Program Schedule
Our flagship 'FI Core' program combines structured sprints with constant feedback to help you reach the milestones needed for investment and growth.
Early Application Deadline
Final Application Deadline
Your Vision and Idea Types
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?
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
Validate Track
- Education - Undergo a crash-course in popular startup and venture capital methodologies, metrics, and terms/ lingo.
- Tracking - Research and start tracking the communities surrounding your local and vertical startup ecosystems.
Launch Track
- Market Research - Utilize our market research template to collect accurate and available market information on the customer problems you are analyzing.
- Personas - Build an initial Buyer Persona to better understand your target customer's needs, challenges, and buying process.
Traction track
- Customer Interviews - Using our templates, interview at least 15 customers. If you already have done extensive customer development then outline your current findings and identify areas that require deeper understanding.
- Identify Unknowns - Document a detailed understanding of the main customer problem, and fill any required gaps in your customer knowledge.
Basic Research
What market are you pursuing? Is it 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? How can you determine if you can win in your target market, and when do you decide to walk away?
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
Validate Track
- Market Research - Utilize our market research template to collect accurate and available market information on the customer problems you are analyzing.
- Competitive Analysis - For each remaining customer problem, develop or improve a professional landing page targeted to your initial customer archetype, and quickly build up a mailing list to receive customer feedback.
Launch Track
- Customer Interviews - Develop a longer series of customer interview questions based on your initial interviews and key assumptions, with at least ten open-ended customer interview questions for each customer problem.
- Revenue Modeling - For each remaining customer problem, develop or improve a professional landing page targeted to your initial customer archetype, and quickly build up a mailing list to receive customer feedback.
Traction track
- Customer Archetype - Use our guidelines to create or update a detailed customer archetype of your target customer, based on either your existing customers or improved research.
- Revenue Interviews - Interview customers about the pricing of your revenue model, using three different revenue models/ pricing schemes. Confirm your existing model or select a new one based off these interviews.
Refund Deadline
Naming and Branding
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?
Company Roadmap
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?
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
Validate Track
- Solution Goals - Evaluate the current state of your solution, and outline the three solution goals that you would like the next product release to solve for your target customers over the next year.
- Minimum Viable Tests - Design a lightweight method to test the key assumptions for your business before beginning product development.
Launch Track
- Intellectual Property - If you have not already, secure and protect the intellectual property for all of the work done to date. Examine the need for patents, if applicable, following our guidelines.
- Team Analysis - Define and get extensive feedback on the requisite technical skills, soft skills, expertise, and networks will be needed in your core team.
Traction track
- Product Roadmap - Develop an updated product roadmap, using our guidelines, in order to meet your solution goals with your project team.
- Investor Pitch - Prepare a five minute presentation for the Investor Progress Review that includes sufficient information to enable Mentors to evaluate your progress and plans.
Earning Revenue
How do you get revenue, grow revenue, and track revenue? How do you scale your business from the first dollar earned to the millionth? How important is early revenue versus long-term potential? What are symmetrical versus asymmetrical models, and which type of model holds the most promise for your business? What are the various routes to market that you can take? How do you set your revenue goals, and how do you go about meeting them?
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
Validate Track
- One Customer Problem - Based on your research, select one customer problem to pursue in the program that has the greatest chance to generate significant revenue.
- Founder-Product Fit - Assess which of your current ideas align best with your unique capabilities and passions.
Launch Track
- Revenue Models - Narrow down that problem to three potential revenue models, and thoroughly analyze the positives and negatives of each model.
- Professional Pitch Deck - Use our templates to develop a professional three minute long pitch deck, based on the feedback, concepts and flow that have resonated from your Hotseat pitches.
Traction track
- Expert Interviews - Speak with three financial people who have experience in a similar industry to your customer problem, and get their insights and opinion on the scalability of your revenue model.
- Key Performance Indicators - Based on your research thus far, identify the final key metrics that will impact your ability to secure revenue (and funding). Discuss these with your Local Leaders, and finalize a tracking system for these metrics.
