How to create your startup profile on Gust
TL;DR
Gust is a platform where founders build one Gust Company Profile and use it to apply to more than 750 angel investment groups and 300+ accelerators. The profile is free; the paid products are Gust Launch (incorporation and equity management, $450 to $3,500 a year) and Mission Control coaching ($99 a month). It suits founders raising a first angel round, US Delaware C-Corps above all.
What is Gust?
Gust began in 2004 as AngelSoft, software for angel groups, and relaunched as Gust in 2011. Its founder and chairman, David S. Rose, also founded New York Angels. Gust counts over 800,000 founders and runs three products:
- Gust Company Profile: your pitch, team, progress and cap table in one place, with sharing and access controls. Angel groups and VCs that take deal flow through Gust receive applications built from it.
- Gust Launch: online Delaware C-Corp incorporation, legal agreements, SAFEs, convertible notes, cap table and option plans.
- Gust Mission Control: weekly office hours with David S. Rose and the Gust team, expert sessions and a network of vetted lawyers, accountants and fractional CFOs.
Who should create a Gust profile?
- Founders preparing an angel round who want to reach several angel groups with one profile.
- Startups applying to accelerators that host their applications on Gust.
- US founders incorporating a Delaware C-Corp, who get incorporation, cap table and SAFEs in one tool.
- Skip Gust Launch if your company is registered outside the US: the plans are built around Delaware.
How much does Gust cost?
- Gust account and Company Profile: free. Gust.com invites founders to "Get started for free".
- Gust Launch Start: $450 a year. Delaware C-Corp incorporation, post-incorporation setup, founder stock with the 83(b) election, digital cap table, business banking and a Delaware registered agent.
- Gust Launch Accelerate: $1,250 a year. Adds founder IP assignment, unlimited NDAs, contractor and advisor agreements, SAFEs and convertible notes, cap table modeling and the startup legal network.
- Gust Launch Raise: $3,500 a year. Adds an option plan, a 409A valuation and option issuance.
- Mission Control: $99 a month.
- Application fees: some angel groups charge their own fee, shown on their application page. A group admin can waive it by inviting you.
How do you add your startup to Gust?
- Sign up at gust.com/founder_onboarding.
- Build your Company Profile with your pitch, team, progress and cap table, and set who sees what.
- Find a group or programme through the search at gust.com/search and open its profile page.
- Apply. Click Apply for Funding for an investor group, or Apply By with the deadline for a programme. Your profile fills the standard part of the form, and you answer the group's own questions.
- Track your applications on your Gust home page, where each one shows its date and a Manage Relationship link.
Tips to get more out of Gust
- Finish the profile before the first application. Every group reads the same profile, so a gap repeats everywhere.
- Ask a member of the angel group for an invitation: an invited founder skips the group's application fee.
- Update your progress every month while you raise, so groups reviewing you later see current numbers.
- Settle co-founder equity first with Gust's equity split tool at cofounders.gust.com, before you incorporate.
Our verdict
Gust is a sensible free step for founders raising from angels, provided the groups you target take applications there. The Launch plans make sense for US Delaware C-Corps and add little elsewhere. The DA of 72 belongs to gust.com; the profile works as an investor application, with access controls on what others see.
More options: see all startup directories and launch sites. Planning the launch around this listing? The Fe/male Switch startup game walks women founders from idea to first customers.