Summer Founders Program
Ten weeks. One house. One thing worth building.
Modeled on the early days of the best startup accelerators, rebuilt for founders whose success is measured in lives changed, not exits.
How the summer runs
- 01Weeks 1 to 2Sharpen the problem
Talk to 50 people who actually live with the problem. Rewrite your one-sentence mission until it stops sounding like a grant proposal.
- 02Weeks 3 to 5Build the smallest useful thing
Ship a v1 that helps at least one person. Pair with engineers in the house. Wednesday dinners with operators who have done it before.
- 03Weeks 6 to 8Get to real usage
Find the first 100 users, students, patients, or partners. Set up the boring parts: 501(c)(3) status, fiscal sponsorship, a clean money trail.
- 04Weeks 9 to 10Set up the next year
Demo day with funders and operators. Lock in a 12-month plan and a first round of philanthropic funding.
What you have access to
Legal and fiscal
Pro bono setup of your 501(c)(3) or fiscal sponsorship through our partner foundation.
Engineering and design
Working hours with senior engineers and designers from companies like Stripe, Notion, and the Gates Foundation.
Funders in the room
Weekly office hours with program officers from Open Philanthropy, Schmidt Futures, Mozilla, and family offices.
After the summer
A $25k follow-on pool, alumni office hours, and intros that don't expire.
Who we look for
You're 1 to 4 people who care more about the problem than the org chart. You've already done something, even if it's small: a pilot, a prototype, a Substack with 200 readers, a Discord that won't shut up.
You can pick up the phone and talk to the people you're building for. You'd rather have 10 users who love you than a press release. You're willing to spend the summer in Berkeley with eleven other people who feel the same way.