Hiring and Firing
Do you need a cofounder? How do you find and choose a cofounder? What employees do you need, and when do you need them? How do you hire and fire employees? What are important qualities to look for in employees? How do you decipher a resume? What are compensation guidelines? How do you set expectations? When is it easiest and hardest to find the best resources, and why?
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
Validate Track
- Candidates - Search for candidates to hire (including Co-Founders) by identifying everyone that you know who is appropriate, or leveraging the FI network, to fill the top two or three roles you are not planning to outsource.
- Hiring Process - Develop a hiring and onboarding process using our guidelines to add team members into your organization, and begin executing on the process.
Launch Track
- Hiring Process - Develop a hiring and onboarding process using our guidelines to add team members into your organization, and begin executing on the process.
- Test Projects - Develop at least one test project for each of your top two or three roles, which should create opportunities for credible candidates to demonstrate their skills.
Traction track
- Advisor Review - Arrange a meeting or phone call with at least one of your advisors to discuss your hiring work. Present everything that you have done, and incorporate their feedback into your planning.
- Fundraising - Develop your fundraising plan by building a comprehensive, targeted list of connectors and investors focused on your specific stage and sector.
Intellectual Property
How do you manage your intellectual property using confidentiality, copyrights, and patents? What is the intellectual property of your business? What types of protections are available, and what are the costs? How do you file a patent quickly, cheaply, and with the necessary protections? What can you do on your own, and what do you need an attorney for? How do you pick the right attorney? How much does protecting your intellectual property cost, and why should you do it?
Partners and Suppliers
What is the core competency of your team, and what should it to be? What should you insource and what should you outsource? What vendors do you need? How do you select the best vendors for your business on the best terms? What guidelines should you use? How do you evaluate the economics? What are some horror stories to avoid?
Startup Legal and Incorporation
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?
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
Validate Track
- Legal Review - Review our Legal Guide to fully understand all critical startup legal components, including granting equity, vesting equity, granting options, issuing common stock versus preferred stock, and more. If any of your existing legal structure is in conflict with these best practices, then create a plan for resolution.
- Finalize Co-Founder Legal (if any) - Create a list of any co-founders, co-founder candidates or founding Team Members that you have for your Founder Institute company, and begin the next steps in formalizing the relationship.
Launch Track
- Law Firm Engagement - If you don't already have a law firm, meet with your law firm candidates and sign an "engagement letter" with your chosen firm.
- Corporate Formation Agreements - If you don't already have a suitable corporation, secure all of your corporate formation agreements which govern how the business conducts itself.
Traction track
- Capitalization Table - Develop or improve your capitalization table ("Cap Table") that shows the ownership structure of the business, using our template and guidelines.
- Equity Collective - Prepare to join the Equity Collective, and send your law firm the necessary agreements and request their help to properly fill out the required fields.
Marketing and Publicity
What is the story of your company and your offering? How do you sell that story? Who are you trying to reach with the story? Do you solve a problem, create controversy, offer something new? Are you a pain killer or a vitamin? What is your brand? What are the best tactics for your outreach: publicity, guerilla marketing, advertising? How do you measure the success of your efforts and your spending?
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
Validate Track
- Alternatives - Identify two alternative models (markets or "pivots") for your go-to-market solution to discover the most lucrative market opportunity. Interview at least 2 customers for each alternative.
- Test Marketing Messaging - Write at least three separate marketing messages for your solution, and A/B test them using landing pages with at least 100 engagements each.
Launch Track
- Alternatives - Identify two alternative models (markets or "pivots") for your go-to-market solution to discover the most lucrative market opportunity. Interview at least 2 customers for each alternative.
- Advisor Follow-Up - In the next Step you will finalize advisors, so begin finalization meetings with your top candidates, and set up test Advisor Test Projects where necessary following our templates.
Traction track
- Customer Acquisition Channels - Identify at least five initial or new major marketing channels to acquire customers that are appropriate for your solution.
- Conversion Rate - Begin testing at least three of your new customer acquisition channels, pushing as much traffic through them as possible to evaluate their comparative conversion rates.
