Hey all,

So a couple weeks ago, I posted a collection of different grants/funding opportunities with deadlines and all that (https://github.com/sakofchit/fund-my-project).

But as I was going through all these different grants/funding opportunities, I’ve realized that a lot of them ask similar, if not the same questions.

So I wanted to build a platform that simplifies the process of applying to grants and funding opportunities. Rather than having to apply to each grant/opportunity individually, you could apply with just one application. In order for this to work, there would need to be individual funders/grants registered on the site. (There are no funders at the moment, but I’m optimistic)

Searching for grants the fit your niche can be tough, and I genuinely think that this could help with the discoverability of various grants as well.

I wrote more about this here: https://funderbuddy.net/blog

There’s still a lot of work that still needs to be done. Let me know what you think!

Also feel free to follow @funderbuddy on Twitter for updates! (https://twitter.com/funderbuddy) and feel free to join the discord server (https://discord.gg/4j8zqrZ)

Targeting small-time private funders seems like the niche to go for when you are recruiting them. Getting the funder/researcher flywheel started will be slow/difficult at first.

I can't imagine the NSF/NIH/DOE engaging with something like this -- they have all the money, and they are bound by federal law, so they set all the rules.

Yep you're right––I probably should've specified this. I think larger/gov't-operated grants probably won't use this, but I'm hoping smaller and private funders like you suggested would be the way to go

Thanks for the advice!

Is this useful for people outside USA?

Hopefully in the near future! I'd definitely like to have funders outside of the US on the platform––in fact quite a few of the smaller grants I've been in touch with do support international applicants.

I think you've got a great idea here.

Why?

To explain why, let's have a look at another recent post to HN: "First 100 Days Of Dio" (Programming Language): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22828111

What's the deal with that post?

Well, as is all too common these days(!), someone wrote another programming language and posted a link to their site on HN...

But but!

Hear me out...

You see, YC (or any other large, or even small investor) won't touch such a new language inventor with a 10-foot pole.

But that doesn't mean that I (and other) HN users might not be interested in contributing a small amount of money to them, maybe $5-$100.

Now, what would sweeten that deal on the other side -- would be to get stock, even if the shares are unofficial or even virtual, even if the company hasn't been formed yet. If you can't call that "stock" for legal reasons, then call it "an agreement which will result in the actual awarding of actual shares when/if a company is formed in the future".

Now you've got a platform for microtransactions.

Oh sure, perhaps nothing ever happens with the language, perhaps the guy quits or goes under, but you are completely up-front and transparent with your users, informing them that precisely that sort of thing could happen...

Even better would be to take 100 such fledgling companies that only need $5-$100 from a small amount of investors, and put them into a "bucket". That way, if 98 of them fail, 1 of them stalls, but 1 of them goes on to form a sucessful company, then everybody wins.

That's the way large institutionalized VC's invest. They're always making 12 bets, knowing that 11 will fail, 1 will break even, and 1 will succeed and make them their money back...

Why not bring those same ideas to a smaller market of "untouchables"?

?

I noticed you had a list of funding sources in your github. Maybe you could address part of chicken/egg problem by using those to seed your site. Maybe just submit on people's behalf, as long as it's clear what you're doing.

Might actually just do that first and then I could eventually migrate to this. Thanks for the idea!

> Funderbuddy is a community of over 1 funders

Yikes, you have a chicken and egg problem to solve.

Yep, mainly just posted here for exposure/validation before I spent more time reaching out to grants & organizations, etc.

I actually really appreciated the honesty, rather than hiding and pretending that you had a bunch of users. Refreshing!

It also makes me think of Michael Sebel's comment (paraphrasing) about how if you have $0 revenue or other metric" if it's zero, that should fk you in the face"

Keep up the honesty, our industry needs it!

Thank you! I never really understood why some sites fudge their numbers (other than for boosting one's ego)––makes it even more embarrassing when they get caught!

Dude, it isn't just fudging their numbers on their site. I've heard pitches (mostly in pitch comps) where presenters outright lie about usage numbers, revenue, and partnerships. I'm still shocked with the ease some people do this.

And they manage to get away with it?! That's just pathetic

Hi bro. Some weeks ago I. created this https://app.grants.world/, we can talk if you want, my mail is [email protected]

Cool! Sent you an email