Each week over the four month program, the Founder Insitute runs training sessions, covering topics like "Intellectual Property" and "Generating Revenue." The standard session format is outline below. There are three special "Investor Sessions," where top rated angels and venture capitlists are invited to meet the participating Founders, and these sessions have a slightly different format.
| 5 Min | Facilitator Welcome | |
| 30 Min | Working Group Progress Reports | Each Working Group member should present one concrete milestone that they achieved in the last seven days to advance their product or service. |
| 20 Min | Mentor 1 | |
| 20 Min | Mentor 2 | |
| 20 Min | Mentor 3 | |
| 15 Min | BREAK | |
| 30 Min | Speaker Panel Q&A | Three Mentors sit together in the front of the room and answer questions from the Founders. |
| 30 Min | Founder Hotseat | Three Founders, chosen by the Facilitator, sit in the front of the room and have five minutes to describe their business, discuss a challenge that they are facing, and then there is a few minutes to get feedback from the Mentors and the class. |
| 30 Min | Working Group Assignments | Working Groups discuss tactics to complete the upcoming Assignment based on the information from the session itself. |
Dinner is normally served during the session, usually during the break.
Working Groups, which are teams of five participating Founders, are the backbone of the program. At three times in the semester, normally in the beginning of the program and then after the first two Investor Sessions, the Working Groups are randomly re-assigned. Working Groups meet at the beginning and end of each session and are expected to meet at least twice each week between sessions.
