Founder Institute

Startup Insights & Resources

Your central hub for startup knowledge, actionable guides, founder tools, and expert articles, organized around what matters most at each stage.

Founder Insights Newsletter

Join 50,000+ founders getting weekly insights.

New essays, free webinars, and invites to events in your city, every week.

The Last Half Hour - Applications Close at Midnight PST

May 10, 2009 ·

Applications are Due

May 09, 2009 ·

Invitations are Going Out

May 09, 2009 ·

Applications Due This Sunday

May 08, 2009 ·

Application Reviews have Begun

May 07, 2009 ·

The Weekly Session Format

May 06, 2009 ·

Seize a Last Spot with World-Class Mentors

May 05, 2009 ·

Some Recent Press Mentions...

May 05, 2009 ·

The Institute on Dow Jones VentureWire

May 05, 2009 ·

Founder Resources

Guides, tools, and frameworks that helped 10,000+ founders worldwide build their startups.

FAST Agreement

A standardized template to formalize founder–advisor relationships and lock in the right equity from the start.

Entrepreneur DNA Assessment

Discover your entrepreneurial strengths in a 30-minute assessment, built from 17+ years of founder research.

Applications are now open

Build your startup with AI agents doing the work

Join the FI Agentic Program: an AI-powered curriculum, world-class mentors, and free AI agents to turn your idea into a fundable company.

9,000+ companies launched since 2009

Turn your idea into the next unicorn

Our programs helped launch Udemy, Esusu, and thousands more, with a portfolio worth an estimated $20B. Yours could be next.

200+ cities and 95 countries

Join the world's largest agentic company builder

A global network of founders, mentors, and investors building enduring companies, with free AI agents to help you do the work.

Apply Now

The Founder Institute is the world’s largest agentic company builder, turning ideas into fundable startups, and startups into unicorns. Since 2009, the Founder Institute program has helped over 9,000 entrepreneurs build 9,000+ companies, including unicorns like Udemy and Esusu, raise over 2BN in funding, and grow a portfolio worth an estimated $20BN. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200+ cities and 95 countries, our mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build impactful technology companies worldwide. Learn more about the Founder Institute.