HOW IT WORKS

TERMS

REWARDS

FAQ

CH. 1

JOIN THE LEAGUE

JOIN

NOW RECRUITING SEASON ONE

10 investors.

$100K each.

10 angel investors.
$100K each.

Earn your place at the top.

Earn your place at the top.

Every season, 10 investors compete with $100K in real capital, solo or as a trusted investing partnership. They invest in startups, place high conviction bets, and climb the leaderboard. This is where investors are made & reputations are earned.

Every season, 10 investors compete with $100K in real capital. They invest in startups, place high conviction bets, and climb the leaderboard. This is where investors are made & reputations are earned.

JOIN THE LEAGUE

JOIN THE LEAGUE

JOIN THE LEAGUE

Everyone's a top-decile investor. Until there's a leaderboard.

Everyone's a top-decile investor. Until there's a leaderboard.

Everyone's a top-decile investor. Until there's a leaderboard.

HOW IT WORKS

Like Fantasy Sports for
Early-Stage Investing.
With Real Money.

Like Fantasy Sports for Early-Stage Investing. With Real Money.

Venture rewards edge, discipline, and performance - but the game has always been private, slow, and opaque. We’re making it competitive and social, with mentorship from the best.

Investors talk like athletes - edge, discipline, performance - but the game has always been private, slow, and opaque. We’re making it competitive, social, and visible.

Product Hunt Badge

  • RANK

    #1

    Thomas Smith

    PORTFOLIO VALUE

    $85,000

    FUND NAME

    FRONTIER

  • RANK

    #3

    Angela Jackson

    PORTFOLIO VALUE

    $72,000

    FUND NAME

    50 STARS

  • RANK

    #5

    Luca Rivers

    PORTFOLIO VALUE

    $68,000

    FUND NAME

    LIMIT ORDER

Create Your Firm

Name your scout fund and share your thesis. Investments, follow-ons, and Chapter One participation update the season standings.

$100K

Build Your Portfolio

Deploy $100K across founders you believe in. Each investment is a pick on your roster.

Luca Rivers

Scout

Investor

Operator

Partner

Luca Rivers

Scout

Investor

Operator

Partner

Luca Rivers

Scout

Investor

Operator

Partner

Earn Carry, Build Reputation

Scouts keep 100% of the upside on their deals. And a track record that opens doors as investors and operators.

  • ANTIMETAL AUTOMATES MAJOR INFRA WORKFLOW - SCOUT 08 SPIKES

    ANTIMETAL AUTOMATES MAJOR INFRA WORKFLOW - SCOUT 08 SPIKES

    ANTIMETAL AUTOMATES MAJOR INFRA WORKFLOW - SCOUT 08 SPIKES

  • DURIN MINING STRIKES RICH ORE — SCOUT 03 CLIMBS

    DURIN MINING STRIKES RICH ORE — SCOUT 03 CLIMBS

    DURIN MINING STRIKES RICH ORE — SCOUT 03 CLIMBS

  • SCOUT 05 OVERTAKES SCOUT 02 FOR #1 SPOT

    SCOUT 05 OVERTAKES SCOUT 02 FOR #1 SPOT

    SCOUT 05 OVERTAKES SCOUT 02 FOR #1 SPOT

  • SCOUT 07 INVESTS $10K IN BETTER AUTH

    SCOUT 07 INVESTS $10K IN BETTER AUTH

    SCOUT 07 INVESTS $10K IN BETTER AUTH

  • HYPERBEAT VALUATION UP 28% POST-ROUND

    HYPERBEAT VALUATION UP 28% POST-ROUND

    HYPERBEAT VALUATION UP 28% POST-ROUND

  • SCOUT 04 FOLLOWS ON IN EREBOR

    SCOUT 04 FOLLOWS ON IN EREBOR

    SCOUT 04 FOLLOWS ON IN EREBOR

MENTORS

A Mentor Network Built
Like a Championship Team

A Mentor Network Built Like a Championship Team

Top investors, limited partners, and operators sharpen your judgment
the way great coaches sharpen great players.

Top investors and operators sharpen your judgment the way great coaches sharpen great players.

