sales-skills/sales-arrfounder

Arrfounder Platform Help

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. What do you need help with?

   • A) Getting listed on Arrfounder (submission, Twitter/X bio setup)
   • B) Fixing a profile (not updating, not showing revenue, got rejected)
   • C) Comparing Arrfounder vs TrustMRR / StartuPage / FounderMRR
   • D) Using Arrfounder as a research / comp-check tool (before pricing a sale or fundraise)
   • E) Improving leaderboard position
   • F) Something else

2. Do you have an active Twitter/X presence with MRR/ARR in the bio already?

   • A) Yes, bio currently has MRR or ARR
   • B) Active Twitter/X but bio doesn't mention revenue
   • C) Limited Twitter/X activity
   • D) No Twitter/X

If the user's prompt already provides enough context, skip directly to the relevant step. Lead with your best-effort answer and ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the request maps to another skill, route with an explicit command:

| User's problem | Route to | |---|---| | Selling a verified-revenue startup with API-level proof | /sales-trustmrr {user's question} | | Full founder ecosystem with hiring / fundraising / co-founder / acquisition posts | /sales-startupage {user's question} | | Picking which marketplace to list on for acquisition | /sales-side-project-valuation {user's question} | | Listing on Acquire.com / Flippa / Empire Flippers | /sales-acquire, /sales-flippa, or /sales-side-project-valuation {user's question} | | Growing Twitter/X audience (not the listing itself) | /sales-audience-growth {user's question} | | Cross-directory launch for a product | /sales-launch-directory {user's question} |

Otherwise, answer from platform knowledge below.

Step 3 — Arrfounder platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full platform reference — submission flow, Twitter/X bio format, leaderboard mechanics, revenue tiers, positioning vs TrustMRR / StartuPage / FounderMRR, monetization, and known gaps.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section — don't dump the whole reference.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

You no longer need the platform guide — focus on the user's specific situation.

• Before submitting: Fix the Twitter/X bio first — MRR or ARR as a distinct string (e.g., $10k MRR, 100k ARR), then product name(s) and URL(s), then a short product description. Arrfounder's AI extracts from the bio, so if revenue isn't explicit there, you won't rank correctly. Submit via the Airtable form; approval is 24-48h.
• After approval: Keep the bio accurate — profiles auto-sync within hours of bio edits. A stale bio (e.g., an old MRR figure you haven't updated) is the #1 reason leaderboard position drifts wrong.
• What Arrfounder is not: Not a marketplace, not acquisition-grade verification, no payment-provider integration. If a buyer or investor asks for "verified" revenue in the forensic sense, Arrfounder's social-proof model will not satisfy due diligence — point them at TrustMRR (API-verified) or StartuPage (API-verified via Stripe / Lemon Squeezy / Polar / RevenueCat / Dodo).
• As a research tool: Arrfounder is best-in-class for "who's building what at $X MRR" browsing. Use the ARR-tier filters ($1K-$10K, $10K-$100K, $100K-$1M, $1M-$10M, $10M+) to build a comp set before pricing a sale, pitching investors, or benchmarking your stage. Follow the highest-ranked founders directly on Twitter/X — the data stream is the bio, not the Arrfounder profile.
• Stack it, don't replace: Arrfounder works well alongside an API-verified profile. Have StartuPage or TrustMRR for the "verified" proof a serious buyer/investor wants, and Arrfounder for the discoverability that comes with a curated leaderboard and founder interviews. They attract different audiences.

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there with today's date.

Gotchas

Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about submission criteria and monetization that may be outdated.

