What we’re about
At Founder Institute New York: Startup Founder 101, aspiring and early-stage startup founders meet once a month to hear candid talks by successful local entrepreneurs brought to you by Founder Institute New York, a New York City Startup Accelerator. Learn the best practices, strategies, and mistakes to avoid from those who have been there, done that. Then, if you’d like, you can share your ideas and plans in a relaxed setting to get personal and professional feedback.
The next Meetup will be announced shortly - join our group to get updated!
Upcoming events (4)
See all- Entrepreneurship Education: Lessons from Startup AcceleratorsLink visible for attendees
Due to its unpredictable nature and constantly evolving best practices, teaching the art of entrepreneurship presents a great challenge for educators. Since 2009 the Founder Institute has empowered thousands of first-time founders to launch successful companies across 6 continents, learning many pertinent lessons about entrepreneurial education along the way. On this live and interactive event, Jonathan Greechan (Co-Founder & CEO of Founder Institute) will share some of the best practices the global accelerator uses to inspire and empower new entrepreneurs worldwide.
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❯ Topics we'll cover include:- How to tailor education to the specific strengths and weaknesses of each entrepreneur
- The need for divergent, action-focused, fast-paced curriculums to properly prepare entrepreneurs
- How to properly integrate pitching and feedback into every step of the entrepreneurship education process
- Strategies for leveraging AI, peer-working groups, and more
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❯ About the 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 90 countries, producing over 7000 portfolio companies with nearly $2B 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.
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❯❯ This live, interactive online event promises valuable insights! Ensure your participation by RSVPing now at 👉 https://fi.co/startupwebinar/19131 to receive the link to join us live! - Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert FeedbackLink visible for attendees
To launch a great startup, it is critical to get feedback on your ideas from entrepreneurs who have been there and done that. On this live online event, we will gather several startup experts ready to provide feedback for entrepreneurs who aspire to be investor-ready. The event will start by providing guidelines to create a compelling elevator pitch, and then attendees will have the opportunity to share their pitch with other entrepreneurs, advisors, and investors at virtual tables for instant feedback. Even if you don't want to share your pitch, you can still join to hear other startup ideas and witness how the experts review a pitch.
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❯ What You'll Learn:- How to give a concise, yet compelling, elevator pitch
- What investors are looking for in a startup pitch
- Specific advice and feedback on your pitch and startup ideas
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❯ To get the most out of this Pitch for Feedback event:- Come ready for live video networking.
- Prepare by starting with your one-sentence pitch. See how it's done using our One Sentence Pitch Format
- Fill out our Elevator Pitch Worksheet at http://bit.ly/FI-elevatorpitch
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❯❯ This live, interactive online event promises valuable insights! Ensure your participation by RSVPing now at 👉 https://fi.co/startupwebinar/18841 to receive the link to join us live! - FI New York Fall 2025 Graduation: Meet the New Portfolio CompaniesLink visible for attendees
Join us for the New York Graduation, featuring a keynote from Glen Argenbright of Quake Capital, a seasoned investor behind over 200 early-stage tech startups. You'll also hear debut presentations from our new Alumni—companies on the path to seed funding, top accelerators, and beyond. Connect with fellow entrepreneurs and help celebrate the next generation of New York startups.
❯ Graduation Keynote Address:
- Glen Argenbright - General Partner at Quake Capital - Over 25 years as an entrepreneur, founder, and senior executive with experience running a wide variety of public and private companies, with 14 startups, 9 exits, 3 public offerings and over $5B in value created. He also has over 15 years as an active investor and venture capitalist specializing in pre-seed and seed stage companies.
❯ Graduating Companies:
- HealUp - A digital care platform and virtual surgical assistant helping physicians and surgeons guide patients from pre-op to full recovery.
- SettleWise - Providing a centralized web and mobile app for newly arrived Latino immigrants in the U.S. to navigate complex, disconnected Settlement services and build a successful new beginning.
- Uppership - A subscription-based 3PL built exclusively for small e-commerce brands, solving high logistics costs and complexity with simple, scalable, and brand-friendly fulfillment.
- CozyLeaf - Providing an innovative, user-friendly menstrual cup designed to enhance menstrual comfort and hygiene, addressing common usability issues and combating period poverty globally with its unique, patent-filed features.
- CHVLRY - Making intelligent sex toys that listen to their users and respond in real time to their biofeedback, providing a more intimate and organic sexual experience.
- ScreenGeni.us - A next-gen discovery and engagement platform for content providers.
- CompeteEdge - providing AI-powered feature detection software that helps Customer Success SaaS product teams automatically track competitor capabilities to prevent lost deals from competitive blindspots.
- Blawnt - An AI-first SaaS platform to help restaurant franchisors uncover and stop revenue leakage hidden across their supply chain.
- Emma Advisor - An AI career companion delivering the most personalized, effective career guidance to college students across the U.S.
❯❯ This is a live, interactive online event, so be sure to RSVP at https://fi.co/e/374022/meetup to receive the Zoom URL to join us live!
- How to Get Investors to Notice Your Startup: AMA with Marta MarruccoLink visible for attendees
Raising funding is more than pitching, it's about being truly ready for investors. At this live AMA, Marta Marrucco, founder of Smart Founder, shares insider matchmaking insights on what makes startups stand out to investors. She'll answer questions on preparing financial models, refining your pitch, and building relationships that lead to funding. If you want to understand how to attract investors by being investment-ready, don't miss this event.
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❯ What You'll Learn:- Discover common founder mistakes that can turn investors away
- Ask your fundraising questions directly and get honest, expert feedback
- Understand what makes a financial model compelling to VCs and angels
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❯ Featured Speaker:- Marta Marrucco - Owner at Smart Founder - Marta Marrucco is the founder of Smart Founder, a fundraising agency that bridges the gap between startups and investors. With experience supporting founders from launch through Series A and acquisition, she helps companies craft compelling financial models and prepare for funding success. Through Smart Founder, Marta collaborates with VCs, investors, and entrepreneurs to drive smarter, data-informed decisions in the investment ecosystem.
Additional Resources:
Find more Startup Events, learn about the Entrepreneur DNA test or sign up for the Insights Newsletter to get the latest startup tips and trends.
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❯❯ This live, interactive online event promises valuable insights! Ensure your participation by RSVPing now at 👉 https://fi.co/startupwebinar/19071 to receive the link to join us live!
