Failory Email Scraper

What the Failory Email Scraper does

The Failory Email Scraper collects public contact emails from publicly indexed Failory pages and returns them as structured lead rows. Failory is an editorial site rather than a company directory, so rows usually identify an article or interview and carry a founder contact - that framing matters before you read anything else here. Failory publishes founder interviews, startup post-mortems and indie hacker case studies, and those pieces routinely name the founder and their address.

In a measured sample the Failory Email Scraper matched 8 result blocks, resolved account identity on 8, produced 8 profile URLs and returned 7 unique emails. For a site of its size that is a strong hit rate, and the people behind those rows are unusually candid founders who agreed to be interviewed in public. Yields still vary with keywords, domains and country, and no volume is guaranteed.

The Actor never logs into Failory, never opens the site and never uses any Failory API. It builds Google site:failory.com queries from your keywords, fetches result pages through the Apify GOOGLE_SERP proxy, and extracts emails from the titles and snippets Google already publishes. There is no browser, no JavaScript rendering, no authentication and no cookies.

What an editorial source means for your rows

Because Failory is editorial, accountName, fullName and profileUrl usually describe an article or an interview subject rather than a company listing. The description field will often read like a story summary, and the email in it belongs to the founder being profiled. The Failory Email Scraper does not change that - it surfaces it clearly so you know what you are writing to.

Who the Failory Email Scraper is for

Venture and angel investors use the Failory Email Scraper to reach founders who have publicly reflected on what worked and what did not. Accelerator and incubator programme managers use it to find second-time founders, who are often the strongest cohort applicants. Startup-service vendors - banking, legal, cloud credits, recruiting - use it to reach indie hackers and solo founders building their next thing.

Journalists, podcasters and researchers use it to contact founders who have already shown willingness to talk on the record. B2B founders selling to small teams use it as a cold outreach list of people running lean businesses. Everyone in these rows published a contact address alongside a public interview, precisely because they wanted to be reachable.

Key features of the Failory Email Scraper

The Failory Email Scraper runs the same engine as every Actor in this family; what changes is which features matter most against an editorial source. Here it is query expansion and email normalisation that do the heavy lifting, because addresses are embedded in prose rather than in structured profile fields.

Feature	What it means in practice
Google-indexed extraction	Reads site:failory.com result blocks through the Apify GOOGLE_SERP proxy - no login, no browser, no cookies
Editorial-aware output	Rows carry the article or interview identity plus the founder's published address
Domain-filtered emails	Only addresses on your customDomains list are kept
Query expansion	Base, quoted and intitle: phrasings plus one variant per query modifier, because Google caps a single query at roughly 300 results
Global deduplication	Every email is unique across all queries and all pages in a run
Email normalisation	Handles name [at] domain [dot] com, name (at) domain, name @ domain.com, domain .com, zero-width characters and the full-width ＠
Junk filtering	Rejects placeholders such as email@, yourname@, test@, xxx@ and single-character locals
Boundary-correct matching	@gmail.com will not match inside @gmail.company or @gmail.com.br
Soft-wrap repair	Drops a hit that is only the tail of another email in the same result block
Structural block parsing	Finds the <h3> title and the smallest surrounding block instead of relying on Google's CSS class names
Whole-page fallback	If Google's markup changes, a run degrades to emails without account details rather than to nothing
Block detection	CAPTCHA, "unusual traffic" and consent pages are detected and retried, not counted as empty
Retries and re-queue	Up to 3 attempts per page with exponential backoff and a fresh proxy session; failed queries are re-queued once at the end
Resumable state	Progress is stored in the key-value store keyed by an input hash and saved on PERSIST_STATE, MIGRATING and ABORTING
Async concurrency	An asyncio worker pool with a shared stop signal on maxEmails

How the Failory Email Scraper works

The Failory Email Scraper runs six steps on every execution, and none of them touch the Failory website itself. The pipeline is async Python over aiohttp against Google.

