Comparison · 22 material differences
Entrepreneurs' Organization 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
Peer advisory
Verified September 2026 Entrepreneurs' Organization
Owners, founders and majority stakeholders of companies with at least US$1 million of annual revenue.
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: Entrepreneurs' Organization: No published role or title; Founders Network: Must be a full-time founder of a technology startup.
- Minimum company revenue: Entrepreneurs' Organization: US$1,000,000 in revenue in the most recent fiscal year; Founders Network: No published minimum company revenue.
- Minimum employees: Entrepreneurs' Organization: Minimum 10 employees (venture-backed route only); Founders Network: No published minimum employees.
- Minimum capital raised: Entrepreneurs' Organization: Venture-backed alternative: at least US$2,000,000 privately raised, or US$5,000,000 publicly raised; Founders Network: No published minimum capital raised.
- Annual dues: Entrepreneurs' Organization: $2,630 a year; Founders Network: $900 a year.
Side by side
| Entrepreneurs' Organization | Founders Network | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Peer advisory | Networking organization |
| Founded | 1987 (Founded as the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (YEO) by Verne Harnish with 22 entrepreneurs as founding board members; renamed Entrepreneurs' Organization after the 2005 merger with the World Entrepreneurs' Organization.) | 2011 (The About page credits founder Kevin Holmes, a former tech startup founder, with starting the organization in 2011.) |
| Headquarters | Alexandria, United States | San Francisco, United States |
| Geographic footprint | Chapters across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific | Members in more than 25 cities worldwide; in-person chapter meetings named for San Francisco, Silicon Valley, New York, London and Mexico City. |
| Members | 20,568as of September 2026 | 600as of September 2026 |
| Chapters | 226 | 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 | Owners, founders and majority stakeholders of companies with at least US$1 million of annual revenue. | 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 | Members are business owners rather than hired executives, and must hold controlling or majority ownership. EO states its member companies' median annual revenue is US$4 million, so the typical member runs a company well above the US$1 million entry threshold but far below YPO-scale businesses. | 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 ↗ |
| Minimum company revenue | US$1,000,000 in revenue in the most recent fiscal yearStandard test.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published minimum company revenue |
| Minimum employees | Minimum 10 employees (venture-backed route only)Attached to the funding-based qualification, not to the revenue route.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published minimum employees |
| Minimum capital raised | Venture-backed alternative: at least US$2,000,000 privately raised, or US$5,000,000 publicly raisedApplies instead of the revenue test for venture-backed companies; requires a minimum of 10 employees.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published minimum capital raised |
| Minimum ownership stake | Must be the owner, founder or majority stakeholder of the businessverified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published minimum ownership stake |
| 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 | Not documented | Sometimes |
| Application process | Applications go to a local chapter, which reviews the candidate against the eligibility criteria and then schedules an interview to discuss their interest in EO. Accepted members go through onboarding within three months, including orientation, Forum training and placement into a Forum. | 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 | 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 | $2,630 a yearGlobal dues, due at the start of each fiscal year (1 July); chapter dues are additional. “EO annual dues are US Dollar 2630.00.”verified October 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 ↗ |
| Initiation fee | $3,500 one-timeOne-time fee stated on EO's apply-for-membership page.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | All memberships are annual commitments; monthly payment plans are offered on some tiers. Discounts are advertised for portfolio companies of partner venture funds and accelerator graduates, without published amounts. |
| Local chapter dues | $5,558 a yearStated by Entrepreneurs' Organization (2026-10-16): EO Chicago chapter (chapter initiation USD 3,500). “EO Chicago annual dues are US Dollar 5558.00”verified October 2026 · source ↗ | All memberships are annual commitments; monthly payment plans are offered on some tiers. Discounts are advertised for portfolio companies of partner venture funds and accelerator graduates, without published amounts. |
| Membership term | Annual renewal; global dues prorated by fiscal month on joining | Annual commitment, renewed annually; monthly payment plans available on some tiers |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Forum meets on a regular monthly cadence set by each Forum; chapters run additional events, with regional and global events through the year | Continuous online forum; roughly 100 events a year including about 40 webinars, plus city chapter meet-ups and two annual conferences |
| Peer forums | Forum is a small confidential peer group operating under a structured protocol; EO does not publish a standard Forum size on the pages reviewed. | 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 | Forum operates under confidentiality; EO publishes membership eligibility procedures and a policies-and-procedures document rather than the Forum rules themselves. | 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 | Chapter-based, Forum-based, Event-focused | Virtual, Chapter-based, Forum-based, Event-focused |
| Confidential peer forums | Yes | Yes |
| Local chapters | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual membership | No | Yes |
| Online community | Yes | Yes |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Yes |
| Leadership development | Yes | Partial |
| Retreats | Yes | No |
| Travel | Partial | No |
| Family programming | Partial | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | Partial | No |
| Next-generation programming | Not documented | No |
| Investment discussions | Not documented | Yes |
| Investment opportunities | No | Partial |
| Philanthropic component | Not documented | No |
| Networking emphasis | High | High |
| Social emphasis | Medium | Low |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Entrepreneurs' Organization · Founders Network