About Search Party
Search Party is a free, open-source protocol that helps founders find their next investor, hire, or customer through the people who already want them to win.
What Search Party does
Turns your supporters into a Search Party
You invite the people who back you: investors, former colleagues, family, old friends. They accept once. From then on, you can ask them for help without nagging anyone.
Matches a Search against their calls
You create a Search. It has a one-line abstract everyone sees and private criteria only you see. When a supporter connects a tool like Granola, each new call is checked against the Searches they help with. A strong fit becomes a suggestion to that supporter.
Nudges the right person at the right time
The suggestion says: you just spoke to someone who fits this Search. The supporter decides whether to make the intro or pass you a note. You hear about it only when they say yes.
What makes Search Party different
It is free, and that is written down
The whole loop is free, on this site and on your own copy. There is no paid tier and no company behind it. The promise says exactly where the line is, so nobody can move it later.
Your supporters do the searching, not you
LinkedIn and recruiters make you search. Search Party makes the match on the supporter's side, after a real conversation. You only hear about people someone in your corner has actually talked to.
Nothing is stored
Transcripts are scored and then thrown away. We keep a note ID, a title, a date, and a score. Nobody, including us, can read a supporter's calls.
Both sides opt in, every time
Supporters join once and can leave with one click. Nothing reaches you until a supporter chooses to tell you. That keeps the ask light and the help real.
It is a protocol, not just an app
The shapes of a Search, a Party, and a suggestion are published in the repo. Every Search exports as plain JSON. You can run your own instance and take your data with you.
Who uses Search Party
- Founders at pre-seed to Series A who need an investor, a cofounder, a first engineer, or a design partner.
- Their investors, who take many calls a week and want an easy way to help their portfolio.
- Former colleagues, friends, and family who would love to help and keep forgetting.
The people behind Search Party
Search Party is built by Charles Cushing, one person working on it as a hobby project. He built it after an earlier tool called Collider, which tried to help people help each other with a weekly newsletter. That failed. People do not read newsletters, and they do not remember what their friends need. What they respond to is one specific suggestion, right after a call.
There is no company, no employees, and no investors. The code is open, so anyone can join in.
How Search Party works day to day
- Getting started. Join the waitlist. When it opens, you sign in with an email link, invite your supporters, and create your first Search.
- What supporters do. Accept the invite and connect Granola. That is it. They hear from Search Party only when a call matches.
- Getting in touch. Open an issue on GitHub. It is one person answering, so expect days, not hours.
- Leaving. Export your Searches as JSON any time. Delete your account and everything goes.
Key facts
- Name
- Search Party
- Type
- Open protocol with a free hosted instance
- Founded
- 2026
- Built by
- Charles Cushing
- Headquarters
- None. It runs on Cloudflare.
- Website
- searchparty.network
- Core offering
- Private matching of a founder's Searches against their supporters' calls
- Pricing
- Free, forever
- Contract terms
- None. Leave any time, with your data.
- Matching engine
- Jev by typesafe.ai
- Transcript source
- Granola today. Others next.
- License
- AGPL-3.0
- Status
- Pre-launch. Waitlist open.
- Alternatives
- LinkedIn, recruiters, or asking your network by email
- Source code
- github.com/cushmachine/searchparty
Frequently asked questions
Is Search Party really free?
Yes. The whole loop costs nothing, and the code is open source under the AGPL. The promise says what that means.
Who can see my criteria?
Only you. Supporters see the one-line abstract of each Search you send them. Nothing else.
Can my supporters' calls end up in front of me?
No. You never see a supporter's calls, notes, or scores. A transcript is scored and then discarded. The privacy page lists everything we store.
What tools does it connect to?
Granola for call notes today. Other call tools, email, and calendar are next.
Can I run my own copy?
Yes. The reference app deploys to Cloudflare with one command and a few settings. The README explains how.
What happens if this site shuts down?
The code and your export still work. Run your own copy or move to someone else's.