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Overview | Getting Started | Timing | Q&A
Now, more than ever, the world needs entrepreneurs to build solutions to solve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity.
Launching a Founder Institute accelerator is an exciting way to take a leading role in the local startup ecosystem and to help entrepreneurs work on things that matter. You can run a city-focused accelerator or a vertical-focused accelerator based on your expertise. FI HQ runs the backoffice operations of your accelrator such as Marketing, Admissions, Customer Support, Legal, Finance, etc and Local Leaders are the face of FI in the city or vertical. As a Local Leader, your role is to bring your network of seasoned entrepreneurs to mentor aspiring entrepreneurs, and investors and community groups to help them launch meaningful and enduring technology companies. After a couple of programs, a large portion of the new startups in your local ecosystem will be Alumni of FI's pre-seed accelerator program.
Launching a Founder Institute accelerator as a City or as a Vertical is a part-time opportunity, requiring between 6 and 8 hours per week per Local Leader. It takes about four months to launch a chapter. During this time, you will undergo five phases:
To get started, we recommend that you review the materials on the Founder Institute site to familiarize yourself with the program, including the FAQ, the Agreements, the Program, the Curriculum, and the Companies. It is recommended that you watch a full session as well, available here, learn about some of our other events and review some of the other Local Leaders: Texas, Nigeria, Bulgaria. You can even review the Local Leader Agreement.
The Founder Institute operates two four-month accelerator programs per year that correlates to the seasons. Programs should not launch immediately after a local holiday period. The days of the week and the exact schedule can be customized based on local holiday schedules and needs. There is usually a one week break after each "Mentor Review" session. A sample schedule is below:
| Train Phase (New Local Leaders Only) | ||
| Week 1&2 | Welcome & Network sessions, followed by a gap Week for Team Assessment | Finalize Team and get approved to continue the training |
| Week 4 - 6 | Team & Equity; Deal Flow; Advisory & Partnership sessions | Work on program configuration |
| Week 7 | Meet the FI Marketing Team | Learn how FI HQ promotes your program |
| Week 8 | Complete the training & onboarding and launch your accelerator | |
| Recruit Phase | ||
| Week 5 | (break) | |
| Week 6 | - Public: | Global Recruiting Event (by HQ) |
| Week 7 | - Public: | Local Recruiting Event |
| - Deadline: required >45 Applied & 5 Enrolled | Early Admissions (Sunday) | |
| Week 8 | - Public | Local Recruiting Event |
| Week 9 | - Public: | Global Recruiting Event (by HQ) |
| Week 10 | - Public: | Local Recruiting Event |
| Week 11 | - Public: | Global Recruiting Event |
| Week 12 | - Deadline: | Final Admissions (Sunday) |
| ADMISSIONS | ||
| Week 13 | Admissions Processing | |
| Week 14 | Admissions Processing | |
| Required: | >25 enrolled | |
| Operate Phase | ||
| Week 15 | - Session: | Orientation |
| Week 16 | - Session: | Vision |
| Week 17 | - Session: | Customer Development |
| Week 18 | - Session: | Revenue |
| Week 19 | - Session: | Branding & Design |
| Week 20 | - Session: | Mentor Idea Review |
| Week 21 | - Session: | Legal & IP |
| Week 22 | - Session: | Go-to-Market & Scale |
| Week 23 | - Session: | Product Development |
| Week 24 | - Session: | Mentor Progress Review |
| Week 25 | - Session: | Hiring & Onboarding |
| Week 26 | - Session: | Growth |
| Week 27 | - Session: | Equity & Funding |
| Week 28 | - Session: | Founder Showcase |
Below are common questions asked by potential Local Leaders. Please contact us with any additional questions that you may have.
Interviews with our FI Local Leaders in US, Africa and Europe answering the most common questions here:
Martin Martines, FI Texas Regional Director: interview
Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, FI Africa Regional Director: interview
Janet Todorova, FI Sofia Director: interview
A: To keep people safe all FI accelerators globally are running the program 100% online. Local Leaders will run Recruiting Events and Program Sessions virtually using tools (Zoom) and formats provided by the FI HQ team, receiving full support by or Marketing, Operations and Admissions teams. We plan to go back to a hybrid format at some point when it's safe.
A: No. A company does not need to be established to run FI. The Founder Institute’s model allows for all activities in various locations to be centrally managed, leveraging the US legal entity to provide liability protection, billing and other services.
A: Yes. The Founder Institute has a custom developed learning management system for the curriculum, enrollment, mentorship and a public website. The Local Leaders can control everything through a web-based dashboard.
