Happy Thanksgiving!

The application period for the Winter 2009 semester of the Founder Institute in Seattle closes 11/27 at midnight Pacific.  Come and apply to join some of the top founders in the country.

In the country?  Yes! In a recent VentureBeat post “Seattle has the most promising entrepreneurs.”

One of those entrepreneurs, Roy Leban wrote an in-depth blog post about being accepted into the Founder Institute and his decision to enroll. He shares his insights from the perspective of an experienced entrepreneur and technologist. A clip from the post reads:

“At first glance, I might not seem like the typical candidate for the Founder Institute. I’m not a fresh entrepreneur. I’ve been doing it a long time and I’ve had both favorable outcomes (sales) and failures (losing a lot of money). And I even serve as an advisor and mentor to a lot of other entrepreneurs. But, through it all, two things have remained constant: I’m an entrepreneur at heart, and I have a lot to learn.

And those two things are the key reasons that I’m excited that I just got accepted to be part of the Founder Institute’s winter session in Seattle.”

If you want to join Roy and jumpstart your startup apply to the Founder Institute by midnight on 11/27 at:  http://www.founderinstitute.com/apply/5

This just in: We’ve got a location now for our second info night–please join us on the Redmond Microsoft campus for a look at what the Founder Institute is bringing to Seattle and how you can participate and benefit! Come learn about the curriculum, resources, mentors, and more, get your burning questions answered, and get to know your fellow founders!

Registration for tonight’s free event is here: http://seattle-fi2.eventbrite.com/ We’re looking forward to seeing everyone there!

We have added a video of the comments made by graduating Founders of the Bay Area semester that was recorded by the San Diego chapter of the Founder Institute, FoundersList.  You can find it on our Video page here.

Also, I was interviewed by Michael Surkan of Entrepreneurs Northwest and that podcast can be found here.

Finally, Adeo Ressi, creator of the Founder Institute wrote a good post on Why Apply to the Founder Institute.

To avoid any confusion, since the Early Admissions deadline for TheFunded Founder Institute semesters in the Bay Area and New York is midnight on Sunday, November 15th, 2009, we are extending the Seattle semester Early Admission deadline to the same time, midnight Pacific on 11/15/09. 

If you can benefit from training and mentorship to make your startup more successful, please apply. If you know a founder that needs help, encourage them to join the program. The Institute is run by founders for founders, providing a framework for successful entrepreneurs to share their experiences and to help.

There are a three benefits to applying before midnight on Sunday. First, early admission applicants have two separate chances to be accepted, since the application will be reviewed on this Monday and then again after the final admissions date. Second, the acceptance rate of early admission applicants has historically been just over 50%, versus lower rates in the final admissions deadline. Third, accepted founders from early admissions have more time to enroll, to get set-up, and to review the courses.

– Apply here for Seattle

Completing an application takes under an hour. Good luck, and Enjoy!

We got up and are going!  FounderWise is proud to announce that we will be conducting the Founder Institute Winter 2009 semester in Seattle.  What’s the Founder Institute?  Read on below and then see the Founder Institute tab…

 The Founder Institute (http://www.founderinstitute.com/) is a four month training program for both new and seasoned entrepreneurs. The Institute prepares founders to lead the next generation of world-class technology companies across a wide range industries, from the biotech to the internet. Weekly company-building sessions are guided by experienced CEOs, and they are held in the evening to allow participants to keep their day job or develop their companies during business hours. All of the program stakeholders, from the participating founders to the experienced CEO Mentors, share in the upside generated by the companies formed during the program. Participants also enjoy free services from more than three dozen Institute Partners, fundraising opportunities at fair market value, and a teamwork-oriented environment to build a company.

 Sound good?  Potential Founders (students) interested in the Seattle winter semester of the Founder Institute can apply at http://www.founderinstitute.com/apply/5. Early Admissions Close on November 12, 2009, regular admissions are due by November 27, 2009.

Earlier this year on September 8th, 66 founders (students) graduated from the inaugural semester of the Founder Institute in the Bay Area creating 54 companies.  Skimble (http://skimble.com/), a web portal to track your active lifestyle, was the first Institute company to launch with several thousand outdoor enthusiasts as early users, as well as a nice article in TechCrunch (http://bit.ly/siNpz).  In the first six weeks since graduation, three companies have been funded in one way or another and many more are bootstrapping while looking.

 Talking to these Founders is inspiring!

 Want to learn more about the Founder Institute program in the Seattle area?  Come to a special informational evening at the Boeing Auditorium on the University of Washington campus on the evening of November 2nd, 2009, hosted by the UW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Registration for the free event is available at http://founderwise.com/events/.