1. It reads your input: keywords, location, email domains and limits.
2. It builds Google queries with the site: operator against failory.com, for example site:failory.com indie hacker "@gmail.com".
3. It fetches Google result pages through the Apify GOOGLE_SERP proxy.
4. It parses each result block structurally by locating the <h3> title and the smallest surrounding block.
5. It extracts emails from the block text with a domain-filtered regex.
6. It deduplicates globally and pushes each lead straight to the Apify dataset.

Base queries run first, so the most relevant results land before the expanded variants. The run summary logs pages fetched, blocked pages, retries and emails per page, which tells you whether a thin run was a keyword problem or a rate problem.

Input fields for the Failory Email Scraper

Field	Type	Default	Meaning
keywords	array (required)	["startup founder", "indie hacker"]	Search terms describing the accounts you want (niche, job title, industry)
location	string	""	Optional location phrase added to every query
customDomains	array	["@gmail.com","@yahoo.com"]	Only emails on these domains are kept; the @ is optional
maxEmails	integer 1-10000	20	Stop after this many unique emails
countryCode	string	""	Two-letter country for the search proxy (US, GB, DE...)
expandQueries	boolean	true	Search each keyword x domain pair in several phrasings
queryModifiers	array	["email","contact","press","partnerships","sales"]	Extra words combined with each keyword when expansion is on
maxPagesPerQuery	integer 1-50	30	Page cap per query
maxConcurrency	integer 1-20	5	Parallel queries

Note the defaults: the Failory Email Scraper ships with startup founder and indie hacker, because those are the words its editorial pages actually use.

{
  "keywords": ["indie hacker", "startup founder", "solo founder"],
  "customDomains": ["@gmail.com", "@outlook.com"],
  "maxEmails": 150,
  "location": "",
  "countryCode": "",
  "expandQueries": true,
  "queryModifiers": ["email", "contact", "press", "partnerships", "sales"],
  "maxPagesPerQuery": 30,
  "maxConcurrency": 5
}

Output fields the Failory Email Scraper returns

Every dataset item the Failory Email Scraper writes carries all fourteen fields below - no optional extras, no hidden columns.

Field	Meaning
network	Platform name
keyword	The keyword that produced the lead
query	The exact Google query used
title	Raw result title
accountName	Account label Google prints
fullName	Display name parsed from a profile-style title; empty for post captions
username	URL-safe handle when the platform exposes one; otherwise null
profileUrl	Canonical account URL when a handle is known; otherwise empty
url	Direct platform link when exposed, else the profile URL
description	Bio snippet, cleaned of labels and engagement counters
email	Lower-cased email address
emailDomain	The matched domain
possiblyTruncated	true when Google's snippet ellipsis touched the email
foundAt	ISO 8601 UTC timestamp

A typical row from the Failory Email Scraper - note that the identity is an interview page, not a company profile:

{
  "network": "Failory",
  "keyword": "indie hacker",
  "query": "site:failory.com indie hacker \"@gmail.com\"",
  "title": "How Ivo Bakker Built and Sold a $40k/yr Micro-SaaS - Failory",
  "accountName": "Ivo Bakker",
  "fullName": "Ivo Bakker",
  "username": "ivo-bakker-interview",
  "profileUrl": "https://www.failory.com/ivo-bakker-interview",
  "url": "https://www.failory.com/ivo-bakker-interview",
  "description": "Interview with Ivo Bakker on building a micro-SaaS solo and selling it. Reach him at ivo.bakker.builds@gmail.com",
  "email": "ivo.bakker.builds@gmail.com",
  "emailDomain": "@gmail.com",
  "possiblyTruncated": false,
  "foundAt": "2026-02-11T15:08:12Z"
}