A: The Founder Institute is having discussions with Local Leaders in various cities and industries throughout the world. FI usally launches in capital cities or large cities with a population above 250 000 people and a developed or developing startup ecosystem to support the accelerator with network. For Vertical accelerators, FI is open to any technology focused accelerator program such as FinTech, AI, Big Data, etc.
A: The Founder Institute screens all applicants through a multi-step process. First, each application is reviewed to be complete, cogent and relevant. Local Leaders are invited to participate in this first step. Then, qualified applicants are screened using our Entrepreneur DNA Assessment. Lastly, top applicants are accepted and encouraged to enroll in the program (see http://FI.co/dna).
A: Yes. The Founder Institute agreements are designed to work anywhere in the world. In areas outside the United States, the Local Leaders are expected to make arrangements with a law firm to help check the legal agreements against local law and customs, if necessary. The Founder Institute will provide assistance with the drafting, questions and the process.
A: The Founder Institute has (1) a weekly global call on best practices, (2) dedicated Regional Success Managers to provide weekly guidance and (3) common Mentors between the various regional programs.
A: Yes. The Founder Institute leverages relationships with top start-up CEOs to have them be a Mentor in various locations throughout the world. FI Founders can benefit from the global Mentor network after they progress in the program. During the program itself, Founders work with local Mentors that are secured by the Local Leaders.
A: The Founder Institute has created an equity sharing program for all enrolled Founders, Mentors and Local Leaders, and other key players in the local ecosystem. This program is called the "Equity Collective," and you can learn more about it here.
A: No. The goal is to prepare the Founders how to pitch and fundraise and encourage local incubators, angels and venture capitalists to invest in the Alumni companies.
A:There are three traits of a Local Leader. First, they have to enjoy helping startups and have some experience with startups, for example being a (Co)Founder and/or CEO of a successful startup. From our experience, ideal Local Leaders with more entrepreneurial experience tend to be older in age. Second, they have to have connections in the local startup ecosystem; ideally, Local Leaders should be able to identify and reach out to strong Mentors for the program. Third, they have to have basic event organization skills and be capable of speaking to an audience and running a good meeting. Local Leaders are asked to work in teams to gather all of the desired skills. A strong Local Leader team includes: 1) a successful startup founder, 2) an ecosystem leader, 3) a social media influencer / a strong marketer. The Local Leader role takes about 8 hours per week per person.
A: There are three components. First, the actual Recruiting Events and Sessions take two hours one day of each week during the evening, recommended from 6:30 to 8:30 PM local time. Second, the Local Leaders may offer two hours per week of "office hours" to help Founders with specific challenges that they are facing. Third, the Local Leaders may need to perform an hour per week of operational tasks, such as identifying sponsors, involving local investors, identifying partners or coordinating with Mentors.
A: Yes, there are ways to involve Associates and Inters that can help to operate the program, reducing the weekly time commitment of the Local Leader to less than eight hours per Local Leader, if needed.
A: No. A Local Leader can choose to run only one three and a half month program, reap the benefits and then retire. Generally, our goal is to find a strong team to works with us long-term.
A: The Founder Institute has four fees, three of which are shared with the Local Leaders:
A: With a cohort of 35 Founders, you can expect to graduate approximately 12 companies or 30%. First, it is reasonable to assume acquiring two or three sponsors for a total of $10,000 to $20,000 in sponsorship. Second, if you manage to secure a cohort of 30+ paid Founders post the refund deadline ("Revenue and Business Model" Session) then you get 30% of the Entrance Fee. Third, over five to ten years, if one or two of the companies secure modest liquidity events that generate a total of $30 MM in shareholder value, then there will be approximately $200,000 to the Equity Collecyive for the Local Leaders.
A: Sponsorships have several purposes and can help you lead a successful accelerator. They can help provide catering and a venue, subsidize mentor travel, and provide a small and steady income stream to offset expenses while the equity in the Founder Institute companies starts to grow.
A: The Founder Institutes helps construct and draft proposals and invoices for Local Leaders to send to their respective sponsors. After sponsors receive the invoice, sponsors will then send the agreed upon monetary support to FI HQ. HQ will process and distribute the monetary fund to Local Leaders.
There are four phases to launch an FI accelerator with three major milestones that are outlined below.
Contact: Janet Todorova, Head of Expansion (future@fi.co)
Estimated Time: Less than 2 hours over less than 10 days.
Details: During the Apply Phase, you will submit an application and learn the highlights about operating a Founder Institute accelerator.
