Hi Everyone,
I wanted to pass this information along to you guys. I am not making an endorsement of the product because honestly I have not had time to properly evaluate the potentials and the risks. I am simply doing it as a public service announcement. Check it out and I would like to hear back with people’s thoughts.
TheFunded Founder Institute is a new founder-centric incubator that trains new and seasoned entrepreneurs the best practices for building next generation companies. The unique 4-month program offers remote participation, the industry’s most founder-friendly terms, focused mentorship and training from renowned CEOs, resources from leading service partners, fundraising opportunities at fair market value, and shared equity upside among all participants in the companies formed. Passionate Founders can apply today at www.FounderInstitute.com – registration for the Summer 2009 Semester ends on May 10th, 2009.
Why was the Founder Institute Created?
The National Venture Capital Association recently reported that VC fundraising dropped nearly 40% in Q1 of 2009. In these dire economic times, only the highest quality, most disciplined new businesses will proliferate – and The Founder Institute was created from the ground up to create such businesses. Our focus on quality is evident in our process;
- Institute Founders receive guidance from renowned, experienced start-up CEO Mentors.
- The Institute’s unique equity-sharing model aligns incentives and ensures maximum effort from all parties involved. When one of the Institute’s companies does well, all of the participating companies benefit – and when the Institute’s Mentors help the participating companies, they share in the upside as well
- The Institute focuses Founders on non-abstract, critical company-building assignments that build successful businesses in a weekly, step-by-step fashion.
- The Institute helps Founders secure investment at market rates and under the best possible terms – instead of forcing a valuation or equity purchase at a premature stage.
- The Institute does not require Founders to relocate or live on reduced incomes.
- The Institute sets up regular meetings with investors and the public throughout the company-building process to increase quality and focus.
- Institute Partners provide discounted or free services, so Founders can focus more time and resources on building the business.
Great Founders are often overlooked by the current entrepreneurial ecosystem, and innovative startups have a dramatic positive effect on the global economy. TheFunded Founder Institute aims to help the global economy by helping smart people start new, high-quality businesses.
For more information, visit www.FounderInstitute.com, or contact jonathan@thefunded.com.
Hello everyone. I wanted to take a minute to re-introduce myself for those of you who are new to the blog or do not know much about the owner (me) of this website yet. I also would like to point out some of the greater articles I’ve written in the past that you might not be aware of unless you’ve looked through all of our websites pages or searched the archives.
My name is Mike Smith and I am a small business owner. I have owned and operated a couple very small (I mean so small you’d never even know they existed unless I told you) businesses in the past. After struggling for many years (about 4 to be exact) I started reading some great material and really focusing in on running a successful small business. I started my blog design company, Blog Theme Machine back in October 2007 and am looking forward to hitting my 1 year mark with it very soon! It has been very successful and has allowed me to live with it as my only source of income which is great.
I started this blog about the same time to share my ideas and tips on what I’ve learned over the past few years, from reading books like “Bootstrapping Your Business” and “Guerrilla Marketing” to reading blogs like Freelance Switch and Zen Habits. All I hope for is that someone reading this blog finds the proper tools to grow their small business into something they are proud of without having to go through the heartache that I have.
I am very easy to get in contact with and love hearing from my readers. It lets me know that I’ve done something right and that means a lot to me. I also love seeing comments (so comment! – really, I love it and I comment back) 
If you need to get in touch with me, the contact form on the bootstrapping blog contact page sends mail directly to me and I will write you back as soon as possible. If you’d like to chat via AIM or another form of Instant Messenger, just let me know in the email and I’ll send you my details.
So, enough about me
Below are some links to some of the earliest articles written on this blog that I think you will really enjoy. Definitely something to look over when you have some spare time. If you see something you like or have a question about, leave a comment and I’ll comment back (See, I told you I love comments) You can also request further discussion in new articles that grow on an old article if you’d like. I’m always open to suggestions.
- What is Bootstrapping?
- Legalizing Your New Company
- Enlisting Friends and Family
- How NOT To Run A Business
- Bootstrapping And Your Gut Feeling
- Ten Steps To Making That First Sale
- 30 Local Resources You Can’t Live Without
- How To Lose A Potential Customer In One Easy Step
- Building An Optimistic Business
- Enlisting Your Friends And Family
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and getting to know me, what I do and why I do it a little bit better. I hope the above articles bring some light into your days as a small business owner. Remember, bootstrapping isn’t for everyone but it sure is for YOU! Drive, Dedication and Determination can get you anything so please don’t ever forget that!
If you’re enjoying the content I’m providing, why not subscribe so you can get email updates or feed reader updates? It’s free and every time I post on this website, you’ll be notified (I only post once every other day so don’t worry about being flooded with emails/feed notifications).