Location
Choose a city closest to you.
Fall 2011 Hanoi
Applications: Oct 16, '11
Sessions: Oct 30, '11 - Feb 07, '12
Vision
Our vision is to Globalize Silicon Valley by creating and fostering local startup ecosystems in promising markets across the globe. We aim to help launch 1,000 technology companies per year in over 30 cities worldwide.
Events
Join us for a free event to meet local startup founders, and learn about FI.
- Guadalajara FI Info Session (May 16th, 7:30pm)
- Silicon Valley Startup Ideation Bootcamp (May 16th, 7:00pm)
- Puerto Rico Startup Ideation Bootcamp (May 22nd, 6:30pm)
- Silicon Valley Startup Pitch Bootcamp (May 23rd, 6:00pm)
- Puerto Rico Startup Pitch Bootcamp (May 29th, 6:30pm)
Twitter (@founding)
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Curriculum
Fall 2011 Hanoi
TFI cung cấp hàng tuần một bài giảng về xây dựng công ty được thiết kế để giúp các doanh nhân nhìn nhận mọi khía cạnh của công việc kinh doanh của họ, từ ý tưởng cốt lõi để các mô hình doanh thu. Mỗi bài giảng hàng tuần được dẫn dắt bởi ba Start-up là Mentor Giám đốc điều hành, họ chia sẻ những ý kiến độc đáo và thường khác nhau về chủ đề này. Founder tham gia được giao nhiệm vụ xây dựng các khía cạnh quan trọng của các công ty họ giữa các bài giảng và hoàn tất khi làm việc nhóm với các đồng nghiệp của họ.
Location: 7th Floor, Van Ho Building, 51 Le Dai Hanh Str., Hai Ba Trung Dist., Hanoi, Vietnam
Program Sessions
Startup Basics and Orientation
October 30, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Understand the program and startup life.
What do you need to know to be successful in the Founder Institute? What can you expect from launching a startup? What traits are required to be successful?Vision and Values
October 31, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Develop your vision and ideas.
What are you passionate about? What is your vision? How do you translate your passion and vision into a business idea? How do you brainstorm ideas? What are the tools for evaluating your ideas? What are the makings of a good idea versus a bad idea? Should you pursue multiple ideas at once, and when should you focus on one?- Hiep Do, Co-CEO at WePro
- Nam Nguyen Thanh, Chairman at FPT Capital
- Diep Nguyen Ngoc, Founder & CEO at Vatgia.com
Startup Research
November 01, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Choose your business and market.
What market are you pursuing? Is the target market big enough? Is it growing or shrinking? What are the other characteristics of your market, and why do you care? How do you find data on your market? How do you define your competitors? What are inexpensive tactics to do custom market research, such as surveys? How can you determine if you can win in your target market, and when do you decide to walk away?- Scott Rafer, CEO at Lumatic
- Tuan Pham, Founder & Chairman at TOPICA Education Group
Naming and Branding
November 13, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Name and brand your business.
What is a brand? Is it you? Is it your vision? How do you determine what you stand for, and then how do you come up with a good company name? What are the characteristics of a good company name? What do you need to do to protect your name?- Hung Dinh, Founder & CEO at Joomlart
- Hieu Nguyen Ngoc, CEO at Skynet Technology Incubator
- Minh Cao Cong
Mentor Idea Review
November 25, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Review your idea with Mentors.
Can you pitch your idea in three minutes and survive the scrutiny of seasoned CEOs? How viable is the idea itself? Can you present the idea in a meaningful and articulate way? Have you done the research necessary to understand the market and prove that the idea is valid?- Duc Tran, General Partner at IDG Ventures Vietnam
- Dung Le Chi, Director at CMC Fund
- Tuan Pham, Founder & Chairman at TOPICA Education Group
Startup Legal and IP
November 26, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Build a legal and IP strategy.
What does a new Founder need to know about law in order to run a successful startup? When should a Founder use a lawyer, and when should you rely on your own work? What are the key terms in contracts to understand and to avoid? What are common legal mistakes? How should a Founder handle their intellectual property, including confidentiality, copyrights, trademarks and patents? What are common intellectual property problems, and how do you deal with them cost effectively?- Long Lu Thanh, Chairman at MISA
- Binh Pham, Legal Director at IDG Ventures Vietnam
- Hoang Nguyen Minh, Lawyer at IDG Ventures Vietnam
Cofounders, Hiring and Firing
December 09, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Recruit your first team members.
