In-Person Event
Building Your Story for a Startup
Story Building hosted by Guc Ozenci
Date
Nov 19, 2026
Time
03:00 pm - 05:00 pm
Address
WeWork Scott Circle, 1701 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Washington, DC
The talks are about the technology. Almost none of them are about turning it into a company.
This is a satellite track that fills the gap, run by the Penn West Founder Institute alongside the main programme. Sessions on finding the idea, testing it, and what the first ninety days actually look like, plus time with local mentors.
Free with your existing pass. Register now and give the trip a second reason.
What You'll Learn:
- How to turn a technical interest or a side project into a business;
- What separates a demo people applaud from a company people pay for;
- How to validate an idea in the week after the conference, while the energy lasts;
- What the first ninety days of company building look like in practice;
Featured Mentors:
- Guc Ozenci runs the Penn West Founder Institute track. He co-founded Peoplise, raised venture funding and sold the company in 2020, and has since worked with 50+ startups as Managing Director of Founder Institute Washington DC.
Who Should Attend:
- Engineers and technical professionals with a side project and no business plan;
- Founders in the earliest stage looking for structure;
- Anyone who leaves conferences energised and then does nothing with it.
Additional Resources: Find more Startup Events, read the Insights Blog for what to do in the week after a conference, or join an InfoSession.
About Founder Institute: The Founder Institute is the World's Largest AI-Native Company Builder, giving idea-stage, first-time founders, and employees making the leap to entrepreneurship the tools, global network, and proven methodology to build an AI-powered startup from zero to funding. Since 2009, our structured programs have helped over 9,000 founders across 100 countries raise more than $2BN in funding. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 6 continents, our mission is to empower talented and motivated people everywhere to build impactful, AI-powered companies.
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