot in the future, the slot will be clearly marked and disclosed in our editorial guidelines before it goes live.

Email editorial@founderverticals.com with a candidate pool, a proposed methodology, and a list of public artifacts that support the pitch. We respond within two weeks if we are running the piece. Pitch guidelines are on the contact page.

Not by asking. Inclusion follows the published methodology. We do not edit rankings on request from the people being ranked. If you believe a list missed you, you can write to editorial@founderverticals.com with a candidacy note for the next revision — but a note will not move you onto a list, only the methodology will.

Sign up at /newsletter/ for the monthly digest. We also publish RSS at /feed.xml and JSON Feed at /feed.json. Both are free, both go out the moment a list ships.

Occasionally. Most pieces are by named staff. Guest pieces are run only when the guest has direct, demonstrable knowledge of the subject and is willing to attach a real name. We do not run ghostwritten contributions. Pitch through editorial@founderverticals.com.

Because dozens of other publications already do, and because funding is a lagging indicator of operator quality. Our editorial bias is toward shipped product and customer reliance. Where a funding event is load-bearing to understanding a subject, we mention it. We do not rank by it.

Short quotations with attribution and a link are welcome. Full-text republication is allowed under a Creative Commons BY-ND license — attribute to the byline and the publication, link the original, and do not modify the content. Translations and adaptations: write to editorial@founderverticals.com.

Write to corrections@founderverticals.com with the specific claim and the evidence. We do not run anonymous corrections. We read every email, and we revisit lists when the underlying facts are demonstrably wrong.

At least quarterly. Updates are dated in the list header and logged on the corrections and updates page. The methodology does not change between updates — only the candidates.

Because each byline is real, and real bylines take time to onboard. We would rather grow slowly than dilute the byline. If you want to write under your own name on this site, pitch a list.

A small interactive tool at /build/ that lets you pick ten subjects from our research pool and generate a personal listicle. The selection saves to your browser, exports as JSON, and is shareable via a URL. It is not an editorial product — it is a research toy. We are interested in what people build with it.

Yes. Every list page has a “Save” button. Saved lists live at /reading-list/ and are stored in your browser only — we don't see them. Clear your browser data and the list goes with it.

editorial@founderverticals.com. For press, press@founderverticals.com. For corrections, corrections@founderverticals.com. The same answers in long form are on the contact page.