The Founder Institute focuses on technology and technology-enabled businesses. This can include hardware and traditional businesses such as food, ecommerce, and brick and mortar, so long as the business has the ability to scale through technology. We typically do not accept founders looking to build non-scalable service-based companies, such as consultancies and agencies. See more information at FI.co/admissions.

Seed-accelerators like Techstars and Y Combinator typically take a company with a team, live product, and some traction and provide them with operating capital and/or a small seed investment to help them prepare for an angel or VC round of funding. The Founder Institute works with entrepreneurs before this point in their process, and provides them with a structured process, expert mentorship, and a global network to get to traction and funding.

Pre-Accelerators exist to help you get into a Seed-accelerators. While many Founder Institute Alumni do go on to seed-accelerators like Techstars, Y Combinator, and 500 Startups, this is not the sole purpose of the FI program. In fact, many companies companies leave FI further along than a seed-accelerator, or may not need funding at all. Only approximately 15% of FI alumni go on to join seed-accelerator programs, and we have relationships in place to facilitate that process when it makes sense for the company.

To see the full calendar, visit FI.co/program.

Our programs are virtual unless otherwise specified. Most cities run in-person social events while the program is recruiting and operating, giving founders, mentors and graduates an opportunity to network. Any events can be found at free events can be found at FI.co/events, exclusive events for enrolled founders are at FI.co/program.

The Founder Institute requires a minimum of 20 hours of work per week, on average. Participating founders are required to join each two hour weekly session, plus additional networking hours. The sessions will have between ten and fifteen hours of sprint work that needs to be completed before the following session, in addition to a team meeting. If a participating Founder is also working on a prototype or some other aspect of the business, then the time commitment can be much greater.

In order to complete the program, a Founder must join the Feedback Sessions, complete all of the Growth Sprints in a satisfactory manner, and receive satisfactory ratings from Mentors. The Founder Institute supports the efforts of every entrepreneur, but the program is very hard, because building a meaningful company is harder. On average, about 30% of founders are able to complete program.

Joining the sessions are mandatory, however, it is understood that founders may have emergencies, illness, or pre-planned travel that may prevent them from joining one or two sessions. The Founder Institute makes exceptions on a case by case basis, but founders are advised to communicate any conflicts in schedule as early as possible to their Local Leaders. In particular, the Orientation, Mentor Idea Review, and the Mentor Progress Review sessions should never be missed.

The Entrance Fee ($599 USD by Feb 02, 2025 ($799 USD after Feb 02, 2025) for the Columbus - Chicago Winter 2025 program) is fully refundable before the third session of the program (Apr 01, 2025), so that participants can see if the program is right for them.

We have partnered with Partial.ly (https://partial.ly) to allow our founders a more flexible way to pay our program fee. With Partial.ly , you are able to choose how much you pay for a down payment and you can make payments each month, in addition to a 5% service fee. Please reply to any email you have received from us if you are interested in a payment plan.

The Founder Institute encourages founding teams to apply to the program, and a typical cohort contains roughly 40% teams, and 60% solo-founders. When a team joins the Founder Institute, the 2.5% pledge to the Equity Collective remains the same (it is 2.5% per company, not Founder).

Founding teams can decide to send one co-founder, multiple co-founders, or all co-founders to participate in the program, but each co-founder must apply separately (noting the name of your company in your application, in the “Company Name” section). Since we are the ‘Founder’ Institute, each co-founder’s application will be evaluated independently by our admissions team (one co-founder gaining acceptance does not mean that their entire team is accepted). However, even if one co-founder is rejected, any accepted co-founders are still invited to participate.

Teams are also able to enroll in the program for a discounted Entrance Fee per-founder: Teams of 2-3 are invited to enroll for 1.5x the Entrance Fee, and Teams of 4-5 for 2x the Entrance Fee.

Each enrolled founder will be responsible for completing assignments and participating in working groups, and 1-2 team members will be responsible for pitching during program sessions. Non-participating co-founders are not permitted to join the FI program sessions, but are welcome to participate in program Office Hours and company-building assignments, as well as many perks post-program.

