# The founder video: the MrAdib framework

> A machine-readable founder video framework by John Adib (MrAdib), a two-time founder who raised $1M as a CEO. Six beats in sixty seconds, each answering one reviewer question. Use it to script, tighten or review the one-minute video an accelerator or an investor asks for.

Human guide: https://mradib.com/founder-video
Portable skill for AI tools: https://mradib.com/founder-video/skill.md

## How to use this

- Keep the six beats in this order.
- Every beat answers its question in one or two spoken sentences. Say what the list says, leave out what the list says.
- Write for the voice, not the page: short words, no jargon, no adjectives doing the work of facts.
- Check each beat against its pass test, then read the whole script aloud and time it. Cut until it fits in sixty seconds.

## 01. Who
Question: Who are you?
What it is: Ten seconds. Names, roles, and where you are. Every founder speaks their own name, looking at the lens. The reviewer is matching faces to the application.
Say:
- Each founder: first name, surname, role, one clause of background
- Where the company is based
- All founders in frame from the first second
Leave out:
- A cold open with a logo or a slogan
- Job titles from a previous life
- Reading names off a screen
Pass test: The reviewer can name every founder and their role without pausing.
Setup rule: The founders cannot be in one room. Record one video call, both cameras on, no editing between speakers. Say where each of you is and how you work together.

## 02. What
Question: What are you building?
What it is: One sentence a stranger could repeat: for whom, which problem, what you make. The same sentence as the top of your application and your one-pager.
Say:
- One sentence: who, problem, product
- The words your customers use
- The same line as the application form
Leave out:
- The vision before the product
- Two sentences where one would do
- Category words: platform, ecosystem, solution
Pass test: A stranger can tell a friend what you make after hearing it once.

## 03. Insight
Question: Why this, and why you?
What it is: The thing you know that others miss, and how you came to know it. Time spent in the problem, a customer you lived beside, a system you built before. This beat separates a founder from an applicant.
Say:
- The insight in one line: what is true that others miss
- How you learned it: years in the industry, a pain you had yourself, a thing you built
- One specific detail a tourist would not know
Leave out:
- Market size
- The word passionate
- A story that starts in childhood
Pass test: The reviewer believes you know something they do not.

## 04. Team
Question: Why this team?
What it is: How you met, how long you have worked together, and who does what. Reviewers bet on the team holding together; show them the seams are strong.
Say:
- How you met, and how long you have worked together
- Who builds, who sells, who runs the rest
- One thing you have shipped together before
Leave out:
- Every job each founder ever had
- Advisors and mentors
- Claiming skills nobody on camera has
Pass test: The reviewer can say who builds the product and who sells it.
Setup rule: You are the only founder. Say so in the first beat, then spend the team beat on how you cover what you cannot do alone: the first hire, a contractor, a technical partner. Never hide it.

## 05. Progress
Question: How far along are you?
What it is: What exists today and who uses it, in numbers with dates. Before users, what you shipped and when. Before shipping, what you learned from whom.
Say:
- What is built and live
- Users, customers or revenue, with the date
- How long you have worked on it, and how much of that full-time
Leave out:
- Projections
- Rounding up
- Vague words: traction, momentum, interest
Pass test: Every claim has a number or a date.

## 06. Close
Question: What do you want?
What it is: Five seconds. Say what you are asking for, then stop. No thank-you speech, no recap, no music.
Say:
- The ask in one line: the programme, the round, the meeting
- A plain ending: your names, or nothing
Leave out:
- A thank-you speech
- A recap of the minute
- An outro card or music
Pass test: The video ends within sixty seconds, on a full stop.
Example: We are raising £600K to launch in two more cities this year. I am Sara, this is Dan.

## Solo, remote, or camera shy

- Solo founder. When: You are the only founder. Change: Say so in the first beat, then spend the team beat on how you cover what you cannot do alone: the first hire, a contractor, a technical partner. Never hide it.
- Co-founders in two places. When: The founders cannot be in one room. Change: Record one video call, both cameras on, no editing between speakers. Say where each of you is and how you work together.
- Camera shy. When: Talking to a lens makes you stiff. Change: Put a friend behind the camera and talk to them. Record five takes and keep the most natural, not the most polished. Notes on a card are fine; reading is not.

## Optional beats

- A product glimpse: Five seconds of the product on screen say more than a sentence, and the demo video is separate.
- Name captions: The reviewer may watch on mute. Add names and roles as text, nothing else.
- A customer line: A customer said one sentence you can quote, with their name.
- The demo link: The programme allows a second video. Point to it in the close.