.founder

1. Mission and purpose: The mission of .founder is to provide a namespace for the people who start things and the ecosystem built around them. Intended registrants include startup and business founders establishing personal and venture web presence; founder communities, networks and membership organizations; accelerators, venture firms and programs serving founders; media, podcasts and newsletters covering entrepreneurship; and founder-led brands that put the founder's story at the center of their identity. Intended users are the customers, investors, collaborators and audiences who engage with founders and their ventures worldwide. Following delegation, the applicant will, as registry operator of the .founder TLD, conduct a phased launch, implement all ICANN-required rights protection mechanisms, and distribute the TLD through ICANN-accredited registrars, supported by marketing and outreach to build awareness and adoption among the intended registrant and user groups. The TLD will be operated under a comprehensive DNS abuse prevention and mitigation framework covering the full range of abuse types, combining proactive and reactive controls. Abuse reports will be investigated and actioned in line with applicable policy requirements. The objective is to maintain .founder as a high-quality, trusted namespace for registrants and end users. 2. Sustainability: Company formation is a permanent economic activity: millions of new businesses are started worldwide every year, and each creates a founder for whom identity, storytelling and network access carry commercial value. The founder ecosystem of communities, investors, programs and media has grown into a durable structural layer of the economy, and founder-led branding is an established marketing practice across consumer and business sectors. Because the registrant base renews continuously with every new venture, demand for the namespace does not depend on any single industry or cycle.