1.
The Problem
Founders outside major tech hubs lack consistent access to early testers, feedback loops, and investor visibility. Seedr solves that by creating a public, gamified path for founders to iteratively validate their startups and prove traction - city by city.
2.
The Hook
Seedr makes iteration visible and valuable. Every startup post is versioned with an iteration level (Idea → Iteration → MVP → Investor-Ready). Testers provide structured feedback; founders publish improved versions and climb the ladder. The resulting public progression becomes a credibility signal for testers, the community, and investors.
3.
Research
We surveyed early-stage founders and testers across online communities like Reddit, Indie Hackers, and LinkedIn. The findings showed entrepreneurs are eager for structured feedback loops and testers are motivated by gamification and early access perks.
Entrepreneurs need validation at every stage, not just investor readiness. Testers want recognition and rewards for contributing. By combining these, Seedr bridges the gap between creators and the ecosystem they need to thrive.
4.
User Personas
Name: David Kim
Age: 29 years old
Location: Newark, NJ
Occupation: Early-stage founder
David is a driven early-stage founder who grew up in a small town without access to the investor networks or startup accelerators found in Silicon Valley. Despite building innovative ideas, he struggles to validate them beyond his immediate circle. He spends time on Reddit, Indie Hackers, and LinkedIn to find communities but feels these spaces don’t provide structured pathways toward traction. He wants a clear, gamified system to move his idea from concept to investor-ready.
Goals:
▶︎ Validate ideas with real user feedback
▶︎ Iterate quickly and show progress over time
▶︎ Learn about funding, legal, and growth resources
Pain Points:
▶︎ No access to high-level investors or mentors locally
▶︎ Limited exposure to testers beyond friends and family
▶︎ Difficulty signaling progress and legitimacy to outsiders
Seedr Value:
▶︎ Provides a platform to post startups and track iteration levels
▶︎ Attracts testers eager to give structured feedback
▶︎ Unlocks resources once milestones are achieved
Name: Samantha Lee
Age: 23 years old
Location: Austin, TX
Occupation: College Student
Samantha is curious and tech-savvy. She loves being the first to discover new products and enjoys engaging with early-stage startups. She is motivated by gamification and social recognition — badges, points, and exclusive perks excite her. She sees platforms like Product Hunt as interesting but passive. Samantha wants a place where her feedback actually matters and where she can directly influence the growth of new ventures while building her own credibility.
Goals:
▶︎ Explore and test exciting new startups before they launch
▶︎ Gain recognition and rewards for contributing valuable feedback
▶︎ Connect with innovative entrepreneurs in her network
Pain Points:
▶︎ Feels that most feedback is ignored or disappears on other platforms
▶︎ Hard to know which startups are worth her time
▶︎ Wants perks or tangible benefits for being an early tester/user
Seedr Value:
▶︎ Rewards testers with badges, points, and "Top Tester" ranks
▶︎ Creates meaningful interactions between entrepreneurs and testers
▶︎ Provides exclusive perks for paid members when startups succeed
Name: Michael Johnson
Age: 45 years old
Location: San Francisco, CA
Occupation: Angel Investor
Michael is an angel investor who funds 5–10 early-stage startups each year. He spends time on AngelList and LinkedIn, but finds it difficult to separate noise from validated opportunities. He doesn’t have time to mentor every founder, but he’s always on the lookout for startups that have demonstrated real traction and iteration. He values clarity, progress tracking, and credibility when assessing opportunities.
Goals:
▶︎ Discover high-potential startups earlier than competitors
▶︎ Invest in founders who demonstrate resilience and iteration
▶︎ Save time by filtering startups by stage, sector, and readiness
Pain Points:
▶︎ Too much “idea-only” noise in existing platforms
▶︎ Limited visibility into a startup’s real iteration history
▶︎ Difficult to verify whether user traction is genuine
Seedr Value:
▶︎ Surfaces startups at “Investor-Ready” stage only after proven iterations
▶︎ Provides transparent iteration history and progress tracking
▶︎ Helps filter opportunities by industry, stage, and traction
5.
