Now is the time to rebuild: the world needs entrepreneurs to lead the way in creating a better future, for everyone.
Whether you have already launched a startup or are still in the idea-phase, this is the time to act. 2020 brought havoc to our health, our society, and our economy, and what remains is a world filled with reshuffling industries and new problems that need to be solved. As we continue through 2021, every entrepreneur has an opportunity to play a part in helping shape that better future.
That's why we are excited to announce applications are now open for the San Diego Virtual 2021 program.
If you could use a structured process and a lifetime of support from San Diego's top investors and entrepreneurs to build something meaningful, then apply to the San Diego Virtual 2021 Founder Institute today.
We will be hosting several free startup online events in San Diego over the coming weeks, where you can learn virtually from top entrepreneurs from the comfort of your home:
- Ask an Investor Anything: Q&A with Nathan Beckord: 10:00am, May 12, 2025 (America/Los_Angeles): https://FI.co/e/368356
- Founder Institute Online Information Session: https://FI.co/infosession
- Future-proofing CPG Brands: Key Strategies for Sustainable Growth: 7:00am, May 15, 2025 (America/Los_Angeles): https://FI.co/e/371034
- Lessons Learned Raising from Top Silicon Valley VCs: AMA with Rajeev Behera: 9:00am, May 29, 2025 (America/Los_Angeles): https://FI.co/e/371278
- How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas: 10:00am, Jun 02, 2025 (America/Los_Angeles): https://FI.co/e/370632
- How to Build Your MVP Using Artificial Intelligence : 10:00am, Jun 04, 2025 (America/Los_Angeles): https://FI.co/e/371399
- Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 5:00pm, Jun 09, 2025 (America/Los_Angeles): https://FI.co/e/370809
- FI Alumni Panel: Meet Portfolio Companies and Ask Questions: 10:00am, Jun 23, 2025 (America/Los_Angeles): https://FI.co/e/371826
- Startup Finance & Banking Basics: AMA with Grasshopper Bank: 10:00am, Jun 25, 2025 (America/Los_Angeles): https://FI.co/e/372027
- Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 10:00am, Jun 30, 2025 (America/Los_Angeles): https://FI.co/e/371667
- Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 10:00am, Jul 07, 2025 (America/Los_Angeles): https://FI.co/e/370393
Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200+ cities worldwide, the Founder Institute is designed to help you build an enduring business that can survive and thrive in this “new normal.” We do this by giving you a clear process combined with constant feedback from a devoted network of international entrepreneurs and investors. Participants in the 4-month core program also get access to a lifetime of support through the Founder Institute's industry-leading free post-programs.
The San Diego accelerator is led by some of the region's top startup leaders, including Ben Cote and Mike Sherbakov. In addition, some of San Diego's top investors, entrepreneurs, and CEOs will be participating as mentors in the program, providing expert feedback and evaluation. The list of startup mentors for the San Diego Founder Institute includes:
- Aaron Keith: CEO, Buildify Systems
- Aaron Stetson: Former Director of Solution Innovation, Army Applications Laboratory (AAL)
- Abdellah Aouf: Chief Executive Officer, GO PLATFORM
- Adam Spector: CEO & Founder, levy
- Adam Montgomery: Fundraising Manager, Wefunder
- A.J. Noronha, Greener Faster Fund
- Al Bsharah: Interlock Capital, Managing Partner
- Albert Chow: Principal, Anabatic LLC
- Alex Bard: Founder & CEO, Assistly
- Alex Green: Founder, Kanshi LLC
- Alexa Ramos: Marketing, Individual
- Amar Harrag: CEO, Allied Green Realty
- Amir Emadi: CEO, Airwai
- Andrew Gottlieb: Founder & CEO, No Typical Moments
- Andy White: Startup Operations, Keshif Ventures
- Angel Gambino: Founder, Angel Club
- Annie Brown: Founder, Lips
- Anshul Shah: Head of Accounting and CFO Partnerships, Brex
- Anton Monk: Co-Founder/ VP of Technology , Entropic Communications
- Austin Neudecker: Managing Partner, Weave Growth Partners
- Aviv Shalgi: CEO, Solar Simplified
- Bardia Moayedi: Partner, Snell & Wilmer
- Ben Stacey: CEO, Pitchverk
- Ben Cote: Mentor, Founder Institute
- Bill Fields: NC Market Leader for Venture Debt, Bridge Bank
- Bill Nelson: President & Technical Advisor, Targeted Performance
- Bow Rodgers: CEO
- Brad Feld: Managing Director, Foundry Group
- Brandon Noel: Entrpreneur, Data Droplets Inc.