A. Apply to lead an accelerator here and supply basic personal information.
B. Join one of our Info Sessions to meet the FI HQ leaders and learn more.
B.1. Welcome to the Founder Institute.
B.2. Provide a Founder Institute overview.
B.4. Answer any questions.
B.5. Review the next steps of launching an FI accelerator.
C. Take the Entrepreneur DNA Assessment
D. Introduce three or four candidates to the Founder Institute and have the potential Local Leaders submit an application here.
MILESTONE 1: Submit a complete application..
Contact: future@fi.co
Estimated Time: Approximately 6 hours over approximately three weeks.
Details: During the Form Phase, you will refer Local Leader Candidates to form a team to lead the Founder Institute accelerator as a city or as a vertical. The Local Leader Candidates may include other Program Managers, Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs) and Associates. At the end of this phase, the Founder Institute will complete a Team Assessment to approve a group of Local Leaders to run a local program. A strong Local Leader team includes: 1) a successful startup founder, 2) an ecosystem leader, 3) a social media influencer, a strong marketer.
A. Leverage tools to attract Candidates, such as the Team tool here.
B. Have qualified Candidates apply to lead an FI accelerator here.
C. Introduce three or four Candidates to the Founder Institute and have the potential Local Leaders submit an application here.
D. Work with the Founder Institute to complete the Team Assessment.
MILESTONE 1: Pass the Team Assessment to enter the Accelerator Lab.
Contact: support@fi.co
Estimated Time: 7 weeks.
Details: During the Train Phase, the team of Local Leaders will go through a 7-week online training program to configure the upcoming program and to learn the basics of operating a successful FI accelerator.
A. Get on a Info Session with Ryan Micheletti to learn about the training.
A.1. Introduce all of the Local Leaders and Founder Institute team members.
A.2. Review the Vision and Values of the Founder Institute.
A.3. Discuss the various next steps of launching the program.
A.4. Answer any questions of about launching.
A.5. Provide some tips and best practices.
B. Start the 7-week online training program to configure the program.
B.1. Week 1: Welcome
B.2. Week 2: Network
B.3. Week 3: Break Week for Team Assessment
B.4. Week 4: Team & Equity
B.5. Week 5: Deal Flow
B.6. Week 6: Advisory
B.7. Week 7: Partnerships
MILESTONE 2: Successfully complete the various deliverables of the traing with a fully configured program.
Contact: support@fi.co
Estimated Time: 6 to 10 weeks, depending on the desired admissions timeline, which normally runs 8 weeks for applications and 2 weeks for processing applications afterward.
Details: After completing the Accelerator Lab and successfully configuring the program, we will move forward with officially announcing the launch of a local Founder Institute accelerator. In this phase, you will run 4 to 6 online Recruiting Events, localize the Warrant, and promote the program locally to secure a large volume of applicants. During the COVID-19 lockdown, you will only run 3-4 online Recruiting Events, while FI HQ will be hosting global webinars to attract applicants.
A. Launch the program as "Live" on the Founder Institute site.
A.1. Open applicant admissions.
B. Host online Recruiting Events
B.1. Run 3 Promotional Events (Startup Fundraising, Female Founder Roundtable, etc)
B.2. Run 2 Conversion Events (Office Hours, FI Info Session, etc)
NOTE: All FI accelerators are now running the program in a 100% virtual format. We may get back to a hybrid format once in-person events are safe.
C. Hit the minimum recruiting targets to run a program:
C.1. 5 applicants enrolled by the Early Admissions Deadline
C.2. 75 applicants by the Final Admissions Deadline
C.3. 25 enrolled Founders by the start of the program.
NOTE: A program can be delayed or canceled if there is poor additional recruitment or low enrollment into the program.
Founder Institute Contact: support@fi.co
Estimated Time: 14 to 16 weeks, which is the length of a Founder Institute semester. Some of the planning tasks below are normally completed during the Launch period.
Details: During the Operate Phase, the Local Leaders will organize weekly training and mentoring sessions to launch meaningful and enduring technology companies in the local market.
A. Recruit and manage interns to assist with the logistics in the sessions themselves (guidelines).
B. Allocate Mentors to Sessions using the administration tools and ensure that there are at least three Mentors for each of the next three sessions.
C. Set up Zoom infrastructure to run the ongoing sessions.
D. Plan Office Hours to meet with Founders on a weekly basis.
E. Set-up calendar reminders for key session dates, such as Idea Deadline and the Incorporation Deadline.
NOTE: All FI accelerators are now running the program in a 100% virtual format. We may get back to a hybrid format once in-person events are safe.
MILESTONE 3: Renew for 2nd Program.