You can receive a full refund of your Entrance Fee in your first Founder Institute program if you drop out before the start-time of the 'Revenue & Business Models' session (Apr 01, 2025. This gives you the opportunity to try out the program for several sessions, with no risk. You can see the program schedule at FI.co/program, and all refunds are processed within 30 days after the 'Revenue & Business Models' session.

Similarly, if all or part of a team decides to drop out before the Refund Deadline, then the Entrance Fees paid will be refunded in accordance with the team pricing. So for example, if all co-founders drop out, then all Entrance Fees paid will be refunded; if a 4-5 member team downgrades to a 2-3 person team, then the difference between 1.5x and 2x the Entrance Fee will be refunded; and if a 2-3 or 4-5 member team downgrades to a solo-founder, then the difference between 1x the Entrance Fee and 1.5x and 2x the Entrance Fee will be refunded, respectively. In order to drop out of the program you MUST request it via your FI Account. You can drop out of the program by logging into your FI account and clicking on “Considering Dropping Out” at the bottom of the page. This will collect details regarding the reason for leaving the program and notify the local leaders of your decision. Refund eligibility is based on the time this request is submitted. Founders who do not complete this process by the start of the 'Revenue & Business Models' session will not be eligible for a refund, including but not limited to, the following situations: enrolling in the program after it’s begun, failing to attend sessions, failing to submit deliverables, communicating the desire to drop out via message, traveling or illness.

We want founders to be given an opportunity to succeed in the program and catch up if they fall behind, so we do not drop founders before the Mentor Idea Review. The Mentor Idea Review and the Mentor Progress Review have threshold ratings that founders must be above.

After the 'Revenue & Business Models' session, if you cannot finish the program for personal reasons or get dropped by the Founder Institute, you can use your already paid Entrance Fee towards a future program of the Founder Institute in the same city, you are allowed one (1) re-enroll and that re-enroll program must begin within one calendar year of the start date of the program you dropped out from. If the Entrance Fee for the new program is significantly higher than your original one, FI reserves the right to require you to pay the difference in order to enroll in the new program. However, we will not refund the difference if the Entrance Fee of the new program is lower. Refund eligibility is based on the time the request is submitted. Founders who do not complete this process by the start of the 'Revenue & Business Models' session will not be eligible for a refund including but not limited to to following situations: enrolling in the program after it’s begun, failing to attend sessions, failing to submit deliverables, traveling or illness.

In order to guarantee a spot in the program, we encourage founders to complete their enrollment promptly. Typically we close enrollment approximately 7 days before the start date of the program, but if the class fills up before then you may not be guaranteed a spot.

To pay as a team, email our support at admissions@fi.co for a link to the co-founder price.

Evaluations throughout the program are by team. If a team is not able to meet course requirements they will be asked to leave and re-enroll in the next program. If a team member decides to stop participating, the rest of the team can continue with the program contingent on there being one Full-time team member enrolled.

The Founder Institute is always interested in speaking to qualified startup experts and local ecosystem leaders to start a local chapter. For more information, visit FI.co/lead

This is up to you. FI is more interested in the person, and less interested in the business idea. Founders must select one idea to turn into a company prior to the Mentor Idea Review, roughly 30 days into the program.

For early-stage founders, founders are broken into smaller working groups by related ideas. These groups are then given specific assignments for refining, researching, and validating ideas.

Possibly. Some applicants supply multiple ideas that they intend to pursue, some of which may be similar to yours. That being said, founders in similar spaces have often ended up collaborating in the past, and your intellectual property will be protected by the founder NDA.

All founders, mentors, and local leaders joining sessions of the Founder Institute have to sign NDAs before participating in the program. Your IP is protected under the NDA.

First, navigate to the join page: https://FI.co/join. After selecting your city, filling out information about your idea or company, you will be provided with a link (both by email and on the site) to fill out the Entrepreneur DNA Assessment. Learn more about our admissions process at FI.co/admissions.

We focus on founders, not ideas. As a result, all applicants are required to take a proprietary psychometric/ aptitude test developed by the Founder Institute and leading social scientists. Learn more about the assessment at FI.co/DNA, and our full admissions process at FI.co/admissions.