What talent do you need in the beginning to be successful? How do you recruit the first team members with extremely limited resources? How do you conduct a thorough interviewing process? How do you compensate? How do you set expectations, measure results and remove or fire under-performing resources? Do you need a cofounder? Do you need to have engineering in-house?- Jonah Levey, Chairman & Founder at Navigos Group
- Hong Minh Le, CEO & CHAIRMAN at VNG CORPORATION
Revenues, Costs and Profits
December 16, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Build a financial model.
How do you plan to make money? How do you build a financial model? What are the types of expenses, such as fixed expenses and costs of goods sold, and how do they scale? How do you know if your model is right? What do angel investors and venture capitalists expect from your financial model? How do you identify the key metrics for your success?- Linh Truong, Hanoi Branch Managing Director at Hotdeal.vn
- Cong Tran, cofounder at Launch Hanoi
Product Development
December 23, 2011, at 06:30 PM: Plan and start building your offering.
How do you get from an idea to an offering? What are strategies to identify and prioritize features? How do you take a product definition and turn it into a development plan? What should comprise a minimum viable product? What are effective strategies to build your first offering? What are common mistakes that you should avoid when planning and building an offering?- Duc Trieu Tran, CEO at CMC InfoSec
- Cong Phung Tien, Founder & CEO at Noi.vn
Mentor Progress Review
January 11, 2012, at 06:30 PM: Review your business with Mentors.
Can you pitch your business in three minutes and survive the scrutiny of seasoned CEOs? How viable is the business and the financial model? Can you present the business in a meaningful and articulate way? Does the business scale? Can the business survive?- Dung Nguyen Manh, General Director at CyberAgent Ventures Vietnam
- Tuan Pham, Founder & Chairman at TOPICA Education Group
- Nga Le, Investment Director at Techcombank Capital
Outsourcing, Partners and Suppliers
January 14, 2012, at 06:30 PM: Develop a process to select key vendors.
What should you outsource, and what do you need to do in-house? How to segment the vendors that you need? What vendors do you need right when you start, and what vendors will you need as you grow? How do you recruit and select the important vendors? What are tips and tricks to manage vendors in order to ensure a consistent level of quality? How do you fire and replace under-performing vendors? What are common mistakes made when dealing with vendors?- Trung Nguyen Thanh, Cofounder and Deputy CEO at TOPICA Education Group
- Toan Pham Minh, Founder and CEO at Time Universal
Marketing and Sales
January 20, 2012, at 06:30 PM: Identify and convey your positioning.
How do you portray yourself and your business to the world? How do you tell the story of your company? How do you define your ultimate success? How do you attract the first customers and partners to your vision? How do you involve your customers and partners in your success? What are techniques to refine your messaging?- Diep Nguyen Ngoc, Founder & CEO at Vatgia.com
- Quang Duong Huu, Cofounder and Senior Director at TOPICA Education Group
Presentation and Publicity
February 02, 2012, at 06:30 PM: Prepare for publicity.
How do you get the world to take notice of your company? What are tips and tricks to present your business? What tools do you need to succeed with outreach? How do you identify newsworthy milestones? How do you craft a successful media release? What are effective tactics to get social media, the blogosphere and traditional media to take notice? What are common media mistakes for new companies?Fundraising
February 03, 2012, at 06:30 PM: Plan to raise your first round.
When is it realistic to raise capital for a brand new company? How should you calculate the amount of money to raise? How should you define the use use of proceeds? What materials are required to fundraise? How do you identify and qualify target angel and seed stage investors? How do you find a lead investor? What do investors expect from the company? What are typical investment structures and deal terms for seed-stage financing? How do you negotiate terms?- Truong Nguyen Hong, VP Business&Technology Development at IDG Ventures Vietnam
- Phuc Than, Managing Director at DFJ Vinacapital
- Michael Goldberg, Managing Partner at Bridge Investment Fund LP

