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.

Venture Trailblazers is an exclusive event series that connects leading investors, founders, and ecosystem leaders from across the globe to discuss the latest trends in startups and venture capital. For this edition, we welcome Andrew D'Souza, founder and CEO of Boardy AI. The goal of Venture Trailblazers is to educate and connect the founders, leaders, mentors, and investors across the global Founder Institute, VC Lab, and FI Venture Networks.

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.

Savvy entrepreneurs are using AI to augment their capabilities and move faster than ever before, with less resources. On this webinar with Jonathan Greechan (Co-Founder & CEO of Founder Institute), we'll share the prompts and processes founders are using to supercharge processes like customer development, market research, product scoping, and more. If you are interested in learning how AI tools can help you be more innovative in your day-to-day work, then you won't want to miss this event.

As the Silicon Valley Spring 2026 Founder Institute cohort prepares to launch, we are inviting Accepted and Enrolled Founders to join an exclusive VIP Pitch Mixer. On this private event, Accepted and Enrolled Founders can pitch and share their ideas with a panel of Mentors and Leaders for constructive feedback. Even if you don't want to pitch, you are invited to hear startup ideas and watch how experts analyze and critique new startups.

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.

Most governments are getting startups wrong, and this is the conversation they've been avoiding. If your city is celebrating trivial startup events while founders quietly leave... if your programs optimize for attendance instead of outcomes... if capital keeps flowing but nothing compounds - then you're not building a sustainable ecosystem. On this live event, "Startup Economist" Paul O'Brien will provide a sharp, unapologetic deep dive into his new book, 'Startup Ecosystems' - already being called "the long-overdue operating manual for fixing how cities approach entrepreneurship".

Savvy entrepreneurs are using AI to augment their capabilities and move faster than ever before, with less resources. On this webinar with Jonathan Greechan (Co-Founder & CEO of Founder Institute, GP at Founder Capital), we'll share the prompts and processes solo-founders are using to supercharge processes like customer development, market research, product scoping, and more. Don't miss this opportunity to level up your toolkit and connect with fellow builders.

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.

Starting a company has never been more accessible. With AI, one person can validate ideas, build prototypes, and launch faster than ever before. But one thing hasn't changed: choosing the wrong co-founder can quickly derail a startup. In this Founder Institute event, you'll learn practical frameworks for evaluating co-founder fit and then meet other builders through structured networking and speed matching. Whether you're a professional exploring entrepreneurship, a solo founder with an idea, or a builder looking to join a startup, this session will help you connect with people who are serious about building.

Most aspiring founders get stuck before they start. They either wait for a "perfect" idea or chase something trendy without validation. The result? Months of hesitation or years building the wrong thing. In this live workshop, Jonathan Greechan (Co-Founder & CEO of Founder Institute) will walk you through a structured, repeatable framework to generate startup ideas that align with your skills, market demand, and long-term opportunity. You won't leave with theory. You'll leave with clarity and a concrete next step.

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.

Some startups fail because they pivot too late. Others fail because they pivot too often. The rare ones survive long enough to pivot intelligently and catch a market wave at exactly the right moment. Join us for a candid fireside chat with Evan Wong (Co-Founder & CEO of Checkbox) on how multiple pivots — plus years of bootstrapping and persistence — positioned Checkbox at the forefront of the fast-growing legal AI industry. Checkbox recently raised $23MM in funding from top investors, and counts top corporates as customers, like Hitachi, SAP, PepsiCo, and more.

If you're building a startup, it's hard to know which advice actually matters — and which mistakes will cost you months (or years). This live, interactive Q&A brings together Founder Institute alumni from different regions who started exactly where you are today. They'll share what worked, what didn't, and what they would do differently if they were starting again. You'll hear honest perspectives on the FI accelerator experience, early traction, fundraising realities, and common founder traps — and you'll have the chance to ask your own questions.

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.