- Brandon Noel: CEO, Droplets
- Brendan Aronson: CEO, The Military Veteran
- Brian Storms: no title, No company
- Brian Ford: Partnership Director, Founder Institute San Diego
- Brian Olearczyk: CRO, RevCult
- Bryant Walker: Founder & CEO, TAVO Media Group
- Carl Thomas: Chief Revenue and Business Development Officer, Hookit
- Carlo Rivis: CEO & Founder, Innovation Discovery
- Carlos Romero: Florida Director, Founder Institute
- Caroline Arzoo: Partnerships, TurboSBIR
- Cassius Kiani: Founder & Head of Product , Mora.com
- Chad Cazel: Managing Partner, Blackwing VC
- Chase Harmer: CEO, Wishes
- Chelsea Glaser: Brand & Creative Strategist, www.chelseaglaser.com
- Chintan Oza: Founder, Anantam Ecosystems
- Chris Capdevila: Founder & Former CEO, LogicalApps
- Chris Carter: CEO & Co Founder, VideoFort
- Chris Foltz: Global Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Founder Institute
- Chris Stott: Founder and CEO, Lonestar Data
- Christina Adams, Innovation and Frontier Technologies
- Christine "Chrissy" McDannell: Principle, The Magnolia Firm
- Cleve Adams: Principal
- Coco Sellman: Entrepreneur & Angel Investor, Remarkable Ventures
- Court Lorenzini: Co-founder, CEO, DocuSign
- Courtney Gant: CEO & Co-Founder, Skooltopia
- Craig Swiatek: Investment Advisor
- Craig Cummings: General Partner, Moonshots Captial
- Dan O'neill: VP Engineering, Certona
- Dan Chapman: Founder, Dan Chapman Consulting
- Dane Drotts: CoFounder, TangoCode
- Daniel O'neil: Executive Director, Smart Chicago Collaborative
- Daniel Obodovski: Co-founder, Managing Partner, Diosys Technologies LLC
- Daniel Arroyo: President & CTO, AstroPrint
- Daniel Shires: Consultant, Independent
- Darryl Rettig: Co Founder & CTO, DonationMatch
- Dave Tompkins: Founder, 550 Capital Partners
- Dave Saxton
- David Stevens: Founder & CEO, Hydroponic Creations
- David Metzler: Managing Director, Serenity Ventures
- David Steel: CEO, EveryoneLinked
- David Baird, MySALT AI, Inc.
- David Reid: CEO, Terra Arma
- DC Palter: Angel Investor, Tech Coast Angels
- Dennis Volpe: Partner, Leadership Research Institute
- Derren Burrell: Venture Capitalist, Veteran Ventures
- Derrick Oien: CEO & Founder
- Dr. Raashid Saiyed: Founder , Centre for Research in Human Nature
- Ed Cleary: Principal, Root Strategy Group
- Ellen Chang: Partner, Lightspeed Innovations
- Emily McMahan: Partner, Academy Investor Network
- Eric Grab: Aspiring Explorer, Technologist, Advisor, and Coach, Formerly: Amazon, Booz Allen, DivX, Jaunt, San Diego State
- Eric Weiss: Executive Coach, Full Cycle Executive Coaching
- Erik Smolinski
- Ernestine Fu: General Partner, Brave Capital
- Fabian Geyrhalter: Founder and Principal, FINIEN
- Farooq Anjum, Ph D: Co Founder & CEO, Gro Guru
- Florent Groberg: Azure Global Government Expansion, Microsoft
- Flossie Hall: Director Of Community Relations, Stella Labs
- Frank Peters: Founder & Host, Frank Peters Show
- Frank Mastronuzzi: Founding Partner, Punch Financial
- Fred Morrison: CEO, Simplexity
- Gary Raju
- Gary Peterson: CEO, AllSeater
- Gaurav Bhattacharya: CEO, Jeeva. AI
- Gaurav Bhattacharya: CEO & Co-Founder , Involve.ai
- Genevieve Le Marchal: Managing Partner, Suncoast Ventures
- George Stepancich: CEO, Invisionate
- George Ploss
- Gina Campbell: Strategy & Demand Gen (Direct to Consumer Group), SONY, Formerly DivX, MP3.com.
- Grant Creighton: CEO & Founder, LooperLink - LOOPER Golf
- Grant Winns: CEO, Yuna
- Greg Call, The Veteran Fund
- Greg Moser: President & CTO, ShipCalm
- Hayley Evans: Co Founder, Women Making Waves
- Ian Suttle: Engineering Director, Google
- Irina Kukuyeva PhD: AI due diligence, Kukuyeva Consulting
- Iva Teixeira: CEO, The Good Face Project
- Jacob Sapochnick: CEO, Sapochnick Law Firm
- Jacques Chirazi: Director of Student Entrepreneurship , UC San Diego
- James Schmachtenberger: CEO, Neurohacker Collective
- James Africano: General Partner, Regolith Ventures
- James Hereford: Co-Founder, Launch Factory
- James Wilson
- Jason Pang: COO, Bodymatter, Inc.
