Privacy Policy
Overview
Startup.Ready ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your information when you use the Startup Readiness Score assessment and related services (the "Service").
The Service is operated by Shaun P. Digan, PhD (Cincinnati, Ohio, United States), who is the data controller responsible for your personal data.
In short:
We collect only what's necessary to provide the assessment and improve the service.
Your assessment responses and scores are private and belong to you.
Your responses are analyzed by third-party AI providers to generate your scores and feedback — see "How Your Assessment Is Scored (AI Processing)" below.
You can request your data or deletion at any time.
We never sell your assessment responses, scores, or account information, and we never share them with advertisers.
Our public website uses advertising and analytics cookies that share limited browsing information with Google and Meta, which some privacy laws classify as sharing or selling. You can turn these off using the Cookie Settings link in our footer. This applies to marketing pages only, never to the application or to anything you submit in an assessment.
Information We Collect
Information You Provide
When you create an account and use the Startup Readiness Score, we collect:
Account Information: Google OAuth name and email.
Assessment Responses: Your answers to the Startup Readiness Assessment questions.
Assessment Scores: Your calculated readiness scores across the 6 pillars.
Profile Information: Any additional information you choose to provide (e.g., startup name, stage, industry).
Payment Information: If you subscribe to paid features, payment details are processed securely through our payment processor (Stripe). We do not store complete credit card numbers.
Information Collected Automatically
When you use our service, we automatically collect:
Usage Data: Pages visited, features used, time spent on the platform.
Device Information: Browser type, operating system, IP address, device identifiers.
Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies to maintain your session and improve user experience (see Cookie Policy below).
Information from Third Parties
Authentication Providers: If you sign in using Google or another OAuth provider, we receive basic profile information (name, email) from that provider.
Analytics Providers: We use analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics) to understand how users interact with our service.
How Your Assessment is Scored (AI Processing)
To generate your Startup Readiness Score and written feedback, your assessment responses are processed using third-party artificial intelligence (AI) services. Specifically:
When you submit an assessment, your responses are sent to our workflow-processing provider (Inngest) and to one or more large language model (LLM) providers, OpenAI and, in some cases, Anthropic, which analyze the text of your responses and return scoring and feedback.
These AI providers act as our service providers (sub-processors). They process your data only to perform scoring on our behalf, under their applicable terms and data processing addenda (DPAs).
These providers do not use your assessment responses to train or improve their AI models. Under OpenAI's and Anthropic's API terms, data submitted through their business APIs is not used for model training by default. These providers may retain submissions for a limited period (typically up to 30 days) for abuse monitoring and security before deletion, and longer only where required by law or to investigate a policy violation.
Our workflow provider (Inngest) temporarily stores the event containing your responses to process the scoring job. On our current plan, these event logs are retained for approximately 24 hours and are then deleted.
Automated processing and your role. Your score and feedback are generated by automated means (AI). However, the Startup Readiness Score is an advisory, diagnostic tool. It does not produce any legal or similarly significant decision about you, and it does not replace your own judgment or professional advice. You review and interpret your own results.
If you are in the EU/UK and would like more information about the logic involved or wish to contest an automated result, contact us at shaun@startupready.ai.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
Provide and Improve the Service
Deliver your Startup Readiness Score and assessment results.
Save your progress and allow you to retake the assessment over time.
Provide customer support and respond to your inquiries.
Improve the assessment questions, scoring algorithms, and user experience.
Communications
Send you assessment results and account notifications via the platform.
Notify you of important service changes or security updates.
Provide customer support and respond to your inquiries.
Research and Insights
Analyze aggregate, anonymized data to understand readiness patterns across founders.
Generate insights about common gaps by stage, industry, or pillar (published publicly without identifying individual users).
Improve the framework and assessment methodology.
Legal and Security
Comply with legal obligations.
Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, or security issues.
Enforce our Terms of Service.
How We Share Your Information
We do not sell your personal data. Period.
We only share your information in these limited circumstances:
Service Providers
We work with the following providers to operate the platform. All are located in the United States unless noted.
Supabase (database, authentication, and storage). Holds your account information, assessment responses, scores, startup profile, and any program or mentor relationships.
Google (sign-in). We receive your name, email address, and account identifier when you sign in.
Vercel (application hosting).
Inngest (workflow and event processing). Temporarily processes the event containing your assessment responses in order to run the scoring job.
OpenAI and, in some cases, Anthropic (AI scoring). Analyze your assessment responses to generate scores and feedback. These providers do not train their models on your data.
Stripe (payment processing). Stripe handles your payment details directly. We receive confirmation of payment and subscription status, and never see full card numbers.
Sentry (error monitoring and session replay). Receives technical error data. Sentry also records a sample of browser sessions to help us diagnose problems. We have disabled the automatic collection of personal data in these recordings and additionally filter sensitive fields before they are sent.
Cloudflare (encrypted database backups). We store a daily backup copy of the database with Cloudflare R2. Backups are retained for [X] days and are deleted on that schedule.