• Data is self-disclosed — not payment-provider-verified. Arrfounder's filter rules + AI extraction reads what founders put in their Twitter/X bios. There is no Stripe / Lemon Squeezy / Polar API integration. For forensic-grade verification, use TrustMRR or StartuPage. Arrfounder disclaims this openly in its About page.
• Twitter/X bio is the source of truth — not a form field. Revenue, products, and descriptions all pull from the bio. If you change your bio to remove MRR, your Arrfounder profile silently drifts out of the leaderboard. There is no in-platform edit flow to decouple profile data from the live bio.
• Submission requires both a bio with MRR/ARR and manual approval. Submitting via the Airtable form is only step one — a human reviews for "real founder, real product, active Twitter/X, transparent revenue sharing". Missing any of those 4 signals → rejection without detailed feedback.
• Approval is 24-48h but can be longer. If submission lacks a clearly formatted revenue figure in the bio, expect rejection or an ignored submission. Founders report the fastest approvals when MRR/ARR is the first or second element in the bio, not buried at the end.
• Free to join — but monetization via sponsor cards is opaque. Sponsor pricing isn't published on the site. Sponsor cards appear via UTM-tracked links (visible in HTML); to sponsor, contact @Folyd on Twitter/X directly. Founders can be listed for free indefinitely — there's no paid tier to boost ranking.
• No public API. /api and similar routes 404. Programmatic access requires scraping (against ToS) or direct contact. Third-party scrapers exist for similar platforms (TrustMRR has an Apify scraper) — none documented for Arrfounder as of April 2026.
• Leaderboard rank = ARR from bio only. If a founder has multiple startups with separate revenue, and only one is in their Twitter/X bio, the other doesn't count. Contrast with StartuPage's "Top Founders" which aggregates across connected sub-pages.
• Platform is small and solo-built — founded 2024 by @Folyd (same person behind Geddle). Feature set evolves; leaderboard tiers (currently Under $1K / $1K-$10K / $10K-$100K / $100K-$1M / $1M-$10M / $10M+) and the "Friends" section (Geddle, Aiberm, Meiguo) are subject to change. Check the site before quoting specifics.
• Verification is "social proof" — reputational, not cryptographic. The implicit check is "this is a real Twitter/X account the community recognizes" + "founders would be called out if they lied publicly". That's meaningful for peer discovery but won't survive an acquirer's CPA or a due-diligence checklist. Be upfront with buyers/investors about which proof you have.
• Rejected or stuck submissions have no retry UX. If your submission is silently ignored or rejected, the only recourse is to re-submit via Airtable (with a fixed bio) or DM @Folyd on Twitter/X. No ticket system or support email.

Related skills

• /sales-trustmrr — TrustMRR platform help (API-verified revenue marketplace by Marc Lou — Stripe / LemonSqueezy / Polar / Paddle / RevenueCat / Superwall / Creem / Dodo integrations, APA-only acquisition escrow). Use alongside Arrfounder when you actually want to sell or need payment-provider-grade proof.
• /sales-startupage — StartuPage platform help (founder-ecosystem with API-verified MRR via 5 providers + 4-track Opportunity marketplace). Heavier-weight alternative to Arrfounder when you want a full profile + hiring / fundraising / co-founder / acquisition posts, not just a directory listing.
• /sales-side-project-valuation — Side project valuation and marketplace selection. Arrfounder is a comp-check input (see who's building at your revenue tier before pricing), not a marketplace.
• /sales-indiehackers — Indie Hackers (unverified self-reported revenue community with a different audience — IH is forum-first, Arrfounder is directory-first).
• /sales-peerlist — Peerlist (professional builder profile with weekly Launchpad — overlaps on "founder profile" but doesn't surface revenue leaderboards).
• /sales-sideprojectors — SideProjectors (free peer-to-peer showcase, DR69 backlink) — useful alongside Arrfounder for project visibility.
• /sales-audience-growth — Grow Twitter/X audience (Arrfounder ranks rely partly on followers; growth work happens off Arrfounder).
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do

Examples

Example 1: Get listed on Arrfounder as a $3K MRR indie hacker

User says: "I run a $3K MRR SaaS, have 2K Twitter followers, want to get on Arrfounder. What do I do?" Skill does:

1. Check current Twitter/X bio — it needs a clean $3k MRR (or 36k ARR) string, product name, product URL, short description
2. Suggest bio format like: Building Foo — $3k MRR SaaS that does X. foo.com. Also building Bar.
3. Submit via the Airtable form (link from arrfounder.com/how-to-join)
4. Expect 24-48h approval; watch for the confirmation email
5. After approval, keep the bio accurate — updates auto-sync within hours
6. Note: Arrfounder listing is free and social-proof-based. For payment-provider-grade proof (investor / acquirer contexts), pair with StartuPage or TrustMRR. Result: Bio ready, submission in, expectations set on verification strength.

