On August 2nd - 4th, Founder Institute hosted the FounderX 2022 global summit, where the FI network gathered over 3 days for a series of fun virtual networking events, group workshops, and engaging talks from top keynote speakers across the tech and startup global ecosystem.
The goal of FounderX was to facilitate meaningful connections and learning between the entrepreneurs, investors, advisors and leaders in our network—and the tremendous conference turnout achieved that goal, with attendees joining live from across more than 110+ countries and all 6 continents. Watch Founder Institute CEO Jonathan Greechan's opening keynote interview of FounderX 2022 with featured speaker Esther Dyson!
Interview with Esther Dyson (Founder of Wellville)
Esther Dyson is the Founder of Wellville, a 10-year non-profit project to cultivate equitable wellbeing. She is also an active angel investor, journalist, board member and advisor, concentrating on emerging markets, tech, new space and health.
She sits on the boards of BAMF Health, Element 3 Health, ProoPilot, Avanlee Care and SWVL, and is an investor in 23and Me (past board seat), Block (née Square), EPAM Systems, Ezra.com, Hurdle Health, Levels Health, Mindright, Nobil, Omada Health, StartUp Health, Voyager Space and many others.
Previously, she was the Founding Chairman of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), and trained in Star City as a backup cosmonaut. She is also a long-time IT/Internet analyst and the author of the best-selling book “Release 2.0: A Design For Living in the Digital Age.”
Esther Dyson Interview Insights:
- Why it is important for entrepreneurs + investors to "know what it is that they don't yet know"
- Why angel Investing doesn't work without a 'Power Law' investor strategy of diversification
- Importance of understanding one's founder failures as learning opportunities
- Why the world (still) needs an X-Prize for Health
- Downsides of tech that is purportedly designed to "democratize" finance and communication
- How Esther Dyson thinks about digital privacy in the modern data landscape
- Reasons to be skeptical that 'DAOs' will achieve true decentralization
- Need for innovation to solve big and meaningful problems, not to create more redundant tech
- Why being a leader is not a privilege or an honor, but a job that requires right skills + mindset
The next FounderX global conference is already in its very early planning phases, most likely to take place in mid-2023, and possibly as an in-person event. To learn more about the FounderX global summit, visit FounderX.com
Graduates of the Founder Institute are creating some of the world's fastest growing startups, having raised over $1.85BN in funding, and building products people love across over 200 cities worldwide.
See the most recent news from our Grads at FI.co/news, or learn more about their stories at FI.co/graduates.