The Founder Institute encourages founding teams to apply to the program, and a typical cohort contains roughly 40% teams, and 60% solo-founders. When a team joins the Founder Institute, the 2.5% pledge to the Equity Collective remains the same (it is 2.5% per company, not Founder).

Founding teams can decide to send one co-founder, multiple co-founders, or all co-founders to participate in the program, but each co-founder must apply separately (noting the name of your company in your application, in the “Company Name” section).

Teams are also able to enroll in the program for a discounted Entrance Fee per-founder: Teams of 2-3 are invited to enroll for 1.5x the Entrance Fee, and teams of 4-5 for 2x the Entrance Fee.

The Early Application Deadline is Feb 02, 2025, and the Final Application Deadline is Mar 02, 2025. To apply, visit FI.co/join.

If you enroll by the Early Admissions Deadline (Feb 02, 2025) in Columbus), you will be eligible for a reduced Entrance Fee.

Fellowships are normally awarded within 5 days after the Early Admissions Deadline (Feb 02, 2025) in Columbus). All Fellowship recipients are notified by email no later than 7 days after the Early Admissions Deadline, and unfortunately due to the large number of applications, we cannot always notify all applicants that they have not been chosen for a Fellowship.

You can apply to any other Founder Institute program without redoing your application or retaking the Entrepreneur DNA Assessment.

If you want to defer your acceptance from this program to the next program, just let us know via email. We will then mark you as Declined, and you will be notified via email when the next program opens applications. Typically, this will take place in the next 6-12 months. While most people who defer their acceptance are admitted to the future program, we cannot guarantee this because you will be judged against a new cohort of applicants.

If you want to change your city, just log into the Founder Institute website and go to the application page (FI.co/join), where you can see the chapters currently enrolling and pick a new one.

The Founder Institute will not reveal any application information to the public. Once enrolled, founders are given the option to make parts of their profiles public.

Yes. The Founder Institute is appropriate for both aspiring founders, and founders that are running a business that is less than two years old and with less than half a million in annual revenues. Founders that are more advanced in the program are put on the 'Growth Track,' which focuses more on generating traction and preparing for funding.

Because founders and teams come into the program at different stages of the pre-seed stage, the Founder Institute program assigns founders either the 'Validation Track,' 'Launch Track,' or the 'Growth Track.' The 'Validation Track' helps founders work on validating their vision, problem, and solution through activities such as pitching, customer interviews, market research, and competitor analysis. The 'Launch Track' is designed to help individuals and teams at the idea-stage validate their business, grow their team, and launch their startup. The 'Growth Track' is designed to help teams that are post-launch generate traction and prepare for funding.

If the company is incorporated with an acceptable legal structure, then the company only needs to issue the warrant or option with the help of a law firm, or professional firm. Otherwise, the legal partner needs to work with the company to transition an incorrect structure to the proper structure as part of the engagement.

The Founder Institute does not accept partnership and LLC formats because these companies are not optimal for issuing shares and raising capital.

Between 20 and 50 founders typically enroll in a given cohort. A number of factors encourage limiting the group size, such as the capacity of reserved meeting facilities, the ability to deliver a meaningful mentorship experience, and the quality of the shared upside among participants.

Yes. After you successfully apply, you will be logged into the Founder Institute site. On the right-hand side, it should say: Semester: Columbus - Chicago Winter 2025, Role: Founder, Status: Applied. This indicates that your application has gone through. As the Founder Institute processes applications, your status will change to 'Reviewing,' 'Accepted,' 'Finalist' or 'Rejected.' Within 48 hours, the admissions team will begin reviewing your application and you will receive an email notification. FI will also email you when your application status changes.

See sample Founder Institute Feedback Session here.

No. The Founder Institute has a mix of full-time and part-time founders in the program. Many businesses get started with part-time founders until the company gains traction. Once a company gets off the ground and properly capitalized through revenues or investment, FI expects that the founders will start working full-time.

Yes. Since participants have shared areas of interest and hail from a variety of backgrounds, it is common for founding teams to be established with different program participants. In one case a Mentor even joined one of the Founder Institute companies as a Co-Founder.