The Competition
Platform | Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunity |
Product Hunt | Excellent at generating exposure for new startups, giving founders immediate access to a wide audience of makers and early adopters. Its strength lies in its ability to drive hype and traffic at launch. | The platform is largely static, meaning products are featured once and then quickly fade from visibility. Feedback is shallow and usually limited to likes or short comments, with no way to track a startup’s ongoing iterations or growth. | Seedr can position itself as the platform that tracks evolution over time. By showing a startup’s journey and offering structured feedback loops, Seedr fills the gap Product Hunt leaves after the initial launch moment. |
Indie Hackers | Has a strong community where entrepreneurs share experiences, learn from each other, and gain motivation through transparency and open dialogue. | Feedback is informal, often scattered across discussions, and not tied to clear stages of growth. Discovery by location, stage, or industry is weak, and visibility depends heavily on community engagement. | Seedr can build on this by offering structured categorization (location, industry, stage) and by tying feedback directly to iteration and startup progression, while still fostering a community spirit. |
AngelList | The gold standard for connecting startups with investors and talent. It offers credibility, access to capital, and recruitment opportunities for companies that already have traction. | It is designed for startups that are already beyond the earliest stages. Idea-stage founders cannot gain much traction there, and the platform lacks tools for showcasing iteration history or early validation. | Seedr complements AngelList by preparing startups before they reach that stage. By helping founders validate and iterate, Seedr builds credibility that makes them more appealing once they move to AngelList. |
Kickstarter | Provides clear market validation because consumers pledge money to support projects. It creates strong proof of demand and offers a built-in marketing push through campaigns. | Campaigns are resource-intensive and risky. They require heavy investment in marketing and content before launch. Once live, there is little room for iteration or pivoting, as creators must deliver on their promises. | Seedr reduces this risk by enabling early validation before big campaigns. Founders can test ideas, iterate, and build traction, ensuring they launch crowdfunding projects with stronger foundations. |
Seedr | Integrates discovery, iteration, and validation into one ecosystem. Its level-based system shows a startup’s progress over time, while dual audiences of entrepreneurs and testers ensure continuous feedback. Discovery filters by stage, location, and category improve visibility. The “Investor-Ready” badge motivates founders and signals credibility. | Challenges include scaling a large and engaged tester base, ensuring high-quality feedback instead of noise, and convincing investors to trust the platform’s progression system. | Seedr has the opportunity to become the go-to validation platform for early-stage ventures. With partnerships, gamified feedback, and resources for entrepreneurs, it can bridge the gap between idea-stage founders and the investor ecosystem. |
6.
Business Model
Seedr is a freemium marketplace that monetizes through founder subscriptions, tester premium memberships, investor marketplace fees, and a professional services marketplace. The playing field is gamified to encourage iteration and signal validation; the business captures value from both sides - founders who want growth and testers who want influence.
Freemium for Founders (Free)
For early foudners with an idea they want to test. This plan features 1 startup profile with unlimited tester feedback.
Founder Pro ($29/mo Growth Plan → $79/mo Investor Ready upgrade)
For foounders ready to iterate, scale, and pitch to investors. This plan features up to 3 startup profiles for the Growth Plan or unlimited profiles for the Investor Ready Plan, iteration history, feedback insights, tester demographics, priority visibility in discovery filters, and access to Seedr's full resource library.
Tester Freemium (Explorers) (Free)
For curious people who want to explore new startups and share their opinions. This plan features the ability to browse and discover all startups, give unlimited feedback, comments, and survey answers, participate in gamified leaderboards, and build a personal watchlist of startups to follow.
Tester Premium (Influencers) ($7.99/mo)
For super testers who want to shape the next big startup and be rewarded for it. Features everything in Tester Freemium plus weighted feedback (counts more in founder dashboards), early access perks like exclusive discounts, event invites, beta testing invites, and startup merch, publictop tester badge (gamification) and recognition in community, and access to exclusive forums and direct Q&As with founders.
Investor Freemium (Angel Investors and VCs) (Free)
For Angel Investors and VC firms. This plan gives high-level investors a free account where they can filter, search, and contact founders who have reached "Investor-Ready" status.
7.
Journey Map
We mapped the two-sided user journeys, built discovery funnels, and defined linear iteration mechanics so founders and testers always know the next action. Structured questionnaires ensure usable, comparable feedback sessions that roll up into analytics for founders.
