Last week, a young startup called Realty Mogul took home top honors at “Founder Showcase,” a Silicon Valley pitch competition and networking event hosted by TheFunded.com, in which eight early-stage startups showed off their wares in front of 400 investors and founders. → Read More
Talk to 500 Startups’ Dave McClure about what’s important for his seed fund and accelerator going forward and, it’s not just about finding and supporting whiz-bang entrepreneurs, it’s supporting entrepreneurial and ecosystem growth outside of the U.S. Many of the top accelerators in the U.S. have been working to expand their programs and networks at home and abroad before the accelerator bubble… → Read More
There has been no shortage of controversy and criticism around the convertible note, a popular investing vehicle that’s used by seed stage and angel investors. As a refresher, a convertible note is a loan that automatically converts into equity upon the closing of a Series A round of financing. Sometimes these loans have a valuation cap and/or a discount. Although these types of notes are… → Read More
If you had to describe your company’s mission in a single sentence, what would your pitch read or sound like? One good way to summarize what you do and boil it down to one clear sentence, in my opinion, is following the advice of Founder Institute founder Adeo Ressi (see above).
This is how it’s done: “my company, _(insert name of company)_, is developing _(a defined offering)_ to help _(a… → Read More
Last week, Erick wrote about the dramatic increase in startups and early-stage businesses we’ve been seeing over the last few years, likening the phenomenon to the Cambrian Explosion. In these fertile times for startups, naturally, there’s plenty of funding to be had: In the last year, according to CrunchBase, there were more than 1,100 seed/angel funding rounds, up from 855 in 2008.
There are… → Read More
Last night, over 500 people gathered in San Francisco for the eighth Founder Showcase, a quarterly startup pitch event that brings together technology CEOs, investors, and early-stage startups for a night of networking and pitchin’. The event is hosted by Founder Institute, but is an open competition — any early-stage business (less than two years old and with under $250K in funding) can enter. → Read More
It’s an age-old scenario: You’re building a company, you have a product idea, and you’ve got the framework laid out in your head, but you want some expert advice and guidance on how to take the next steps. So, you go out to find a veteran entrepreneur, ask him or her to be an advisor in your fledgling company … and then what?
This is where a lot of founders get stuck. Entrepreneurs want to… → Read More
Alright Europe, listen up: you have 1 week left to apply to the Founder Institute’s Spring programs in Berlin, Brussels and Paris. Applications for the 17-week startup mentoring program are due March 6th.
But this time, Adeo Ressi‘s Founder Institute is going to kick off it’s European program a little differently with a 3-day European Bootcamp in Berlin for all the European participants. From… → Read More
To counteract the egregiously uneven ratio of female startup founders to male (11% to 89% at last count) the Founder Institute, a co-op accelerator and entrepreneur training program, is announcing today that it will be offering a Female Founder Fellowship to worthy applicants.
All ten of the current Founder Institute cities currently accepting applications will be awarding the most outstanding… → Read More
Adeo Ressi of the Founder Institute was blown away by the comments and response he got from our post last week reporting the incubator’s new offices in South America and intention to keep expanding globally. Readers were invited to make the case for their city in the comments and more than 40 locations caught his attention. The post even wound up expediting the opening of a new Amsterdam chapter. → Read More
Adeo Ressi’s incubator the Founder Institute is expanding to its fourth continent, South America, with new local chapters opening in Bogata, Colombia in April and Santiago, Chile in September. Closer to home, the Founder Institute is also opening a new chapter in San Francisco, due to increasing Bay Area demand. This will allow the incubator to run four semesters a year in Silicon Valley… → Read More
Earlier this week was the first European edition of the Founder Conference, the conference put on by Adeo Ressi‘s Founder Institute. And just as the Founder Institute made its European debut in Paris, so did the Founder Conference.
According to Alain Baritault, one of the organizers of the Paris Founder Institute, the organizers selected one of the hardest cities in Europe for the launch of the… → Read More
It was just over a year ago that Adeo Ressi launched the Founder Institute, a very early stage startup incubator. Since then they’ve expanded the program well beyond Silicon Valley.
Affiliated programs are now available in 11 cities around the world – with Houston opening up now. The Houston semester will be run locally by the Managing Partners of Enterprise Builders. Applications for the Houston… → Read More
On the heels of announcing the graduation of 25 companies from Adeo Ressi’s Founder Institute East Coast outposts, the startup incubator is launching in another East Coast hub: Boston. Announced in March 2009, the Founder Institute offers entrepreneurs and very early stage startups an environment designed to help foster their growth and education. The program, which is now active in ten cities… → Read More
The inaugural East Coast semesters of Adeo Ressi’s startup incubator Founder Institute have graduated 25 new companies from the New York and Washington DC classes. Announced in March 2009, the Founder Institute offers entrepreneurs and very early stage startups an environment designed to help foster their growth and education. The program, which is now active in nine cities worldwide, holds two… → Read More
The Founder Institute has just added 5 additional mentors and extended the deadline for their Paris program, which we covered in a previous post.
While the Founder Institute claims to reduce costs associated with starting a company by up to 80%, the main incentive for applying to the program is being referred to the mentor list and the related networking opportunities. Thus, the additional… → Read More
Adeo Ressi’s Founder Institute San Diego outpost has graduated 12 startups in its inaugural program. Announced in March 2009, the Founder Institute offers entrepreneurs and very early stage startups an environment designed to help foster their growth and education. The program, which is now active in nine cities worldwide, holds two four-month long sessions annually in each location, which include… → Read More
Adeo Ressi’s Founder Institute is going international. This Spring, the startup mentorship program will be expanding to Singapore, Paris, Los Angeles, and Denver, meaning that the Founder Institute is now active in nine cities worldwide. Interested entrepreneurs can apply starting tonight, with an early application deadline of February 15 2010 and a final deadline of February 28. These four new… → Read More
Monstrous Company is today announcing that it has raised a $400,000 round of angel funding to compete in the mobile gaming space. And alongside the announcement, the 2009 Founder Institute graduate is formally unveiling its first game, Entranced, an iPhone games that melds music and visuals into a compelling experience.
Fans of games like Tap Tap Revenge, Rez, and even Guitar Hero will probably… → Read More
More expansion news from Adeo Ressi’s Founder Institute. The startup incubator is steadily expanding. It recently opened up an outpost in Seattle, and now is expanding to New York. “New York City needs a kick in the pants,” says Ressi.
The Winter New York City Semester will be led by Razorfish co-founder Craig Kanarick. Mentors for the program will include Munjal Shah, Patrick Keane, Max Hoat… → Read More
Adeo Ressi’s Founder Institute is steadily expanding, with a new outpost opening up in Seattle. The startup incubator, which just completed its first successful “semester” in Silicon Valley, recently announced expansions to both Washington DC and San Diego, California.
The program was first announced in March 2009. It is a semester-based startup camp for very, very early-stage entrepreneurs and… → Read More
Adeo Ressi’s Founder Institute, which just completed its first successful “semester” in Silicon Valley, is expanding to new cities. First up are Washington DC and San Diego, California.
The program was first announced in March 2009. It is a semester-based startup camp for very, very early-stage entrepreneurs and students who have basic ideas for potential startups but have not yet founded a… → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
Berlin, Germany