Mamoon Hamid

Mamoon Hamid
Mamoon Hamid

Kleiner Perkins, Partner

Rebecca Kaden

Rebecca Kaden
Rebecca Kaden

Union Square Ventures, Managing Partner

Keith Rabois

Keith Rabois
Keith Rabois

Khosla Ventures, Managing Director

Kyle Samani

Kyle Samani
Kyle Samani

Multicoin, Co-Founder

Roger Ehrenberg

Roger Ehrenberg
Roger Ehrenberg

Game Changers, Managing Partner

Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher

Sound Ventures, General Partner

Gokul Rajaram

Gokul Rajaram
Gokul Rajaram

Marathon, Founding Partner

Tomasz Tunguz

Tomasz Tunguz
Tomasz Tunguz

Theory Ventures, General Partner

Laura Andron

Laura Andron
Laura Andron

LP MENTOR

Pathstone, Managing Director

Kelli Fontaine

Kelli Fontaine
Kelli Fontaine

LP MENTOR

Cendana Capital, Partner

More mentors coming soon.

TERMS

The Stakes Are Real

Every pick you make is backed by real capital — and real upside.

Manage

$100K

backed by Chapter One

Manage

$100K

backed by Chapter One

Manage

$100K

backed by Chapter One

Keep

100%

of upside (20% of total profits)

Keep

100%

of upside (20% of total profits)

Keep

100%

of upside (20% of total profits)

Chapter One backs your best deals alongside you.

REWARDS

Season 1 Rewards

Compete to earn next season carry, higher allocation, and exclusive perks.

Champion Investor

1st Place

Perks

Chapter One braintrust and inner circle access

Season recap feature and other press

Priority access to co-invest opportunities

Lead bigger positions and SPVs on high-conviction deals

All-Star Investor

2nd Place

Perks

Chapter One community access

Featured scout profile and thesis spotlight across channels

Invites to private offsites and working sessions

Breakout Investor

3rd Place

Perks

Access to private roundtables and founder sessions

Profile visibility

SCOUT CRITERIA

Who we're looking for

Operators, angels, and investors with differentiated taste, access, and conviction.
First believers, not fast followers.

Who we're looking for

You get the meeting no one else can

You hear about the founder months before there’s a company

You’re the first ‘what do you think?’ text

You live close to the weird edges of what’s next

You have strong non-consensus views, loosely held

You might be:

A founder or operator with deep founder empathy and trust

A product or engineering leader, equal parts consumer intuition and technical fluency

An investor who has a history of championing non-consensus deals

A connector with unfair access to outlier talent (and the places it forms)

Someone embedded in niche internet corners or deep offline networks

Themes we love

AI that creates new workflows and ways of doing things, not just features

Crypto as infrastructure for the new economy

Consumer and prosumer software that have an unfair distribution advantage

Category-defining, category-creating deep tech with commercially minded founders

New financial markets and instruments forming at the edges of culture

FAQ

What happens after I apply?

How many investments should scouts make throughout the year?

How are scouts evaluated during the season?

What level of involvement does the program require?

Can I participate if I already work at a fund or scout elsewhere?

Will scouts collaborate with each other?

Does geography matter?

What happens after the season ends?

Can I apply with a partner?

Still have questions? Or want to nominate someone you think is a star?

What happens after I apply?

How many investments should scouts make throughout the year?

How are scouts evaluated during the season?

What level of involvement does the program require?

Can I participate if I already work at a fund or scout elsewhere?

Will scouts collaborate with each other?

Does geography matter?

What happens after the season ends?

Can I apply with a partner?

Still have questions? Or want to nominate someone you think is a star?

What happens after I apply?

How many investments should scouts make throughout the year?

How are scouts evaluated during the season?

What level of involvement does the program require?

Can I participate if I already work at a fund or scout elsewhere?

Will scouts collaborate with each other?

Does geography matter?

What happens after the season ends?

Can I apply with a partner?

Still have questions? Or want to nominate someone you think is a star?

Your Move.

Only 10 players make the cut each season.
Real stakes. Real rewards.
The next season of venture is about to begin.

Are you in the league - or watching from the sidelines?

JOIN THE LEAGUE

JOIN THE LEAGUE

JOIN THE LEAGUE

Scout Program is a product by

Chapter One

Designed with input from LPs and fund managers who evaluate emerging managers for a living.

© 2026 Scout Program. All rights reserved.