Startup founder email signature templates
Founders email investors, customers, candidates and journalists, often in the same hour, and most of them haven't heard of the company yet. This template adds the line most signatures skip: what your company does, in a sentence a stranger understands. Then one link, which you change as priorities change: the product during launch, the jobs page while hiring, the deck while raising.
;sig-founder;sig-founder in any app.Variations
The same message for a different channel or tone. Copy the one that fits.
For investor email during a raise, where a direct line and the round say what you're doing.
For candidate email, where the jobs link is the only one that matters.
When to use it
- Customer and partner email from a company most people don't know yet.
- Investor updates and fundraising conversations.
- Hiring, when founders email candidates directly.
What to avoid
- Don't stack "Founder & CEO & CTO". Pick the role that matters to the reader.
- Avoid jargon in the one-line description. If your parents wouldn't get it, rewrite it.
- Don't link a deck in a signature that goes to everyone. Send it in the email when it's wanted.
The fields in this template
Retext fills these in when the snippet expands. In plain text they become [brackets] to replace by hand.
- Full name
{fill:Full name} - Your name.
- Role
{fill:Role} - E.g. "Co-founder and CEO".
- Company
{fill:Company} - Your company's name.
- One-line description
{fill:One-line description} - What the company does, in plain words, under 12 words.
- Current link
{fill:Current link} - Product, jobs page or press kit: whatever matters this month.
- Direct phone
{fill:Direct phone} - A number investors can call.
- Jobs page
{fill:Jobs page} - Your careers or jobs page.
Tips
- •Test your one-liner by reading it aloud. "We help clinics fill last-minute cancellations" works; "AI-powered scheduling platform" doesn't.
- •Keep fundraising and hiring versions as separate triggers so you can swap the link without editing your default.
- •With Retext's autocomplete (beta) on, type ;sig-f and pause, and it offers the rest of the trigger as ghost text, so you don't have to remember exactly what you called each version.
Works in Gmail, Mail, LinkedIn and every other app
Retext types the snippet wherever your cursor is. To use a different version in one app, give it the same trigger and limit it to that app with per-app snippets. They go by app, not website, so every tab in your browser counts as one app.
As the team grows, move the company line and one-liner into a team snippet you create, such as ;sig-company, and have every signature pull it in with {snippet:sig-company}, so new hires describe the company the same way from their first email.
See Retext for TeamsQuestions
What should a startup founder put in their email signature?
Your name, role and company, one line on what the company does, and one link that matches your current priority, such as the product or jobs page.
Should a founder's signature say what the company does?
Yes. Most people you email won't know the company yet, and a single clear sentence answers their first question.
Should I title myself CEO or founder?
Use what's most useful to the reader. "Co-founder and CEO" is common. Investors and press usually want both; customers mostly care about the company.
Related templates
Executive email signature
;sig-execEmail signatures
[Full name] [Job title], [Company] Scheduling: [Assistant name], [Assistant email]
Sales email signature
;sig-salesEmail signatures
[Full name] [Job title], [Company] Direct: [Direct phone] Book a time: [Booking link]
Introduction email
;em-introEmail & out of office
Hi [First person] and [Second person], Introducing you two, as promised. [First person]: [Second person] is [Who the sec…
Type ;sig-founder, get the whole reply
Retext expands your snippets in every Mac app and fills in names, dates and order numbers for you.
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