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
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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
Solo-Founder 101: How Anyone Can Start a Business Using AI
·OnlineOnlineSavvy entrepreneurs are using AI to augment their capabilities and move faster than ever before, with less resources. On this webinar with Jonathan Greechan (Co-Founder & CEO of Founder Institute, GP at Founder Capital), we'll share the prompts and processes solo-founders are using to supercharge processes like customer development, market research, product scoping, and more. Don't miss this opportunity to level up your toolkit and connect with fellow builders.
❯ What You'll Learn:
- How to use AI to stress-test your startup idea and run faster customer development.
- Specific prompts and tool combinations for market research, competitive analysis, and prototyping.
- How to craft and practice your pitch using AI, including building a full pitch deck with Claude Skills.
❯❯ RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/23951 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 $[total funding] 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?
- Aspiring founders who want to start a business but lack technical skills
- Entrepreneurs exploring how AI can accelerate their startup journey
- Professionals considering launching a side project or solo startup
- Early-stage founders interested in AI-powered workflows
Additional Resources:
Find more Startup Events, check our AI Tools for Startup Ideation and Validation, learn about the Entrepreneur DNA test or sign up for the Insights Newsletter to get the latest startup tips and trends.❯❯ Don’t miss this live, interactive online event packed with valuable insights! RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/23951 to get your link and join us live!
1 attendee
How to Go From Raw Idea to Polished Pitch using AI
·OnlineOnlineThe solo founder revolution is here. AI has eliminated the traditional barriers: no technical co-founder required, no months to MVP, no team of marketers. What once took months and $100K can now be done by one person in weeks. Join Jonathan Greechan, Co-Founder and CEO of Founder Institute, who has helped over 8,900 founders make this leap across 100+ countries. In this live session, he'll share the exact AI tools FI built (free for every attendee) so you can start building the same day. Register now and claim your spot.
❯❯ RSVP now at https://fi.co/e/394315/meetup to get your link and join us live!
❯ What You'll Learn:
- How to use FI's free AI tools to replace the functions of a co-founder, marketer, and product team
- A step-by-step framework to go from idea to validated concept without writing a single line of code
- How to access and use FI's AI agents, built specifically to take solo founders from zero to first check
- How to identify and leverage your professional experience as an unfair advantage
- The three most common mistakes first-time solo founders make and how to skip them entirely
❯ Featured Host:
- 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 $[total funding] 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?
- Experienced professionals who have been thinking "someday I'll start something" and are ready to act
- First-time solo founders with an idea but no clear process for moving forward with confidence
- AI-curious professionals who want to build a startup using AI, not just use AI at work
- Employees who see their industry being disrupted by AI and want to be on the right side of that shift
❯❯ Don’t miss this live, interactive online event packed with valuable insights! RSVP now at https://fi.co/e/394315/meetup to get your link and join us live!
1 attendee
Past events
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