Use cases for the Failory Email Scraper

Audience	How they use the Failory Email Scraper
Angel and pre-seed investors	Reach second-time and reflective founders directly
Accelerator programme managers	Recruit founders who have already shipped and learned
Cloud, banking and legal vendors	Reach indie hackers and solo founders starting again
Recruiters	Find operators with hands-on early-stage experience
Journalists and podcasters	Contact founders who talk publicly about failure
Researchers and analysts	Build an interview list on startup outcomes
B2B SaaS founders	Reach lean teams that buy tools quickly
Communities and newsletters	Invite candid founders to contribute

Example runs with the Failory Email Scraper

An interview-focused run, which plays to the strengths of the Failory Email Scraper:

{
  "keywords": ["interview", "indie hacker", "startup founder"],
  "customDomains": ["@gmail.com", "@yahoo.com"],
  "maxEmails": 200,
  "expandQueries": true
}

A post-mortem run, pointing the Failory Email Scraper at founders writing about what went wrong:

{
  "keywords": ["startup failure", "shut down", "post mortem"],
  "customDomains": ["@gmail.com"],
  "maxEmails": 100,
  "expandQueries": true
}

A narrow run with expansion off, when you want the Failory Email Scraper to match one literal phrase:

{
  "keywords": ["micro saas"],
  "customDomains": ["@gmail.com"],
  "expandQueries": false,
  "maxEmails": 40,
  "maxConcurrency": 3
}

Tips to get more from the Failory Email Scraper

Use editorial vocabulary, not directory vocabulary. interview, post mortem, shut down, indie hacker and solo founder all match how Failory actually writes. Words like company profile or directory will match very little here.

Keep expandQueries on for discovery, because Google caps a single query at roughly 300 results and expansion is the only way past that. The contact and email modifiers pull hardest on this site, since interviews commonly end with a way to reach the founder.

Leave location empty unless you have a specific reason to use it. Failory is not organised geographically, so a location phrase mostly narrows your results without improving them. Widen customDomains instead - indie founders overwhelmingly publish personal addresses.

Limitations of the Failory Email Scraper

Failory is an editorial site rather than a company directory, so rows usually identify an article or interview and carry a founder contact. Plan your outreach around that: you are writing to a person who was profiled, not to a company inbox, and the Failory Email Scraper labels the row accordingly.

The Actor only finds accounts whose email is publicly visible in Google's index, and Failory is a smaller site than the big directories, so absolute volume is bounded by how much it has published. Google caps a single query at roughly 300 results, which is why query expansion exists and defaults to on.

possiblyTruncated: true means Google's snippet ellipsis touched the address, so verify those rows before sending. username and profileUrl are only populated when Google's result exposes a handle; where Google prints only a display name those fields stay empty while accountName and fullName are filled in, which is a Google limitation and not a bug.

The Actor requires the Apify GOOGLE_SERP proxy and cannot run without Apify proxy credentials. Free Apify plans are capped at 100 emails per run; paid plans are uncapped. Results vary with keywords, domains and location, and no volume is guaranteed.

Responsible use and GDPR

Founders profiled on Failory come from all over the world, the EU included, so treat every address the Failory Email Scraper returns as personal data. Have a lawful basis for your outreach, identify yourself clearly, explain why you are writing, honour opt-outs immediately and keep your list current. This is general responsible-use guidance, not legal advice - check your own obligations before running a campaign.

FAQ about the Failory Email Scraper

How many results should I expect from the Failory Email Scraper?

In a measured sample it matched 8 blocks, resolved 8 identities, produced 8 profile URLs and returned 7 unique emails - a strong hit rate, but on a smaller site than F6S or EU-Startups. Your own numbers depend on keywords, domains and maxEmails, and no volume is guaranteed.

Does the Failory Email Scraper return company records or articles?

Articles. Failory is an editorial site rather than a company directory, so rows usually identify an article or interview and carry a founder contact.

Does the Failory Email Scraper log into Failory?

No. It never logs in, never opens the Failory website and never uses a Failory API. It reads publicly indexed Google results only.

Where do the emails the Failory Email Scraper returns come from?

From the titles, snippets and site labels Google already publishes for failory.com pages. Nothing private is accessed.

Which keywords work best?

