The Founders' Compass
Customized workspace for startup founders, product managers and indie builders.
Identify what’s worth building, validate demand with reliable evidence, and turn insights into products and go-to-market strategies.
Free to start. No equity.
169 Countries new founders incorporated from in 2025, a record Stripe Atlas, 2025
20% Of new startups charge their first customer within 30 days Stripe Atlas, 2025
~50% Of global venture funding went to AI startups in 2025 Crunchbase, 2025
1 in 4 YC W25 startups shipped with ~95% AI-written code Y Combinator, 2025
11.5 mo Median time for top AI startups to reach $1M ARR Stripe, 2025
43% Of failed startups cite poor product-market fit CB Insights, 2024
435M People may already earn from online gig work, up to 12% of the global workforce World Bank, 2023
Every Founder's Journey is Unique
But most founders run into the same problems. Here is each one, and the part of the platform that helps you work through it.
Scattered ideas without a clear direction
Know who it’s for
Who has the problem, what they need, and how to describe your offer to them.
You can't tell if anyone wants it
A clear decision on what to do next
Turn what customers tell you into a Build, Narrow, Pivot or Stop decision.
Deciding what your first version actually needs
A first version people can try
Build a working first version, share it with users and improve it with their feedback.
Too many tasks, not enough time
A plan for this week
Your next tasks, weekly progress and the evidence you’ve collected, in one place.
Decisions you can't make alone
Advice from people who’ve done it
Find experts in specific fields and get feedback on the decision in front of you.
Doing everything yourself
Someone to share the work
Find a cofounder whose skills fill the gaps in yours.
Fundraising without the right connections
Investors who back your stage and industry
Filter angels and VC partners by stage, from pre-seed to Series C+, and by industry.
Track Your Project Evolution
Creatives Takeover functions as an Accelerator-as-a-Service (AaaS): every user has full access to our methodology, tools and experts from day one, without giving up equity.
Our development cycle has 7 stages, each with a clear result, and a dashboard that always shows what to focus on next.
Stage 1: Identity
Most ideas start too broad: a product for everyone, solving a bit of everything. This stage narrows it down to four answers: What specific problem are you solving? Who has it badly enough to look for a fix? What makes your solution different? Why are you the right person to build it? Describe your idea in a sentence and you get a first profile of the customer it could serve, their main pains and how to describe your offer to them. You leave with one clear customer to focus on and a goal for what to prove next.
Everything you’re building, in one link.
- Your name
- @handle
- Photo
- Your project
- What you’re building
- Your posts
- What you’re looking for
Your founder number is permanent, given in the order people join.
Create your Founder ID
Free with account creation.
Creatives Takeover in a Nutshell
Pick up where you left off
Workspace
Every tool works on the same project, so nothing starts from a blank page. The customer profile you build shapes the demo people try, what they tell you feeds your Build, Narrow, Pivot or Stop decision, and that decision carries into your first version, your launch plan and your first sales.
Your dashboard keeps this week's tasks, your progress and the evidence you collect in one place, so you can see what is done and what comes next.
Explore a sample workspace
Answers that already know your project
Pulse
Pulse reads your project before you ask: your customer profile, demo, validation, product, go-to-market plan, traction, tasks and open assumptions. You don't have to explain your idea again every time you have a question.
It keeps the decisions and facts you choose to save, adds up to three notes a day on risks, opportunities or contradictions in your evidence, and shows the sources behind every answer. Pulse is included on every plan and its replies use no credits.
See Pulse in the sample workspace
Help from people, not just tools
People
You don't have to work everything out alone. Find experts in specific fields for feedback on the decision you're stuck on, and a cofounder whose skills fill the gaps in your team.
When you need hands, the service marketplace connects you with providers in sales, marketing, operations and tech support, on the same platform where you build, so you don't have to look for help elsewhere.
Show your progress with one link
Founder ID
Your Founder ID shows who you are, what you're building and how far you've come, at one short link: creatives-takeover.com/@you. Share it with customers, partners and investors instead of explaining your project from scratch.
Visitors can follow your updates and offer the help you ask for, from feedback to introductions. You choose what is public; your workspace stays private.
Get your Founder ID
Investors and programs, when you're ready
Insighta
When you have evidence, know who to talk to. VC Search and Accelerator Hunt let you filter investors and programs by industry, stage and check size, so you build a focused list instead of reaching out blind.
Insighta Test checks how ready you are and Pitch Deck Analyzer helps you sharpen your deck. On Pro, Find Your Angel connects you with angel investors backing early-stage founders. We can't promise investment; these tools help you prepare for the conversation.
Learn from other founders
Startup Pedia and Newspaper
Startup Pedia gives clear, practical answers to specific questions on customers, validation, MVPs, go-to-market and fundraising, each with a link to the tool that puts it into practice.
The Newspaper covers how real companies started: the decisions, the lessons and the mistakes, told as business cases rather than recycled advice.
Keep Every Startup in Your Cohort Moving
A 30-day pilot your team doesn’t have to run.
Bring 5 to 10 startups and one contact. We onboard the founders, keep every team moving week by week and hand you a report your funders can read.
Before day 1
We set up your cohort
Your dates, your check-in day, and two links: one for founders, one for your team.
Day 1
Founders join with consent
Each one sees exactly what your program will see before agreeing.
Weeks 1–4
The work, on one screen
Weekly plans, customer conversations and a two-minute update from every team.
Day 30
Your cohort report
Written from each startup’s recorded work, in your funder’s format if you share it.
