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A founder-first directory of legal, financial, and professional services that actually understand startups — with a shared trust marker for the ecosystem.
What Founders Want is building a public directory of startup-ready service providers in New Zealand.
This directory exists for a simple reason:
founders spend too much time trying to work out who to trust when decisions are expensive, time-critical, and hard to reverse.
Too often, founders rely on:
- word-of-mouth
- outdated lists
- private networks
- or sales-led directories
This page exists to change that.
Why this directory exists
Early-stage founders face a specific set of constraints:
- limited time and capital
- one-off, high-stakes decisions
- little margin for clean-up later
- advisors who don’t always understand startup realities
New Zealand has excellent service providers — but the information founders need is often:
- scattered across firm websites
- buried in marketing copy
- inaccessible without insider access
- difficult to compare or validate
This directory creates a single, navigable source of truth, so founders can quickly answer:
“Who should I talk to — and when?”
What this directory is (and isn’t)
This is:
- A factual, founder-oriented directory
- Focused on when a founder should engage a provider
- Built for early-stage, bootstrapped, and VC-backed startups
- Public and open-access
This is not:
- A paid listing or sponsorship page
- A lead-generation marketplace
- A ranking or endorsement system
- A marketing showcase
Listings are neutral, practical, and designed to help founders make better decisions faster.
WFW Directory Badge
Service providers accepted into the directory receive a WFW Directory Badge — a public, third-party trust marker within New Zealand’s startup ecosystem.
The badge indicates that a provider has been reviewed for startup relevance and founder fit, and included in a neutral, founder-first directory based on usefulness, not payment or promotion.
It is not a guarantee of outcomes or performance.
Accepted providers may share the badge on LinkedIn, display it on their website, and reference their inclusion in the WFW directory.
The purpose is to reduce trust friction for founders and make startup-ready providers easier to identify.
WFW may revoke badge use if a listing becomes outdated, misleading, or no longer aligned with founder needs.
Who this directory is for (founders)
This directory is used by:
- Early-stage startup founders
- Bootstrapped founders and owner-operators
- Students and future founders learning how the system works
- SMEs navigating capital, governance, or growth transitions
Founders use this directory when decisions matter — company setup, hiring, fundraising, governance, IP, scaling, or exit planning.
Who should submit (service providers)
We welcome submissions from service providers who:
- Regularly work with startups or early-stage companies
- Understand founder constraints (time, capital, uncertainty)
- Offer startup-appropriate engagement models
- Serve New Zealand–incorporated companies
Relevant categories include:
- Legal (startup, employment, IP, capital raising)
- Accounting & tax (including R&D tax credits)
- Corporate finance & M&A
- Banking, payments, and financial infrastructure
- IP, patents, and trademarks
- Fractional CFO / COO / HR services
- Startup-focused recruitment or people advisory
- Venture builders
- Marketing & PR
How inclusion works
- All submissions are reviewed
- Inclusion is not guaranteed
- Listings are factual and non-promotional
- WFW may edit submissions for clarity and consistency
- Listings may be removed if information becomes outdated or misleading
The priority is founder usefulness — not provider visibility.
Submit your service
If you believe your service would genuinely help New Zealand founders make better decisions faster, please submit your details below:
Startup Service Provider Directory – Submission Form
About What Founders Want
What Founders Want is founder-first infrastructure for New Zealand’s startup ecosystem.
We build directories, templates, and resources that answer the questions founders actually search for — in one place, without sales bias or unnecessary noise.
If it reduces wasted time, lowers risk, or improves decision-making for founders, it belongs here.