FounderX by Inc42 is India's only fellowship program where aspiring entrepreneurs learn a structured approach to starting up by working on a real startup idea
Starting Feb 2024, FounderX will bring India’s top 1% founders, operators and investors to teach everything about building a sustainable startup
Open for working professionals from startups & corporate, learn about the common mistakes to avoid that most first-time founders make
By all means, 2024-25 seems to be the comeback period for the Indian startup ecosystem!
After 2021’s investment frenzy and two years of hard corrections in 2022-23, Indian startups are entering a new era of 2024 where sustainable growth, unit economics and good governance are top business priorities.
However, if you look at the overall progress of the startup ecosystem in the last decade, it’s no less than a dream run! From having less than 20K startups in 2014 to more than 68K tech startups today, India has continued its dominance as the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world and is now viewed as the new hub of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The first wave of startups during the 2014-19 era created many category-defining companies. These new-age technology businesses nurtured a new class of mid to senior-level talent (popularly known as ‘startup mafia’) who learned the nuances of building tech businesses and went on to launch their own startups. Flipkart, Zomato, Zoho, Freshworks and Paytm being the prime examples.
As the chain of startup mafias increases, the startup ecosystem expands, improving the venture-building skillset and the survival rate of new startups being launched. But the survival of a startup depends a lot more on the founder’s mindset, business validation and the capability of a startup team to successfully execute in the market, which is not an easy skill set to learn.
Moreover, finding great startup opportunities is not as straightforward as it used to be. With increasing complexity and competition, it’s now more important than ever for aspiring entrepreneurs to approach venture creation more carefully & methodically.
This requires new founders to adopt a structured approach to eliminate ambiguity by selecting, testing and validating their startup ideas. This is what we call the “-1 to 0 stage of entrepreneurship” where the goal is to navigate the chaos of multiple ideas and build conviction on one major problem you want to solve.
This exercise can be excruciatingly painful and requires guidance currently unavailable in the market!
This is why we’ve built FounderX!
FounderX Fellowship – Navigating The -1 To 0 Journey With Confidence
FounderX is India’s first and only fellowship program where aspiring entrepreneurs are equipped with the skills, mindset and network to become successful founders. It teaches first-time founders a structured approach to building a startup under the guidance of India’s top 1% founders & investors – people who’ve done this multiple times over.
The second cohort of FounderX begins in Feb 2024.
Leveraging the philosophy of learning by doing, FounderX empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to work with a team of like-minded folks to develop startup ideas from scratch by methodically testing and validating them.
In 12 weeks, fellows master a structured approach that they can apply to any startup idea across sectors and industries to find that one big problem they want to dedicate their next decade to.
After successfully concluding the first cohort of FounderX in November last year, we’re back with the 2nd cohort where 50 ambitious individuals will get a chance to take the leap of entrepreneurship and kickstart their founder’s journey under the guidance of India’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Highlights From Inaugural Cohort Of FounderX
The inaugural cohort of FounderX proved the thesis of the program as 50+ fellows from diverse backgrounds went through the rigorous journey to develop startup ideas across D2C, ecommerce marketplaces, Generative AI, healthtech and many other sectors.
50+ India’s top founders and investors joined our faculty to conduct 25+ knowledge sessions and 15+ mentorship sessions, to guide the fellows in developing their startup ideas.
Apart from mastering a structured approach, fellows learned about the struggles and mistakes made by India’s top founders which helped them gain a deeper perspective on what it really takes to build a successful startup and the common pitfalls to avoid that most first-time founders fall for.
It’s like learning how to create magic from the best magicians of the country.
“Thanks for making the cohort engaging, enlightening and an eye-opening experience. I’m definitely taking away a new perspective towards building businesses and meaningful relationships that’ll help me level up at every step of my journey.”
– Apoorv Goyal (Past Fellow)
Some of the biggest learnings we deciphered from the first cohort:
Learning 1 – Incomplete understanding of startup lifecycle
Most aspiring entrepreneurs lack a comprehensive understanding of what it really takes to build a startup. Just the exposure to the entire process of building a startup proved to be life-changing for them.
Learning 2 – Missing practical learnings
Our fellows confessed that many of their myths were busted when they heard the stories, struggles and hustle of the speakers across the sessions. They learned about the critical mistakes to avoid in building a startup and these turned out to be their biggest takeaways.
Learning 3 – The power of community is unbeatable
Bringing together a curated group of folks who are connected by a common purpose enhanced the quality of peer learning and collaborations among the fellows. Some developed deep friendships and some partnered up to explore new startup ideas together.
The most significant outcome for our fellows was that they gained the confidence that they too can build a startup, which was one of the biggest mental hurdles for them before joining the program.
Apply To FounderXWhat’s New In The 2nd Cohort Of FounderX?
Incorporating the learnings from the inaugural cohort, we’ve doubled down on the practical elements that proved to be most valuable for the fellows in the first cohort.
In the 2nd cohort, our fellows will:
- Learn how to identify new opportunities across sectors
- Find and validate startup ideas from real customers
- Develop business models and the go-to-market strategy
- Learn a practical way to develop tech products without writing a single line of code
- Prepare and pitch their startup idea in front of mentors and an audience of their peers
By the end of the 12 weeks, the fellows will graduate with a renewed understanding of building scalable tech ventures and a methodology to help them gain conviction in the startup idea they want to pursue.
For aspiring entrepreneur who wants 2024 to be the special year when they start their entrepreneurial journey, admissions to the 2nd cohort of FounderX are now open!
Apply To FounderX
