Your story.
Your choices.

1. What happens in this form

When you select Submit application, your answers and consent choices are saved to Founder Mode’s application register for casting and production review, together with your agreement to the Submission Media Release and your optional investor-sharing choice. A success confirmation means the record was saved. No email from your own email app is required. Authorized administrators may view the register and download spreadsheet copies for this work.

Your private edit link allows anyone holding it to view and update your application. Keep it confidential, including the downloaded receipt, and contact us if it is lost or shared. We store a one-way hash of the access key, not the key itself. Application IDs alone do not provide access to private answers.

The website’s hosting and service providers may process technical information needed to operate and secure the site, such as network addresses, request logs and browser information. Administrative sign-in uses the hosting platform’s ChatGPT sign-in service. Applicants do not need an account to apply. External links operate under their own privacy notices.

2. Information we receive

When you submit your online application, Founder Mode receives the contents you chose to send: contact information, school information, startup details, co-founder contacts you have permission to share, business and founder information, optional uploaded files and links, your release acceptance and optional sharing choice. We also record the version and server timestamp of the accepted terms and release. Further casting communications, videos and interviews may add information if you choose to continue.

Do not send passwords, API keys, bank records, government identifiers, confidential customer information or personal material you do not have permission to disclose. Please redact unnecessary personal and commercially sensitive details. Optional does not mean anonymous: a linked video, deck or profile can identify you or others.

3. How we use your application and story

Submitting confirms your application and authorizes Founder Mode to use it to assess and administer the open call, contact you, verify relevant statements, arrange casting and participation, and handle requests and disputes. Depending on applicable law and the particular purpose, processing may involve steps you request before participation, legitimate interests in conducting casting and producing founder stories, legal obligations, or consent where required. We must have an applicable lawful basis; accepting the terms alone does not make every use lawful.

Storytelling and media. Before submitting, you must affirmatively accept the Application Terms and Submission Media Release. Within that release, Founder Mode may edit and use your submitted team introduction, business overview, authorized public identity and newly submitted materials to develop, produce, publish and promote Founder Mode content across websites, social media, streaming or broadcast, press and campaign channels. Basic contact names and other private contact fields, private edit keys, confidential information, sensitive personal information, third-party rights you cannot grant, and historical private fields/files are excluded from public use under this release. Current story and business answers you review and resubmit are covered. A guardian’s contact name is not automatically a child’s public identity. See the Submission Media Release for the precise scope, editing rights and limits.

Further filming and participation require separate agreements before those activities. Where a particular public use requires additional consent or permissions under applicable law, including guardian authorization, we will obtain them before that use. A submission release is not an unrestricted permission to use all personal data or a waiver of statutory rights.

Investor introductions. The separate optional checkbox permits sharing application contacts, answers, links and uploads with investors in Founder Mode’s affiliated partner network to consider investment opportunities. We record the choice, version and time. A past request to be contacted about introductions does not become this broader permission. Declining has no effect on casting consideration. Marketing is separate; this form does not subscribe you to promotional emails.

4. Who may receive information

Authorized Founder Mode casting and production personnel and service providers may access information needed for their roles, including hosting, database storage, communications, spreadsheet review and translation services where used. Administrative exports and raw files are restricted; anyone holding your private edit link can access your application, so keep it confidential.

Production and distribution partners may receive covered story materials for the specific Founder Mode uses permitted by the submission release. Authorized excerpts or productions may be available to the public on the media channels described above. Your raw application register, private contacts and edit credentials are not published through that release. Files remain in private storage; storage protection does not mean that permitted material cannot be used in an editorial production. Earlier private materials require separate clearance.

If you opt in, investors in the affiliated partner network may receive the application information covered by the separate investor permission to assess opportunities. Your private edit link and another founder’s separate application are outside that permission. Partner benefit applications follow separate instructions; requesting credits does not permit unrestricted sharing of your complete application with sponsors.

Information may also be disclosed when required by applicable law or reasonably necessary to protect rights, investigate misuse or address valid legal requests. We do not promise an application is covered by a nondisclosure agreement. Do not include trade secrets, passwords, confidential customer records or other information you lack permission to submit.

5. International handling and retention

Founder Mode is a global search, and application information may be handled in the United States and other locations where relevant personnel and service providers operate. Applicable safeguards must be used where legally required for international transfers. Contact us for information about processing relevant to your application.

We retain application and casting information for as long as reasonably necessary to conduct the relevant selection, manage participation and permissions, handle requests or disputes, and satisfy applicable legal obligations. We periodically assess what is still needed and delete or de-identify information when those purposes no longer justify retention. Optional marketing data is kept until you unsubscribe or it is no longer needed, subject to records needed to honor your choice.

Published media, permission records and materials subject to participation or investment agreements may have different retention needs. Requests are assessed under applicable law and the relevant agreements. Deletion requests are handled across retained records and relevant service providers, subject to applicable obligations and limits.

6. Your choices and rights

Submitting confirms your application and authorizes the review and the specifically described media uses in the Application Terms and Submission Media Release. The application is not withdrawable from that review process as a general application option, subject to applicable law. You may update answers and materials before the application deadline. This rule does not limit statutory privacy rights or withdrawal rights where personal-data processing relies on consent. Optional investor-sharing and marketing choices remain separate.

Contact info@foundermodetv.com to ask for access, correction, deletion, restriction or portability where applicable; to object to relevant processing; or to withdraw optional consent for future processing. Identify the startup and contact email so we can locate the records. We may need proportionate verification before acting on a request.

You can turn off investor-sharing permission through your private edit link and submit the update, or contact us, to stop future sharing under that permission. Withdrawal does not undo earlier lawful sharing; contact us about applicable requests concerning information already received by an investor. Consent withdrawal does not invalidate earlier lawful processing. Some information may need to be retained for legal, contractual or rights-management reasons; we will explain applicable limits. You may also raise concerns with the data protection authority where you live if applicable. Unsubscribing from news does not cancel an active application.

7. Young founders

Founders of all ages use the same form. A parent or guardian must authorize the application where legally required. For founders under 13, the parent or guardian should complete and submit that same form using the adult’s own contact details, focusing on the project without unnecessary identifying details or recordings of the child. We do not require a separate guardian contact route.

A child’s own checkbox does not replace verifiable parental consent where required. If we learn that a child’s personal information was received without the authorization required by applicable law, we will stop the relevant processing and arrange appropriate authorization or deletion. Contact us if you believe such information has been submitted. Additional permissions and guardian verification will be obtained before filming or public use where required. We do not treat a checkbox alone as verified parental authorization.

8. Other services and changes

Microsoft, HubSpot, email providers and other linked services have their own privacy notices and terms. Opening a link may disclose technical information to that service. Please review its notices before providing information or activating an offer.

This notice describes online application storage, private edit links and authorized spreadsheet exports. Selected files upload when you submit; an interrupted upload may leave your application saved while some files still need to be retried. Payment details, if you upgrade, are handled by the connected payment provider; this application form does not collect card numbers. A charge or Premium activation requires a successful, verified payment. Material changes that require further notice or consent will be addressed before the new processing occurs.