NEW: “NOVA AI.”, the first agentic agent to match companies to exited founders and capital
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250+ EXITED FOUNDERS. ONE UNFAIR ADVANTAGE.

Join Forces with Exited Founders Who've Built, Scaled & Sold
Now It's Your Turn

Supernova is a venture fund run by 250+ exited founders sharing their collective genius, wisdom, resources, and networks. ✨

We are exited founders serving as investors and hands-on operating partners for scaleups shaping the future.

Proof this matters

Less than 1% of entrepreneurs exit
99% sacrifice and walk with nothing
70% of VC-backed startups fail
9% of Series A reach Series B
Founders own 20% or less by Series C
70% unicorns are by repeat founders
80% founders have post-exit regrets
VC's play growth-at-all-cost games
PE buys, strips and flips
You don't have to learn the hard way
Supernova exists to change the game
See if you pass/fail
  • We back top founders 💛
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In the Age of AI
Relationships Are Your Unfair Advantage.

We are 250+ exited founders deploying capital, judgement and operator leverage to help you win.✨
Supernova has a proven track record of scaling companies to zebra, unicorn, and decacorn status.

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350+ million entrepreneurs worldwide. < 1% successfully exit. We built, scaled, and sold. We lived the consequences of hyper-growth, near-death quarters, board pressure, and exits. Now we pay it forward. Supernova gives you the rarest resource: wisdom, when it matters most.

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founderAre you a Scaleup?
Apply for Supernova
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Exited Founders

Companies Backed

Portfolio Company Valuation ($B)

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IN EXIT VALUE ($B)

An Invitation to Top Founders Ready to Play a Greater Game?

What if exited founders teamed up with companies changing the world to achieve their missions, faster?

Scaling a startup is a game of high-stakes decisions. Every move count and having the right investors and operating partners can be the difference between success and failure.

At Supernova, we don’t fck around. We don’t just invest or advise. We activate. We are 250+ exited founders who have been in your shoes, scaled companies to zebras, unicorns, and decacorns, and know what it takes to win the game.

We don't sit on the sidelines. We get in the game with you. Savage execution. We only back founders on a mission to build thriving businesses that make a real difference.

If that sounds like you, apply now, and let’s see if we’re a fit.

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"They advise me. I advise others. That's the Supernova effect! When exited founders team up results happen faster."

Ben Lamm (6x Exited Founder)

Ben Lamm (6x Exited Founder)

CEO & Co-founder of Colossal
($200M Series C: $10B Valuation)

Are You Ready To Go Supernova?

Get the founder support you need to scale your company to oversized growth and impact.

1

Apply

Upload your pitch deck to see if you qualify for Supernova.

2

Scorecard

Get your free founder scorecard to see where you measure up and unlock access to Supernova.

3

Matching

We match you with vetted exited founders for complimentary call(s) to problem solve and seize opportunities.

4

Exited Founders

You add one exited founder to your team to hit key milestones and sign a STAR (Short-Term Advisory Relationship) agreement.

5

Funding

We invest checks up to $2MM+ in 10-12 world-changing companies yearly and provide them with a tiger team of exited founders for oversized returns.

THE AI REALITY CHECK

You Can Build Anything With AI.
But Who Guides You Changes the Outcome.

AI isn't the moat

Every company has access to the same models, tools, and playbooks. The real differentiator is the judgment you apply. Judgment is forged through pattern recognition that takes decades to develop. Few get it. They are more valuable now than ever.

Decisions compound – or they don't

Good choices compound. Bad ones cascade. At your stage, one misread on talent, go-to-market, or tech architecture can define your next 12-24 months.

The last revolution left source code

The founders who built and exited during SaaS and mobile developed a muscle for navigating transformation. AI is the next evolution. They know this pattern.

The race isn't to zero
It's to compounding advantage
Who is in your corner matters most

At-A-Glance

01 - Who we back 👩‍💻

Our primary focus is growth-stage ($5-100M+ ARR), Series A-C and PE-backed companies. We make exceptions for outliers (seed/seed+). We know them when we see them. 🎯

Apply to Supernova 🚀
02 - When we engage ⚡
03 - What We Are Not ❌
04 - What We Are ☑️
05 - What Founders Gain 📊

"Successful founders know the real secret:
it’s all about having the right relationships.”