Graduating from the Founder Institute is challenging. First, only roughly 30% of applicants are admitted to the program. Then, less than 30% of accepted founders generally make it through the program. In order to graduate, a Founder needs to develop an engaging idea for a technology company that is validated by the program mentors, plan out the business, work on an offering, incorporate their company, and complete all of the required assignments - all within a four month timeframe. Reasons for not graduating differ, but each Founder who leaves is invited to join a future program, when they are ready to launch a business.

If a solo-founder drops out after the Refund Deadline (Apr 01, 2025), they are able to apply any Entrance Fees paid towards the next Founder Institute program in their city. Approximately 30-40% of founders that drop out of the program return to the next program.

If you want to enroll in the next program, you will need to pay any difference in Entrance Fee. We will not refund any fees if the Entrance Fee for a future program is lower.

The Founder Institute selects Mentors with a broad range of industry experiences, including hardware, software, manufacturing, biotech, entertainment, digital media, investment, services, and B2B/B2C. Most Mentors have started multiple companies and are currently running a well-known startup. In addition, all Mentors are anonymously rated by program participants for the sake of quality control.

The pairing process is informal. Founders have the opportunity to ask questions of mentors before, during, and after each session. While some mentors are extremely busy, it is expected that the majority of mentors will help founders where they have common interests. The mentors are compensated through the Equity Collective, and mentor compensation increases with positive ratings from participating founders. This gives mentors the extra incentive to help the founders, provide introductions, etc. In addition, a final review is done after the program is completed, creating an incentive for longer term mentor involvement.

You can apply to be a mentor here: fi.co/mentor. Once you have submitted your application our Local Leaders will review your qualifications and reach out to you if you are good fit. You can find more about mentoring requirements here: fi.co/mentoring.

The Program will include a session about legal topics during the Startup Legal and IP session. If you need help with getting incorporated, you can always ask for help during the program's office hours, or speak with our local legal partner, leaders, or mentors.

You should engage a law firm for incorporating your company during the Program, and we will provide you with the guidance and tools to do so. In some countries, professionals, such as corporate secretaries or accounting firms, are customarily hired to incorporate a company. It is important that you hire a professional to create the corporation to ensure that it is done properly and investors can fund your company.

The Founder Institute strongly recommends that Founders go with our legal partner, but we do not mandate it. Our legal partners deeply understand the Founder Institute process and know how to help early stage Founders. Most legal partners also provide discounted and/or deferred pricing. Cheap legal alternatives will not be able to help you when very technical problems happen. In the long run, it can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. We suggest that you check with your lawyer and research on local prices and policies.

You are allowed to incorporate in whatever country you see fit, as we have localized agreements in many jurisdictions. During our Startup Legal & IP session, we will give you advice on how/where to incorporate as well. For those incorporating in the United States, we recommend Delaware C-Corps as they are the most conducive to raising venture capital. There are similar safe-havens for corporations all across the globe.

We have had many successful cases of Founders that go through the program to receive valuable feedback from mentors even while they have already had an incorporated company. If the company is incorporated with an acceptable legal structure, then the company only needs to issue the warrant or option with the help of a professional law firm. Otherwise, the legal partner needs to work with the company to transition an incorrect structure to the proper structure as part of the engagement.

The Founder Institute does not accept partnership and LLC formats because these companies are not optimal for issuing shares and raising capital.

This question should be asked to your law firm as each country has different laws and policies. The legal partner should review existing employment contracts and basic visa situations to determine if a Founder is able to incorporate a business without significant ethical breaches. The Founder Institute does not sponsor nor facilitate any processes with regards to Visas. If you cannot incorporate a company, you cannot graduate from the program.

No. At approximately 2/3 of the way through the Founder Institute program, you will be asked to sign the warrant or option agreement for the company you are building in the program.

All founders, mentors, and local leaders joining sessions of the Founder Institute have to sign NDAs before participating in the program. Your IP is safe. We also tell all of our Founders that in many cases, Founders change their ideas in the program and realize that for example there is no market for the idea to scale or that there are holes in the idea that cannot be filled and therefore should be dropped.

Additionally, your idea will never be able to be replicated the same exact way that you visualize it. Ideas are worthless, execution is everything. If you actually have a good idea, then there is a big chance that someone else out there is already working on it.

By restricting yourself to talk openly about your ideas, you forgo valuable opportunities to get feedback on your startup.

