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Silicon Valley Spring 2013

At the Founder Institute, you won't "learn" how to build a business. Rather, you will build your business alongside top startup experts using a proven, structured process that has helped some of the world's fastest growing companies raise over $1.75BN. 

Our core program includes a series of challenging growth sprints, in addition to Weekly Feedback Sessions where you will receive constant feedback on your progress from experienced Mentors and Investors. 

See the schedule for the Silicon Valley Spring 2013 program below.

The Final Application Deadline for the Silicon Valley Spring 2013 program is Mar 17, 2013, and you can apply to the program at FI.co/join.

Startup Basics and Orientation

Understand the program and startup life.

Date: Apr 02, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

What do you need to know to be successful in the Founder Institute? What can you expect from launching a startup? What traits are required to be successful?

Vision and Values

Develop your vision and ideas.

Date: Apr 03, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

What are you passionate about? What is your vision? How do you translate your passion and vision into a business idea? How do you brainstorm ideas? What are the tools for evaluating your ideas? What are the makings of a good idea versus a bad idea? Should you pursue multiple ideas at once, and when should you focus on one?

Customer Development & Startup Research

Do you have a problem / customer fit?

Date: Apr 10, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

How do you articulate and then test your hypothesis about the customer's problem? How do you test if the product concept and minimum feature set solve that problem? Does your product/service as spec’d solve a problem or a need customers have? Is the solution compelling enough that they want to buy it or use it today? What are the proper techniques for doing good customer development interviews? Also, how do you do proper market research?

Naming and Branding

Name and brand your business.

Date: Apr 17, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

What is a brand? Is it you? Is it your vision? How do you determine what you stand for, and then how do you come up with a good company name? What are the characteristics of a good company name? What do you need to do to protect your name?

Revenues, Costs and Profits

Build a financial model.

Date: Apr 24, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

How do you plan to make money? How do you build a financial model? What are the types of expenses, such as fixed expenses and costs of goods sold, and how do they scale? How do you know if your model is right? What do angel investors and venture capitalists expect from your financial model? How do you identify the key metrics for your success?

Mentor Idea Review

Review your idea with Mentors.

Date: May 01, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

Can you pitch your idea in three minutes and survive the scrutiny of seasoned CEO? How viable is the idea itself? Can the founder present the idea in a meaningful and articulate way? Has the founder done the research necessary to understand the market and prove that the idea is valid?

Startup Legal and IP

Build a legal and IP strategy.

Date: May 08, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

What does a new Founder need to know about law in order to run a successful startup? When should a Founder use a lawyer, and when should you rely on your own work? What are the key terms in contracts to understand and to avoid? What are common legal mistakes? How should a Founder handle their intellectual property, including confidentiality, copyrights, trademarks and patents? What are common intellectual property problems, and how do you deal with them cost effectively?

Cofounders, Hiring and Firing

Recruit your first team members.

Date: May 15, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

What talent do you need in the beginning to be successful? How do you recruit the first team members with extremely limited resources? How do you conduct a thorough interviewing process? How do you compensate? How do you set expectations, measure results and remove or fire under-performing resources? Do you need a cofounder? Do you need to have engineering in-house?

Product Development

Plan and start building your offering.

Date: May 22, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

How do you get from an idea to an offering? What are strategies to identify and prioritize features? How do you take a product definition and turn it into a development plan? What should comprise a minimum viable product? What are effective strategies to build your first offering? What are common mistakes that you should avoid when planning and building an offering?

Mentor Progress Review

Review your business with Mentors.

Date: Jun 05, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

Can you pitch your business in three minutes and survive the scrutiny of seasoned CEOs? How much progress has been made on the product? How viable is the business and the financial model? Can you present the business in a meaningful and articulate way? Does the business scale? Can the business survive?

Outsourcing, Partners and Suppliers

Develop a process to select key vendors.

Date: Jun 12, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

What should you outsource, and what do you need to do in-house? How to segment the vendors that you need? What vendors do you need right when you start, and what vendors will you need as you grow? How do you recruit and select the important vendors? What are tips and tricks to manage vendors in order to ensure a consistent level of quality? How do you fire and replace under-performing vendors? What are common mistakes made when dealing with vendors?

Marketing and Sales

Identify and convey your positioning.

Date: Jun 19, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

How do you portray yourself and your business to the world? How do you tell the story of your company? How do you define your ultimate success? How do you attract the first customers and partners to your vision? How do you involve your customers and partners in your success? What are techniques to refine your messaging?

Presentation and Publicity

Prepare for publicity.

Date: Jun 26, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

How do you get the world to take notice of your company? What are tips and tricks to present your business? What tools do you need to succeed with outreach? How do you identify newsworthy milestones? How do you craft a successful media release? What are effective tactics to get social media, the blogosphere and traditional media to take notice? What are common media mistakes for new companies?

Fundraising

Plan to raise your first round.

Date: Jul 03, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

When is it realistic to raise capital for a brand new company? How should you calculate the amount of money to raise? How should you define the use use of proceeds? What materials are required to fundraise? How do you identify and qualify target angel and seed stage investors? How do you find a lead investor? What do investors expect from the company? What are typical investment structures and deal terms for seed-stage financing? How do you negotiate terms?

Graduation

Prepare to succeed after the Institute.

Date: Jul 10, 2013
Starts at: 09:30 am (Asia/Shanghai)

How do you ensure success after Graduation? Who will lead the alumni community, and what are the plans following graduation? The Graduation is the beginning of an exciting period for Founders, where an idea becomes reality. Congratulations!

Post Program Resources

The 4 month Core-Program is just the beginning. We have developed extensive support programs and resources for our Alumni that far exceed any other comparable startup program.

Continued Support

FI Alumni
  • Dedicated Alumni Support Team in Silicon Valley
  • Access to the world's largest network of mentors and investors (35,000+)
  • Private Alumni mailing lists
  • $2M+ in partner discounts
  • Invites to FI sessions & network events
  • Potentail introductions to investors

Post-Programs

Founder Lab
  • A series of virtual advisory programs where you work with our Silicon Valley HQ team to reach next milestones
  • Funding Lab helps get your lead investor within 6 months
  • P/M Fit Lab (2023) helps you get to Product Market Fit
  • FI Venture Network helps you get intros to investors
  • 100% customized and FREE for Alumni