Barry Stamos, CEO & Co-founder SUPERNOVA

What they are saying

What's possible when exited founders combine their superpowers?

My advisors helped us bootstrap to $250MM ARR and merge with the category leader.

JT Marino

JT Marino

CEO & Co-founder

Tuft & Needle. YPO Forum Member

Supernova is a quantum leap in advisory support for growth-stage companies.

Lindsay Nahmiache

Lindsay Nahmiache

CEO & Founder

Jive (Exited)

When exited founders team up, results happen exponentially faster!

Ben Lamm

Ben Lamm

CEO & Co-founder (6x Exits)

Colossal ($200M Series C: $10B Valuation)

Scaling a company is hard AF. Supernova by my side is a game-changer!

Kathryn Fantauzzi

Kathryn Fantauzzi

CEO & Founder

Apollo Nuero ($30M Series A)

I recommend Supernova to my investments because I know they're a force multiplier.

Daniel Dubois

Daniel Dubois

Founder of Key (2x Exited Founder)

Founder of EO & YPO Angels & Partner at Side Door Ventures ($100M Fund)

I joined the portfolio company I advised via Supernova (startup veteran: 9 of 11 Exits).

Jonathan Shambroom

Jonathan Shambroom

COO

Healthy Young Minds

As a 2x founder, Supernova is a no-brainer. Stack your team with exited founders!

Abhishek Anand

Abhishek Anand

CEO & Founder

Parkqulility

Supernova is now how I transfer my wisdom to builders of a better world.

Tim Chang

Tim Chang

Founding Partner (2x named Midas List)

Mayfield VC ($3B under management)

Supernova is like a growth-stage Y-Combinator.

Gary Moon

Gary Moon

Managing Partner (Exited Founder)

Nfluence Partners

I've received a ton of value. Supernova delivers what others advertise.

Chanddeep Madaan

Chanddeep Madaan

CEO & Founder

Aya Mastercard

I was skeptic. Supernova proved me wrong - got hands-on to 3x sales!

Patrick Hilsbos

Patrick Hilsbos

CEO & Founder

Neuromore

QUESTION: WHO HAS YOUR BACK AFTER DEMO DAY?

Scaleups succeed or fail based on hitting timely milestones. Many get stuck bridging capital rounds (Series A to C) or burn out before achieving a sizeable exit or IPO. Meanwhile, 97% of VCs claim they are 'value added' investors. Only 31% of Founders agree.

ANSWER: SUPERNOVA

Supernova's exited founders significantly improve success rates of Scaleups ($5MM to $100MM+) that go the distance.

pvc
pvc

"Skip the guesswork. Learn from successfully exited founders who’ve already played and won the game."

Christopher Staley

Christopher Staley

CO-FOUNDER OF SUPERNOVA

We Help You Make Million Dollar Decisions

Wisdom Makes A Difference

With a 90+ Net Promoter Score (NPS) Supernova is the highest rated Exited-founder fund and AI-native platform for Scaleups.

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Portfolio Superstars

Meet the mission‑driven leaders who are changing the world.

Ben Lamm
Ben Lamm

Ben Lamm

CEO & Founder

World’s first de-extinction company 🦄 ($200MM+ Series C; $10B+ Valuation | Decacorn Status)

Roberto Salcedo
Roberto Salcedo

Roberto Salcedo

CEO & Founder

Smart micro financing for everyone 💵. (Bootstrapped to $110MM+ ARR)

Dr. Leo Rastogi
Dr. Leo Rastogi

Dr. Leo Rastogi

CEO & Founder

Bio-individualized wellness-focused clinics, resorts, and living communities. 🌱

Kathryn Fantauzzi
Read
Kathryn Fantauzzi

Kathryn Fantauzzi

CEO & Founder

First vibration therapy system clinically proven to lower stress 🧘🏻‍♀️. ($30MM+ Series A)

Paul Graf
Paul Graf

Paul Graf

CEO & Founder

Personalized online therapy for kids and teens 🙋🏻 (Seed)

Builders We've Backed

We back world-changing companies driving a better future.

