Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The journey to launching a highly scalable business is more often than not a long and arduous one. We at
Founder Institute Lagos are here to hold your hand and walk you through this long and lonely road. Founder
Institute Lagos is the Lagos chapter of Founder Institute, the world’s largest pre-seed accelerator. Our
well-structured programs are framed to set up you and your company for success. Through our well-established
critical support networks, founders have the opportunity to connect with other founders, partners, alumni, and
more than 15,000 mentors globally.
One of the perks of graduating and becoming an Alumni of the Founder Institute is the post-program support we
provide via several internal programs. By joining Founder Institute Lagos, you will have access to global
networks, establish ties with ecosystem experts, and establish connections with advisors and investors
worldwide. Over time these benefits spill over into the broader Lagos startup ecosystem. Our Alumni community
includes founders from different sectors and diverse backgrounds each building fast-growing, highly scalable
companies.
Founder Institute has operated in Lagos for four years and as a pre-seed accelerator, we work with founders,
business leaders, investor partners, legal partners, and mentors to help them get the ecosystem ignited. Our
100+ portfolio companies have gone on to build highly scalable startups that have created values for over
60,000 users with transactions worth over NGN337 million and have a total valuation of NGN13 billion.
Our mentor-driven program includes 14 weeks of immersive education, critical appraisals, and meaningful
discussions. Founders leave the program with a well-formed corporation, a local network of experienced
entrepreneurs and investors, significant product progress, and more importantly, clear and actionable next steps
for growth. To help you navigate this program, it would be useful for you to familiarize yourself with the Founder
Institute Guide.
Through lifelong support, we ensure that you build a business that matters.
Ifedy Eze, Esq
Managing Director,
Founder Institute, Lagos Chapter
Index
Dear Founder, 2
Index 3
Program Rules 7
Our Partners 13
Graduation Support 14
Global Program Layout
Key Concepts you will find useful
● Mentor Scheduling: After each week’s session, mentors will make time slot available for you to meet
with them for office hours. During that time, you will have the opportunity to properly have a deep dive
● Office Hours: Office Hours are crucial to developing strong graduates. Our data shows that Office
Hours are one of the most transformational components of the semester and are the difference
● Working Groups: Founders in the program are divided into Working Groups of 4 - 8 Founders that
rotate 2 - 3 times throughout the Semester. At the beginning of the semester, you will be placed in
working groups where all advanced founders are in one group. The Working Groups are required to
meet twice per week to help Founders get to know their peers and learn about other businesses. Each
Working Group elects a President by their own process that organizes the group meetings, posts notes
from weekly meetings (regarding assignment discussions, company building progress, etc.), and reports
● Working Group Presidents: The President is the cornerstone of the working group. These groups live
and die by the quality of the President. The President's job is to lead the entire team to success by
ensuring each member graduates. Functionally, they are responsible for taking notes during the
working group meetings and posting those notes to their profile in the system. A Leader needs to help
the Founders in the group deal with issues that may arise, and help motivate the team to accomplish
their weekly goals. Presidents are expected to send weekly reports via email and also in the working
groups Whatsapp group with the Directors. The President must have the time and capacity to lead. The
President is ultimately responsible for the success of a Working Group and has a variety of duties,
■ Organizing Meetings: Each Working Group should meet at least two times per week.
The President organizes these regular meetings and keeps attendance, tracking the
sweeping it under the carpet and from Working Group Meetings on the Rating Page.
■ Posting Notes: After each session, the President needs to post notes from the Group
efforts to complete the Assignment on the Working Group Page, under "Notes.”
■ Identify Drop Outs: The President posts notes on the performance and attributes of
Founders in the Working Group using a special note area with a chat bubble on the
Rating Page. At the end of the Working Group, the President informs the Director of the
NOTE: The President is held accountable for the performance of his or her Working Group. If two or more
Founders drop out that were not flagged by the President, then the President may be asked to leave the
program as well.
● Rating with No "3": The 1 to 5 rating system for the Founder Institute does not include a 3, forcing the
raters to choose if someone is good or bad. Mentors, Directors, and Founders SHOULD NOT rate
● Pitch: You are required to pitch during the feedback and review sessions. The time allocated is usually 1
minute. By the first review session, the time allocated is 3 mins and by the second review session, the
● Assignment: Assignments are the company building that forms the very core of your presence in the
program. Every session has its assignment to help you incorporate what has been into your business.
