Online Event
Learn from FI Grads: How to Build Without a Co-Founder
Speak with Founder Institute Alumni about their startups and FI accelerator experience
Date
Oct 06, 2026
Time
09:00 am - 10:30 am
Address
Online Event
What does it take to build a company entirely on your own? This August, Global Grads brings together solo founders who skipped the co-founder search and went straight to building. Come hear how they did it, what broke along the way, and why they would do it all over again. This session is a curated gathering for solo founders, graduates and recent alumni who are navigating the unique challenges of building alone in one of the fastest moving technological landscapes in history. This is not a panel of venture-backed celebrities. This is a real, honest conversation among people who are living this experience.
What You'll Learn:
- How solo founders use AI to replace functions that used to require a full team
- The specific moment each founder decided a co-founder wasn't necessary and how they made that call
- What breaks first when you're building alone, and how they recovered
- How to validate an idea without burning months on the wrong problem
- What investors actually ask solo founders and how to answer with confidence
Featured Host:
- Chris Foltz - Global Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Founder Institute - Chris is a celebrated transformation strategist, startup advisor, and inspirational speaker. As the Managing Director of the Silicon Valley based strategy firm Responsible Solutions, Chris is at the forefront of the company's three decade long change and transformation pursuits. Foltz currently serves as Global Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Founder Institute, where he has been a top rated startup mentor on 5 continents. In 2025 Foltz Co-Founded the Arlington, Virginia based non-profit AI Alt Lab, an artificial intelligence think tank and research lab.
Additional Resources:
Explore more Startup Events, meet Founder Institute Graduates from six continents, get inspired by the latest Graduate News and see what other Alumni say about Founder Institute on our Reviews page.
Explore more Startup Events, meet Founder Institute Graduates from six continents, get inspired by the latest Graduate News and see what other Alumni say about Founder Institute on our Reviews page.
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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