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!
Featured event
Pitch Live: Stand Out in a Sea of AI Pitches
Your pitch has a problem you cannot hear. You have said it enough times that it sounds fine to you. Mentors hear it in the first ninety seconds. In this session founders pitch live and get structured feedback on the spot, and everyone else learns from watching someone else's mistake instead of making it. Bring a pitch at any stage, including one that is still only an idea. Register now and say it out loud to people who will tell you the truth.
❯ Guest Speakers include:
- Drew Chapin (Partner, The Discoverability Company)
To get the most out of this Pitch for Feedback event:
- Come ready for live video networking
- To prepare, start with your one-sentence pitch.
- Fill out our Elevator Pitch Worksheet.
❯ What You'll Learn:
- How to open a pitch so the listener knows what you do in one sentence;
- The structure investors expect and the order they expect it in;
- How to talk about traction when you do not have any yet;
- The most common mistake in pitches at this stage, and the fix;
- How to handle the question you were hoping nobody would ask.
Featured Mentors:
- {NAME} - {Title} at {Company} - {Mentor bio}
(Repeat one block per mentor on the panel.) ❯ Who Should Attend:
- Founders preparing to pitch investors, mentors, or an accelerator;
- Idea-stage founders who have never said their idea out loud to strangers;
- Anyone who has pitched and could not tell why it did not land;
- Founders who want to learn by watching others get feedback.
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❯❯ This is a live, interactive online event, so be sure to RSVP at https://fi.co/e/406593/meetup to receive the Zoom URL to join us live!
Upcoming events
5
How to Take an AI Startup From Idea to Revenue
·OnlineOnlineOne person with the right AI tools can now take an idea all the way to paying customers. Plenty of people have heard that. Far fewer have seen how it actually happened, step by step, for someone like them. In this session, solo founders who built AI startups in the past year walk you through exactly how they did it: what they built first, what they skipped, how long it took to earn their first dollar, and what it cost. Then they answer your questions live. Register now and bring your idea to the Q&A.
❯ Guest Speakers include:
- Connor Sattely (CEO, Founder Institute)
❯ What You'll Learn:
- What real solo founders built first, and what they deliberately left for later
- How long it took them to go from idea to their first paying customer
- Which AI tools did the work a small team would have done a few years ago
- What it cost, in both money and time, including the mistakes
- Which of their decisions you can copy for your own idea
❯ Who Should Attend:
- Aspiring founders with an idea and no co-founder
- Professionals who want proof that one person can build an AI company
- Early solo founders stuck between building and selling
- Anyone curious about what an AI startup looks like in its first year
.
❯❯ This is a live, interactive online event, so be sure to RSVP at https://fi.co/e/406099/meetup to receive the Zoom URL to join us live!
2 attendees
U.S. Visas & Immigration 101 for Startup Founders
·OnlineOnlineBuilding a company in the U.S. is hard enough. Doing it as a non-citizen founder means navigating an immigration system that was never designed with startups in mind. This 101 session breaks down the essentials in plain English. You'll get a clear map of the visa paths open to founders, how they differ, and what each one actually asks of you when you're the one building the company. We'll also look at how milestones like fundraising and revenue shape your options, and the mistakes that quietly put a founder's status at risk. Bring your questions for a live Q&A at the end.
❯❯ RSVP now at https://fi.co/e/405316/meetup to get your link and join us live! . This event is hosted in partnership with Manifest Law , a modern immigration law firm helps founders and companies get the visas they need to build in the U.S. — O-1A, E-2, L-1, H-1B, and green cards. Learn more at: https://gomanifestlaw.com/founderx
❯ What You'll Learn:
- Which U.S. visas are actually open to founders, and how the main options differ
- What "self-sponsorship" really means, and when it's possible
- How fundraising, revenue, and traction can strengthen or complicate your case
- The status risks hiding in a pivot, a down round, or a slow start, and how to plan ahead
- Where to start if you're building in the U.S. without a visa strategy yet
❯ Who Should Attend:
- Non-citizen founders building, or planning to build, a company in the U.S.