● Founders who are consistently missing or turn in incomplete work would be dropped or given a special
assignment. Course actions correct poor performance and bad behaviour early on in the program to
● Special Assignments (aka Epic Sprints): Special Assignments are sprints of work given to Founders in
addition to the normal program deliverables. They are broken down into a variety of categories, ranging
from pitch improvements and go-to-market to customer validation and product development. Epic
Sprints are mandatory for Founders who score below a 3.0 during the Mentor Idea Review and Mentor
Progress Reviews, but every Founder should be given a special assignment at least once in the
program.
● Post-session Networking: The value of Founder Institute is in its network. Your job is to foster strong
relationships among the Founders, Mentors, and Directors. The stronger the bond among the Founders,
the more likely they will be to incorporate, join the bonus pool, and graduate. The best way to foster
this teamwork and collaboration is by having a networking session after every recruiting event and
program session, usually at a local bar or cafe. This establishes tradition and allows the Founders to
speak with the mentors one-on-one. This is an extremely valuable program part and should not be
skipped. Although it is not mandatory that mentors or Founders attend, I highly encourage you to
participate.
● Cohort Communication: You are encouraged to set up Slack or WhatsApp groups for intergroup
communication. Presidents should monitor it and let the leaders know immediately if they hear any
contentions or grievances. In general, Founders should try to resolve problems amongst themselves,
such as system or tech issues, questions on the homework, etc. If they cannot resolve it, then they
should bring it to their President, and then if the President cannot resolve it, then the President should
bring it to the Local Leaders. It is important that when issues pop up, they are resolved quickly and that
● Incorporation: Incorporating a company is one of the most important benchmarks you will complete in
the Founder Institute program. Incorporating your business is an important requirement to graduate
● Incorporation Documents: In order to graduate, you need to incorporate your company and upload the
appropriate documents to your profile. You will be prompted through email and through the curriculum
with instructions on how to upload your documents. The most important documents are the Equity
Collective Agreement, the Warrant, and the Board Consent for the Warrant.
● Warrant (Convertible Debenture Stock Agreement): A document signed by your company that
authorises the Founder Institute to purchase 2.5% of your company’s equity at a future date.
● Board Consent: A form of agreement for the board of directors of the Founder's company to approve
● The Equity Collective: You are required to allocate 2.5% of your company to the Founder Institute
through the form of a Warrant or Option to join the Equity Collective. The Equity Collective provides
Mentors, Leaders, and the Institute with shared equity upside from all of the companies created during
the one semester. From that 2.5% share, any future financial returns from a liquidity event (for example,
an IPO or acquisition) are distributed back to those who helped you (Mentors, Leaders, and FI), with the
majority returned to your local ecosystem to support local growth. During the program, you will be
invited to join the Equity Collective. To join the Equity Collective, you must digitally sign or upload the
appropriate agreement. Founders that do not wish to join the Equity Collective need to withdraw from
Please note that Founders do not sign the Warrants to join the Equity Collective at the start of the
Core Program. Instead, you will be asked to join approximately two-thirds of the way through the
program, allowing you to fully understand the value the Founder Institute Network provides before
Program Rules
Please note that the following rules are to ensure that the program objectives are met and founders must
strictly adhere to these rules.
● The WhatsApp group is created solely for the purpose of passing information that is vital to your
success in the program. Do not spam the WhatsApp group. Any founder spamming the WhatsApp
group will be removed from it.
● Attendance at ALL sessions (Virtual and Physical) is compulsory and important. Upon absence from
three consecutive sessions, you will be dropped from the program. Please inform the Admin (Esther or
Precious) ahead of time if you will miss a session, and you can only miss two sessions throughout the
cohort. Moreso, your absence from Mentor Idea Review and Mentor Progress Review will have you
dropped from the program. Attendance at physical sessions is compulsory. Kindly inform the team if
you would need help with hotel bookings for those travelling into Lagos.
● You must be ready to pitch at all sessions as any Founder CAN/WILL be called upon to pitch during
the session. In the instance you will not be able to pitch during a session, ensure to inform the admin at
least one day before, otherwise, you stand the risk of not being rescheduled hence you LOSE your
rating for the session. If you fail to pitch at any of the two Mentor Reviews, you will automatically be
dropped out of the program.
