Comparison · 13 material differences
Entrepreneur Leadership Network vs Founders Network
This comparison was generated on request from the records. It carries no editorial verdict and is not indexed. The published comparisons are listed on the compare page.
Read down each column for one organization, across a row for the difference. A bronze mark at the left of a cell means the organizations differ on that row. A dash or “not published” means the organization does not disclose the fact; it is not a zero.
Verified September 2026
Networking organization
Verified September 2026 Entrepreneur Leadership Network
Founders, executives and subject-matter experts who want a recurring bylined column on Entrepreneur.com
Networking organization
Founders Network
Full-time founders of technology startups, from idea stage through post-Series A, who want peer mentorship rather than capital or an accelerator programme.
What the records say
- Role or title: Entrepreneur Leadership Network: No published role or title; Founders Network: Must be a full-time founder of a technology startup.
- Industry restriction: Entrepreneur Leadership Network: No published industry restriction; Founders Network: Technology startups only; service firms are excluded.
- Annual dues: Entrepreneur Leadership Network: $3,000 a year; Founders Network: $900 a year.
Side by side
| Entrepreneur Leadership Network | Founders Network | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Networking organization | Networking organization |
| Founded | Not documented | 2011 (The About page credits founder Kevin Holmes, a former tech startup founder, with starting the organization in 2011.) |
| Headquarters | United States | San Francisco, United States |
| Geographic footprint | Online programme run by Entrepreneur Media Inc.; no chapters. Member articles appear on the US edition of Entrepreneur.com and are viewable worldwide. | Members in more than 25 cities worldwide; in-person chapter meetings named for San Francisco, Silicon Valley, New York, London and Mexico City. |
| Members | Not publicly disclosed | 600as of September 2026 |
| Chapters | No chapters | The organization does not publish a chapter count. Its About page says members are in "over 25 cities"; individual chapter events are announced case by case. |
| Primary audience | Founders, executives and subject-matter experts who want a recurring bylined column on Entrepreneur.com | Full-time founders of technology startups, from idea stage through post-Series A, who want peer mentorship rather than capital or an accelerator programme. |
| Typical member | Entrepreneur Media describes members as "selected industry experts" and "entrepreneurs and executives". No revenue, funding, title or seniority threshold is published, so the member profile is defined by the selection committee rather than by a stated test. | The organization describes its members as vetted full-time tech startup founders; it states that members have collectively raised more than US$5 billion, that average funding per member is US$1.1 million, and that 50 percent are serial entrepreneurs. Service firms are explicitly excluded. |
| Qualification | ||
| Role or title | No published role or title | Must be a full-time founder of a technology startupStated as "You are working full-time on building your tech startup. No service firms."verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Industry restriction | No published industry restriction | Technology startups only; service firms are excludedThe membership requirements text explicitly excludes service firms.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Invitation required | No | Sometimes |
| Sponsor required | No | Sometimes |
| Application process | Applicants complete an online application form. A member of the selection committee evaluates the submission, typically within three to five business days, and may schedule a short one-to-one interview about the applicant's background and goals. Approved applicants then finalise annual payment before access begins. | Applicants either arrive with a member invitation or request one through the site. The published flow is a short application of about two minutes plus an optional longer addendum. A membership committee reviews complete applications by the last Friday of each month and notifies applicants of the decision the same day. |
| Selectivity | Not publicly disclosed. Entrepreneur states applications are evaluated by a selection committee but publishes no acceptance rate. | Not publicly disclosed. The organization calls itself invite-only and says it researches applicants' backgrounds, but publishes no acceptance rate or rejection statistics. |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | $3,000 a year"As of November 1, 2022, the cost of a membership to the Entrepreneur Leadership Network is $3,000 per year. There are no monthly options currently available." Billed annually on the purchase date and renewing automatically unless cancelled; members who joined before 1 November 2022 may pay a different amount.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | $900 a yearLaunch Plan (idea-stage founders), listed at "$75/mo billed annually" on the benefits page; the annualised figure is derived from the published monthly rate.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Membership term | Annual, billed on the purchase date and renewing automatically unless cancelled | Annual commitment, renewed annually; monthly payment plans available on some tiers |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | ELN Insider workshops, talks and networking sessions; article submission capped at one per month | Continuous online forum; roughly 100 events a year including about 40 webinars, plus city chapter meet-ups and two annual conferences |
| Peer forums | No peer forums | An online mentorship forum open to all members, plus peer advisory roundtables at the top tier; there is no standing confidential forum group of assigned peers |
| Confidentiality | Not publicly disclosed | The organization describes the platform as a confidential space for founders; it does not publish a confidentiality agreement. |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Virtual, Event-focused | Virtual, Chapter-based, Forum-based, Event-focused |
| Confidential peer forums | No | Yes |
| Local chapters | No | Yes |
| Virtual membership | Yes | Yes |
| Online community | Partial | Yes |
| Member directory | No | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Partial | Yes |
| Leadership development | No | Partial |
| Retreats | No | No |
| Travel | No | No |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | No |
| Next-generation programming | No | No |
| Investment discussions | No | Yes |
| Investment opportunities | No | Partial |
| Philanthropic component | No | No |
| Networking emphasis | Low | High |
| Social emphasis | Low | Low |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Entrepreneur Leadership Network · Founders Network