Location
Choose a city closest to you.
Los Angeles 2013
Applications: May 19, '13
Sessions: Jun 03, '13 - Sep 09, '13
Vision
Our vision is to Globalize Silicon Valley by creating and fostering local startup ecosystems in promising markets across the globe. We aim to help launch 1,000 technology companies per year in over 50 cities worldwide.
Sponsors
Sheppard Mullin is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with more than 600 attorneys in 16 offices located in the United States, Europe and Asia. Founded in 1927 on the principle that the firm would succeed only if its attorneys delivered prompt, high quality and cost-effective legal services, Sheppard Mullin provides legal counsel to U.S. and international clients. Companies turn to Sheppard Mullin to handle a full range of corporate and technology matters, high stakes litigation and complex financial transactions. In the U.S., the firm's clients include more than half of the Fortune 100 companies.
Azran Financial is a full-service Certified Public Accounting (CPA) and Advisory firm serving businesses and individuals in the areas of accounting, audit, tax, and advisory services.
Curriculum
Los Angeles 2013
The Founder Institute offers a weekly curriculum of company-building sessions designed to help entrepreneurs think through every aspect of their business, from the core idea to the revenue model. Each weekly session is lead by three startup CEO Mentors, who share their unique and often differing opinions on the topic, and provide our founders with expert feedback and advice. Participating Founders are given assignments to build key aspects of their companies between the sessions that are completed in Working Groups with their peers.
Public Events
Early Admissions Deadline on March 10, 2013
Final Admissions Deadline on May 19, 2013
Program Sessions
Startup Basics and Orientation
June 03, 2013, at 04:00 PM: Understand the program and startup life.
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
June 03, 2013, at 06:00 PM: Develop your vision and ideas.
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?Startup Research
June 10, 2013, at 06:00 PM: Choose your business and market.
What market are you pursuing? Is the target market big enough? Is it growing or shrinking? What are the other characteristics of your market, and why do you care? How do you find data on your market? How do you define your competitors? What are inexpensive tactics to do custom market research, such as surveys? How can you determine if you can win in your target market, and when do you decide to walk away?Revenues, Costs and Profits
June 17, 2013, at 06:00 PM: Build a financial model.
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?Naming and Branding
June 24, 2013, at 06:00 PM: Name and brand your business.
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?
Shaahin Cheyene
President, http://www.excelerol.com
President, http://www.excelerol.com
Mentor Idea Review
July 08, 2013, at 06:00 PM: Review your idea with Mentors.
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
July 15, 2013, at 06:00 PM: Build a legal and IP strategy.
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?Outsourcing, Partners and Suppliers
July 15, 2013, at 06:00 PM: Develop a process to select key vendors.
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?Cofounders, Hiring and Firing
July 22, 2013, at 06:00 PM: Recruit your first team members.
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
July 29, 2013, at 06:00 PM: Plan and start building your offering.
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?
Seth Shapiro
President, Village Green Network
President, Village Green Network
