Curriculum

Fall 2010 Berlin

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.

Program Sessions

Berlin Launch Party

September 15, 2010, at 06:30 PM: Welcome to the Institute.

The Berlin Lauch Party offers an opportunity for founders and guests to get together and network, to exchange experiences and thoughts, and to discuss the challenges Berlin based startups face. Adeo Ressi, Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of the Founder Institute will visit Berlin to meet and learn from local founders, to share his perspective on starting a company and the vision behind the Institute. Register today at http://www.befi.eventbrite.com to attend the Berlin Launch Party. Location: betahaus berlin, Prinzessinnen Straße 19-20, 10969 Berlin

German Legal Advice

September 24, 2010, at 06:30 PM: Prepare to incorporate.

Review the necessary steps to incorporate your business during the program so that you are prepared when the time is right. ALL APPLICANTS to the Founder Institute Berlin 2010 program are invited to join this open session, ask questions about the program and receive free incorporation advice from our legal partner TaylorWessing. Please note that the venue of this session has limited space. Therefore, access to the session is limited to founders who have applied to the program. Not applied yet? Go to http://www.bit.ly/FI-Berlin to submit your application.

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Final Admissions Deadline on October 03, 2010

Vision and Values

October 08, 2010, at 06:30 PM: Develop your vision and idea.

What are you passionate about? What is your vision? How do you translate passion and vision into a business idea? How do you brainstorm ideas? What are 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 Reality Check

October 21, 2010, at 06:30 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?

Startup Research

October 22, 2010, at 06:30 PM: Identify your target 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?

Naming and Branding

October 29, 2010, at 06:30 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?

Startup Legal and Incorporation

November 05, 2010, at 06:30 PM: Build a legal strategy and incorporate.

Why incorporate? What are the basic legal concepts that you need to know to run a successful company? What are the key legal terms that you need to care about in contracts, with your team, and with your Board? What are common legal mistakes in startups? What are the key legal documents that a startup needs to operate? When do you need to use a lawyer, and when can you handle things on your own? How do you manage a law firm efficiently to get the best work?

Revenues, Costs and Profits

November 12, 2010, at 06:30 PM: Determine your business model.

How does your business make and spend money? What is the best mix of revenues, or is one revenue stream the right approach? How do you build a realistic financial model? How do you create realistic assumptions for your model? What are ways to check that your assumptions are right? How do you know if your business model is viable?

Hiring, Firing and Cofounders

November 26, 2010, at 06:30 PM: How to find the best people.

What are the right mix of skills that you need to launch a world-class technology company? Should you be looking for cofounders, team members, freelancers or interns? When should you plan to bring on people to help? How do you recruit and interview to find the best resources? What are the compensation guidelines in the beginning for cofounders and other various roles? How do you set expectations, measure results and remove or fire under performing resources?

Product and Service Development

December 03, 2010, at 06:30 PM: Develop a plan to build your idea.

How do you get from an idea to an offering? How do you build an offering? What tactics should you use to ensure success? What is the plan to develop your offering? What are tips and tricks to make that plan accurate? What are common mistakes that every founder makes? What are the best practices? How do you navigate competition, and how do you win?

Outsourcing, Partners and Suppliers

December 10, 2010, at 06:30 PM: Select key vendors.

What should you outsource, and what do you need to do in-house? What is the core competency of your team, and what should it to be? What vendors do you need? How do you select the best vendors for your business on the best terms? How do you evaluate the economics? What are some horror stories to avoid?

Intellectual Property

January 07, 2011, at 06:30 PM: File your provisional patents.

What is the intellectual property of your business? What types of protections are available, and what are the costs? How do you manage your intellectual property using confidentiality, copyrights, and patents? What can and what should you do on your own, and what do you need a lawyer for? What are common intellectual property problems, and how do you deal with them cost effectively?

Marketing and Sales

January 14, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Identify and convey your positioning.

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

January 21, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Prepare for publicity.

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

January 28, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Plan to raise your first round.

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

February 04, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Prepare to succeed after the Institute.

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!