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Getting started
FounderDB finds people who just launched a product and helps you start real conversations with them. Set it up in this order — each step takes a few minutes, and the later ones depend on the earlier ones.
The simple setup
| Domain | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Receive replies | yourdomain.com | replies to anything@yourdomain.com |
| Send outreach | mail.yourdomain.com | from hello@mail.yourdomain.com |
One domain, two roles: Cloudflare catches replies on the domain itself, and a mail. subdomain does the sending, so its reputation is kept separate.
1. Catch replies on your domain
Replies are the point of outreach, so set this up first. We recommend Cloudflare Email Routing on your domain (replies go to anything@yourdomain.com): replies reach FounderDB (so sequences stop and your inbox updates) and a copy lands in your normal mailbox.
Easiest: ask your AI agent (e.g. Claude Code connected to FounderDB) to "set up Cloudflare receiving for my FounderDB replies" — it deploys everything with wrangler after a few questions. → Automatic setup, or set it up by hand.
2. Add a sending mailbox
Pick one — or use both:
| Best for | Daily volume | |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon SES | Outreach at volume from your own domain | Starts at 50/day, grows to 300/day over a week (after SES production access) |
| Gmail | A few personal, high-trust emails a day | Starts at 10/day, +5/day up to 50 |
FounderDB spreads sends across every verified mailbox and never sends outside your sequence's send window.
3. Add your AI key (optional, recommended)
Outreach → Settings → AI for replies. With a key, sequences can write AI emails, classify replies by intent, and the inbox suggests replies. Without one, use templates.
4. Create your sequence
A sequence is the plan: which emails go out, how long to wait, and what happens when someone replies. Start from the recommended sequence — a first email, two follow-ups a week apart, and every reply handed to you. Mark it default so new contacts go into it.
5. Add contacts
- Automatically: turn on Launch auto-enroll on the Webhooks page. Every 30 minutes, makers from new launches with a safe-to-send email are added as contacts and enrolled in your default sequence.
- From past launches: Outreach → Contacts → Import previous data.
- One at a time: enroll a contact from their page, or ask your AI agent to.
6. Connect Claude (optional)
Let Claude triage replies, draft and send answers, plan your sequence with you, and keep your to-dos — every action labelled as the agent's.
7. Work the inbox
Outreach → Inbox → To do lists every conversation that needs you: new replies, failed sends, broken mailboxes. Reply, add a note, mark it done or snooze it.