I started the Founder institute in March, 3 months ago; it feels longer than 3 months ago, make it the equivalent of 6 months….

The Founder Institute is the world’s largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies.

Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 50 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 1,550 companies in 6 years. The company’s mission is to “Globalize Silicon Valley” and builds sustainable start-up ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.

And it’s tough…

We started 42, and we are 7 including myself to graduate… Nice, eh? Well, this represents around 17% of success, which equals more or less the success rate of start-ups launching on the market.

So a handful of us made it through; but really this is just the beginning – we are only getting started on our entrepreneurial journey.

A few graduates before me summarised very well, all the benefits and challenges of this program, including:

So, what was awesome about it:

1. Structured, well organised acceleration program that you apply to yourself and your own idea and later start-up

2. Assessment to see whether you are the right fit for a startup entrepreneur lifestyle and to help you develop personally and qualify your idea

3. Great resources for each class (previous recorded talks, reading, templates)

4. Incredible network of mentors (also investors) that is accessible to you from day one.

5. Fellows during the program and graduates after the program form a strong peer-support community.

6. Continue to motivate each other to maintain a sense of urgency and professionalism for each other!

As Semester president, I set up the agenda for the team, but really, all we need is a nice catch up, relax to chat about our issues, the team, the legals, the challenges on going out there talking about our projects without patents as just yet, let’s face it.

Also! And we should not forget, we get access to an awesome partner network!
As a graduate, I will have access to special deals with vendors (lots) such as Rackspace, First Republic Bank, etc. etc..Nice, eh?

Be part of the FI alumni family, with graduates and like-minded people from around the globe. I always wanted to go to Silicon Valley; I might crash at someone place there very soon!

What you should know:

1. Come with thick skin and expect some tough love. Feedback will be brutally honest which is great! At those times, just thank the judge and don’t talk back! Yes, just don’t talk back.
And yes, I did have a breakdown, oh and a mental “blank” once in front of the jury; but this was to be expected. This is how I source my energy before jumping to the next challenge 😉

2. Assignments are a lot of work but at the end, you don’t receive feedback on it from FI. So make sure you do them for yourself and your start-up.

What are all the things that I learned?

1. The limits are set by yourself: On several occasions FI “forced” me to perform tasks that at first seemed to me “impossible” to do (e.g 2 hours of sleep) within the time frame requested. However, I learned that it was possible. So now, I just do things not caring about if there are possible or not. I knew it before, but really I m talking about ridiculous timings here (when you still have your full time job of course).

2. Ideas are overrated: Many believe that their ideas are the best, but definitely get an idea is absolutely worthless if you cannot run to it. Furthermore, almost sure the original idea will change as you advance in the execution of it.

3.Share your idea is the method: Ideas must be shared as this is the only way to “test it” and go forward to improve it … until turns into a brilliant idea. Less thinking and more action!

4. The Entrepreneur Kit: You must have and be an expert in your basics: Pitch & Deck & Attitude. It was really good to practice public speaking skills every week !

Oh and so many other thing, Leading.
I enjoy leading teams and have a sense of accountability, so I enjoy being president of my team, another way to fulfill yourself.

My product is quite complex in holography and 3D real time rendering and immersive simulation, where I had a to demonstrate “my product”. Ah! A little bit harder than just building a website or a mobile app in that sense (from a technical point of you … though you could argue on that point) ; Anyway, I had to think a little bit more strategically about my product and really decomposed it step by step of what my product could be without losing the problem that I was trying to solve for architects. Here comes the role of advisors, or successful entrepreneurs to chat to late at night or early in the morning when you find it hard to sleep. How can I explain my idea in simple terms? How can I avoid the industry jargon? Do you understand my idea and what I am trying to achieve? When you have high ambition, and a vision of your product for the next few years to come, one issue you may be facing is to focus on the baby steps, “What can you do now” and make it harder than what it is. If you get stuck throughout the program, I can’t recommend enough and flag the importance to really seek advices to mentors, they got this “external” vision to clash with yours, in order to unstuck you.

I can’t thanks enough all my mentors and advisors that gave me their time late at night, and let’s face it, they are not paid for it and really they do have other things to do too…

Also, If you are doing the package software/hardware package, think twice, or longer than the average of your people in your class.

Ok, what I mean by that. Lots of advisers might tell you that building hardware is tough and will cost lots of money. And this is true. I am not arguing on that point. However, some will tend to really express negativity on hardware and it is “soo complicated” that you might feel stuck that you can’t even create any innovative products. Ok, and this is wrong, pending on your financial situation, network, I will still encourage you and explore the avenue to create a hardware! Go for it.

How was my experience (as a woman)? Pretty cool, and yes I am technical. You may have to answer this question more than some, but eh, this is for the better, you need to be technical when you are building a technical product. And I am the one creating the most complex product in my class. This has been acknowledged, so when you have extra challenges, surround yourself by the best advisors. But as long as you are passionate, nothing can stop you. Faith is not answering to logical criticism. Just go for it.

Long story short, I totally recommend the Founder Institute, either for new entrepreneurs or old ones. You’ll get good knowledge, good experience and great coaches. Someone said it before me!

You can check the program here: http://fi.co

We are officially graduating in 2 weeks https://apothekefurmanner.de/cialis-kaufen/.

If you want to know more about the work we are doing behind the scene, eh eh …contact us at awesome@spironic.com
Website: www.spironic.com
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