Reach stealth-mode founders before they announce
Help a venture fund find people who recently left a role to start a company, often listed as "stealth", and reach them before a round is announced.
- Free API key
- No credit card
- Run your sample
Uses POST /person_role_search/, POST /person_detail_lookup/, POST /person_contacts_lookup/personal_emails/ · People search API reference
What it costs: 5 credits per email found. A mobile or email lookup that returns nothing costs 0 credits. Enrichment and search are charged per request: credit pricing.
How the data flows
POST /person_role_search/ - new founders
- true
- personal email
- priya.f@example.net
- name
- Priya Fixture
- title
- Founder & CEO
- mobile
- +44 20 7946 0958
- work email
- priya@samplestartup.example
Steps
- Search new founder roles with
POST /person_role_search/(role_title: founder OR co-founder,person_headline: stealth,role_position_start_datein the last 90 days) - Read prior roles and education with
POST /person_detail_lookup/to score fit with the fund thesis - Fetch a personal email via
POST /person_contacts_lookup/personal_emails/, since a stealth company has no domain yet - Add the founder to the fund's CRM with the source and a suggested partner
import json, os, requests BASE = "https://api-v2.forager.ai/api/{account_id}/datastorage" HEADERS = {"X-API-KEY": os.environ["FORAGER_KEY"]} body = json.load(open("request.json")) # request fields: see the API reference # 1. Search new founder roles with POST /person_role_search/ (role_title: # founder OR co-founder, person_headline: stealth, role_position_start_date # in the last 90 days) r1 = requests.post(f"{BASE}/person_role_search/", headers=HEADERS, json=body) # 2. Read prior roles and education with POST /person_detail_lookup/ to # score fit with the fund thesis r2 = requests.post(f"{BASE}/person_detail_lookup/", headers=HEADERS, json=body) # 3. Fetch a personal email via POST # /person_contacts_lookup/personal_emails/, since a stealth company has no # domain yet r3 = requests.post(f"{BASE}/person_contacts_lookup/personal_emails/", headers=HEADERS, json=body) # 4. Add the founder to the fund's CRM with the source and a suggested # partner
# 1. POST /person_role_search/ curl -X POST \ https://api-v2.forager.ai/api/{account_id}/datastorage/person_role_search/ \ -H "X-API-KEY: $FORAGER_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d @request.json # 2. POST /person_detail_lookup/ curl -X POST \ https://api-v2.forager.ai/api/{account_id}/datastorage/person_detail_lookup/ \ -H "X-API-KEY: $FORAGER_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d @request.json # 3. POST /person_contacts_lookup/personal_emails/ curl -X POST \ https://api-v2.forager.ai/api/{account_id}/datastorage/person_contacts_lookup/personal_emails/ \ -H "X-API-KEY: $FORAGER_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d @request.json
Run it yourself: People search API reference
- Free API key
- No credit card
- Run your sample
Inputs and outputs
| Inputs | Outputs |
|---|---|
| fund thesis keywords | new founders |
| target employers (optional) | prior employers and education |
personal email |
Questions about this recipe
How do VCs find founders who are still in stealth?
Search new founder roles with POST /person_role_search/ (role_title: founder OR co-founder, person_headline: stealth, role_position_start_date in the last 90 days). Fetch a personal email via POST /person_contacts_lookup/personal_emails/, since a stealth company has no domain yet.
What does it cost to reach stealth-mode founders before they announce?
People search: people search 1 credit per request and people search: role details 1 credit per request, charged whether or not data comes back. Person enrichment: 1 credit per request, charged whether or not data comes back. Personal emails: 5 credits per personal email found, and a personal email lookup that finds nothing costs 0 credits. Growth's 8,250 monthly credits cover 1,650 emails or 8,250 search requests, or a mix. Self-serve plans are Starter, Growth, Pro and Scale. See plans and prices
What do I need to run this recipe, and what comes back?
You send fund thesis keywords and target employers (optional). You get back new founders, personal email and prior employers and education, as JSON. You also need a Forager API key, which comes with a free account.
How can I reach a founder whose company has no website yet?
Search new founder roles with POST /person_role_search/ (role_title: founder OR co-founder, person_headline: stealth, role_position_start_date in the last 90 days). Fetch a personal email via POST /person_contacts_lookup/personal_emails/, since a stealth company has no domain yet.
Is there a free way to try Forager on this workflow?
Yes. Create a free account at app.forager.ai: it comes with $5 in free credits and an API key, and there is no credit card to sign up. Run it on records you already know, or book a demo and send us a list: we run it and show you what we find.
When should I run this workflow?
Weekly sourcing run, or a notable operator at a target company leaves their role. Partners meet founders at the start, before the company is visible in funding databases.
Which Forager products does this recipe use?
People search, person enrichment and personal emails. People search: find the people who hold a role at target companies, filtered by title, seniority, department and location. Person enrichment: a full professional profile for a person from a LinkedIn URL, email or phone: experience, education, skills and contact channels.
How accurate is Forager data?
The test that counts is your own: send a list of profiles you care about. We run it and show you what we find, number by number, so you can measure hit rate and connect rate yourself.
How do I find stealth startup founders?
Search new founder roles with POST /person_role_search/ (role_title: founder OR co-founder, person_headline: stealth, role_position_start_date in the last 90 days). Fetch a personal email via POST /person_contacts_lookup/personal_emails/, since a stealth company has no domain yet.
Which tools can run this workflow?
Native in Clay and Zapier, partner-built in Deepline and Cargo and called through the API from your own code, Make and n8n. Or call the endpoints in the steps above from your own code with one API key.
How many steps is this workflow?
4 steps: search new founder roles with POST /person_role_search/ (role_title: founder OR co-founder, person_headline: stealth, role_position_start_date in the last 90 days), read prior roles and education with POST /person_detail_lookup/ to score fit with the fund thesis, fetch a personal email via POST /person_contacts_lookup/personal_emails/, since a stealth company has no domain yet and add the founder to the fund's CRM with the source and a suggested partner.
Is there a contract or minimum commitment?
No contract to start: a free account comes with $5 in credits. To keep using Forager, choose a monthly or yearly plan. Monthly plans cancel anytime and unused credits roll over; yearly plans grant all credits upfront and cost 10% less. Larger volumes are agreed with our team.
Written answers are not available right now. The matching pages above still help, or book a demo and ask the team.
- $5 free credits
- No credit card
- Run your sample
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