Apollo Neuro
Attention Hero
Aya Healthcare
Baubap
Apollo Neuro
Attention Hero
Aya Healthcare
Baubap
Apollo Neuro
Attention Hero
Aya Healthcare
Baubap
Brain Ritual
Vegetable and Butcher
Clinicom
Colossal
Brain Ritual
Vegetable and Butcher
Clinicom
Colossal
Brain Ritual
Vegetable and Butcher
Clinicom
Colossal
EcoTwin AI
GravyWork
Healthy Young Minds
Human Intelligence
EcoTwin AI
GravyWork
Healthy Young Minds
Human Intelligence
EcoTwin AI
GravyWork
Healthy Young Minds
Human Intelligence
Liquidview
Marino
Myndbend
SoulSpring
Soul
Liquidview
Marino
Myndbend
SoulSpring
Soul
Liquidview
Marino
Myndbend
SoulSpring
Soul

We Are All-Stars

Over 250+ exited founders ready to serve your company needs as all-star teams.

We orbit around your needs as investors, mentors, advisors, coaches, interim executives, and hands-on operators.

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CoachingCoaching
FundingFunding
GTMGTM
LeadershipLeadership
M&AM&A
MarketingMarketing
OpsOps
ProductProduct
SalesSales
ScienceScience
ScaleScale
SystemsSystems
TechnologyTechnology

Behind The Scenes

Watch the 'made it' podcast with Barry Stamos, CEO of Supernova

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Our vision: To guide the world's brightest founders and scale their dreams for a Supernova of impact.

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Our mission: To back world-changing companies with exited founders to achieve their missions, faster.

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Our purpose: To accelerate the realization of the founder’s vision - from the only perspective that truly understands, as founders ourselves.

We are a conscious cooperative of founders invested in each other’s success

Why Supernova Exists

Founders build the future they wish to see. They free us from our past by disrupting trillion-dollar industries. They are powerful creators or destroyers. They don’t have all the answers. They let few in their inner circle to influence decisions. Decisions that make or break realities and relationships.

Like our ancestors, it’s time they look to the stars to successfully navigate the hero’s journey. The dark side of startup life is no joke. And, founders no longer have to do it all alone. After 4 Billion years of evolution, humanity is finally figuring out that collaboration is key. Given that Founders are among the most powerful creators on the planet, shouldn’t we?

At Supernova, our purpose is to be guiding lights. We shine brighter together as all-star teams backing founders dreams. We believe mass collaboration can spark a Supernova of impact in the world. ⭐

