# The Founder Playbook

> How FirstDegree runs a founder relationship — from first warm intro to their next company. Eight phases, every Chief named, every tool reality-checked.

URL: https://firstdegree.io/insights/founder-playbook

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May 30, 2026
We don't lead.
We open doors.
Most funds talk about what they invest in. Fewer can describe how a founder actually moves through their building — what gets promised, who picks up the phone, and what happens on day thirty when the welcome email has gone cold.
At FirstDegree the founder relationship is an operating system. Eight phases from first warm intro to their next company, every Chief named, every tool reality-checked, every gate honest about when we move on.
UNDERSTAND × SEE × BUILD × MOVE runs the whole way through.
Output
Gate before moving on
II · Cadence
## The rhythm. Engine 14 enforces it.
III · Tool Stack
## What we actually use.
In active daily use
From our portfolio
IV · Handoffs
## Where this connects to other FDOS playbooks.
V · The Test
## Every quarter. Four questions.
Four yeses → the model is real. Any no → Sam runs a recovery loop with the founder.
From the first warm intro to their next company — every stage is access we deliver or don't.
FDOS · Debbie · Founder Playbook · v1
If you're building
## Building something AI-native?
Every founder we back is introduced by someone we trust. If you were introduced, reply to the person who introduced you.

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FirstDegree — access-first investor in AI-native B2B companies at pre-seed and seed. https://firstdegree.io