1. Overview
Denovo runs a weekly community competition where the most upvoted startup idea launched in a given Monday → Monday window wins $500 USD cash. There is exactly one winner per week.
Launches happen on Mondays. Voting runs for the full seven days following launch. The next week's winner is announced on the following Monday at 00:00 UTC.
2. Schedule
- Launch day: Monday only (00:00 UTC). Other days are unavailable in the picker.
- Voting window: Mon 00:00 UTC → next Mon 00:00 UTC (7 full days).
- Winner announcement: the following Monday at 00:05 UTC, covering the previous week's launches.
- Off-launch days (Tue–Sun): ideas already launched continue collecting votes; no new launches go live.
3. Eligibility
- Must be 18+ years old.
- Must have a verified Denovo account (email confirmed or OAuth-linked).
- Country of residence: prize payout requires a Stripe Connect Express account, so winners must reside in a country supported by Stripe Connect cross-border payouts at the time of the assessment call and payout. The authoritative list is maintained by Stripe: stripe.com/docs/connect/cross-border-payouts. If a winner's country is not supported at payout time, the cash prize is forfeited and Denovo may, at its sole discretion, award it to the runner-up (see section 10, Right to void). Denovo does not offer alternative payout rails (wire, crypto, gift cards, etc.).
- Stripe Atlas country eligibility: separately from the Stripe Connect payout requirement above, winners must also reside in a country eligible to use Stripe Atlas. Atlas is how Denovo helps winners formalize their entity post-prize, and the program restricts founders by country. The authoritative list is maintained by Stripe: stripe.com/atlas — supported founder countries. If a winner's country is not eligible for Stripe Atlas at the time of the assessment call, the cash prize is forfeited and Denovo may, at its sole discretion, award it to the runner-up (see section 10, Right to void).
- Must be able to complete Stripe Connect identity verification (KYC) and, where applicable, tax forms (W-9 for US persons, W-8BEN for non-US persons). Winners who cannot complete KYC within the windows in section 8 forfeit the prize.
- Void where prohibited by law (sanctioned or OFAC-embargoed jurisdictions, etc.). Entries from such jurisdictions are not eligible for a cash prize.
- Denovo employees and contractors are not eligible.
- One idea per founder per week.
- Six-month resubmission cooldown for past winners. A founder who has won the Dream of the Week cash prize may not launch or schedule a new idea for the Dream of the Week competition for six (6) months following the date their prior prize was awarded. The cooldown is enforced at the platform level — attempts to make an idea public during the cooldown will be blocked. The rule applies across all Denovo accounts owned or controlled by the same person; circumventing it via a second account is treated as fraud under section 10.
- One cash prize per founder, lifetime. Independent of the six-month cooldown above, founders who have already won the Dream of the Week cash prize are not eligible to win the cash prize again. After the six-month cooldown ends a past winner may launch a new idea and the entry will appear on the public feed, but it remains excluded from cash-prize ranking — if the entry finishes first by raw votes, the prize is awarded to the next eligible runner-up. Like the cooldown, this rule applies across all accounts owned or controlled by the same person; attempts to re-enter under a second account are treated as fraud under section 10.
4. Originality
Submitted ideas must be your own original work. You may build on public, generic problem spaces, but you may not:
- Copy another founder's Denovo scorecard, one-pager, pitch, or naming.
- Submit a known company or public product as your own (e.g. impersonating a real startup's website, logo, or positioning).
- Re-submit the same idea under multiple accounts or re-skinned titles to game the weekly window.
- Infringe someone else's trademark, copyright, or confidential information.
Inspired by a public theme or market? Fine — describe your own take. Copy-pasting from another submission or a known product is disqualifying. If another founder flags your entry as a duplicate, Denovo will review and may void the prize (see section on Right to void).
5. How to enter
- Generate a Dream Score for your idea on Denovo.
- Click "Make public" on your scorecard and pick the upcoming Monday as your launch day.
- Your idea goes live at 00:00 UTC that Monday and competes for the full seven-day voting window.
- Promote your scorecard link anywhere you like — social, communities, email — to earn upvotes during the week.
6. Winner selection
On the following Monday at 00:00 UTC, we tally weighted upvotes for every idea launched in the prior week (Mon 00:00 UTC → Mon 00:00 UTC). Vote weighting:
- Standard account: 1.0x per upvote.
- Denovo Pro subscriber: 2.0x per upvote.
- Same-network abuse: if a second distinct account from the same IP upvotes the same idea, that vote may be tallied at 0.0x while still appearing in the UI. Denovo Pro accounts are generally exempt from this adjustment.
- Bot checks (e.g. Cloudflare Turnstile) may be required on upvotes and comments when enabled.
