Verify startup claims via free structured APIs before web search

When fact-checking founder/company claims, hit structured endpoints first — they settle things search cannot. SEC EDGAR full-text search (efts.sec.gov/LATEST/search-index?q=%22Person%20Name%22, needs a User-Agent) indexes Form D related-person names, so searching a founder name finds the raise even when the legal entity has a totally different name than the product. Danish CVR (cvrapi.dk/api?search=X&country=dk) resolves a person to their companies including prior names, which is how a dead-end name search turns into a real company. GitHub API star counts are decisive against inflated OSS claims, and npm download ranges + package publish dates size a product's real traction in one call. Note that vendor sites often embed impressive-looking metrics inside illustrative UI mockups with fictional data — check whether a stat sits in prose or inside a fake dashboard screenshot before treating it as a claim.