Yes, we have launched a Beta/Exploratory chapter of Founders Institute in Reykjavik. You can apply now! I was interviewed by Siggy with Viking Entrepreneurs about this. Check out his podcast. I believe this is the best time to be a founder and get started if you have been thinking about doing this.
Here is one of the videos that was created and recorded by the Founders Institute. This video features a talk by Phil Libin at the Founder Showcase event, which took place on July 17th, 2013 in Mountain View, California. Phil Libin the Co-Founder & CEO of Evernote (evernote.com). He is an entrepreneur and executive who has led two Internet companies from the very beginning to proven commercial success, and helped three others through rapid growth. Prior to joining Evernote, Phil founded and served as president of CoreStreet, currently one of the top companies providing smart credential and identity management technologies to governments and large corporations throughout the world, and Engine 5, a leading Boston-based Internet software development company acquired by Vignette Corporation in early 2000. Follow him @plibin. The Founder Showcase (foundershowcase.com) is a quarterly startup event that gathers top technology CEOs, investors, and seed-stage companies in Silicon Valley.The event is hosted by TheFunded.com and the Founder Institute (fi.co).
Join us on Sept 18th, 5:30 pm Cafe Solon
We are organizing a meetup this coming Thursday September 18th at 5:30 PM in Cafe Solon to introduce the Founders Institute program and talk about Making the leap from Employee to Entrepreneur, get your free ticket here. What we are trying to do with the Founders Institute Reykjavik Chapter is to prepare founders to take their idea, vision and passion to the next level, i.e a structured approach to getting started, with a community/peer approach. I started on this journey a while back and I wish there was a community in Iceland that I could have tapped into but it did not exist so I was motivated to start one. Iceland has come a long way since the days when I was meeting with all the entrepreneurs in 2009. We have a bunch of things going for us. I have written a lot about it, actually I even wrote about it as far back as 2011, with the title “Strategy Execution – Reboot Iceland“.
Looking back I say we have rebooted Iceland, the tourism industry has helped but what has been fascinating for me to watch is the number of startups that have sprung up and have actually got to meaningful success in such a short period of time. Doing this in any other place would have definitely taken a lot longer IMHO.
We are kicking this journey into another gear through Founders Institute and with starting to work with those who are thinking about becoming self reliant and starting a technology company. Through this blog I have written a lot about why I believe every business is becoming a technology business. 15 years back very few businesses were using email, but now email is used by everyone including businesses. I believe that the trend to automate, leverage the internet to better serve customers is going to be a must have for every business. I believe everyone can start their own business and contribute in this journey. Through Founders Institute Reykjavik Chapter we are making that happen.
What are you waiting for? Apply, live your dream. This is not easy or simple, but it is life changing. For those ready to make that leap and fly, we are preparing the runway.
