Program Schedule

During the Accelerator Kickoff, you will meet the Local Leaders and your cohort of Founders, and establish how your startup will use the program to push your business forward.

Building a great Co-Founder team is one of the most difficult yet important steps in founding a startup. Join us for this fun and interactive event where you will learn best practices for building and formalizing a Co-Founder relationship. In addition, you will have the opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs who are looking for a Co-Founder at virtual tables and speed networking sessions.

In each weekly Feedback Session, Founders will pitch and outline their strategies/ progress to the Mentors for feedback, get tips and insights on the week's topic, and have multiple opportunities to ask questions. This week you'll get tips on how to develop a strong vision for your business.

In this Feedback Session, Founders will present any customer development progress to the Mentors to examine if they are pursuing a scalable business with a clear and actionable customer problem. The Mentors will also provide tips on how to validate your key assumptions, interview potential customers effectively, and best interpret the feedback you receive.

Is your startup idea based on building a marketplace? Learn all the steps leading to the successful development of your product - from launching to monetization. In this interactive workshop, top startup mentor and growth marketer, Agata Krzysztofik, will share her hands-on expertise on growth strategies and OKR alignment.

To launch a great startup, it is critical to get feedback on your ideas from entrepreneurs who have been there and done that. First, you'll learn the best practices for creating a concise and compelling elevator pitch. Then, you will have the opportunity to share your pitch with other entrepreneurs, advisors, and investors at virtual tables for instant feedback. Even if you don't want to share your pitch, you can still join to hear other startup ideas and witness how the experts review a pitch.

In this Feedback Session, Founders will share their pitch and revenue model with Mentors for feedback and continued refinement. You will also get tips on how to sustain your startup before receiving financing or revenue, identifying the most lucrative revenue source for your business, testing different revenue sources with your target customers, and more.

Even in the earliest stages of your startup, email lead generation should be your number one priority. Email marketing is a cost-effective, measurable, and extremely engaging way to reach out to your customers. Join us at this highly informative webinar to get practical tips on how to set up compelling email workflows that will turn your leads into customers.

An entrepreneur never stops pitching, so this session focuses 100% on helping you build a great pitch. First, the mentors will share the latest best practices for pitching your startup - whether the pitch is for investors, team members, customers, partners, or otherwise. Then, you'll share your most recent pitch and receive constructive feedback on how to improve.

Successful entrepreneurs are flexible and adapt quickly. To stay ahead of trends, tune in to this interactive webinar that offers three unique points of view on the business climate and growth opportunities in 2023. This March, the floor belongs to dynamic and prominent women from our global startup community. Join us to learn how to leverage the current startup trends and ensure your strategy is progressive and up-to-date.

Join us for a unique opportunity to connect with early-stage startup investors and ask the questions that matter to you. In this Q&A session, you will have the chance to engage in an open discussion with a panel of investors who have a wealth of experience in working with early-stage startups. Find out how you can maximize your chances of raising funding and get hands-on tips for presenting your business to investors in the most favorable way.

This is the first big checkpoint in the program to determine your progress. During the Mentor Idea Review, you will present a longer presentation to a panel of FI Mentors for extensive review. You will receive a rating, as well as feedback on the long-term viability of your offering, revenue model, growth strategy, and more.

Every startup needs a custom go-to-market strategy to get its first customers and stand out from the competition. This interactive session on building an effective go-to-market strategy will provide you with practical insights and actionable tips for launching and scaling your business. Our guest speaker Daniel Francavilla, who is an expert in advising early-stage startups, will be happy to share his knowledge on key topics like market research, product positioning, pricing strategy, and sales tactics.

Are you a budding entrepreneur who wants to make a mark in the business world? Join us at this interactive webinar and find out how to craft stellar outreach campaigns, as well as avoid well-known pitfalls. key to success for any startup is securing a strong client base, which might be challenging. But with the right approach, it can also be incredibly rewarding. Our expert speaker will take you through the process of identifying and reaching out to potential clients.

In this Feedback Session, startup lawyers and CEOs will explain various legal agreements, startup legal components (such as equity), cap tables, how to protect intellectual property, the best practices for managing a law firm, and more. As usual, Mentors will also provide Founders with ratings and feedback on their startup pitch and progress.

Are you wondering who to hire first for your startup? Join our educational webinar to understand the difference between corporate and startup hiring and decide which is the best strategy to find talent for your company. Our special guest speakers, Abby Goldstein, and Adam Gellert, have entrepreneurship experience themselves and are well-versed in tech recruitment. They will shine a light on defining startup roles and prioritizing processes that enable founders to build a highly productive business.

Join us at an educational webinar dedicated to product-led growth. We will discuss startup strategies that focus on building a great product that sells itself. Businesses that adopt such a business model put the product at the forefront of everything they do. In today's competitive landscape, they invest all their resources in delivering high-quality and compelling product that acquires and retains customers. Join us to explore this approach and learn how to improve your product to leverage sales with our guest speaker, Wes Bush, who has helped multiple companies grow significantly by flipping the traditional sales playbook.

In this Feedback Session, Mentors will provide Founders with feedback on their current go-to-market plans and progress, and cover topics like marketing messaging, unit economics, customer acquisition, and more.

Is your business subscription-based, or are you planning to build one? Then, your most important metric will be your Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). In this comprehensive online webinar, our guest speaker Ameet Mehta will give you the best practices for accelerating ARR in the SaaS industry. By the end of the session, you will gain in-depth insights into the key factors that drive ARR growth and will be able to implement them in your revenue strategy.

