Winter 2009 Seattle Area

Program Schedule

Our flagship 'FI Core' program combines structured sprints with constant feedback to help you reach the milestones needed for investment and growth.

Nov 15

Early Application Deadline

Nov 27

Final Application Deadline

Dec 07 06:30 pm week 1

Your Vision and Idea Types

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.

Date
Dec 07, 2009
Time
07:30pm CST

Sprints

Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:

Deliverables

Validate Track
  1. Education - Undergo a crash-course in popular startup and venture capital methodologies, metrics, and terms/ lingo.
  2. Tracking - Research and start tracking the communities surrounding your local and vertical startup ecosystems.
Launch Track
  1. Market Research - Utilize our market research template to collect accurate and available market information on the customer problems you are analyzing.
  2. Personas - Build an initial Buyer Persona to better understand your target customer's needs, challenges, and buying process.
Traction track
  1. Customer Interviews - Using our templates, interview at least 15 customers. If you already have done extensive customer development then outline your current findings and identify areas that require deeper understanding.
  2. Identify Unknowns - Document a detailed understanding of the main customer problem, and fill any required gaps in your customer knowledge.
Sprints
Research
Ideation
Customer Development
Testing
Dec 14 06:00 pm week 2

Basic Research

Jan 04

Refund Deadline

Jan 04 06:00 pm week 5

Naming and Branding

Jan 11 06:00 pm week 6

Company Roadmap

Jan 25 06:00 pm week 8

Earning Revenue

Feb 01 06:00 pm week 9

Hiring and Firing

Feb 08 06:00 pm week 10

Startup Legal and Incorporation

Feb 22 06:00 pm week 12

Intellectual Property

Mar 01 06:00 pm week 13

Partners and Suppliers

Mar 08 06:00 pm week 14

Marketing and Publicity

Mar 22 06:00 pm week 16

Presentation

Mar 29 06:00 pm week 17

The Funding Lifecycle

Apr 05 06:00 pm week 18

Graduation

week 19+

Post Programs

Join CTA image

Apply to FI Core

Join the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator

The Founder Institute is the world’s most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses. Since 2009, our structured accelerator programs have helped over 7,500 entrepreneurs raise over $1.85BN in funding. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 100 countries, our mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build impactful technology companies worldwide.


Copyright © 2025, Founder Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved