Founders Network

Founders Network is a paid, application-gated peer network for technology startup founders, founded in 2011 by Kevin Holmes and run from the San Francisco Bay Area. Unlike an accelerator it takes no equity, and unlike a chapter-based peer-advisory body it is primarily a software platform: members post questions to a searchable mentorship forum, join peer roundtables and webinars, and attend two annual conferences. Membership is sold in three stage-based tiers priced by the founder's funding or revenue history, plus a one-off lifetime option. Eligibility is stated as being a full-time tech startup founder; service businesses are excluded. Applications are reviewed by a membership committee on a monthly cycle. Members also get access to a directory of investors and to negotiated discounts on startup software. In-person activity happens through city chapter meetings in tech hubs rather than a formal chartered chapter structure, so the local experience varies substantially by city. The organization runs an affiliated seed fund, FN Fund, which is separate from membership.

How it works

Members join at a tier matched to their revenue or funding history and get 30 days of onboarding. The core of the product is an online mentorship platform with an archive of prior member questions and answers, supplemented by roughly 100 events a year: webinars, peer roundtables, one-to-one coaching and VC mentoring at higher tiers, and city chapter meet-ups. Two annual conferences, fnIRL and fnSummit, are bundled into the Scale and Lead tiers respectively.

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 Network occupies the low-price end of the founder-community market: the top tier is roughly US$3,000 a year, an order of magnitude below Hampton or YPO, and the entry tier is cheap enough that selectivity claims should be read carefully. The published gate is occupational rather than financial - full-time tech founder, no service firms - which is a much softer filter than a revenue floor, and the organization publishes no acceptance rate. The tiering is unusual in that price rises with the member's own traction, which effectively cross-subsidises early-stage members. Anyone who wants a confidential facilitated forum with assigned peers should note that the primary format here is an open online platform plus optional roundtables, not a standing forum group. The affiliated FN Fund creates an investor relationship that prospective members may want to understand before joining.

Editorial analysis by Peer Group Guide editors. It is separated from the record above and follows the editorial policy.