To launch a great startup, it is critical to get feedback on your ideas from experts who have been there and done that. First, you'll learn the best practices for creating a concise and compelling elevator pitch. Then, you will have the opportunity to share your pitch with other entrepreneurs, advisors, and investors at virtual tables for instant feedback. Even if you don't want to share your pitch, you can still join to hear other startup ideas and witness how the experts review a pitch.

In this Feedback Session, Mentors will provide Founders with feedback on their current product, and/or product roadmap. Expert in product development will also discuss best practices in product management, roadmapping, managing product teams, and more.

For startups, a well-planned growth marketing strategy is the fastest way to win new customers and cut costs. In this highly informative webinar, entrepreneurs will hear the latest tactics for accelerating growth in their businesses. Our guest speaker and a master growth hacker, Nelio Leone, will share his verified 6-step growth framework that teaches founders to optimize their marketing efforts and achieve outstanding performance.

Regardless of the size or the type of industry, all startups need to communicate, plan, and manage work processes like a well-oiled machine. Join us at this virtual event to get practical advice on operational efficiency and maximize your company's performance. Our guest speaker, Nick Sonnenberg, a professional business consultant, and entrepreneur himself, will be happy to share his tactics for increasing business productivity, effectiveness, and measurable team progress.

Similar to the Mentor Idea Review, the Investor Progress Review is the second major test in the program. In this session, Founders will focus on give a long presentation their progress and traction to a panel of Investors and Advisors for a detailed review. Founders will be evaluated based on their progress in the program, the company's scalability, and more.

Get expert fundraising advice for your early-stage startup. This highly informative Q&A session is your chance to quickly receive guidance on vital topics such as pitch preparation, investor outreach, and negotiation tactics. Whether you're planning to raise seed funding or learn about startup metrics, this webinar is a must-attend for any entrepreneur looking to attract investments. Register now to secure your spot and start your fundraising journey with confidence.

Join us at our interactive event dedicated to sales-accelerating strategies. You will discover the latest tactics in creating personalized and compelling messaging from Daniel Wiener, an outbound marketing veteran, startup founder, and business advisor. The webinar will begin with a presentation about tools entrepreneurs can implement to improve their marketing messaging, and will continue with a Q&A session and virtual networking.

In this Feedback Session, Founders will receive feedback from Mentors on their team plans and product progress. In addition, Mentors will discuss how to identify the roles needed to build a world-class company, how to develop a strategy to recruit, onboard and retain the best people, and more.

Creating copy that converts is crucial for your startup advertising strategy. At our next interactive webinar, Eden Bidani, an awarded copywriter and strategist, will teach you how to deliver compelling messaging. With more than a decade of experience with startups, she has helped multiple businesses articulate their purpose and skyrocket their engagement metrics with captivating words.

Join us for a unique opportunity to connect with early-stage startup investors and ask the questions that matter to you. In this Q&A session, you will have the chance to engage in an open discussion with a panel of investors who have a wealth of experience in working with early-stage startups. Find out how you can maximize your chances of raising funding and get actionable tips for presenting your business to investors in the most favorable way.

In this session, Mentors will provide Founders with feedback on their current growth, branding, metrics, and strategy. Mentors will discuss various growth tactics, setting growth goals and milestones, communicating your startup's growth progress and setbacks with stakeholders and advisors, and more.

Do you urgently need a marketer to help you grow your business? Our guest speaker Emily Kramer has built the marketing teams of some of the most successful startups from scratch, and in this highly educational webinar, she will share first-hand experience, along with her favorite handy frameworks. Many startup founders believe that if they have a Head of Marketing by their side, all their problems will magically disappear. However, before investing in one, you should consider precisely what type of hire you need, how you will interact with them, and what other marketing roles will be required.

Immigrant founders created over 50% of the world's most famous startups, and as entrepreneurs, they tend to be highly resilient and resourceful. Join us and meet our guest speaker Mano Kulasingam who will share his first-hand experience of investing in early-stage startups with one or more immigrant founders. But are these qualities sufficient for attracting investors? The discussion will cover the benefits of cultural diversity in the startup ecosystem and the potential for immigrant-led companies to transform industries and create meaningful change.

During this session, Founders will present their investment pitch to angel investors and micro-VCs in a safe environment. The goal of this session is for Founders to receive constructive feedback and build relationships that will assist in their future fundraising efforts. 

In this session, Mentors will give you insider tip and tricks to raise funding for your startup in the current market, and in your locale. Mentors will also cover numerous topics related to fundraising, including different fundraising options, how to raise funding, and more.

Good product management practices enable startups to build and deliver awesome products. At this practical webinar, learn the latest tools and techniques that your company can use to develop a first-class tech solution. Our guest speaker, Sefunmi Osinaike, comes from a product management background in large companies like Apple and Microsoft, but is now building his own edtech startup, which taught him tons of real-life lessons. Join us to hear his personal hands-on experience, ask questions, and network with other entrepreneurs.

Completing the Founder Institute is an honor. The program is challenging, and the expectations are demanding.In this final session, you will celebrate with your peers, friends and family, as well as select Mentors. Some Founders will also pitch to a live audience, and you will officially onboard to all of the post-program resources and assistance the Founder Institute provides.

The FI Core Program is just the beginning of a life long journey.

Founder Institute Alumni get access to a series of advanced accelerator programs, ongoing support from our Silicon Valley Team, valuable partner and service discounts, and more to continue building the business for years to come.

There are no hidden costs, additional contracts or surprise subscription fees: all our post-program support is free and exclusive to FI Alumni companies, for life.