- Founders already on a visa who are fundraising, pivoting, or scaling
- International entrepreneurs deciding which visa path fits their plans
- Anyone who wants the immigration basics before sitting down with a lawyer
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❯❯ Don’t miss this live, interactive online event packed with valuable insights! RSVP now at https://fi.co/e/405316/meetup to get your link and join us live!
5 attendees
From Dreamer to Doer: Build the Founder Mindset
·OnlineOnlineHave you ever wondered why some people take the leap while others stay stuck? The difference isn't luck, resources, or timing — it's the way founders think. Join Jonathan Greechan, Co-Founder & CEO of the Founder Institute, for a fascinating deep-dive into the psychology behind entrepreneurial action. In this live session, you'll unpack the cognitive patterns that hold aspiring founders back and explore the mental frameworks that top entrepreneurs use to push through uncertainty. With practical exercises and a follow-up networking session, you'll leave with both insight and momentum.
❯❯ RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/24087 to get your link and join us live!
❯ What You’ll Learn:
- How to move from hesitation to action and stop waiting for the "perfect time"
- The 4 core mental barriers that keep you stuck in the startup journey
- The key mindset shifts from “It’s not my fault” to “What can I do differently?”
- How to train your mind to embrace progress and overcome excuses with clarity and confidence
- Practical exercises to leave the event feeling empowered and ready to take the next step
❯ Featured Speaker:
- Jonathan Greechan - Co-Founder & CEO at Founder Institute: Since 2009, Jonathan has grown and scaled the world's largest pre-seed accelerator to chapters in over 200 cities and 100 countries, producing over 9,000 portfolio companies with an estimated value of $2BN. He also serves as an Advisor to Oxford Entrepreneurs (Oxford University), Horasis, and the USC Incubator (University of Southern California). Previously, Jonathan was a Partner of TheFunded.com, the first website for founders to rate and review venture capitalists, and an Executive Producer of the Founder Showcase. This leading Silicon Valley startup conference hosted speakers like Elon Musk. Jonathan’s writing has been featured in Fortune, TechCrunch, and Entrepreneur Magazine, and he has spoken at startup conferences on four continents.
❯ Who Should Attend:
- Aspiring founders with an idea but who haven’t started building yet
- Entrepreneurs looking to break through mental blocks and move forward with their ideas
- Early-stage founders who feel stuck in analysis paralysis or waiting for the “right moment”
- Anyone eager to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and gain the confidence to move from idea to execution
.
❯❯ Don’t miss this live, interactive online event packed with valuable insights! RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/24087 to get your link and join us live!
3 attendeesPitch Live: Stand Out in a Sea of AI Pitches
·OnlineOnlineYour pitch has a problem you cannot hear. You have said it enough times that it sounds fine to you. Mentors hear it in the first ninety seconds. In this session founders pitch live and get structured feedback on the spot, and everyone else learns from watching someone else's mistake instead of making it. Bring a pitch at any stage, including one that is still only an idea. Register now and say it out loud to people who will tell you the truth.
❯ Guest Speakers include:
- Drew Chapin (Partner, The Discoverability Company)
To get the most out of this Pitch for Feedback event:
- Come ready for live video networking
- To prepare, start with your one-sentence pitch.
- Fill out our Elevator Pitch Worksheet.
❯ What You'll Learn:
- How to open a pitch so the listener knows what you do in one sentence;
- The structure investors expect and the order they expect it in;
- How to talk about traction when you do not have any yet;
- The most common mistake in pitches at this stage, and the fix;
- How to handle the question you were hoping nobody would ask.
Featured Mentors:
- {NAME} - {Title} at {Company} - {Mentor bio}
(Repeat one block per mentor on the panel.) ❯ Who Should Attend:
- Founders preparing to pitch investors, mentors, or an accelerator;
- Idea-stage founders who have never said their idea out loud to strangers;
- Anyone who has pitched and could not tell why it did not land;
- Founders who want to learn by watching others get feedback.
.
❯❯ This is a live, interactive online event, so be sure to RSVP at https://fi.co/e/406593/meetup to receive the Zoom URL to join us live!
3 attendees
Past events
510