David Kim - Journey Map
Stage | Actions | Thoughts |
Awareness | Learns about Seedr in a founder Slack group. | “Finally, a place where small-town entrepreneurs like me can get noticed.” |
Onboarding | Creates a Seedr account, fills out startup questionnaire, uploads sketches. | “This is way more structured than just sharing ideas on social media.” |
Engagement | Reads tester comments, completes surveys, iterates on design. | “These insights are gold. I wouldn’t have thought of this myself.” |
Growth | Reposts with new iteration, sees startup level increase. | “I’m moving up and am closer to being taken seriously.” |
Long-Term | Upgrades to Founder Pro, reaches Investor Ready, gets investor contact. | Upgrades to Founder Pro, reaches Investor Ready, gets investor contact. |
Samantha Lee - Journey Map
Stage | Actions | Thoughts |
Awareness | Finds Seedr mentioned in r/startups and signs up to browse. | “This looks like a fun way to discover ideas before they blow up.” |
Onboarding | Creates a Tester Freemium profile, follows a few startups she likes. | “This looks like a fun way to discover ideas before they blow up.” |
Engagement | Leaves comments, answers surveys, sees her rank on leaderboard grow. | “My feedback actually matters to founders. This is motivating.” |
Growth | Upgrades to Tester Premium for perks and early access. | “Now I get real benefits like discounts, beta invites, and more credibility.” |
Long-Term | Becomes a Top Tester, shares her Seedr badge on LinkedIn. | “This boosts my personal brand while helping startups. Win-win.” |
Michael Johnson - Journey Map
Stage | Actions | Thoughts |
Awareness | Sees a Seedr startup marked as Investor Ready while browsing networks. | “Interesting, this platform already filters the startups that are worth my time.” |
Onboarding | Creates an investor profile, sets preferences for industries and regions. | “Good, I can target startups that align with my portfolio strategy.” |
Engagement | Reviews detailed startup submissions, checks iteration history, downloads pitch decks. | “I like that I can see how much progress they’ve made, it shows discipline.” |
Growth | Contacts a founder through Seedr, requests a meeting, compares with other Investor Ready startups. | “This is a streamlined deal flow. I’m saving weeks of screening.” |
Long-Term | Invests in a Seedr startup, monitors ongoing iterations via the platform. | “Seedr helps me keep track of my investments’ progress without chasing updates.” |
8.
User Flows
Founder User Flow
Sign up → Create founder profile → Enter startup details (industry, stage, problem/solution) → Upload pitch deck & visuals → Select subscription tier (Freemium or Founder Pro) → Startup appears in Seedr discovery feed → Receive feedback from testers → Iterate on profile & pitch based on feedback → Progress through Seedr levels (Bronze → Silver → Gold) → Unlock visibility to investors at Level 3 → Engage directly with interested investors → Grow community of testers, refine pitch, and attract funding opportunities.
Tester User Flow
Sign up → Create tester profile (interests, industries, expertise level) → Select subscription tier (Freemium or Premium Tester) → Browse discovery feed of startups → Interact with founders by leaving structured feedback → Earn credibility points/badges based on contributions → Access deeper analytics & exclusive startups with Premium → Follow favorite startups’ progress over time → Build reputation as a trusted early-stage tester → Connect with founders directly for ongoing collaboration.
9.
Wireframes & Mockups
10.
Mood Board & Branding
11.
Growth & Scalability
Seedr’s growth strategy focuses on building a two-sided network effect: founders bring ideas and iteration history, while engaged testers provide high-quality feedback and social proof. We seed local communities and university programs, convert active testers into paid “Top Tester” members, and upsell founder teams to Founder Pro as they iterate toward investor readiness. Over time, recurring revenue from founders and premium testers, combined with sponsored placements and investor subscriptions, creates a predictable monetization funnel.
12.
Investor Pitch Deck
11.
Reflections
Building Seedr highlighted the importance of a stable network of resources for founders. Not all startup founders live in major tech-bubble cities like Silicon Valley, Chicago, or New York City. Seedr takes the startup hot-spots and puts them in the palm of your hand, allowing you, as a founder or a tester, to have an impact on the future of technology and startups.
Key Takeaways
▶︎ Iteration badges create visible credibility and progress
▶︎ Structured feedback yields actionable metrics
▶︎ Gamification accelerates engagement but needs careful balancing