Get answers to common questions about the Founder Institute's program, application process, and other essential information
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 (Oct 16, 2024. 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.
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.
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.
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.
If a solo-founder drops out after the Refund Deadline (Oct 16, 2024), 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.
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.
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 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
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 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 7,500 entrepreneurs raise over $1.85BN 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.