The solo founder revolution is here. AI has eliminated the traditional barriers: no technical co-founder required, no months to MVP, no team of marketers. What once took months and $100K can now be done by one person in weeks. Join Jonathan Greechan, Co-Founder and CEO of Founder Institute, who has helped over 8,900 founders make this leap across 100+ countries. In this live session, he'll share the exact AI tools FI built (free for every attendee) so you can start building the same day. Register now and claim your spot.

As the Silicon Valley Spring 2026 Founder Institute cohort prepares to launch, we are inviting Accepted Founders to join an exclusive VIP Pitch Mixer. On this private event, Accepted Founders can pitch and share their ideas with a panel of Mentors and Leaders for constructive feedback. Even if you don't want to pitch, you are invited to hear startup ideas and watch how experts analyze and critique new startups.

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.

You've spent years building real expertise. You see the problems. You know what works. And yet, online, you're invisible. Meanwhile, people with less experience are posting consistently and attracting the opportunities that should be coming to you. The difference isn't knowledge. It's a system. In this session, brand strategist Daniel Francavilla will give you the exact content framework to turn what you already know into a LinkedIn presence that builds your authority, grows your audience, and opens doors. Whether you're thinking about your next career move, exploring entrepreneurship, or simply want to be known for what you actually know.

You have the experience. You see the problem. You've been thinking about starting your own company for years. So what's stopping you? Join Jonathan Greechan, Co-Founder & CEO of the Founder Institute, for a live session on the psychology behind entrepreneurial action. We'll unpack the four mental excuses that kill momentum, why they feel so convincing, and how successful founders push through fear and take action. You'll leave with the clarity and tools to take your next real step, plus a networking session to put your new mindset to work.

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.

You have an idea. But no customers yet, and no budget to go get them. Here's the truth: the founders who get their first 10 customers fastest don't outspend everyone else. They out-think them. They find the right people, say the right thing, and convert conversations into commitments. Jonathan Greechan, Co-Founder and CEO of the Founder Institute, has helped thousands of founders crack this exact problem. In this session, he'll share what actually works at zero before you have a team, a brand, or a runway. Register now and come ready to take notes.

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.

The gap between a good idea and a fundable startup isn't talent. It's knowing how to test what's real before you invest months into what isn't. AI has made that process faster and more accessible than ever, but only if you know which prompts and workflows actually work. In this recorded session with Jonathan Greechan (Co-Founder and CEO of Founder Institute), you'll get the exact tools and processes founders are using to run customer research, validate demand, and scope products without burning time on the wrong assumptions. If you've been waiting for a smarter way to start, this is it.

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.

The hardest part of building a startup isn't execution. It's choosing the right problem to solve. Too many founders build ideas based on excitement, trends, or assumptions, only to discover there's no real demand. In this interactive workshop, Jonathan Greechan (Co-Founder and CEO at Founder Institute) shares the frameworks used to help over 10,000 founders stress-test, refine, and validate their startup ideas early. You'll learn how to think like an investor, pressure-test your concept, and identify opportunities others overlook. If you're serious about building in 2026, start here.

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.

As the Silicon Valley Spring 2026 Founder Institute cohort prepares to launch, we are inviting Accepted Founders to join an exclusive VIP Pitch Lounge. On this private event, Accepted Founders can pitch and share their ideas with a panel of Mentors and Leaders for constructive feedback. Even if you don't want to pitch, you are invited to hear startup ideas and watch how experts analyze and critique new startups.

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.

Turn your startup vision into a real plan. Join a live, interactive online Q&A with Founder Institute alumni, founders who've collectively raised $2B+ and built some of the fastest-growing tech companies worldwide. Get practical advice on launching and scaling, hear what the FI pre-seed accelerator is actually like, and understand what you can realistically achieve through an accelerator. Save your spot and learn what it takes to succeed.

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.

Do you want to ask questions to startup investors about fundraising in a friendly, judgment-free environment? Are you looking to raise funding in the future, and want to learn what investors look for and how they evaluate potential investments? Then join us for this live, interactive Q&A event featuring Maayan Teper, Investor at Resilience VC. Don't miss this opportunity to expand your network and ask in-depth questions.

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.