The FAST agreement (https://fi.co/FAST) gives you the legal framework to engage with mentors and advisors. It was developed by our CEO, Adeo Ressi with our partner law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, LLP (WSGR). It is a public document for anyone to use and edit. For any questions regarding the document, please consult a legal counsel.

The Entrance Agreement is the only agreement you need to sign to enroll in the FI Core Program. The Entrance Agreement outlines the basic terms and provides basic protections for both Founders and the Founder Institute, including protecting your confidential information.

You can see all of the agreements at FI.co/agreements.

Yes. If you completed your enrollment to the FI Core Program before February 2, 2022, then you would have signed 'Terms and Conditions' that included details on the old (4%) Equity Collective. To make the Equity Collective more accessible, we reduced it to 2.5%, so you will need to sign the Entrance Agreement with those details.

Yes. As per clause 1.A.i, you can drop out before the 'Revenue & Business Models' session (Apr 01, 2025)for a full refund in the program you paid the Entrance Fee.

No. About 2/3 the way through the Core Program you will be asked to sign the Warrant, which is when you will join the Equity Collective. As per clause 2, you can drop out with up to 45 days left before the last scheduled program session (Graduation) without committing to joining the Equity Collective. You will receive reminders for this deadline in the Core Program.

As per clause 2, if you drop out with 45 or more days left before Graduation, then you are not obligated to issue the warrant. However, if you drop out with less than 45 days left in the program, then you are contractually bound to issue the Founder Institute a Warrant in accordance with the Entrance Agreement. This prevents people from cheating the system and leaving the program at the very end, thereby purposefully avoiding the Equity Collective and cheating their Local Leader, Mentors, and the Founder Institute.

Clauses 3.A.i and 3.A.ii are meant to prevent Founders from cheating the system. Clause 3.A.i prevents a Founder from starting a new (identical) company that is not part of the Equity Collective, while clause 3.A.ii prevents a Founder from having a friend or intermediary form a new business to circumvent the agreement. These clauses are used only if the new company is identical or very similar to the one formed in the program.

Collateral Security provides FI with a reasonable way to recoup damages if a Founder disregards their obligations under the agreement. This clause (3.D) is relevant only if a Founder does not abide by the terms of the agreement. If a Warrant is validly issued, the Collateral Security is cancelled. As of EOY 2021, this clause has never been exercised.

Since 2009, the Founder Institute has utilized a unique 'Equity Collective' model to align financial incentives and ensure long-term support for our Alumni throughout the entire lifecycle of their business. More than just a series of classes, FI is invested in your success and your community's success by literally aligning our business model with your company's achievements for the long term.

Yes, you must join the Equity Collective to graduate from the program and receive our post-accelerator benefits.

Of the 2.5% companies contribute: 1% goes to your Local Leaders, 0.5% goes to Mentors in your program (with their individual portion of this 0.5% dependent on their participation and ratings from Founders), and 1% goes to FI HQ. 60% of the Equity Collective distributions go back to your local community. Individual checks are sent to all stakeholders associated with that company's distribution.

When a founder achieves a liquidity event, such as selling their business or going public. Founder Institute may also try to make a distribution near the Equity Collective’s 15-year expiration if it will benefit the stakeholders.

Examples of liquidity events include an Initial public offering (IPO), Acquisition, Buyout, and Secondary offering.

Chat with our admissions team at support@founderinstitute.freshdesk.com.

The information on this website is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult with an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

Similar to a stock option, a warrant is an agreement between two parties that gives one party the right to buy the other party’s stock at a set price, over a specified period of time. Once a warrant holder exercises their warrant, they get shares of stock in the issuing party’s company. Additional information can be found here.

The Warrant agreement can be viewed here.

Our idea-to-exit support is made possible by sharing in the financial upside of our alumni. More than just a series of classes, FI is invested in your success and your community’s success by literally aligning our business model with your company’s achievements.

Warrants have a number of advantages over equity

1. Warrants ensure that any equity placed in the Equity Collective for the Founder Institute and other stakeholders is priced by the market.
2. Warrants are a convertible instrument and do not give the Founder Institute any decision-making power.
3. Typically, the Founder Institute becomes a shareholder simultaneously with an exit event.