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Frequently Asked Questions

If you are leading a growth stage company ($5MM to $100MM+), then you already know it doesn't get any easier the bigger you get. Scaling teams, entering new markets, bridging financing rounds, M&A, etc. The founders’ journey to go the distance can be crazy complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. Our mission at Supernova is to accelerate the realization of the founder's vision from the only perspective that truly understands the journey, as exited founders ourselves. Stacking successfully exited founders on your team is a game-changer. They supply shortcuts, and cheat codes and help solve problems to help you get unstuck and accelerate speed-to-value. They fill specific needs - guidance, expertise, connections, mentorship, coaching and can even get hands-on serving in interim roles or tiger teams. 70% of unicorns were built by repeat founders of at least one previously successful company. That's why founders with multiple exits still tag in Supernova despite their past success because they know the advantage it brings when scaling their companies successfully.
Founders can apply online to see where they measure up and explore if Supernova is the right ally. We selectively back 10–12 scaleups each year —typically Series A–C companies or bootstrapped businesses with $5M+ in ARR. For these companies, we deploy up to $1M+ in capital, paired with a hands-on tiger team of successfully exited founders focused on accelerating the milestones. For earlier-stage companies that stand out, we may engage before investing by deploying one or more exited founders to build relationships and help unlock key inflection points. Supernova is sector-agnostic, with a strong track record across AI, HealthTech, Fintech, SaaS, eCommerce, Impact, and Web3. Above all, we are drawn to mission-driven founders tackling meaningful, modern-day problems and building companies that create lasting value for humanity.
Every portfolio company in Supernova’s fund receives a check (up to $1M+). More importantly, each company is paired with 3–5 successfully exited founders, including Super Founders with prior exits of $50M+, who roll up their sleeves and work hands-on to accelerate critical milestones. As the saying goes, wisdom is more precious than gold. We don’t just invest capital—we transfer lived experience, especially when the stakes involve million-dollar decisions. Supernova is the top-rated advisory-as-a-service platform (90%+ NPS), with a proven track record of helping companies scale to unicorn and decacorn outcomes. Together, we build enduring companies and a legacy that extends far beyond business success.
Our guiding North Star is TIME. We don’t waste it—yours, your team’s, or our exited founders’. We start by precisely matching each Supernova exited founder to a member of your C-suite. For example, your CMO is paired with a successfully exited founder whose zone of genius directly addresses your most pressing opportunities and challenges. Leadership teams typically invest 5–10 hours per month and gain disproportionate returns through direct knowledge transfer—hard-won wisdom, pattern recognition, resources, and trusted relationships. Our founders are often brought in at moments that involve million-dollar decisions, helping teams move faster, avoid costly mistakes, and compound progress over time. If you feel “too busy” for Supernova, that’s usually the signal you need us most.
Supernova shares similarities with organizations like YPO; intimate, high-trust peer groups that serve as powerful sounding boards. The difference is that at Supernova, exited founders don’t just talk about the game, they get back on the field together, helping scale real companies and sharing upside in successful outcomes. We are a peer group of 250+ exited founders who believe that, together, we can catalyze far more growth and impact than any of us could alone. Many of our founders attribute a meaningful part of their own success to the mentors and advisors who guided them along the way. Having achieved that success, they feel called to pay it forward. Through Supernova, exited founders gain the opportunity to invest and earn equity in growth-stage companies by contributing their battle-tested wisdom, operating experience, and social capital. In return, companies gain direct access to founders who have already navigated the challenges they now face. Supernova curates this engagement end-to-end. We source high-quality deal flow and present frictionless opportunities for our founders to participate, as advisors, mentors, investors, interim executives, or members of focused tiger teams. We handle all administration and back-office support, making Supernova a turnkey platform for high-leverage engagement and impact
Supernova acts as a force multiplier for modern VC and PE firms, helping them drive value creation in an era where returns are no longer driven by financial engineering alone, but by operational execution, talent, and speed. We go far beyond office hours, webinars, and traditional expert networks by giving portfolio companies direct access to the largest network of successfully exited founders and operators who have scaled and exited companies from $10M to $10B+, often in the same stage and industry your portfolio companies are navigating today. Supernova provides board-level operator leverage across the portfolio. Our exited founders don’t advise from the sidelines—they engage hands-on to help leadership teams move faster, make better decisions, and avoid costly mistakes at moments where execution risk is highest: post-acquisition stabilization, aggressive growth phases, executive transitions, AI and operational transformation, and exit preparation. Using NOVA, our proprietary AI matching engine, we diagnose each portfolio company’s most critical challenges and rapidly connect them with the right exited founders—often in minutes, not months—creating time compression and immediate execution lift. The data supports this model. Operational improvements are now the primary driver of PE returns, and nearly 70% of billion-dollar companies were built by repeat founders. Supernova institutionalizes that advantage, embedding outcome-driven operators who bring execution authority, pattern recognition, and personal accountability, delivering measurable EBITDA uplift, faster growth, and improved exits across the portfolio.
A Supernova shines hundreds of billions of times brighter than a single star. While one sun sustains life, a Supernova reshapes entire galaxies. We believe it’s time for solo stars (successfully exited founders) to stop operating alone and start combining their energy, experience, and wisdom. When these founders align, something exponential happens. Insight compounds. Mistakes aren’t repeated. Momentum accelerates. Supernova exists to unite these founders into a living constellation: a founder flywheel where wisdom, capital, and execution move faster and cleaner through companies and ecosystems. Collaboration replaces competition. Experience becomes acceleration. Purpose becomes leverage. At its core, Supernova is about more than scaling companies. It’s about compounding wisdom instead of relearning pain, and helping founders build in a way that is worthy of the power they hold. Because the future won’t be shaped by those who shine alone, but by those who shine brighter together.

Can’t find answers here?
Feel free to reach out.

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