About us
Startup Founder 101 brings together aspiring and experienced tech entrepreneurs to discuss, meet, and collaborate to build great new startups, and to push the local startup ecosystem forward.\
\
This group hosts numerous free events throughout the year where you can learn the best practices of starting a company from people who have been there and done that. You’ll have the opportunity to meet local founders and investors, exchange ideas with experts, get feedback on your idea, participate in startup workshops, and more.\
\
Typical startup event topics include:\
• Coming up with a strong startup idea\
• Startup legal basics\
• How to pitch your startup\
• Starting a company without quitting your day job\
• How to raise funding for your startup\
• And much more!\
\
Join the group to be invited to our next event!
Featured event

FounderX Silicon Valley: VIP Gathering of Global Founders/ Investors
FounderX is a highly-curated, intimate conference will gather ~300 investors, founders, technology executives, and startup ecosystem leaders from across the globe for three days of networking events, group workshops, and engaging talks from top Keynote Speakers.
Previous speakers for FI events include Elon Musk, Steve Jurvetson, Yamini Rangan, Naval Ravikant, Esther Dyson, Jason Calacanis, Ben Horowitz, and many more.
❯❯ Meetup members must RSVP at https://luma.com/659pksxq?coupon=WE2SPJ to attend, the early bird price is available until May 31st.
TO REGISTER, YOU MUST RSVP AND PAY AT THE LINK ABOVE. RSVPING TO THIS MEETUP DOES NOT GRANT YOU ACCESS TO THIS EVENT.
See all the latest event details at http://FounderX.com (exact details and speakers will not be updated on this Meetup page).
Please note: this event is mainly for Founder Institute investors, alumni, mentors, and leaders - so Meetup availability will expire.
The goal of FounderX is to facilitate meaningful connections and learning across the FI and Decile Group Networks, which span 40,000+ innovators across 100+ countries and 6 continents.
////
❯ See all the latest event details at http://FounderX.com (exact details and speakers will not be updated on this Meetup page).
❯ Meetup members must RSVP at https://luma.com/659pksxq?coupon=WE2SPJ to attend, the early bird price is available until May 31st.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: To register, you MUST RSVP and pay at the link above.
❌ RSVPing to this Meetup does NOT grant you access to this event.
Upcoming events
7

How to Choose the Right Startup Idea Before You Build
·OnlineOnlineThe 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.
❯ What You'll Learn:
- How to identify real, painful problems worth solving
- How to pressure-test your startup idea before building
- A simple scoring framework to evaluate idea strength
- How to align your idea with your skills and unfair advantages
- How to gather meaningful early feedback
❯❯ RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/23360 to get your link and join us live!
❯ Featured Speaker:
- Jonathan Greechan - Co-Founder & CEO of the Founder Institute - Jonathan Greechan is the Co-Founder & CEO of the Founder Institute, the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator. Since 2009, he has grown and scaled the organization to chapters in over 200 cities and over 100 countries, producing over 8,900 portfolio companies with nearly $2BN in venture funding. In his long career in tech and marketing, Jonathan has advised thousands of startups on marketing, growth, and product strategy and has spoken at startup conferences on four continents.
❯ Who Should Attend:
- First-time founders exploring ideas
- Builders pivoting from a weak or unclear concept
- Entrepreneurs preparing to apply to accelerators
- Anyone looking to start something meaningful in 2026
❯❯ Don’t miss this live, interactive online event packed with valuable insights! RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/23360 to get your link and join us live!
3 attendees
Building Real Products with AI
The LAB Miami, 2750 NW 3rd Ave, #24, Miami, FL, USMost people experimenting with AI tools get stuck somewhere between idea and execution: building half-finished prototypes, hitting errors, or never quite getting to something real. This session is designed to change that. Led by Justin Elliot, Co-founder & CTO of WRTH and Anthropic Ambassador, we'll walk through a more structured approach to using AI tools to move from idea → working product → launch. Whether you're technical or not, the focus is on how to actually ship a real product faster, with less friction, and with a clearer path from concept to something people can use.
❯ Who should Attend?
- Founders at the idea or early validation stage
- Builders trying to create their first product
- Operators experimenting with AI tools but not getting to a working output
- Anyone who has started building something but hasn’t been able to ship
- FI applicants or founders looking to accelerate from concept → MVP
.
❯❯ This is an in-person event, so be sure to RSVP at https://fi.co/e/397881/meetup to secure your spot and receive further details.5 attendees
How to Start a Unicorn as a Solo Founder, with Adeo Ressi
·OnlineOnlineThe first solo founder unicorns are being built right now, not necessarily by 22 year olds in a garage, but by experienced professionals using deep industry knowledge and the right AI toolkit.That founder could be you. You may already have the expertise and the idea. What's missing is a clear path to get started. In this free online event, Adeo Ressi, founder of 11 startups, 14 VC funds, and nearly $2B in exits, will break down how to identify the startup opportunity inside your experience, use AI tools to replace parts of a founding team, and map the first 90 days of building. You'll leave the session knowing exactly what to do on day one.
❯ What You'll Learn:
- How to identify the startup opportunity hidden inside your professional experience
- Which AI tools and AI agents are replacing co-founder functions at the earliest stage of company building
- Specific AI tools and workflows for market research, competitive analysis, and early prototyping
❯❯ RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/25335 to get your link and join us live!
❯ Featured Speaker:
- Adeo Ressi - CEO at Decile Group and and Chairman at the Founder Institute - Adeo has personally launched 14 venture capital funds and founded 11 startups, having nearly $2 billion in exits before the age of 30. He is currently CEO of Decile Group, powering the next generation of venture capital firms worldwide and parent of the VC Lab venture capital accelerator; and Chairman at the Founder Institute, a pre-seed accelerator with chapters in over 250 cities worldwide and over 8,900 portfolio companies.
❯ Who Should Attend:
- Professionals with 5 to 15+ years of experience in an industry who have been thinking about starting something but haven't made the move yet
- Solo founders who have an idea and the drive, but need a structured process to move forward without a team
- Professionals whose role is changing because of AI and who want to turn that disruption into their own company
- Ambitious professionals who are ready to bet on themselves and work harder than they ever have
❯❯ Don’t miss this live, interactive online event packed with valuable insights! RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/25335 to get your link and join us live!
1 attendee
Vibecoding 101 for Startups: Build Your First App w/ Mark Montalban
·OnlineOnlineThe technical barrier between your idea and a real product just disappeared. Vibecoding 101 is a free, beginner-friendly introduction to Replit, the AI-powered tool that lets you build working apps using plain language, no coding experience required. In this free online session, Mark Montalban, a top-rated startup mentor and vibe coding instructor, will walk you through it live, step by step. No developer needed. No prior experience needed. Just your idea and 60 minutes. Register now and come ready to build.
❯ What You'll Learn:
- How Replit works and why it's the go-to tool for non-technical startup founders
- How to use natural language prompts to build real product features
- The fastest path from idea to a prototype you can show to users or investors
- Common mistakes first-time vibe coders make and how to skip them entirely
- How this approach fits into a full AI-native startup building workflow
❯❯ RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/25170 to get your link and join us live!
❯ Who Should Attend
- Experienced professionals with a startup idea who have been waiting for a technical co-founder
- First-time solo founders who want to validate an idea without writing a single line of code
- AI-curious professionals who want to use AI to build products, not just automate tasks at work
- Anyone who has been told they need a developer to get started
.
❯❯ Don’t miss this live, interactive online event packed with valuable insights! RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/25170 to get your link and join us live!2 attendees
Past events
518


