Still thinking about applying to speedrun? Read this first

speedrunOct 28, 2026

Still thinking about applying to speedrun? Read this first

Everything you need to know before the application window closes on November 1st

speedrun

Oct 28

This week’s big ideas

⏰The deadline for speedrun 008 applications is this Sunday. Apply here

👸Andrew Chen writes about new founder archetypes in the AI era

🤖Troy Kirwin sat down with Nexxa’s Philipp Wehn to talk about what makes a great repeat speedrun application

💀Lester Chen knows why your last launch flopped

Applications for SR008 close this Sunday, November 1st at 11:59pm Pacific. If you’re on the fence about applying, this is your nudge. Our investors are locked in spending hours in apps reviews every day.

Here are the most common questions our Operations team receives, and the answers to them.

“Did my application actually go through?”

This is the one we get the most. Once you submit (and only once you submit), you’ll get a confirmation email, and you can check where your application stands anytime on what we lovingly call the pizza tracker. Give it up to 24 hours to show up, or check manually via this link.

And if you got a confirmation but then got one of our “your app is almost done” reminders, don’t panic. If your app shows up in the pizza tracker, you’re in the system.

“Am I eligible?”

Probably. Here’s what people ask about most:

Age - Doesn’t matter as long as you’re 18+. The speedrun residency is for great founders of all age groups. If you’re a recent grad, however, you may want to also consider our Alpha Fellowship.
International founders - Founders have joined speedrun from 20+ countries. If you’re accepted, our Build in America program helps you get set up here, with immigration counsel, banking, housing, and a community of founders who’ve made the same move.
Sector - We’re an inception fund, and we invest across sectors in seed and pre-seed startups
Stage - Very early: an idea, a prototype, or an early product, with a team that’s already building. If you’ve already raised money, you can still apply. We aim to be the first check into your company, but we also accept early-stage companies that have already raised capital.
Team - You can apply to speedrun as a solo founder. That said, because scaling a startup is complex, we generally prefer teams with multiple founders who bring complementary skills, and an already assembled killer co-founder team goes a long way. Not incorporated yet? You can still apply. If we invest, we can help you set up your company.
If you’ve already participated in other startup programs - That’s fine, and we’d still love to hear from you.

If you’re not sure, apply. It’s fast, and we’d love to get to know you sooner rather than later.

“When will I hear back?”

If you apply during our priority applications window, you’ll typically hear back within a few weeks. If yours catches our attention, we’ll reach out to request a video or set up an interview with one of our investing partners. If it’s a fit, we move fast, from reference checks and follow-up calls to an offer letter.

Fair warning, though: if you wait for the last-minute rush to submit, it’ll probably take us longer to get to you. So submit early if you can.

“Should I upload a video?”

New this time: there’s an optional video upload right in the application. It almost always helps. And polish isn’t what we’re grading for. Rather, we just want you to show us who you are and what you’re building.

“What should go in my deck?”

We’re looking for what makes you special. We want to know about your earned secrets, things you understand about your chosen market that other people don’t. And we want to see evidence that you know how to ship. Traction with customers goes a long way too.

Include visuals in the deck that cannot be properly conveyed in the application fields. Namely, traction charts, product visuals, competitive landscape, market mapping, etc. A deck should always have a team slide. At the end of the day, pre-seed/seed rounds are still mostly about the team.

“I was rejected before. Can I apply again?”

Yes, and please do. speedrun is extremely selective. Recent residencies have had 70 to 80 companies, and fewer than 0.4% of applicants are accepted, which means we don’t get to work with a lot of really incredible founders. Some of the founders we’re proudest to back applied more than once before getting in. We aren’t able to re-review a team within the same application window, and because we receive so many applications, we’re not able to give individual feedback. We’ve shared what our investors look for here, and we hope it helps if you apply again.

If you’ve made progress since your last application, we love to see it.

The techy stuff

I’m not getting my login or verification code. This is usually a short system delay, which can be exacerbated by increased traffic nearer to deadlines. Give it 24 hours, check spam, and then check your status page. If none of that works, shoot us an email at [email protected].

I need to fix something after submitting. you can email meaningful traction updates, a fresh deck, or a demo to [email protected]. If you applied with the wrong email address, we can’t change it on an existing application, so submit a new one with the right address and send a quick note to [email protected] so we know which one to review.

Last thing

Applications for SR008 close this Sunday, November 1st at 11:59pm Pacific. Don’t be the founder hitting submit 30 seconds before the deadline. We hope to hear from you soon. You can apply to speedrun on our website.

That’s it for this week!

Have other questions about applying to speedrun? Reply and let us know. And for more weekly dives into the world of early-stage startups, subscribe below.

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