Resources for early-stage founders, growth-stage startups, and investors.

Founders and startup builders. Early stage through growth stage. Both work. We're writing for early stage founders and filling a gap for founders going from one to beyond. We may specify relevant audience(s) for some modules based on our sense of utility and stage. Ultimately we trust founder + builder judgment on when you're ready to tackle different topics. The old series financing playbook matters less now anyway. Venture has evolved, and seed-strapping is here to stay.

You can find startup advice everywhere online. Most of it's free. A lot of it is good. Our mission here: giving core startup concepts a responsible innovation layer. You might need to demonstrate responsible practices because of your sector. Or customer concerns. Or regulatory scrutiny. Or maybe you're just wired to build responsibly from the start. Complexity and tradeoffs spare no one. You might review these modules as you're embarking on a new phase or aggressively pursuing a milestone. For growth stage founders, come back to modules to help you adapt and uplevel your approach with new perspectives. Tl;dr: these modules are best for curious founders + startup builders looking to make smarter decisions, faster.

We take a “yes, and” approach. Zero infrastructure exists to help startups build responsibly to survive and win. ESG frameworks aren't built for this. They're designed for public companies, not startups trying to move fast and survive. We're creating new resources that extend existing advice by building infrastructure with and for founders + startups. Most startup advice either ignores the world we're actually building in or ignores responsible innovation altogether. Advice and resources from outside tech often ignore the commercial pressures you're fighting to overcome. We don't. We may not always get that balance right. But, that's why we're building in public. And that's why we love our community of founders, startup builders, + investors who share their candid feedback.

People keep asking us what responsible innovation actually means. So we brought together startup operators, investors, + policy leaders. We decided to distill learnings from RIL’s network, research, our own individual experiences, and patterns we've observed. The stakes are too high for each startup to reinvent the wheel on these topics. Focus your energy on building a great startup. We're building infrastructure you can use on the hard questions many avoid. We believe you can win responsibly. The current status quo for building startups is outmoded in the emerging era of applied AI. We want founders to build for human flourishing. These aren't contradictory goals – despite what everyone tells you.

Use our thinking as a starting point for your own. Our charter includes founders who've built and scaled companies responsibly, investors who've backed hundreds of startups, and leaders who’ve navigated complex business and societal tradeoffs. We're not asking you to take this on faith. We're building in public precisely because the best insights come from founders actually applying these concepts and sharing what works.

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We'll learn from our community and critics. We'll update based on what works and what doesn't. We'll admit when we're wrong. This isn't orthodoxy. It's shared learning. The best founders already think this way. We're just making it easier for everyone else. We're building infrastructure that gets better with use and adoption. The more founders who use these frameworks, the stronger the ecosystem becomes.

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False. Speed matters. It's an essential virtue in building a great business. Speed plus intention beats speed alone. The startups that survive long term embed responsibility from the start. The ones that bolt it on later pay more.. It's inefficient and shortsighted to treat responsibility as compliance.. And you look naive. Building well isn't about perfection. Nor is it about zeroing out risk. It's about excellence in execution in a time of peak ambiguity.

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This content is for general information only. It's not legal advice, investment advice, or professional consultation. Your situation is unique. Consult licensed professionals for specific guidance on legal, financial, or regulatory matters affecting your startup.