Finally putting our money where our mouth is.
New Founder School is NOW FREE for ALL Founders!
Why are more people not helping creators, founders & impact makers? How can we do something about the growing inaccess & inequalities? These are the questions Anshul and I have asked each other for 5 years now.
Being immigrants with no network in silicon valley, on work & dependent visas and having no financial security, we dreamt of creating something that will change the way education happens. Over the last 8 years in silicon valley though, we have learned a lot! Got brilliant mentors who supported us. Found investors who backed us. Coaches who guide us. And we know this huge mission will take place slowly and steadily.
As we navigated entrepreneurship paths we realized that even to dream of building a startup is a HUGE privilege. Not only because we are immigrants: Yes, the visa issues are a huge barrier and the limitations of having any legal support is heartbreaking. But entrepreneurship is still a possibility for only a few! Here is why:
Not everyone has a network: Any aspiring founder who wants to start their journey has no idea where to begin from. They do not have the right network. In fact, startups rely heavily on warm introductions and close connections. We saw this in real-time when we would share our idea but had no recommendations or warm introductions. So before building a startup, we first had to build a network.
Not everyone has access: Creativity needs space and the right nurturing. As you can see the people starting their entrepreneurship journey in the startup hubs of the world have way more success in raising money, getting advisors and finding resources. The ecosystem supports creativity. But not everyone has access to it. This does not mean that people are not creative in the remote village of India or Argentina. But you can’t be what you can’t see.
Not everyone gets the support at the right time: If you talk to any successful founder, they have a badge of a successful ivy league university, a competitive accelerator or a Tier 1 venture capitalist. Rarely we see success out of this bubble. This is because founders (me included) have been taught the value of these badges. So we spend our money, give our equity and do everything we can to get 1 such badge so we can prove our credibility. Ah! Instead we could spend that time building, creating and growing.
These were the struggles we faced when we started out as well. And 3 years ago, Anshul and I started talking about how we could solve this for founders. We spent months thinking of the right methodology, solution and implementation plan. In June 2020 we launched New Founder School with 13 founders. I started training aspiring founders on launching their ideas.
Over the last 18 months, we have had over 500 graduates from all over the world. A few highlights:
100% of our founders are from underrepresented backgrounds.
We have spent $0 on marketing.
80% of our founders are immigrants.
576 office hours utilized.
Over 5000 resources created for founders.
50+ Startups created.
25+ trademarks filed.
Even after this success, we knew we had to do something different! We were still charging a fee from founders at New Founder School to get this support. So how were we any different? How could we truly become accessible for founders? But then how could Anshul and I as immigrants without financial security NOT think about a business model?
So last year Anshul and I made a secret pact: When we get financial stability, we will make New Founder School free for any aspiring or early stage founder! PERIOD! No conditions apply. We had to put our money where our mouth was. If we as founders faced the problem of support, network and $$, we had to support others in the same boat!
So starting today, New Founder School is FREE for anyone who wants to be a founder or is working on an early stage idea. NO $$, NO EQUITY! At New Founder School, you will get a business education while building your startup step by step with our expert faculty, investors and founders. The only thing you need at this school is a WILL to show up for your idea and vision week after week!
Now if you want to become a founder or are working on an idea, you have NO more excuses! Nothing is holding you back. The lack of capital, lack of network, lack of the right steps: WE ARE GIVING IT TO YOU ALL.
So if you have been thinking of being a founder but wondered if you have the right idea to pursue? Or if you have many ideas but don’t know which one to start with? Then let’s start your journey with this Ideathon at New Founder School on Feb 5th and 6th, 2022. In 48 hours, you will walk away with:
Learn what makes or breaks a startup idea.
Understand the basics of building a startup in 3 simple frameworks.
Work in teams to build a plan and pitch your idea.
My only question to you now is: ARE you IN or OUT? Register for the ideathon here and show up for your ideas and Anshul and I will show up for YOU!