How we listen

01 The interview process

1. Source identification: We start each quarter with a list of 200 founders we want to hear from, picked for ecosystem influence rather than fame.
2. Outreach: Plain-text email, no media kit, no PR intermediaries. Response rate ~38%.
3. The conversation: 45-60 minutes, on the record unless explicitly off. We ask the same five questions to every founder so we can spot patterns.
4. Background: For every on-the-record founder, we have 2-3 background conversations with their investors, customers, or former colleagues to triangulate.
5. Synthesis: We don't synthesize until we have 30+ interviews on a topic. Anything less and we're projecting our own thesis onto a small sample.

02 The five standard questions

• "What are you building, and why now and not two years ago?"
• "What changed in your market in the last 12 months that the analysts haven't noticed yet?"
• "Where are you hiring from, and why?"
• "Who is the customer who matters most to you, and what do they want?"
• "What's the next thing you would build if this one worked?"

03 What we don't do

• We don't pay for interviews
• We don't share quotes back for approval (we share fact-checks only)
• We don't accept embargo agreements that delay publication beyond 7 days
• We don't quote PR contacts as primary sources

04 Sister publication

For the data side of the same story, see atxtechtrends.com — the quantitative Signal Index.