Help & resources
FAQ
Getting Started
How do I invite a new user?
Admins can invite users from Settings → Users → Admin Users → Invite users: enter the person’s email, assign them to a team, and send the invite. They’ll receive an email to join. See Platform Setup for detail.
Who can create new admins?
By default, any existing admin user can invite other admins.
I can’t log in — what should I check?
- Make sure you’re using the invite link from your email to set your password the first time.
- Your email domain must be on your organization’s allowed domains list (your admin controls this).
- Still stuck? Contact support via the chat in the bottom-right corner of the platform.
How do I get an API key?
API keys must be requested via your account manager or through the support chat in the platform. They are not self-generated.
How does the free trial work?
Your account is set up and ready in minutes — sandbox access included. Start searching for solutions right away and see real results before you commit.
Lists & Projects
When do I use a List and when do I use a Project?
Use a List for early-stage, exploratory scouting — collecting relevant startups around a theme, request, or ecosystem before you know if it’ll go anywhere. Convert it into a Project once there’s real interest (e.g. a business unit wants to move forward) or you need to track a structured process — tasks, stakeholders, documents, and a pipeline stage. Think of a List as your “shortlist workspace” and a Project as the “deal room” once something is being actively pursued.
Can a single List be linked to more than one Project?
Yes — one List can be linked to multiple Projects (e.g. if you decide to run two startups in parallel after an assessment). Note: you currently can’t link two Lists to one Project’s “list” slot — if you hit an error saying a List is already linked, that’s expected today, not a bug. If you rely on one strategic List regularly spawning several PoCs, let your account manager know so they can advise on the best setup for your workflow.
If I share sourcing results with a stakeholder, what’s the difference between sending the List vs. the Project?
A List gives a lighter, evaluation-focused view — good for early comparison and decision-making. A Project gives the fuller picture — process stage, tasks, documents, business case — useful once something is actually being progressed with a business unit.
What’s the difference between Standalone and In Projects lists?
Standalone lists are not connected to a project — independent collections for exploration or inspiration. In Projects lists are linked to a specific project and companies are evaluated in that context.
What are Public Lists?
A tab in Lists where you create open challenges or pain points shared publicly. Startups apply via a shareable link or QR code — all submissions are collected in the list for your review.
What counts as a “PoC”?
A project becomes a Proof of Concept once it reaches the PoC Execution stage or beyond. See the Glossary for the full list of project stages.
What is Sourcing Order?
Commissioning GlassDollar’s analysts to build a sourcing list for you. Requires sourcing credits, purchased separately — contact your account manager to purchase credits.
What are best practices for filling in the Business Case section to track PoC impact?
Start capturing Business Case drivers and rough numbers as early as the Needs Assessment stage, then refine them throughout the process — ideally have a first version ready before PoC kickoff, and iterate during and after. For full traceability, link the high-level costs and benefits in the Project view to a more detailed spreadsheet. Ask your account manager for GlassDollar’s Business Case template to help structure this.
How can I download or export data?
Within a List or Project, click the three-dot menu next to the Share button — you can export a List as PDF or Excel, and a Project as PDF plus a .zip of documents.
SourceAI Search
What’s the difference between a Benchmark and a Landscape?
- Benchmark — a ranked, side-by-side comparison of companies against your criteria. Best for vendor selection.
- Landscape — a structured map of a whole solution space by category. Best for early exploration.
See the Glossary for more terms.
How does SourceAI actually work?
SourceAI works in two stages:
- Candidate discovery — it pulls a pool of candidate companies from the GlassDollar database (built from structured sources, see below). For companies not yet in the database, the search expands live to the web at query time.
- Criteria enrichment/scoring — each candidate is scored against your defined criteria using the company’s own website plus a neural search engine and GlassDollar’s own scraper/web-answering technology.
So when we say “the web” is used, that concretely means neural search plus our own scraping technology — not a single structured third-party database — while the candidate pool itself does come from structured databases.
Which databases and data sources are connected to SourceAI?
The GlassDollar database, which feeds SourceAI’s candidate pool, is built from:
- Crunchbase
- PitchBook
- Dealroom
- Web search engines (e.g. Google) for discovering new and emerging companies
On top of that structured layer, live enrichment uses a neural search engine and GlassDollar’s own scraper technology. For expert-led sourcing done by our analysts, we also draw on general-purpose AI tools, company websites, and industry- or geography-specific databases and ecosystem partners where relevant to the topic.
AI Enrich, used to enrich companies already in an existing List, uses the same website and neural search engine, but does not pull new candidates from the GlassDollar database — it only enriches what’s already there.
Can you add a specific or niche database we use (e.g. industry-specific or regional)?
Yes, this is possible as a customization request — We’ve done this before for organizations with a specific regional or vertical focus. Please reach out to your account manager.
Why do SourceAI results sometimes look different from a plain search on a general AI chat tool, or seem to miss obvious results?
A few things worth knowing:
- SourceAI is optimized for structured, criteria-based comparison rather than open-ended chat, which trades off some conversational flexibility for consistency.
- Result freshness and filtering out inactive companies are active work areas; occasionally an inactive company can still surface.
- For very narrow or specific pain points, general-purpose AI tools can sometimes outperform SourceAI today — closing that gap is a current priority for us.
Is our data safe? Is it used to train external AI models when SourceAI runs?
No customer-confidential data is sent to third parties or used for model training. Enrichment relies on public web signals — via our neural search and scraping technology — plus your own criteria; nothing proprietary about your organization is shared externally in the process.
Companies
How are new Startups added to the database?
