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Montreal Virtual 2020

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 Montreal Virtual 2020 program below.

The Final Application Deadline for the Montreal Virtual 2020 program is Aug 02, 2020, and you can apply to the program at FI.co/join.

Orientation

Meet the cohort & learn our methodology

Date: Aug 12, 2020
Starts at: 05:00 pm (America/New_York)

This is where it all begins. During Orientation, we will review the Founder Institute program structure, methodology, tools, and requirements. You will meet the cohort and establish how your startup will use the program to push your business forward.

Sprints

During Orientation, your cohort will be split up into the “Launch Track” or “Growth Track”, depending on the stage your business. The "Launch Track" focuses earlier Founders and teams on validation and go-to-markets, while the "Growth Track" focuses teams with a live product and customers on traction and funding. 

The below deliverables are in addition to any custom "Epic Sprints" you may receive based on your specific challenges, and below is a small sample of the deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:

 

Launch Track Deliverables

  1. Progress - Outline your business ideas and any testing or progress made to date. 
  2. Hotseat Pitch - Prepare a one minute verbal pitch for the weekly “Founder Hotseat”, where you present to Mentors during the Feedback Sessions. Start with our one-sentence pitch template, and if you do not have a final idea yet, describe yourself and a field that you are passionate about and uniquely qualified to build a business around.
  3. Co-Founders - If you are looking for a Co-Founder, create a basic description of what you are looking for, and this will be shared with the rest of your cohort.

 

Growth Track Deliverables

  1. Program Goals - Outline the monthly objectives your team wants to achieve during the four month Core Program.
  2. Key Performance Indicators - Outline the KPIs that you are currently using to track success. Analyze the validity of these metrics, and create a plan to share updated metrics and progress with your Local Leaders every week in the program.
  3. Hotseat Pitch - Prepare a one minute verbal pitch for the weekly “Founder Hotseat”, where you present to Mentors during the Feedback Sessions. Start with our one-sentence pitch template, followed by why your team is uniquely qualified to execute your business and the progress that you’ve made to date.

Pitching & Startup Story-Telling

Craft your story & Build your pitch deck

Date: Aug 12, 2020
Starts at: 07:00 pm (America/New_York)

Vision

Define a strong business vision

Date: Aug 19, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Customer Development

Analyze your customer feedback

Date: Aug 26, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Customer Development: From Data to Artificial Intelligence

How AI can help with business decisions

Date: Sep 02, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Prototyping, A/B Testing

Develop a Design Process to Test Ideas

Date: Sep 09, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Revenue

Validate a scalable revenue model

Date: Sep 16, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Branding & Design

Get feedback on branding & design

Date: Sep 23, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Mentor Idea Review

Test the core business on a mentor panel

Date: Sep 30, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

This is the first big checkpoint in the program to determine your progress. During the Mentor Idea Review, you will present a longer presentation to a panel of FI Mentors for extensive review. You will receive a rating, as well as feedback on the long-term viability of your offering, revenue model, growth strategy, and more. 

 

Sprints

After the Mentor Idea Review, Founders receive a larger number of custom "Epic Sprints" with deliverables based on their specific challenges. Below are examples of some of the standard deliverables. 

 

  1. Corporate Materials - Immediately update your 3 minute pitch deck and video based on the Mentor Idea Review feedback, and develop a new and updated Executive Summary using our template.
  2. Advisor Candidates - You will create (or fill out) an Advisory Board in the next 5 weeks, so develop a target list of new advisor candidates based off your identified needs and gaps in knowledge/ connections. 
  3. Advisor Outreach - Leverage the FI network to get introductions to your targets where necessary, and follow our templated process to make progress on your advisory board.  
  4. Sales Follow-up - Continue to work on securing sales or commitments for revenue, growing the rate month over month. For B2B solutions, get as many contracts or letters of intent as possible. For B2C solutions, aggressively increase your revenue (or submitted information indicating they will pay you). Document all lessons learned.
  5. Financial Model - Develop or professionalize your financial model based on our template that focuses on expenses (“burn”) to understand your cash needs. Develop a revenue forecast for 12-18 months and factor in timing considerations from your sales follow-up work.
  6. Legal - Identify your short to medium term legal needs, and if you don’t already have a law firm, identify at least two local law candidates that have experience working with startups. Begin vetting new or existing law firms using our guidelines. 

Legal & IP

Review your legal infrastructure

Date: Oct 07, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Go-to-Market & Scale

Improve your strategy to launch or scale

Date: Oct 14, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Product Development

Get feedback on your product roadmap

Date: Oct 21, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Product Development with Artificial Intelligence

Date: Oct 28, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Hiring & Onboarding

Improve your team and hiring

Date: Nov 04, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Growth

Establish a scalable engine for growth

Date: Nov 11, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Mentor Progress Review

Test your progress on a mentor panel

Date: Nov 18, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Similar to the Mentor Idea Review, the Mentor Progress Review is the second major test in the program. In this session, Founders will focus on give a long presentation their progress and traction to a panel of Mentors for a detailed review. Mentors will evaluate Founders based on their progress in the program, the company’s scalability, and more.

 

Sprints

Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours: 

  1. Polished Investor Pitch Deck - Create an expanded, 12-slide pitch deck incorporating any feedback from the Mentor Progress Review, using our templates. 
  2. Growth - Make progress on your growth goals, and examine or adjust how your strategy and the system to keep yourself accountable is performing.
  3. Product - Make progress on your next product release, and outline and address any of the setbacks that you have faced with your project team.
  4. Hiring Needs - Score the progress of each member of your project team on a 1 to 10 scale, including yourself, and set up plans to improve those that are struggling. 
  5. Finalize Advisory Board - Set up your advisory board with startup, industry, technology or marketing advisors, and set up a one hour conference call with all of the them, which will be your first quarterly advisory board meeting.
  6. Financial Model Update - Review and update your financial model with the work done to date. Adjust the revenue projections based on your growth thus far, and evaluate the need and requirements for external funding. 

Equity & Funding: Bootstrapping

Fix any impediments to fundraising

Date: Nov 25, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Equity & Funding: Angels & Family Offices

Prepare to fundraise from investors

Date: Dec 02, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Equity & Funding: Venture Capital Funds

Prepare to fundraise from investors

Date: Dec 09, 2020
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Session with Jonathan Greechan, co-Founder at Founder Institute

Prepare for Graduation

Date: Jan 12, 2021
Starts at: 07:00 pm (America/New_York)

Session with Mike Suprovici, Head of Portfolio Success at Founder Institute

Date: Feb 04, 2021
Starts at: 03:00 pm (America/New_York)

Graduation

Celebrate & onboard to our post-programs

Date: Apr 07, 2021
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Completing the Founder Institute is an honor. The program is challenging, and the expectations are demanding.

In this final session, you will celebrate with your peers, friends and family, as well as select Mentors. Some Founders will also pitch to a live audience, and you will officially onboard to all of the post-program resources and assistance the Founder Institute provides.

Montreal Mentor Office Hours: Get Business Advice from Experts

Get feedback on your startup from local CEOs

Date: Apr 30, 2021
Starts at: 06:30 pm (America/New_York)

Mentor Office Hours Instructions:

1) Login to your Mentor Account. You can use the "one-click" mentor login link that FIHQ has sent you in previous emails.
2) In your profile, click "Host Office Hours" at the top and create your availability using the tool.
3) Create a calendar invite to block the time off in your calendar.
4) You will receive an email notification when a Founder signs up for a time slot.

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