GitHub (deployment and scheduled maintenance jobs, including the backup job above).
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Google Ads (website analytics and advertising measurement, on our public website).
Meta (advertising measurement on our public website, via the Meta pixel).
These providers are contractually required to protect your data and use it only to provide services to us.
Institutional Accounts
If you access the assessment through an accelerator, university, or other institutional partner:
Your individual assessment scores may be shared with that institution (only if you were invited through their program).
Institutions may see aggregate data for their cohort (e.g., average scores, common gaps).
You will be informed at the time of sign-up if your results will be shared.
Aggregate, Anonymized Data
We may publish or share aggregate, anonymized insights (e.g., "40% of founders score low on GTM clarity") for research, marketing, or educational purposes. This data cannot be used to identify individual users.
Legal Compliance
We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or government request, or to protect our rights, property, or safety.
Business Transfers
If Startup.Ready is acquired or merged with another company, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. You will be notified of any such change.
Sharing You Initiate: Share Links and Mentors
Share links. You can create a share link that lets someone view your assessment results without signing in. Anyone who has the link can view those results, so treat it as you would any unlisted URL. You choose whether to set an expiry date, and you can deactivate a link at any time from your dashboard. We record when a link is viewed so you can see whether your recipient opened it.
If you enter a recipient's name or email address when creating a link, we store it so you can tell your links apart. Please only enter details for someone you have a reason to contact, and do not enter another person's information for any other purpose.
Mentors. You can invite a mentor to view your results, and a mentor can request access to them. Access is granted only after the founder and the mentor have both agreed, and either side can withdraw it. A mentor with access can see your assessment results and your progress.
They cannot see your billing information. You can review and revoke mentor access at any time from your dashboard.
Data Retention
Account Data: We retain your account information and assessment data as long as your account is active
Deleted Accounts: If you delete your account, we will delete your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it for legal or compliance reasons
Anonymized Data: We may retain anonymized, aggregated data indefinitely for research and improvement purposes
Your Rights and Choices
You have the following rights regarding your data:
Access and Portability
You can view your assessment scores and responses at any time in your account dashboard.
You can request a complete copy of your data by emailing shaun@startupready.ai .
Correction
You can update your account information (name, email) by emailing shaun@startupready.ai.
If you believe any data we hold about you is incorrect, contact us to request correction.
Deletion
You can delete your account at any time through your account settings.
Once deleted, your personal data will be permanently removed within 30 days.
Note: Deletion is irreversible and you will lose access to your assessment history.
Opt-Out
Cookies: Adjust your browser settings to refuse cookies (note: this may limit functionality).
Analytics: Opt out of Google Analytics using the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on.
Data Retention Preferences
Free users: Your data is retained as long as your account exists.
Subscribers: Your data is retained for the duration of your subscription plus 90 days after cancellation (to allow for reactivation).
Cookies & Tracking Technology
We use cookies and similar technologies on our public website and in the application.
Essential cookies (required). Authentication and session cookies that keep you signed in and maintain your state. The application uses only these.
Analytics cookies (optional). Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, on our public website, to understand how visitors use the site.
Advertising cookies (optional). The Meta pixel and Google Ads tags, on our public website, to measure the performance of our advertising and to reach people who have visited us. These technologies share online identifiers such as your IP address and browser information with Meta and Google. Some privacy laws, including in California, treat this as "sharing" or "selling" personal information for targeted advertising.
Your choices. Manage optional cookies through the Cookie Settings link in our footer, or through your browser settings. If you are a California resident, you may opt out of the sharing of your personal information for targeted advertising using that same control. We do not use advertising or analytics tracking inside the application itself.
Data Security
We take reasonable measures to protect your data:
Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest.
Access Controls: Only authorized personnel can access user data, and only when necessary for support or maintenance.
Regular Audits: We regularly review our security practices and update them as needed.
Authentication: Sign-in uses Google OAuth. We never receive, store, or process a password. Sessions are managed by our authentication provider, Supabase, using signed, HTTP-only cookies.
However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Children's Privacy
Startup.Ready is not intended for users under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us immediately and we will delete it.
International Users
Startup.Ready is operated from the United States. If you are accessing the service from outside the U.S., your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the U.S.
By using our service, you consent to the transfer of your information to the U.S. and other countries where our service providers operate.
For EU/UK Users: If you are in the European Union or United Kingdom, you have additional rights under GDPR, including:
Right to access, rectify, and erase your data.
Right to restrict or object to processing.
Right to data portability.
Right to withdraw consent.
Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
To exercise these rights, contact shaun@startupready.ai
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do:
We will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page.
If changes are material, we will notify you via email or a prominent notice on the website.
Your continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your data:
Email: shaun@startupready.ai
Response Time: We aim to respond within 5 business days.
For data access, correction, or deletion requests, please include:
Your account email address.
A description of your request.
Any relevant details to help us locate your information.
Thank you for using the Startup Readiness Assessment.
Published: April 10, 2026
Last Updated: September 9, 2026
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