- Jason Liebrecht: CTO, Radicle Science
- Jason Zinn: Partner, Emerged, Inc.
- Jay Velasco: Venture Outreach Manager, The Alliance for SoCal Innovation
- Jaye Pharrell
- Jeff Smith: CEO, Growth Catalyst
- Jeff Balka: Business Growth & Entrepreneurship Lead - Military & Veterans Affairs, JP Morgan Chase
- Jeffrey Martinez
- Jenni Wu
- Jennifer Pilcher: Founder & CEO , Strategic Military Communications, LLC
- Jenny Rodriguez: CEO & Founder, IVOREEZ
- Jerome Soucy: People & Operations, Hykso FightCamp
- Jess Ewart: Senior Partner, New World Ventures
- Jesse S: Principal, Terra Legacy
- Jessica Pratt: Senior Vice President of Sales, Pop & Bottle
- Jessica Chew
- Jim Carlson: Founder, DFL Technology
- Joe Bezdek: Co-founder, DivX, Inc.
- John Zdanowski: Co-Founder, Assembled Brands
- John Stilo: CFO, Peerlogic Inc
- Jon Carder: CoFounder and CEO , Empyr
- Jon Carder: CEO, Vessel Health
- Jon Turdiev: Senior Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services
- Jonah Peake: Founder, the Social Coyote
- Joris Delanoue
- Jose Doval: CEO & Founder , XBand Sports
- Joshua Awad, eGateway Vapital
- Joshua Pacheco: Associate, Military & Veteran Affairs, JP Morgan Chase
- Juan Toledano: CoFounder, Sundaze
- Judy Tsuei: Founder, Wild Hearted Words
- Justin Renfro: Director of Partnerships, WeFunder
- Justin Nahama: Founding Partner, Pierson Ferdinand
- Kelly Perdew: Cofounder, Moonshots Capital
- Kelly Conkright: Founder, The Brand Terminal
- Ken Wahlster: Founder & CEO, BikeBandit.com
- Ken Davenport: CEO, Mission Edge
- Kim Walpole: Co-Founder / CEO, Trials.ai
- Lance Cottrell: Founder, Feel the Boot
- Larry Kesslin: Founder, Libr8
- Lauren Postler: Founder & Managing Partner, Solution Focused
- Lauren Rowley: Director of Investor Relations, Stella Impact Capital
- Lee Mills: CEO, Pixly
- Leo Spiegel: Managing Partner, Mission Ventures
- Leonor Cogneau: UX Consultant & Founder, Clario Consulting
- Lisa Song Sutton: General Partner, The Veteran Fund
- Louie Balasny: Director of Tech and VC, First Republic Bank
- Lucas Root: Founder, CEO, SGIC Consulting
- Mara Rada: Chief Operations and Strategy, Loon (loonbio.com)
- Marc Spencer: Founder, The Recharge Group
- Marcos Polanco: CEO, Deedit
- Marcus Haney: CEO, Allegiant Vets
- Maria Pope: Community Manager, Republic
- Mario Mitchell: Ecosystem Developer / Scout Fund Developer, Dear Mama Fund
- Mark Haney: CEO , HaneyBiz
- Mark How: CEO, NewGrowth & Origins eCommerce
- Mark Schmid: CEO, Art Function
- Mark Divine: Navy SEAL, Author and CEO, Unbeatable, LLC
- Martín Martinez: Founding & Executive Director, Founder Institute Texas
- Matthew Hedayat: CEO and COO, Stanford Technical Group
- Melissa Li: Managing Partner and Head of Community, Dorm Room Fund
- Merrin Muxlow: Executive Director, TiE South Coast
- Michael Davidovich: Founder, Direct EDI, Inc.
- Michael Floyd: Founder, CTO, CPO, Freelance
- Michael Segal: Managing Attorney, Eagle Law Group, P.C.
