About us
San Antonio Startup Founder 101 is a community powered by the Founder Institute, the world’s largest pre-seed tech accelerator. This group is for aspiring and early-stage founders who want to go from idea to real business with support, structure, and a global network behind them.
We host events that focus on startup fundamentals, founder stories, and practical tools (not just theory). You’ll meet others building in public, learn what works (and what doesn’t), and discover how to plug into the FI San Antonio ecosystem.
Who should join?
First-time founders, solo builders, creatives, and anyone serious about starting something in San Antonio.
If you’re tired of building alone, this is where to start.
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.
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❯ 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
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How to Tell Stories That Win Clients and Investors with Lubna Forzley
·OnlineOnlineYou have a strong idea. But every time you explain it, people nod and move on. The problem is almost never the idea. It is the way the story is being told. Pitching persuades. Storytelling connects. Knowing which one to use, and when, is the skill that separates founders who close deals from those who keep refining their deck with no results. In this live session, Lubna Forzley, 2x TEDx Speaker and Founder of Stories, shares the exact framework she has used with executives at Coca-Cola, Google, and Microsoft. Register now and leave with a structure you can apply the same day.
❯ What You'll Learn:
- When to pitch and when to tell a story instead
- The story structure that builds trust without losing credibility
- How to use AI to build your narrative without sounding generic
- The storytelling mistakes that cost founders deals with investors
- How to craft a positioning statement that works across every channel
❯❯ RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/24741 to get your link and join us live!
❯ Featured Speaker:
- Lubna Forzley - Founder and CEO @ Stories: Lubna is a 2x TEDx Speaker, and an ICF-accredited coach who has spent 20+ years advising executives at Coca-Cola, Google, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, and the United Nations. She has shared stages with Steve Wozniak, hosted global roundtables with world leaders, and built an AI-powered brand tool that gives founders in 15 minutes what agencies used to charge $100,000 for. She helps founders and leaders cut through the noise, own their story, and win clients and investors before they ever open a pitch deck.
❯ Who Should Attend:
- Experienced Professionals ready to start a company
- Solo founders who have an idea but struggle to explain it clearly
- AI-curious professionals who want to build their brand using AI
- Anyone preparing to pitch to investors or first customers
.
❯❯ Don’t miss this live, interactive online event packed with valuable insights! RSVP now at https://fi.co/startupwebinar/24741 to get your link and join us live!1 attendee
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!1 attendee
Startup Advisors 101: How to Find Advisors and Maximize their Impact
·OnlineOnline🔔 Update: This event has been postponed to June 8, at the same time.
If you had March 23 blocked in your calendar, we’ve got something for you in the meantime 😊 Take a look at this webinar instead: How Aspiring Founders Can Use AI to Test Ideas & Move Faster: https://fi.co/startupwebinar/24246
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Below are the original event details, now rescheduled for June 8
Startup Advisors 101: How to Find Advisors and Maximize Their Impact:Great startup advisors can be a huge benefit for early-stage founders - helping them access networks, avoid mistakes, supplement missing skills, and even provide emotional support. But finding great advisors can be challenging, and their benefits are typically tied to how well you can leverage their limited time. On this interactive online event, we'll break down a practical, founder-friendly process for finding, vetting, and activating great startup advisors from our experience facilitating tens of thousands of advisor relationships since 2009.
❯❯ RSVP now at 👉 https://fi.co/startupwebinar/23124 to get your link and join us live!
❯ What You'll Learn:
- How to identify the right advisors.
- The chemistry + contribution test: how to evaluate fit before making anything official.
- How to structure advisor interactions so they produce outputs.
- When and how to use the FAST Agreement to standardize responsibilities + equity and avoid drawn-out negotiations.
- Common failure modes (advisor vanity, “free consulting,” misaligned incentives) and how to prevent them.
❯ 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 8100 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.
❯ Who Should Attend?
- Founders at the idea, pre-seed, or early traction stage who want help but don’t want drama.
- First-time founders building their first advisory board.
- Operators and technical founders who need domain, distribution, or fundraising support.
- Mentors/advisors who want a clearer framework for being helpful (and getting properly compensated).
❯ The FAST Agreement (Founder-Advisor Standard Template)
The FAST Agreement is used by tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and advisors per year to establish productive working relationships, trading advice and support for a standardized amount of equity. See the free agreement at FI.co/FAST.❯❯ Don’t miss this live, interactive online event packed with valuable insights! RSVP now at 👉 https://fi.co/startupwebinar/23124 to get your link and join us live!
1 attendee
Past events
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