The Founders Playground

The medtech founder toolkit

Interactive tools plus the FDA databases, funding programs, reimbursement guides, and market intel sources that founders actually use: curated, free, and no signup required.

5-Minute Quiz

Regulatory Pathway Finder

Answer a few questions about your device and get your likely FDA pathway, with concrete next steps. Free, no signup.

510(k)De NovoPMAExempt
Find your pathway →

Interactive Tools

Founder tools that pull their weight

Free, in-browser tools built for early-stage medtech founders. No account, no email gate.

First-Time Founder Plays

Where to start, in order

If you're pre-submission and pre-revenue, these three plays put the library above into a sequence.

1Nail your regulatory position

Start with our Pathway Finder, classify your device in the Product Classification database, find predicates in the 510(k) database, then pressure-test your pathway with a free Q-Sub. Investors fund companies that know their pathway cold.

2Stack non-dilutive money first

Before pitching VCs, apply for NIH SBIR and MedTech Innovator: equity-free capital that also validates your science. Watch every date on our Deadline Tracker and the Cicada Opportunity Tracker.

3Start reimbursement before you think you need to

Read the CMS medtech guide, check the Medicare Coverage Database for analogues, and use Early Payor Feedback so your pivotal trial produces the evidence payers require. New CPT codes take 18-24 months, so the clock starts now.

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