Our flagship 'FI Core' program combines structured sprints with constant feedback to help you reach the milestones needed for investment and growth.
May 10, 2023 - Aug 16, 2023
Meet the cohort & learn our methodology
Define a strong business vision
Analyze your customer feedback
Validate a scalable revenue model
Learn how to build a great pitch
Test the core business on a mentor panel
Review your legal infrastructure
Improve your strategy to launch or scale
Get feedback on your product roadmap
Test your progress on a mentor panel
Improve your team and hiring
Establish a scalable engine for growth
Pitch and get feedback from investors
Fix any impediments to fundraising
Celebrate & onboard to our post-programs
Next steps after your 16 week program
During Orientation, we will review the Founder Institute program structure, methodology, tools, and requirements. You will meet the cohort and establish how your startup will use the program to push your business forward.
May 10, 2023
11:00am EDT
Your cohort will be split up into the “Launch Track” or “Growth Track”, depending on the stage your business. The "Launch Track" focuses earlier Founders and teams on validation and go-to-markets, while the "Growth Track" focuses teams with a live product and customers on traction and funding.
The below deliverables are in addition to any custom "Epic Sprints" you may receive based on your specific challenges, and below is a small sample of the deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
In each weekly Feedback Session, Founders will pitch and outline their progress to the Mentors for feedback, and get tips and insights on the week's topic. This week you'll get tips on how to develop a strong vision for your business.
May 17, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
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.
May 24, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
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.
May 31, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
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.
Jun 07, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
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.
Jun 14, 2023
11:00am EDT
After the Mentor Idea Review, Founders receive a larger number of custom "Epic Sprints" with deliverables based on their specific challenges. Below are examples of some of the standard deliverables.
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.
Jun 21, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
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.
Jun 28, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
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.
Jul 05, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Similar to the Mentor Idea Review, the Mentor 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 Mentors for a detailed review. Mentors will evaluate Founders based on their progress in the program, the company’s scalability, and more.
Jul 12, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
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.
Jul 19, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
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.
Jul 26, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
During this bonus session, Founders will present their investment pitch to angel investors and micro-VCs in a safe environment. The goal of this session is for you to receive constructive feedback and build relationships that will assist in their future fundraising efforts.
Aug 02, 2023
11:00am EDT
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.
Aug 09, 2023
11:00am EDT
Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
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.
Aug 16, 2023
11:00am EDT
Once you’ve finished our template program, your journey isn’t over. Founders Lab is a series of advisory programs that provide feedback and structure to help Alumni reach post-program milestones.
The 4 month Core-Program is just the beginning. We have developed extensive support programs and resources for our Alumni that far exceed any other comparable startup program.