● Your video must be ON during pitching, asking questions, or making comments. Failure to turn on your
video loses you the right to speak.
● Lateness to sessions will not be condoned. Any Founder who joins a session 20 minutes after the
session begins will not be allowed into the meeting room.
● You must join the session with your Full name (the name you registered for the program with), not your
business name. Any strange name will NOT be admitted into the meeting room
● All sessions are private, hence the link must NOT be shared with a third party
● Note that the FI week runs from Thursday to Wednesday. Each session marks the end of the week.
Thus, Thursday is the first day of FI Week. assignments are due by the end of the next session. All
assignments must be submitted as at when due and late submission of assignments three consecutive
times; you will be dropped out.
● You can find all your resources, assignments, session videos, and presentation slides here:
https://fi.co/courses
● Visit https://fi.co/ohours to book office hours. Every week till your Pitch Mastery session, you will get the
name of the Director you have been assigned to have office hours with.
● Always ensure to check your emails and Whatsapp for all information.
session (Mentor Idea Review session and Mentor Progress Review session). Attendance at all sessions is
compulsory. However, if Founders miss any reviews, they automatically get dropped.
Goal: This is where it all begins. During Orientation, we review the Founder Institute program structure,
Electing Presidents
● Role: The President is the cornerstone of the working group. These groups live and die by the quality of
the President. The President's job is to lead the entire team to success by ensuring each member
graduates. Functionally, they are responsible for taking notes during the working group meetings and
posting those notes to their profile in the system. A Leader needs to help the Founders in the group
deal with issues that may arise, and help motivate the team to accomplish their weekly goals. It is
important that the Presidents display adequate levels of 1) Professionalism and Competency, 2)
Passion, Charisma, and Positive thinking, and 3) A drive to lead and succeed. The President must have
● Election Process: During Orientation, have the individual groups select two candidates for President.
They will then pitch to the Local Leaders why they are a good fit to lead the team and how they will
lead them to success. The Local Leaders then choose the President and Vice President. The Vice
President will be the backup for the President if they drop out.
● It is common to lose between 15% and 25% of the enrolled Founders during the first week.
● You stand the chance to get your full refund if you drop out before the Customer Development Sprint
Session. If you drop out after Customer Development or You get dropped, you are not entitled to a
refund and you are still obligated to pay up your instalment in the case you are paying by installment.
● Every Founder is placed on the Launch Track. To be placed on the Growth Track, your Monthly
Goal: Define a strong business vision. It takes a strong vision for a better world and a lot of passion to drive a
Founder through all of the hardships and obstacles of entrepreneurship towards success.
Goal: Analyze your customer feedback. Founders must test their assumptions by speaking with customers.
This week's company-building assignment is very important so make sure you take it seriously and exceed
expectations. You stand the chance to get your full refund if you drop out by this session. If you drop out
after the session or You get dropped, you are not entitled to a refund and you are still obligated to pay up
Goal: Validate a scalable revenue model. If Founders plan to raise money, they need to understand that they
must have a plan to obtain $1mm in sales by the end of year one and $50mm in revenue by year 5.
Goal: Learn how to build a great pitch. Mentors will provide advice on how to effectively pitch a startup.
Founders will learn the latest best practices in building a great pitch, and get feedback on the pitches they
already have.
6. Mentor Idea Review - Virtual Session
Goal: This is the first review session. The goal is to test your core business on a mentor panel. You will receive
expert feedback to improve or be dropped. Pitch time is increased to 3 mins with a deck from the Mentor Idea
Review session.
Note: 2 of the 15 scheduled sessions are the Mentor Idea Review and the Mentor Progress Review. In a
Review session, all Founders present to a panel of Mentors to receive a multivariate rating on their business,
as well as detailed verbal feedback. 6, 9, or 12 participating Mentors are broken into groups of 3, and the
Founders are divided equally by the number of Mentor groups. So, if there are 30 Founders and 6 Mentors, two
Mentor groups will be formed with 15 Founders pitching. Co-founders pitch together once.