Editorial ones. Try interview, post mortem, shut down, indie hacker and solo founder rather than directory-style phrases, and let the Failory Email Scraper expand each of them.

Can the Failory Email Scraper filter to company domains instead of @gmail.com?

Yes. Put any domains you want in customDomains, with or without the leading @. Boundary-correct matching means @gmail.com will not accidentally match @gmail.company.

Should I set a location?

Usually not. Failory is not organised by geography, so location tends to narrow results without improving relevance.

Why are some username and profileUrl fields empty?

Google sometimes prints only a display name, and with no handle exposed there is no canonical profile URL. The rest of the row is still complete.

What does possiblyTruncated mean?

It flags a row where Google's snippet ellipsis touched the email, so the address may be cut short. Verify before sending.

Does the Failory Email Scraper need a proxy?

Yes. It requires the Apify GOOGLE_SERP proxy and will not run without Apify proxy credentials.

Is there a free-plan limit on the Failory Email Scraper?

Free Apify plans are capped at 100 emails per run. Paid plans are uncapped.

Does the Failory Email Scraper return duplicates?

No. Deduplication is global across every query and page in a run, so each address appears once.

Can I resume an interrupted run of the Failory Email Scraper?

Yes. State is kept in the key-value store keyed by a hash of your input and saved on Apify's PERSIST_STATE, MIGRATING and ABORTING events.

What should I combine it with?

Pair the Failory Email Scraper with the F6S Email Scraper and the BetaList Email Scraper for directory volume, then deduplicate across datasets.

Related Actors

The Failory Email Scraper is one of twenty Actors in the Software, SaaS and Startup family, all running the same engine against a different platform. For directory-style volume start with the F6S Email Scraper; for pre-launch products use the BetaList Email Scraper; for the other editorially driven source in this set, the EU-Startups Email Scraper is the closest match.

Actor	What it collects
Failory Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from Failory
Failory Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from Failory
AlternativeTo Email Scraper	Public contact emails from AlternativeTo
BetaList Email Scraper	Public contact emails from BetaList
BuiltWith Email Scraper	Public contact emails from BuiltWith
CB Insights Email Scraper	Public contact emails from CB Insights
Dealroom Email Scraper	Public contact emails from Dealroom
EU-Startups Email Scraper	Public contact emails from EU-Startups
F6S Email Scraper	Public contact emails from F6S
Product Hunt Email Scraper	Public contact emails from Product Hunt
SaaSHub Email Scraper	Public contact emails from SaaSHub
SaaSworthy Email Scraper	Public contact emails from SaaSworthy
Software Advice Email Scraper	Public contact emails from Software Advice
SourceForge Companies Email Scraper	Public contact emails from SourceForge
Tracxn Email Scraper	Public contact emails from Tracxn
Wappalyzer Email Scraper	Public contact emails from Wappalyzer
Wellfound Startup Email Scraper	Public contact emails from Wellfound
AlternativeTo Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from AlternativeTo
BetaList Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from BetaList
CB Insights Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from CB Insights
Dealroom Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from Dealroom
EU-Startups Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from EU-Startups
F6S Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from F6S
Product Hunt Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from Product Hunt
SaaSHub Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from SaaSHub
SaaSworthy Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from SaaSworthy
Software Advice Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from Software Advice
SourceForge Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from SourceForge
Wappalyzer Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from Wappalyzer
Wellfound Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from Wellfound
AlternativeTo Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from AlternativeTo
BetaList Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from BetaList
CB Insights Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from CB Insights
Dealroom Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from Dealroom
EU-Startups Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from EU-Startups
F6S Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from F6S
Product Hunt Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from Product Hunt
SaaSHub Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from SaaSHub
SaaSworthy Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from SaaSworthy
Software Advice Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from Software Advice
SourceForge Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from SourceForge
Wappalyzer Phone Number Scraper	Public phone numbers from Wappalyzer

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Support

Questions about the Failory Email Scraper, a thin run you want reviewed, or a custom build? Email neurodata.apify@gmail.com with the keywords and domains you used.