Example 2: Use Arrfounder to price a micro-SaaS sale

User says: "I'm about to list my $1.5K MRR SaaS on Acquire.com. Can I use Arrfounder to sanity-check my asking price?" Skill does:

1. Confirms Arrfounder is for discovery, not transactions — asking price data comes from actual listings on Acquire / Flippa / TrustMRR
2. Uses Arrfounder's $10K-$100K ARR tier (your ~$18K ARR falls here) to browse 10-15 peer founders, note their product types and public growth stories
3. Cross-references against TrustMRR's public listings (API-verified) and Acquire.com closed-deal data for actual multiples
4. Positions Arrfounder as one input (comp set by stage), not a pricing source
5. Routes the actual pricing question to /sales-side-project-valuation Result: User gets a useful peer-research step, then hands off to the valuation skill for the actual price.

Example 3: Compare Arrfounder vs TrustMRR for founder credibility

User says: "I want a public 'verified revenue' page. Should I use Arrfounder or TrustMRR?" Skill does:

1. Frames the axis: Arrfounder is social-proof-based (Twitter/X bio → AI extraction); TrustMRR is API-based (Stripe / LemonSqueezy / Polar / Paddle / RevenueCat / Superwall / Creem / Dodo read-only key)
2. Recommends TrustMRR if the audience is investors / acquirers / anyone who will demand provable numbers — cryptographic-ish proof matters there
3. Recommends Arrfounder if the audience is peer founders, Twitter followers, or community discovery — reach and curation matter more than forensic proof
4. Recommends both in parallel if the user wants maximum surface area — they attract overlapping-but-distinct audiences and are both free to list (TrustMRR's directory tier is free; boost tiers are optional)
5. Notes StartuPage as a third option that blends API verification with a founder ecosystem (hiring / fundraising / co-founder / acquisition posts) — read /sales-startupage if the user wants more than a directory entry. Result: Clear trade-off framing with a concrete recommendation based on audience.

Troubleshooting

Profile not showing my correct revenue

Symptom: Listed on Arrfounder but ARR/MRR on profile is stale, wrong, or missing Cause: Twitter/X bio changed, bio uses a format Arrfounder's AI doesn't pick up (e.g., "Making real money", "6 figures"), or the sync hasn't run yet Solution: Open your Twitter/X bio and verify MRR or ARR appears as a distinct numeric string with $ and k/m and MRR/ARR (e.g., $5k MRR, $120k ARR, $2M ARR). Remove fuzzy phrases. Save the bio and wait a few hours for the next sync. If still wrong after 24h, re-submit via the Airtable form with a note about the update, or DM @Folyd on Twitter/X. No in-platform edit UI exists.

Submission was never approved (or silently rejected)

Symptom: Submitted via Airtable days ago, no confirmation email, profile doesn't appear Cause: Usually one of: Twitter/X bio didn't have MRR/ARR in a parseable format, Twitter/X account looks inactive or low-quality, product URL doesn't resolve, submission failed the "real founder / real product" authenticity check Solution: Update the Twitter/X bio first — put MRR/ARR near the top with a product URL that resolves to a real product page. Make sure the Twitter/X account has recent activity (tweets in the last 30 days). Re-submit via the Airtable form. If still nothing after another 48h, DM @Folyd on Twitter/X briefly noting the product and revenue — the team is small and a direct nudge is the only fast path.

I need an API to pull leaderboard data programmatically

Symptom: Want to build a dashboard, comparison tool, or automation using Arrfounder data Cause: Arrfounder has no public API (as of April 2026) — only the public website Solution: The site renders server-side so data is visible in HTML. Scraping is technically feasible but violates ToS — do not build on it for anything public. The legitimate paths are: (1) DM @Folyd to request data access, (2) use TrustMRR's public API (tmrr_* Bearer token, 20 req/min, documented endpoints) if you can work with their ~100+ startup subset instead, (3) use FounderMRR which pulls from TrustMRR. For peer-research use cases a one-off manual browse is usually enough.