When entrepreneurs Anson Liang and Daniel Lieser first matched on CoFoundersLab, there was a mutual feeling of exuberance as the elusive search for a cofounder was finally over. Both founders were excited to get started, but there was a lot more work to do before their company, TrustLeaf, could take off. One of these crucial first steps was to build essential skills as first-time founders at The Founder Institute, the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program. Not only did TrustLeaf participate in FI's four-month, part-time entrepreneur training program, but they were also selected as one of the finalists in the Founder Showcase Pitch Competition in 2013.
This natural progression - from building the founding team, to acquiring the necessary skills, to launching a business - was the motivation behind a global partnership between CoFoundersLab (a Onevest Company) and the Founder Institute.
The Founder Institute now has chapters in over 50 cities and 35 countries, having helped launch over 1,000 companies. Their mission is to “Globalize Silicon Valley” and build sustainable ecosystems that will eventually produce 1 million new jobs worldwide. Founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Adeo Ressi, the Founder Institute has maintained a strong relationship with CoFoundersLab over the past couple of years. Ressi noted that “partnering with CoFoundersLab will give us an extra boost in helping entrepreneurs build successful and enduring businesses”.
As a result of the partnership, CoFoundersLab and the Founder Institute will continue developing and co-promoting events, including the recent webinar on startup Fundraising led by Adeo Ressi and Shahab Kaviani (co-Founder/CEO of CoFoundersLab). The Founder Institute is also now a Founding Partner on the peer-to-peer learning platform, Learn.Onevest.Com. Learn.Onevest is the Reddit for entrepreneur and Early Stage Investor educational resources, curated and populated exclusively by the community. You can click here to see how it works. For those of you searching for a cofounder, the Founder Institute will maintain its CoFoundersLab Portal.
TrustLeaf is the first case of a "Joint Success Story". Anson and Daniel matched up at a CoFoundersLab Event in January of 2013, and in March of 2014 launched an online platform that enables early-stage entrepreneurs to crowdfund their companies through friends and family. These business owners can manage their fundraising efforts with legal protection in a centralized location, avoiding the typical difficulties in taking money from family and friends. Apart from raising over $20,000 on their own platform, TrustLeaf has been featured in several publications including the Silicon Valley Business Journal and Entrepreneur.
The Founder Institute and CoFoundersLab are thrilled to continue this partnership and empower more entrepreneurs to achieve the early milestones in building successful companies.
For more information on CoFoundersLab, be sure to visit their official website .
