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.\
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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.\
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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!\
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Join the group to be invited to our next event!
Upcoming events
2
What Startup Ecosystems Get Wrong, and How to Fix Them
·OnlineOnlineMost governments are getting startups wrong, and this is the conversation they've been avoiding. If your city is celebrating trivial startup events while founders quietly leave... if your programs optimize for attendance instead of outcomes... if capital keeps flowing but nothing compounds - then you're not building a sustainable ecosystem. On this live event, "Startup Economist" Paul O'Brien will provide a sharp, unapologetic deep dive into his new book, 'Startup Ecosystems' - already being called "the long-overdue operating manual for fixing how cities approach entrepreneurship".
❯ What You’ll Walk Away With
A completely different lens on how startup economies actually work (and why most don’t):- Why treating startups like small businesses quietly destroys both
- Why capital follows value (and what founders keep getting wrong about fundraising)
- Why copying Silicon Valley guarantees failure
- Why job creation targets kill early-stage innovation
- Why talent doesn’t follow programs — it follows optionality
- What metrics actually matter (and why most cities avoid them)
❯ Featured Speaker:
- Paul O'Brien - Author of the book Startup Ecosystems: Paul is the Founder of MediaTech Ventures, former Director of Founder Institute Texas, Writer at The Startup Economist, and has spent his career at the intersection of startups, venture capital, and public policy. As a founder, investor, accelerator leader, and policy strategist, he has built ecosystems from the inside and developed a rare, firsthand understanding of why most of them fail. His work spans legislative strategy, coalition building, and founder support across public, private, and civic sectors. Startup Ecosystems is the culmination of everything he has learned.
The Startup Ecosystems Book is an architectural examination of why startup ecosystems fail structurally, why capital behaves exactly as it is designed to, and why most regions are measuring the wrong things entirely. The patterns he documents don't point to bad intentions. They point to misaligned incentives, flawed design, and a stubborn unwillingness to distinguish innovation theater from actual value creation.
❯ Who Should Be There
If you have any role in shaping entrepreneurship, this isn’t optional:- Founders tired of performative ecosystems
- Investors trying to understand why regions stall
- Policymakers and economic developers funding the wrong things
- Accelerator and program leaders ready to be challenged
❯❯ Don’t miss this live, interactive online event packed with valuable insights! RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/24281 to get your link and join us live!
1 attendee
How to Start Solo with AI: Learn the New Founder Playbook
·OnlineOnlineHow long will your current role stay untouched? If your team had to do more with fewer people, where would that leave you? If you wanted to build something of your own, what would actually be possible now? "How to Start Solo with AI: Learn the New Founder Playbook" is a practical session for professionals who want to understand what has changed — and how to use that change well. This is not a hype talk about prompts, buzzwords, or overnight success. It is a grounded look at how AI is changing the way businesses get built, how work gets done, what customers now expect, and what one capable person can realistically start on their own.
❯ Guest Speakers include:
- Alex M. Dascalu (Lead Director, Founder Institute Central Eastern Europe)
- Shahar Hillel (Head of Tech, FYI)
- Dan Huru (Co-Founder, Meetgeek)
- Mihai Cvasnievschi (Founder, RO AI LABS)
❯ What You'll Learn:
- How AI lets one person test, build, and launch faster by changing what used to require a full team.
- How to spot ideas, services, or business models you can start solo by turning your existing professional skills into market value
- How AI-native founders think differently about product, work, customer expectations, and cost structure — and what that means for your next move.
- You will leave with a more grounded view of how to become more entrepreneurial — inside a company or outside it
❯❯ This is a live, interactive online event, so be sure to RSVP at https://fi.co/e/392766/meetup to receive the Zoom URL to join us live!
9 attendees
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