- Michaela Keady: Michaela Keady, Zendesk
- Michel Kripalani: CEO, Oceanhouse Media
- Mike Sherbakov: General Partner, The Veteran Fund
- Mike Steadman: CEO, IRONBOUND Media
- Moaz Hamid: founding partner, mvmt ventures
- Mohammed Kashif: Senior Quality Assurance Automation Engineer, Department of Motor Vehicles
- Mysty Rusk: Executive Director, USD School of Business
- Nate Mason: VC, Starburst Aero
- Nate Parsons: Limited Partner, The Veteran Fund
- Nathan Gray
- Neal Bloom: Managing Partner, Interlock Capital
- Neil Senturia: CEO, Blackbird Ventures
- Nektar Baziotis: Founder, ICARUS
- Nelly Yusupova: Founder, TechSpeak.co
- Noah Wallach: Founder, Hope OS
- Oliver Muoto
- Pablo A. Fernandez: CEO, Secret Table
- Parker Harris: CEO, Junto Global
- Pat Walsh: Co-Founder / Chief Impact Officer
- Paula Sweis: Principal, SILVERWEISS International
- Pete Biggam: Director / Mentor / Advisor, Founder Institute
- Pete DiSalvo: Founding Partner, Blackwing Ventures
- Peter Shaw: Managing Director , Procopio Business Advisors
- Rachel Rodriguez: Speaker Coach, Executive Communication & Leadership Coach, Rachel Rodriguez Consulting
- Rafael Kartaszynski: CEO, TechEdge Dynamics
- Ramesh Dontha
- Rebeca Hwang: GP, Kalei Ventures
- Regina Bernal: CEO, Trailblazer
- Reid Carr: CEO & Founder, Red Door Interactive
- Rhana Pytell Kozak: CEO & Founder , BRIGHTERSTEP
- Rhett Jeppson: Military and Veterans Affairs - Director of External Programs, JP Morgan Chase
- Ricardo Dos Santos: Sr Director of New Business Development , Biological Dynamics
- Rick Valencia: Founder, ProfitLine
- Rishi Sharma: West Coast Lead , Newlin VC
- Robert Pruter: Chief Revenue Officer/Co-Founder, SPHER, Inc.
- Rocco Cortese: President, Entrepreneurs Organization (E.O.)
- Rod Loges: CEO, One Degree Financial
- Roger Rappoport: Partner, Procopio
- Rosie Arango: COO, Bright App
- Rupak Doshi: CEO, TurboSBIR
- Russell Brand: CEO & Founder, Responsible Solutions Limited
- Russell Wardhaugh: PEO Consultant, TriNet
- Ryan Tseng: Co Founder, Warehouse Innovations
- Ryan Micheletti: Head of Global Operations, Founder Institute
- Saba Karim: Entrepreneur & Investor, Techstars
- Safa Aliabadi: Managing Director- Innovation & Tech Banking , Citizens Private Bank
- Sagar Pande: Co-founder, Blaze Power
- Sameer Sortur: Founding Partner, SquareCircle Ventures
- Samuel Riehn: Chief Executive Officer, SBIR Advisors Inc.
- Sanjaykumar Patel: Founder & Principal IP Attorney, EXCELON IP - Patent & Trademark Attorneys
- Sara Ledterman: General Partner, 3+ Ventures
- Sarah Apsel: Angel Investor, 37 Angels
- Scot Chisholm: CEO & Chairman, StayClassy
- Scott Davis: Director of Veteran Entrepreneuership, PenFed Foundation
- Sean O'brien
- Shahi Ghanem: Managing Director, WI Harper Group
- Shahin Enayati: Managing Director, Made Noble Corporation
- Shaiwal Priyadarshi: CTO, Co-Founder, MetaMedia
- Sharia Huda
- Shaun Alger: CRO, Volohaus
- Stacey Cooper: Partner, Stacey Cooper Law
- Stanley McChrystal: CEO and CoFounder, McChrystal Group
- Steven Morley: Business Advisor, Success4Execs
- Stuart Volkow: COO, Pulse Space
- Tai Hutchinson
- Taj Adhav: Founder, Leasecake
- Tanaka Mawindi
- Tarun Gulati: Founder & CEO, Contemplate
- Tay Nguyen: Owner, Gate Consulting
- Taylor Mc Lemore: Managing Director, Techstars
- Tim Hsia: Managing Partner, Context VC
- Tim Poydenis: Co-Head of Emerging Companies and Venture Capital, Holland & Knight
- Tirrell Payton: Tirrell Payton - Founder & CEO, Kaliki (San Diego FI), Kaliki
- Todd Goldstein: EVP, Global Partnerships & Business Development, Talent Inc.
- Tom Walpole: CTO, TrialsAi
- Tony Murphy: Founder & Principal, Ask Tony
- Trevor Longino: Founder & CEO, CrowdTamers
- Troy Hazard: Global President, Entrepreneurs Organization
- Tucker Hamilton: Commander, F-35 Integrated Test Force, US Air Force
- Ty Vachon: CEO, ORA Informatics
- Tyson Mc Dowell: President, Avadyne Health
- Vern Chan: Certified Startup Coach, Your Pivot
- Vladimir Pletyukhin: Founder and Creative Director, Launch Deck
- Wellington Pak
- Yann Deredec: CEO, Yama Group
- Yemi Oluseun: Growth & GTM For FinTechs, The Change Hive
- And many more to be announced.
Since 2009, the Founder Institute has helped over 7,500 Alumni raise over $1.85BN funding, get into seed-accelerators, generate traction, recruit a team, build a product, transition from employee to entrepreneur, and more (see the FI 10 Year Impact Report here).
Join us in San Diego to help build the future.
Apply to the San Diego Virtual 2021 Founder Institute today, or learn more at FI.co/overview.
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