TheShortlist^™

What we collect

Only what the work requires.

• Founder applications. Your name, email, LinkedIn, school, company name and URL, and the written application across our nine sections, along with the pitch deck or link you submit.
• Investor and partner submissions. Your name, email, firm, and the thesis details you share when a fund joins.
• Newsletter subscribers. The email address you give us to receive issues. Nothing more.
• Basic technical data. Standard server logs and spam-prevention signals generated when you submit a form, used to keep the forms working and free of abuse.

We do not ask for sensitive categories of personal information, and we ask you not to send them.

Why we collect it

To read you, route you, and reach you.

• To review your application against the rubric and write your feedback.
• To match founders to funds. When a founder makes The Shortlist, we share their application and deck with the partner fund whose thesis fits, as part of a warm introduction.
• To contact you about your application, your feedback, an introduction, or an issue of the newsletter you asked for.
• To keep the service running and secure, including preventing spam and abuse of the forms.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.

Your deck and your application

Who actually sees it.

Your application and deck are read by our team and used to generate your written feedback. To produce that feedback, the text of your application and your deck are processed by an AI model (Anthropic's Claude). They are not used to train that model.

Your deck is shared with a partner fund only when you make The Shortlist and there is a thesis match, as part of an introduction. It is never posted publicly, sold, or shared with funds that are not a match.

Who helps us handle it

The services behind the scenes.

We use a small set of established providers to run the site. Each receives only what it needs to do its job, and the data is processed in the United States.

• Netlify. Hosting, form intake, and storage of records.
• Resend. Sending email (your feedback, introductions, the newsletter).
• Anthropic (Claude). Processing application and deck text to draft feedback.
• Google reCAPTCHA and Akismet. Spam and abuse prevention on the forms.

How long we keep it

As long as it is useful to you, no longer than it should be.

We keep your application and records while they are relevant to reviewing you, introducing you, or letting you reapply. Newsletter emails are kept until you unsubscribe. You can ask us to delete your information at any time, and we will, unless we are required to keep something to meet a legal obligation.

Your rights

You stay in control of your information.

Wherever you live, and in particular if you are a California resident under the CCPA, you can:

• Ask what we hold about you and how it is used.
• Ask us to correct or delete your personal information.
• Opt out of the newsletter at any time, using the link in any issue or by emailing us.
• Be free from discrimination for exercising any of these rights.

To make any of these requests, email lauren@shortlistvc.com and we will take care of it.

A few more things

Cookies, age, and changes.

• Cookies. We use only what is needed to run the site and keep the forms secure, including spam-prevention tools that may set a cookie. We do not run advertising trackers.
• Age. The Shortlist is for founders and investors and is not directed to anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from minors.
• Changes. If this policy changes, we will update the date at the top. Material changes will be noted clearly.

Contact

Reach a person, not a queue.

Questions about your privacy, or any request above, go to lauren@shortlistvc.com. The Shortlist is based in Silicon Valley.