Structured Data Feed Built and continuously updated from different sources like Crunchbase and Pitchbook, plus general GlassDollar web search crawler for surfacing new/emerging companies. This is the core candidate pool — it’s not something individual GlassDollar users add to directly.
Live discovery at query time When SourceAI runs a search and a relevant company isn’t yet in the database, it expands live to the web (via neural search + GlassDollar’s own scraper/web-answering tech) to find and pull it in.
User-driven additions (manual, on the customer side) Manually adding a startup — any Admin or Business Unit User can add one to their own list (including startups without a website) Pitch form submissions — startups applying directly through a customer’s shareable pitch form
What does “In Library” mean in Your Companies?
The company is already part of a list or project in your GlassDollar workspace.
What are Connection requests in Your Companies?
When you reach out to a startup via their profile, that request is logged in the Connection requests tab — you can track status, follow up, and manage the relationship from there.
Where does the startup funding data come from?
Funding rounds shown on company profiles and landscapes are sourced from PitchBook, refreshed monthly, and merged with existing Crunchbase data so nothing is lost.
How is Startup TRL (technology readiness level) determined?
TRL is based on publicly reported information — funding, enterprise customers, publications, and certifications — not internal or private data.
Analytics & Reporting
Can I export Analytics data as PDF or PPTX?
No — Export downloads a CSV file only. Use the CSV with your own templates for board decks and presentations. For custom reports please reach out to your account manager.
Settings & Team Management
What are the different user roles within GlassDollar?
System Admin — the account owner. Sees and edits everything across the whole organization, manages all users and org-wide settings, the system admin is the only one who can edit the project flow configuration in settings. Admin — the everyday power user. Creates and runs projects and lists, invites Business Unit Users by sharing content with them, runs SourceAI and outreach freely. They can edit anything they own or were added to as a collaborator. Business Unit User (Directory) — a stakeholder inside the customer org, living in the Innovation Hub rather than the full Admin workspace. No per-seat charge. They can comment, vote startups, input Business Case data, run and save SourceAI searches into their own lists, and submit a list / challenge to kick off a project — but by default can’t edit list matrix cells, run outreach, or touch project Stakeholders, Pain Points, or Learnings.
Do Business Units see all projects, or only the ones shared with them?
Only the ones they’re explicitly given access to — either shared directly with them or where they’re added as a collaborator (e.g. as Pain Point Owner). Business-unit users land in the Innovation Hub as their home base, and from there they can only see and search Lists and Projects they’ve been added to.
Does a Business Unit stakeholder get notified when they’re added?
Yes — Business Unit users receive an automatic email notification both when they’re first added to the platform and when they’re added to a specific Project. If you don’t see it, check your spam folder.
What’s the difference between a “Team” and a “Department”?
They serve different organizational purposes — Departments are for org-chart-style grouping, while Teams are more flexible, ad hoc groupings, e.g. by account or workstream. It’s fine to use Teams on their own if Departments don’t fit your structure.
Can we stop one group of users from editing or deleting Lists or Projects owned by another group (e.g. different business units within our organization)?
Not fully today — any admin can edit anything they have access to. The current workaround is to create separate Teams per group, set privacy on Lists/Projects to “invite only,” and only add the relevant team members as collaborators. Full read/write permission scoping is on our roadmap.
Can I add or remove pipeline phases?
Not currently — due to backend limitations tied to accurate analytics, you can rename phases and groups but cannot add or remove them. To discuss changes, contact your account manager.
Security & Data Privacy
Can we get a copy of your latest pentest report?
Yes, this can be shared on request. If you need a pentest scoped specifically to your organization, this can typically be arranged — reach out to your account manager to discuss options, which may come with an associated cost.
Company & Product
How is GlassDollar different from Crunchbase or Pitchbook?
We’re not a closed database. Every search goes beyond our own data and out to the web — and every query enriches our database in return. You can run both high-level market landscapes and deep, multi-criteria benchmarking. And you can reach out to companies with a click, surfacing non-public data in days, not weeks.
Is GlassDollar a software platform or a service?
It’s software built around three things: self-serve discovery of innovative solutions via SourceAI, a CRM view of every company you’ve collaborated with — including which projects they’ve touched and where things stand — and end-to-end project management from first search to signed PoC.
Will GlassDollar replace our CRM?
Not necessarily — it doesn’t need to. Data exchanges through our API, so nothing needs re-entering across systems. Where GlassDollar earns its own seat is the ground CRMs weren’t built for: PoC management and cross-team collaboration.
Can I handle NDAs in the platform?
Yes — integrate your own NDA template into your customized process, and upload or link the relevant NDA to any Project or startup profile.
Do we need an established venture clienting program?
Not at all. GlassDollar scales with you — explore, pilot, or grow. It’s the infrastructure for wherever you are today.
Sourcing
How strong is the research behind the platform?
Depends on the depth you need. SourceAI handles your everyday searches instantly, working off a live-enriched database. When you need more — a full market landscape, rigorous multi-criteria benchmarking, or hard-to-find niche players — our ~35 PhD researchers take over: human-vetted, industry-specific, delivered in days, not weeks. SourceAI for speed, an analyst desk on top for depth.
Do you cover startups in my region and industry?
Yes — coverage spans markets and sectors worldwide. Need something more niche or local? We can connect additional regional or industry-specific databases as a customization, and our research team can source on demand wherever you need it.
Team & Access
How many people on my team can use it?
Unlimited Business Unit users, always, with no per-seat charge — share Lists and Projects with colleagues using role-based access. Admin seats scale with your plan, but your wider organization is never gated out.
Pricing
How much does GlassDollar cost?
Pricing is modular and scales to your needs. Book a quick call and we’ll tailor a package to fit.