Our CEO and founder, Costin Tuculescu shares his inspirational trip with the Founder Institute last week…
CEO @ ONSCREEN, Inc. | AgeTech Founder | AI Companion for Seniors | Telehealth | Video Communication | Advisor, Mentor, Founder, Entrepreneur
Last week was a fresh adventure ??, meeting tons of amazing #founders, #mentors, #investors and #entrepreneurs. There was so much conversation: validation, challenging questions, and mentoring -- about what felt like a common goal from everyone: build an amazing company. I decided to head out to #Austin, #Texas (which I eventually got to 12 hours late after a flight diversion due to scary high winds!) and check out #FounderX after having been a pretty inactive mentor in the #orangecounty chapter of Founder Institute, and wanting to connect with this community. But I had no idea how broad and deep this community really went. ?????? I met folks from all over the globe -- leaders of their own respective chapters, and founders from those parts of the world. It was truly inspiring to hear their stories and ambitions. If you're not familiar with Founder Institute, here's a little back story: Founded in 2009 by Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan in a Palo Alto garage, The Founder Institute emerged in response to the 2008 market crash, aiming to help entrepreneurs build resilient startups. Since then, it has scaled massively... ? 200+ cities, 100+ countries, 6 continents ? 7,500+ companies created, raising $1.85B+ in funding, with a $20B+ estimated portfolio value ? 37,000+ mentors helping founders build and scale ? Rigorous 14-week program that has helped thousands launch their businesses ? Innovative equity collective model, where graduates, mentors, and local directors share in each other’s success The program is transparent: The Founder Institute takes 2.5% equity in each company that graduates from the program. This equity is split into an "Equity Collective", where: ??Mentors receive 0.5% ??Local leaders receive 1% ??FI HQ receives 1% This model ensures that everyone involved in the program has a stake in each other's success, fostering collaboration and long-term support. To learn more, check out fi.co. And I have to call out some of the awesome folks I met on this trip -- who I hope to stay in touch! Nakevia Miller Valentyn Yaromenko Alejo Lopez Flora Geske Pamir Sevincel Corey Coto Taggart F. Neal, EDAC Erwin Kok Anthony Rose Maria Sucgang Esosa Ighodaro Ihar Mahaniok Nima Mirpourian Scout Tweedie-Yates Drew Mcusic Jie Li Jo Clark Raj S. Linda Avey Julia Cheek Jason Calacanis Natasha Gorodetsky Janet Todorova James A. Phelan Mike Sherbakov Kamal Hassan ?? Mercedes Bankston Martin Tobias Ferdinand Mühlh?user ??????Sunil Sharma Dr. Hanan El Basha, DBA Lee Shapiro Cheryl Sew Hoy Alli Webb Lyn Graft Pat LaPointe Andrew Tauhert Rajeev Behera -- hope I didn't miss anyone!