Founder Institute

Our Formula for "Globalizing Silicon Valley"

Talent + Training + Teamwork = Exponentially Better Chance of Success

Talent: Great Companies Start With Great People

It's very hard to judge a new founder by the quality of their idea, because there is too much subjectivity involved. To apply to the Founder Institute, you do not need to provide an idea. Instead, we use a proprietary Predictive Admissions Test to find the most talented people.

To date, over 35,000 people have applied, and the Founder Institute can predict with 85% accuracy somebody's potential to become a successful technology entrepreneur. In addition, we have found that there are great entrepreneurs everywhere. Our revolutionary entrepreneur research has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, and Forbes.

Training

The best way to learn is by doing. Through our structured, step-by-step curriculum of weekly training courses and challenging business-building assignments, you graduate the Founder Institute as the Founder of an enduring company.

The Founder Institute curriculum was rigorously built using Silicon Valley best practices, and each training course is led by members of the Founder Institute's worldwide network of over 4,400 entrepreneur Mentors, that are founders themselves. Our curriculum is all action, and no theory.

See the Silicon Valley Winter 2016 Semester Curriculum, or see sample Founder Institute session.

Teamwork

Silicon Valley is a collaborative ecosystem, where people of all skill sets, backgrounds, and experiences share ideas, best practices, metrics, and feedback. Why? Because helping each other and sharing expertise leads to faster iteration, more efficient innovation, and faster market growth.

To create and foster a similar collaborative culture in markets across the globe, the Founder Institute employs a unique Shared Liquidity Pool where everyone shares equity in the companies formed from each semester. Here's how it works - each Graduate contributes 3.5% of their company equity in Warrants to a 10-year Bonus Pool with other peers from the current semester. When a liquidity event occurs, the returns for each cohort are then distributed as follows:

• 30% goes right back to the program Graduates, split evenly.
• 30% goes to the program Mentors, and each Mentor's individual share is based solely on anonymous ratings received from the Graduates. This incentivizes Mentors to take an active role in each cohort's success.
• 25% of the Pool Returns go to the Local Program Directors for their efforts in organizing, building, and running the local semester.
• 15% of the Pool Returns go to the Founder Institute, which provides operating capital for the business.

The Founder Institute is committed to building local startup ecosystems, and when one Graduate succeeds, the local cohort receives the vast majority of the upside.