Founders keep going
Their account, their work and the free plan stay theirs.
Book a pilot call
Practical answers for your next decision
Clear guides for defining your customer, testing demand, scoping a first version and planning go-to-market.
01 Validation & customer discovery
05 Metrics & progress tracking
06 Business models & pricing
07 Fundraising, equity & legal
08 Accelerators, incubators & mentors
Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): What It Is and How to Define One
An ideal customer profile (ICP) is a description of the type of customer who gets the most value from your product and is most likely to buy it first. For an early startup, it is the narrow segment with the sharpest pain that you can reach today.
Read the full entry
FAQs
Everything you need to know about Creatives Takeover.
What is Creatives Takeover?
Creatives Takeover is where founders and builders start a project and test whether people want it. You work out who your customer is, put a demo in front of real people and decide what to build next, with your tasks, evidence and progress in one workspace.
Mentors, service providers, cofounders and investors are on the same platform, and incubators and accelerators use it to run cohorts. The Rookie plan is free; some tools use monthly credits.
Is Creatives Takeover only for tech startups?
No. We built this for founders, indie hackers, and creative builders in general, not just traditional venture backed startups.
Freelancers, creators, consultants, educators, SaaS founders, service businesses, marketplace ideas, niche products, local businesses, and solo internet businesses can all use the platform.
I run an incubator or accelerator. How does it work for a cohort?
Start with a 30-day validation pilot for 5 to 10 startups. We set up your cohort, founders join with their own accounts and consent, and your team sees every startup's stage, interviews and check-ins on one screen.
We follow up with anyone who goes quiet, and at day 30 you get a cohort report written from their recorded work. Founders keep their account and the free plan afterwards.
See how the pilot works
How does the Startup Development Cycle work?
It splits the work of building a startup into seven stages: Identity, Prototyping, Validation, Building, Launch, Traction and Fundraising. Each stage has a clear goal and the tools for it, for example ICP Builder for Identity, PMF Lab for Validation, MVP Builder for Building, and GTM Strategist and Traction Engine for Launch and Traction.
You don't have to follow it in order. Start at the stage that matches where your project is; your dashboard keeps the tasks and progress for each one.
I don't have a clear business idea yet. Can this platform still help me?
Yes. You can start with a rough idea. Describe it in the box at the top of this page and ICP Builder gives you a first assessment of who it could serve, before you create an account.
You can also explore business directions in the Prompt Library, work through a first plan with BizMap AI, and read the Newspaper to see how others started.
Is my business idea safe?
Yes. Your workspace is private by default, and we take idea confidentiality seriously.
Your data is protected with secure infrastructure, encryption, and access controls. We do not sell your idea, share it with other founders, or expose your private startup work unless you choose to share something yourself. We also do not use your private startup data as public showcase material for other users.
And to calm the bigger fear: startups are rarely won because someone heard an idea. They are won through execution, customer understanding, speed, and consistency. Our job is to help you move faster while keeping your work private.
Will I be working on my own?
No. Besides the tools, the platform connects you with people: experts in specific fields, a cofounder marketplace, service providers for sales, marketing, operations and tech support, and Rooms and Launchpad to work next to other founders. On Pro, Find Your Angel connects you with angel investors.
Your Founder ID gives you a public page to share your progress with all of them.
What tools help me validate my startup idea?
ICP Builder helps you define exactly who you are building for and what pain points matter most. Demo Studio gives people something to try and collects the emails of those who want early access. PMF Lab turns what you learn into a Build, Narrow, Pivot or Stop decision. BizMap AI helps you challenge your assumptions through conversation and turn research into action.
Together, these tools help you move from 'this sounds interesting' to 'there is real evidence worth building on.'
How much does it cost and what do I get?
Rookie is free forever with 50 credits per month, 3 directory visits, and investor and accelerator browsing.
Starter is $9/month or $79/year with 100 credits per month. It adds the PROVE workspace, Email Templates, 5 VC profiles, 5 accelerator profiles, and 10 directory visits a month.
Rising is $29/month or $239/year with 250 credits per month. It adds the complete First Customer Proof workflow, full Prompt Library and exports, and expanded research quotas.
Pro is $65/month or $589/year with 600 credits per month. It adds Find Your Angel and unlimited VC profiles, accelerator profiles, and directory visits. Core founder tools are available across plans and use credits where noted. Mentor marketplace access is also shared; mentor services are priced and paid separately.
How can I discover investors and funding opportunities?
Insighta groups the fundraising tools.
VC Search lets you browse and filter venture capital firms by industry, stage, location and check size. Every plan can browse; opening full profiles takes a paid plan: 5 a month on Starter, 10 on Rising, unlimited on Pro. Accelerator Hunt works the same way.
Pitch Deck Analyzer and Insighta Test help you prepare before you reach out, and Find Your Angel, on Pro, connects you with angel investors. We can't promise investment; these tools help you find the right people and prepare for the conversation.
Who is behind Creatives Takeover and why should I trust the service?
We're a small team of founders, builders, and growth people.
Javier Alonso (Founder and CEO) started this to give people building their first business one place to start and test it. Domagoj Markota (Fractional CTO) leads the technical and AI work behind the platform. Daniela Hägg (Growth Associate) focuses on helping startups grow with clear priorities and better distribution.
We're Creatives Takeover Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (Company No. 16741912).
Got questions? Write to javier@creatives-takeover.com or admin@creatives-takeover.com anytime.