How do intros actually work once I see a ranked advisor?
When you spot an advisor on the ranked pipeline at /match, you trigger the intro from the founder side — there is a single button that fires the request, and we handle the rest behind the scenes. The flow runs through /api/intros on our side, which confirms the advisor exists, persists the intro request, and emails both you and the advisor with the same shared summary (your company, sector, stage, and the optional founder note you included in the request).
If your deal is above the passing score on the founder side, we also provision a private deal room at the same time — both sides get a unique link and the room carries the rank score as context for the conversation. You stay in control of the note and the preferred channel (email, phone, or LinkedIn); the platform never adds a middle layer between the message and the meeting.
Read the full scoring breakdown on /how-it-works, or jump straight to /match once your deal is live.
What happens after I sign up — on the founder side and the advisor side?
On the founder side, submitting the form at /intake lands you on the pending confirmation page (Founder Free by default, or Founder Pro if you came in via /intake?plan=pro). Scoring runs in the background; we email you the moment your five-dimension DealMatch score is ready. After that, deals above the passing threshold list on the public discovery page at /discovery and on the investor-side ranked pipeline at /match.
On the advisor side, applying through /join (or /join?plan=advisor) routes you to the matching pending confirmation page. We then store your firm, sector, geography, check-size range, and written thesis — the same fields the matching engine scores against on the founder side.
There is no manual approval gate beyond intake validation. The platform itself decides routing: above-threshold advisors see above-threshold founders, and the same score is visible on both sides.
Is my deal information confidential, and who actually sees it?
Deal information is shared only with the specific advisor you approve an intro to. Nothing in the platform broadcasts your financials, deck, or narrative to the broader network — the matched advisor sees a summary because you initiated the intro, not because of any default visibility. This is consistent with our background on /about: the platform produces scorecards and routing; the round itself happens outside our walls.
Below-threshold deals stay visible to the founder who submitted them, so you can see exactly where the score falls off and what dimension is dragging the fit down. We do not hide the score to keep the conversation comfortable — the intent of transparency is that you can correct the inputs and resubmit.
DealView AI is not a broker-dealer, RIA, placement agent, or investment adviser — we are a technology infrastructure provider only. We do not take custody, we do not hold funds, and we do not represent either side of any financing.
How are advisors vetted before they show up on /match?
Every advisor on the network applies through /join. Intake validation at the route layer requires a real name and firm, a working email, a sector from the supported list (fintech, saas, healthtech, marketplaces, infrastructure, climate), a geography from the supported list (nyc, sf, la, austin, boston, chicago, london, remote), a positive check-size range with a sensible floor and ceiling, and a written thesis of at least 20 characters. Submissions that fail any of these checks are bounced back to the form with errors before they can be stored.
Once stored, the advisor row carries tier, sectors, geography, check range, and thesis in the database, and the matching engine at /match scores your deal against them using the same five-dimension framework we publish on /how-it-works. There is no separate "vetting committee" layer that exists off-platform — the rules are the same on both sides of the table, and they are the rules written on the pricing page.
The Advisor Seat itself — the yearly subscription that unlocks the same ranked pipeline plus full deal-room read access — is on the pricing page.
What does Founder Pro actually unlock that Founder Free does not?
Founder Pro is the paid tier on top of everything in Founder Free — intake, the five-dimension DealMatch score (0–100), the public discovery listing at /discovery, and standard scoring turnaround carry over. Pro adds four things on top of that: priority matching and ranking boost on /match, a richer deal room with metrics + narrative (versus the free tier’s lighter room), direct routing to active advisors in the network so you do not have to wait for the introduction cycle, and a dedicated founder success contact who owns the relationship end-to-end.
If you are still evaluating, Founder Free at /intake gets you a scored deal and a discovery listing at no cost. If you want the priority lane and the richer room, Founder Pro starts at $99 / month and you can apply directly at /intake?plan=pro.
Full plan comparison and the Advisor Seat are on the pricing page — the same page is linked from every advisor-facing answer above so the cross-reference stays one click away.