No, but maybe in the future, or possibly never. The Warrant grants the Founder Institute 2.5% when the Warrant is activated. This 2.5% is fully dilutable over future rounds of investment. If the Warrant is not activated, we do not own shares in your company.

The Warrant grants the Founder Institute 2.5% at the time of the first Qualified Equity Financing.

There are two types of investments done by founders, either a convertible investment or an equity investment. The Warrant only matters with respect to a Qualified Equity Financing, which is defined as any equity investment for $100,000 USD or more completed by external investors - people other than the founder or founders themselves. If you join a qualifying startup program, such as YCombinator, after graduation from the Founder Institute program, a Qualified Equity Financing is defined as any equity investment for $25,000 USD or more. The Founder Institute maintains a list of qualifying startup programs.

The Founder Institute does not intend to purchase the Warrant until a liquidity event occurs with a greater value than the strike price, at which point FI will purchase the Warrant to return value to the Equity Collective.

FI is not a shareholder of your company until the Warrant is exercised. Until the exercise of the Warrant, FI will appear on your capitalization table alongside other convertibles, such as SAFE notes and convertible debt notes. FI will be the only entity on your cap table in relation to the Warrant.

Upon exercising the Warrant, the Founder Institute would become an official common shareholder for easy corporate housekeeping, but the contractual allocation distributes returns from the Warrant as indicated by the Equity Collective.

Hundreds of founders have raised capital with the Founder Institute Warrant in place. Most investors are used to investing in companies with Warrants or options present.

The Warrant grants the Founder Institute 2.5% at the time of the first Qualified Equity Financing, which is a minimum of $100,000 for outside capital or $25,000 through an additional accelerator program. The Qualified Equity Financing must also be considered a priced round, meaning a valuation and subsequent stock price is assigned to your company. If you raise money outside of a priced round, such as a SAFE or convertible note, the Warrant is not exercised.

Upon exercise of the Warrant, the Founder Institute would be a minority shareholder. It does not grant any board seats and voting rights would be limited.

If you drop out with more than 45 days left before Graduation, then you are not obligated to issue the Warrant. However, if you drop out with less than 45 days left in the program, then you are contractually bound to issue the Founder Institute Warrant in accordance with the Entrance Agreement. This prevents people from cheating the system and leaving the program at the very end, thereby purposefully avoiding contribution into the Equity Collective and cheating their Local Leaders, Mentors, and the Founder Institute.

Chat with our admissions team at support@founderinstitute.freshdesk.com.

The information on this website is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult with an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

Yes. FI encourages founders with standalone business ideas that are capital efficient to apply. The majority of topics covered in the program are relevant to any business, such as team building, vendors, and revenue. The Founder Institute is working with two dozen partners on discounted or free offerings to dramatically reduce the cost of launching a new company, making enrollment worthwhile.

Our guidelines can be found here: fi.co/benchmarks.

Yes. The Founder Institute encourages active fundraising throughout the program for founders that are prepared and require outside capital. The goal is to get founders in front of investors multiple times before the program ends.

At graduation, top-rated angel investors and venture capitalists will be invited to join and contribute. At this investor session, you will be experienced and very well prepared to pitch. In past investor sessions, over a dozen venture capital companies have been represented, with additional angel investors. FI also facilitates investor meetings outside of the program.

Some are, yes, and others are not. Only the best teams and the best companies will receive financing in the current economic climate, and these strong opportunities will be able to push for better terms. The Founder Institute aims to foster the best, and that is reflected in the terms. FI does not mandate that companies use the documents nor that the founders participate in the collective.

The Founder Institute invites a wide range of founders from different sectors to apply. Some companies need more capital and will raise more capital during the program. The amount of money that a participating Founder can expect to raise is ultimately based on the business, its specific needs, and the execution.

The Founder Institute does not invest directly in alumni companies. However, we do facilitate investment through introductions, local/ regional/ global events, and more.

The founders choose the investors, negotiate the terms, and sign the deal with the assistance of - but no control from - the Founder Institute. Everything is up to the founder and the shareholders. Keep in mind that the Founder Institute will not be a shareholder of any kind pre-funding.