Comparison · 11 material differences
Founders Network vs Young Entrepreneur Council
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 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.
Networking organization
Young Entrepreneur Council
Founders, co-founders, CEOs and operators building a company now, screened for fit and contribution rather than a published financial threshold
What the records say
- Role or title — Founders Network: Must be a full-time founder of a technology startup; Young Entrepreneur Council: "founders, co-founders, CEOs, and builders who are in the arena right now".
- Industry restriction — Founders Network: Technology startups only; service firms are excluded; Young Entrepreneur Council: No published industry restriction.
- Annual dues — Founders Network: $900 a year; Young Entrepreneur Council: Not publicly disclosed. YEC's membership, application and FAQ pages state that membership is fee-based in effect ("A seat is earned, not bought") but publish no price; cost is discussed after acceptance..
Side by side
| Founders Network | Young Entrepreneur Council | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Networking organization | Networking organization |
| Founded | 2011 (The About page credits founder Kevin Holmes, a former tech startup founder, with starting the organization in 2011.) | 2012 (The current YEC About page states the council was founded in 2012. Earlier material and press describe the organisation launching around 2010-2011 under founder Scott Gerber; yec.co itself first appears in the Internet Archive in November 2013.) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States | United States |
| Geographic footprint | Members in more than 25 cities worldwide; in-person chapter meetings named for San Francisco, Silicon Valley, New York, London and Mexico City. | Online community with member-hosted dinners and in-person gatherings; no chapters |
| Members | 600as of September 2026 | Not publicly disclosed. YEC does not publish a member count on its current site. |
| 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. | No chapters |
| Primary audience | Full-time founders of technology startups, from idea stage through post-Series A, who want peer mentorship rather than capital or an accelerator programme. | Founders, co-founders, CEOs and operators building a company now, screened for fit and contribution rather than a published financial threshold |
| Typical member | 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. | Founders, co-founders, CEOs and builders currently running a business. The FAQ states "Young is the mind, not the age", so the historical under-45 rule is no longer presented as a test. YEC does not publish revenue, funding or exit thresholds on its current site. |
| Qualification | ||
| 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 ↗ | "founders, co-founders, CEOs, and builders who are in the arena right now"The FAQ adds "Young is the mind, not the age", indicating the historical age ceiling is no longer applied as a published testverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Industry restriction | Technology startups only; service firms are excludedThe membership requirements text explicitly excludes service firms.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published industry restriction |
| Invitation required | Sometimes | No |
| Sponsor required | Sometimes | Sometimes |
| Application process | 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. | A short form starts the process, followed by email confirmation and then the full application. YEC states that a person reads every application and that applicants hear back either way. Shortlisted candidates complete an interview, which YEC frames as a two-way assessment of fit. Applicants may indicate that a member referred them. |
| Selectivity | Not publicly disclosed. The organization calls itself invite-only and says it researches applicants' backgrounds, but publishes no acceptance rate or rejection statistics. | Not publicly disclosed. YEC states applications are reviewed against "the same bar the members built" but publishes no acceptance rate. |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | $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 ↗ | Not publicly disclosed. YEC's membership, application and FAQ pages state that membership is fee-based in effect ("A seat is earned, not bought") but publish no price; cost is discussed after acceptance.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Membership term | Annual commitment, renewed annually; monthly payment plans available on some tiers | Not documented |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Continuous online forum; roughly 100 events a year including about 40 webinars, plus city chapter meet-ups and two annual conferences | Live online sessions, in-person dinners and member-hosted gatherings scheduled through a public events calendar |
| 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 | No published forum structure; YEC describes itself as "a small circle of peers who act as a mirror, not a directory you scroll" |
| Confidentiality | The organization describes the platform as a confidential space for founders; it does not publish a confidentiality agreement. | Not publicly disclosed |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Virtual, Chapter-based, Forum-based, Event-focused | Virtual, Cohort-based, Event-focused |
| Confidential peer forums | Yes | Partial |
| Local chapters | Yes | No |
| Virtual membership | Yes | Yes |
| Online community | Yes | Yes |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Partial |
| Leadership development | Partial | Partial |
| Retreats | No | Not documented |
| Travel | No | No |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | No |
| Next-generation programming | No | No |
| Investment discussions | Yes | Not documented |
| Investment opportunities | Partial | No |
| Philanthropic component | No | No |
| Networking emphasis | High | High |
| Social emphasis | Low | Medium |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Founders Network · Young Entrepreneur Council