Incorporation Milestone: After the Mentor Idea Review session, you must begin the incorporation process of
your company. Note that company incorporation is handled by our legal partner, Olisa Agbakoba Legal. To
start your incorporation process, send a mail to legal@filagos.ng. Note however that this does not stop you
from engaging another law firm to handle other company formation matters.
After the MIR session, you can request for introductions to Mentors via community@filagos.ng. The email
Goal: This is the first community hangout. The goal is to meet up with the other Founders in your cohort, Local
Leaders, Team and Partners. Kindly inform the team if you would need help with hotel bookings for those
Goal: Set up the company and review your legal structure. Incorporation is mandatory and any Founder that is
are expected to upload the Law firm engagement letter this week. Make sure that you fill out your law firm
information, and upload your engagement letter in your Documentation tab on fI.co
(https://fi.co/company_incorporate).
Goal: Improve your strategy to launch or scale. Receive feedback on your current go-to-market plans and
progress.
Incorporation Milestone: By now your company must have been incorporated. You must upload the
incorporation certificate along with the formation agreements, such as bylaws or articles of incorporation. You
must also appropriately fill out, sign, and upload the Founder Agreement, the Warrant, and the Board Consent
Goal: This is the second review session. The goal is to test your progress on a mentor panel made up of
industry experts. Pitch time is increased to 5 mins from the Mentor Progress Review session.
Goal: This is the second community hangout. The goal is to slowly incorporate you into the alumni community
and you will meet up with the other Founders in your cohort, Local Leaders, Team, Partners, and Alumni.
Kindly inform the team if you would need help with hotel bookings for those travelling into Lagos.
Goal: Improve your team and hiring. Identify the roles needed to build a world-class company and develop a
Warrant, and the Board Consent to your profile. Founders who have not complied, will not see the sprints
Founder Institute Headquarters Review: FI HQ will review the final pitch decks and a video submitted by the
Founders. You will need to pass this review in order to graduate. The founders will need to do the following
1. Complete all company-building work and ensure that they submit high-quality work. They should
provide thorough, thoughtful, and insightful answers. Nothing should be pending or in progress.
2. Finalize the formation of their corporations and upload all required Founder Institute documents to their
profiles. They can find the Warrant/Option and Board Consent/Shareholder Resolution Forms on the
3. Review and refine their Mentor Progress Review deck and upload a high-quality investor pitch video
with the deck. The video should be 3 minutes long. Upload the deck and the video to their FI Lagos
profiles.
4. Update their company descriptions in their profile if needed. The description should be succinct and
compelling.
Goal: Establish a scalable engine for growth. Receive feedback on your current marketing, growth, metrics, and
strategy.
Goal: Celebrate and onboard our post-programs, quit your day job, and launch an amazing company. Kindly
inform the team if you would need help with hotel bookings for those travelling into Lagos.
10-May-2023 Break
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://us02web.zoo
5.30 PM - 8.30 m.us/j/88115835596?pwd%3DSVA0OFloaGxNKzE
17-May-2023 Go-To-Market & Scale Full Virtual
PM vV2YxVG41bWNEUT09&sa=D&source=calendar&
usd=2&usg=AOvVaw0CniJDnyw9GSB7YyQVDUzb
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://us02web.zoo
5.30 PM - 8.30 m.us/j/88115835596?pwd%3DSVA0OFloaGxNKzE
24-May-2023 Product Development Full Virtual
PM vV2YxVG41bWNEUT09&sa=D&source=calendar&
usd=2&usg=AOvVaw0CniJDnyw9GSB7YyQVDUzb
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://us02web.zoo
Mentor Progress 5.30 PM - 8.30 m.us/j/88115835596?pwd%3DSVA0OFloaGxNKzE
31-May-2023 Full Virtual
Review PM vV2YxVG41bWNEUT09&sa=D&source=calendar&
usd=2&usg=AOvVaw0CniJDnyw9GSB7YyQVDUzb
All our partners will be available throughout the program to assist you with the relevant support required.
Kindly reach Precious to connect with a partner. Below is a list of our partners and the services they offer.
Consequently, our Lagos Startup Ecosystem Canvas was developed to provide entrepreneurs with a list of
local resources for their startup journey and outline a basic framework for startup communities to map their
ecosystem.
Access it here.
Graduation Support
https://fi.co/scale
Founder Guide
For more info, visit the Founder Guide.