Presentation
How do you present your business to target partners and investors? What are the tricks to captivate and retain attention? What makes for a great presentation, and what makes for a bad one? How do you convey enthusiasm, conviction, and success? How do your meeting reflect on your company culture? How can you innovate in your meetings to reflect your culture and be more productive?
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
Validate Track
- Team-Building Channels - Review all of the candidates that have come through the various recruiting outreach channels and other activities, and identify the most effective channels.
- Growth Tactics - Work with your working group and advisors to brainstorm 15 new ideas to increase the top of your funnel, and provide a bulleted list of these Growth Tactics.
Launch Track
- Sales - Pursue aggressive goals to close new revenue or users, which may be signups, payments, a signed contract, a pre-payment or a signed letter of intent.
- Pivot - Consider a pivot if you are not meeting your growth goals, sales, product or hiring progress targets. If you decide to Pivot, schedule a call with one of your Local Leaders to discuss your proposed pivot in the business and do the same with your advisors.
Traction track
- Growth Plan Update - Review the performance of your growth goals and adjust your growth plan to improve your performance and accountability.
- Post-Program Onboarding - Review the FI post-program resources, and work with your cohort on a monthly meeting schedule where you will continue to meet, provide updates, and share learnings on your progress.
The Funding Lifecycle
How does startup funding work? When can my company raise capital, and what are the stages in a typical funding lifecycle? What are the milestones and expectations? How much money should I raise, and how long should that money last? How does one begin the fundraising process? What are some tips and tricks to succeed?
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
Validate Track
- Minimum Victory Condition - Work with your Local Leaders to establish your "Victory Condition" to achieve before the "Impact Deadline" (three months after the program ends), and add it to your business calendar.
- Advisor Strategy - Set up a call with each of your advisors and briefly review your "Victory Condition", the funding strategy, hiring plan, sales plan and product plan.
Launch Track
- Advisor Strategy - Set up a call with each of your advisors and briefly review your "Victory Condition", the funding strategy, hiring plan, sales plan and product plan.
- Use of Proceeds - Examine the capital needs of the business, and extend your financial model to project revenues and expenses for a total of 24 months from now.
Traction track
- Final Investor Pitch Deck - Refine your investor pitch deck, and update it with all of your work to date, including details from your various plans. Test the presentation on peers and Directors and upload it to the FI site for review.
- Deal Room - Create a Deal Room for future investors that includes relevant files like Company documents with legal, Pitch Deck, Team bios, Board Materials, Financials, Sales information, Marketing materials and Intellectual Property.
Graduation
The Graduation is the beginning of an exciting period for Founders, where the seed of an idea becomes reality. Graduating Founders are invited to bring one guest of their choosing to the session and to the after party. The Institute will continue to provide office hours, add special service provider deals, assist with fundraising, and give guidance on publicity and launch strategies for Graduated Founders.
Post Programs
The FI Core Program is just the beginning of a life long journey.
Founder Institute Alumni get access to a series of advanced accelerator programs, ongoing support from our Silicon Valley Team, valuable partner and service discounts, and more to continue building the business for years to come.
There are no hidden costs, additional contracts or surprise subscription fees: all our post-program support is free and exclusive to FI Alumni companies, for life.
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Dedicated Alumni Support Team in Silicon Valley
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Access to the world's largest network of mentors and investors (40,000+)
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Private Alumni mailing lists
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$2.5M+ in partner discounts
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Invites to FI sessions & network events
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Potential introductions to investors
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A series of virtual advisory programs where you work with our Silicon Valley HQ team to reach next milestones
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Funding Lab helps get your lead investor within 6 months
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The FI Venture Network matches Alumni ready for funding with a massive pool of investors that specialize in writing 'first or second checks' of funding
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100% Free for FI Alumni
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The Founder Institute is the world’s most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses. Since 2009, our structured accelerator programs have helped over 8,900 entrepreneurs raise over 2BN in funding. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 100 countries, our mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build impactful technology companies worldwide.
