Comparison · 14 material differences
Dynamite Circle 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
Invitation-only community
Verified September 2026 Dynamite Circle
Founders of bootstrapped, profitable, location-independent businesses in software, e-commerce, services and media.
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: Dynamite Circle: Business founder; freelancers, employees, multi-level marketers, C-suite executives, upper management and department heads are excluded; Founders Network: Must be a full-time founder of a technology startup.
- Minimum company revenue: Dynamite Circle: At least US$100,000 per year in business revenue (standard DC membership); Founders Network: No published minimum company revenue.
- Industry restriction: Dynamite Circle: No published industry restriction; Founders Network: Technology startups only; service firms are excluded.
- Annual dues: Dynamite Circle: $697 a year; Founders Network: $900 a year.
Side by side
| Dynamite Circle | Founders Network | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Invitation-only community | Networking organization |
| Founded | 2011 (Founded in 2011 by Dan Andrews and Ian Schoen, who had started the Tropical MBA podcast in 2009.) | 2011 (The About page credits founder Kevin Holmes, a former tech startup founder, with starting the organization in 2011.) |
| Headquarters | Not documented | San Francisco, United States |
| Geographic footprint | Members in 50+ countries and 200+ cities, with in-person meetups across seven continents and annual conferences in Bangkok and Mexico City. | Members in more than 25 cities worldwide; in-person chapter meetings named for San Francisco, Silicon Valley, New York, London and Mexico City. |
| Members | 1,400as of September 2026 | 600as of September 2026 |
| Chapters | No formal chapters. The organization runs local meetups in cities including Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Tokyo, Barcelona and Portland, and states it holds 200+ in-person meetups a year. | 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 of bootstrapped, profitable, location-independent businesses in software, e-commerce, services and media. | 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 freelancers or executives, running bootstrapped companies with consistent recurring revenue above US$100,000 a year; the premium tier is limited to founders above US$1 million. | 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 | Business founder; freelancers, employees, multi-level marketers, C-suite executives, upper management and department heads are excludedCertain professional categories are also excluded, specifically coaching, consulting and recruiting.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | 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 | At least US$100,000 per year in business revenue (standard DC membership)The organization also requires consistent recurring revenue rather than one-off income.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published minimum company revenue |
| 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 confirm they meet six published requirements, agree to the code of conduct and submit an application with written answers about themselves and their business. A team member reviews each application personally and notifies the applicant within 48 business hours. DC BLACK adds a discovery call with the founder and revenue verification through a signed profit-and-loss statement, followed by facilitator-led placement into a mastermind group. Referrals from current members are encouraged. | 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 | "Only a fraction of applicants are accepted", per the requirements page; no acceptance rate is published. | 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 | $697 a yearStandard DC membership: "$697 per year - one-time annual payment", covering the online community, app and free local meetups.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 ↗ |
| Event costs | Not publicly disclosed in aggregate. The events page states that local meetups and Juntos are typically free, and that "Global conferences and retreats have ticket prices that are listed on each event 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. |
| Membership term | Annual | Annual commitment, renewed annually; monthly payment plans available on some tiers |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | 200+ local meetups a year plus 13+ organised events annually; DC BLACK masterminds meet monthly | Continuous online forum; roughly 100 events a year including about 40 webinars, plus city chapter meet-ups and two annual conferences |
| Peer forums | Online community and mobile app for all members; DC BLACK members are placed in facilitated mastermind groups of five to seven peers matched by track | 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 beyond a published code of conduct | 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, Forum-based | Virtual, Chapter-based, Forum-based, Event-focused |
| Confidential peer forums | Yes | Yes |
| Local chapters | Partial | Yes |
| Virtual membership | Yes | Yes |
| Online community | Yes | Yes |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Partial | Yes |
| Leadership development | Partial | Partial |
| Retreats | Yes | No |
| Travel | Partial | No |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | Not documented | No |
| Next-generation programming | No | No |
| Investment discussions | Partial | Yes |
| Investment opportunities | No | Partial |
| Philanthropic component | Not documented | No |
| Networking emphasis | High | High |
| Social emphasis | High | Low |
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Last verified: not yet reviewed
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Dynamite Circle · Founders Network