- Disposable/throwaway email domains: blocked at signup, cannot vote.
Ties are broken by earliest launch time. Denovo reserves the right to invalidate votes identified as fraudulent (bot networks, purchased votes, coordinated multi-account voting, etc.).
7. Prize
- Cash: $500 USD per week, transferred via Stripe Connect upon successful completion of the verification call (section 8) and Stripe KYC. Stripe is our sole payout rail — no alternative rails (wire, crypto, gift cards, etc.) are offered.
- Country restriction: the cash prize is only payable to winners who reside in a country supported by Stripe Connect cross-border payouts at the time of the verification call and payout (see section 3 for details and the authoritative Stripe list). Winners in unsupported countries forfeit the cash prize; Denovo may, at its sole discretion, award it to the runner-up.
- Prize is paid in USD. Any currency conversion, FX spread, and destination bank / wallet fees are borne by the winner and applied by Stripe or the receiving institution.
- One winner per week. Past winners are subject to two cumulative rules (see section 3): a six-month resubmission cooldown during which they cannot launch a new idea at all, and a lifetime exclusion from the cash prize that continues to apply after the cooldown ends. If a past winner's entry ever tops the votes, the prize is awarded to the next eligible runner-up.
8. Payout timeline
- Winner is notified by email within 12 hours of announcement (Monday 00:05 UTC).
- Mandatory assessment call with the Denovo team. The notification email includes a Calendly link to book a short video call (15–20 minutes) with Denovo's CEO and/or team members: https://calendly.com/saverio-denovo/30min. This is an assessment call, not a formality. During the call the Denovo team assesses whether the candidate is eligible under these rules and a legitimate entrepreneur — including, without limitation: verifying the founder's identity and country of residence, confirming authorship and originality of the submitted idea (see section 4), validating that the founder personally built and intends to pursue the project, evaluating the candidate's background and seriousness as an entrepreneur, confirming Stripe Connect cross-border payout eligibility (see section 3), confirming Stripe Atlas country eligibility (see section 3), and confirming compliance with all other rules in this document. Denovo's assessment is final and at the team's sole discretion. A candidate who does not pass the assessment — for any of the reasons above, or for other bona-fide concerns about legitimacy raised during the call — forfeits the cash prize, which Denovo may then award to the next eligible runner-up (see section 10). Attending and passing this assessment call is a condition of receiving the prize. Winners must book a slot within 5 calendar days of notification and complete the call within 10 calendar days of notification.
- After a successful assessment call, Denovo sends you an email with a link to Stripe Connect onboarding (identity, tax status W-9 / W-8BEN where applicable, and payout method). That email is sent when Denovo confirms the assessment outcome — not in the initial winner notification.
- Winner completes the Stripe KYC form (ID verification + tax form where required).
- Cash is transferred via Stripe Connect upon successful completion of the assessment call and KYC form, targeted within 7 days of completion.
- If the assessment call is not booked and completed within the windows above, or if KYC is not completed within 30 days, the prize is forfeited and Denovo may, at its sole discretion, award it to the runner-up.
- If the winner's country of residence is not supported by Stripe Connect cross-border payouts or not eligible for Stripe Atlas at the time of the assessment call or onboarding (see sections 3 and 7), the cash prize is forfeited and Denovo may, at its sole discretion, award it to the runner-up. Denovo will not wire, crypto-transfer, or otherwise substitute alternative payout rails.
Note: Denovo does not hold or custody winner funds outside Stripe. All payouts are initiated from our Stripe account directly to your Stripe Connect payout method (bank account or supported wallet, depending on your country).
9. Taxes
Winners are solely responsible for any applicable taxes. Denovo will issue 1099-MISC (or equivalent local form) where required by law. Non-US winners should consult their local tax authority.
10. Right to void
Denovo reserves the right to void any result or withhold any prize in the case of fraud, vote manipulation, plagiarism / originality violations (see section 4), failure to attend the mandatory assessment call (see section 8), failure to pass the Denovo team's assessment of eligibility and entrepreneurial legitimacy (see section 8), inability to complete Stripe Connect KYC, country of residence outside Stripe Connect cross-border payout support (see sections 3 and 7), country of residence not eligible for Stripe Atlas (see sections 3 and 8), past-winner violations including launching during the six-month resubmission cooldown or attempting to circumvent the lifetime cash-prize exclusion (see sections 3 and 7), or conduct that violates Denovo's Terms of Service. Our decisions in competition matters are final.
11. Privacy
By entering, you grant Denovo permission to publicly display your idea title, founder username or name, hero image, and vote count on our feed and marketing channels. Personal information (email, Stripe payout details, tax info) remains private and is used only for competition administration and payout processing.
12. Contact
Questions or disputes: email competition@denovo.dev.