Our goal is to accelerate your personal and professional growth by multiple years by helping you develop the mindsets, skillsets, network and experience to thrive in the future of work.

We anticipate the majority of our alumni will go on to hold cross-functional leadership positions in high-impact startups and scaleups that are using technology to positively impact our world.

By definition, scaleups are growing fast and breaking new ground in their categories. Innovation is in their DNA. We believe this makes them incredibly fertile learning environments and effective platforms for impact – on both a personal and societal level.

You could, but we’re confident that joining a startup via the Founders Academy programme will exponentially increase your long-term success for 3 reasons:

Firstly, the 3 months of upfront, intensive training will equip you with the entrepreneurial mindset and functional skills to hit the ground running.

Secondly, we have carefully curated the best of London’s scaleups to work for. During our unique matching process, you will get to know all of them. Not only is this a clever way to build your network, but it will give you the exposure you need to make a more deliberate choice about which startup to join.

Finally, and most importantly, during the 9-month experience, you will build lifelong friendships with your Tribe, all future startup leaders. It is this deep and diverse network that will accelerate your personal and professional growth long after the programme.

If you might eventually want to start your own company, we believe that working in startups is one of the best ways to learn how to build a company. However, if you are sure that you want to start a company within the next year, Founders Academy isn’t the right programme for you.

We would recommend checking out programmes that give specific support to individuals that want to start companies, such as our sister company, Founders Factory, or Entrepreneur First.

No. By avoiding the bureaucracy of the traditional academic system, we maintain the freedom to focus on the outcomes that truly matter: your personal and professional success.

Founders Forum is a private network of the world’s leading tech founders. It was started by Brent Hoberman, the founder of lastminute.com & MADE.com, in 2005 to bring entrepreneurs together to discuss how technology was going to change our world. Today, we have a global community of over 1000 founders, including the founders of DeepMind, Calm, Slack, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and many more.

The wider Founders Forum Family includes an ecosystem of sister companies all committed to championing innovation and entrepreneurship. Founders Academy is the latest spinout of the group.

Your can download our course prospectus here. You can also get a behind-the-scenes look at what the programme is like day-to-day, by following us on LinkedIn, where we documented Tribe 1’s journey.

We are looking for exceptional leaders who are passionate about harnessing new technologies to build a better world. Whatever industry you’re coming from, we’re looking for individuals that are:

• DRIVEN BY IMPACT: You’re a self-starter and you’re motivated by outcomes. You persevere through challenges and have a track record of inspiring achievement.
• CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVERS: You’re both a creative and critical thinker. You have a talent for rigorously breaking down complex problems in the face of uncertainty.
• AUTHENTICALLY CURIOUS: You love learning. You ask great questions. You enjoy new experiences, especially those that put you out of your comfort zone.
• EMPATHETIC LEADERS: Through clear communication and a solid understanding of yourself and those around you, you enjoy aligning peers around a shared goal.
• TEAM PLAYERS: You recognise that business is a team sport. You both look for mentorship from people who inspire you, and act as a mentor to inspire others.

Please note, you must have a minimum of 3 years’ work experience and be eligible to work in the UK.

We believe learning is radically accelerated when it happens as part of an exceptional, diverse, values-aligned Tribe. That’s why we invest a lot of effort in carefully curating the tribe via a rigorous 3-stage selection process:

1. REQUEST INVITE TO APPLY: Application to Founders Academy is by invitation only. We ask you to fill out a short online form with details about your background and motivation to determine whether we’re a good fit for each other. We’ll let you know within 48hrs whether you’ve been invited to apply to the programme.
2. ONLINE APPLICATION: If invited to apply, we’ll send you our online application form via email. During this stage we’ll ask you a series of questions to get to know you better. We’ll be looking for you to demonstrate the foundational traits we’re looking for in our Associates, as outlined above.
3. IN-PERSON INTERVIEWS: For the final round, we’ll invite you to the Founders Academy HQ to meet the team. There will be 2 x 45-minute interviews – one focused on your problem-solving skills and the other focused on your leadership potential. Ahead of the interviews, you’ll be given a startup challenge to prepare, designed to give you a taster of the Founders Academy experience.

There is no magic number but we anticipate successful applicants will have somewhere between 5-10 years’ work experience under their belts, typically from either commercial or technical backgrounds. Prior experience will help you both contribute to class discussions and take more away from the programme. To apply you must have a minimum of 3 years’ of full-time paid work experience.

No. Our programme is designed to be transformational, on both a personal and professional level and requires full-time commitment.

Yes, or within commuting distance. We believe learning is radically accelerated when we’re learning alongside a values-aligned Tribe. That’s why we have a physical campus. All of our placements will be in and around London.

Unfortunately we are unable to sponsor visas. To apply for Founders Academy, you must have the right to work in the UK.

We don’t want tuition to be a barrier for exceptional talent. That’s why we’re committed to a model that has no upfront cost. Instead, we split the placement income with you, 50:50. That allows us to invest in you during the 3 months of active learning and continue to support you during your placement.

We also charge companies a membership fee to be part of our Tribe and gain access to our exceptional talent. We don’t charge them a hiring fee if they want to hire you full-time after the programme. Our goal is to make that as frictionless as possible.

Yes. Our entire programme is designed to help you find an impactful career path that you love. If all goes well, we hope that it might be at the company where you did your placement. Whilst we cannot guarantee you a job, you’ll be part of the Founders Academy community for life, which includes a private Slack channel where you will get first access to job opportunities at companies within the Founders Academy network.

It is generally true that startup salaries are not as high as corporate salaries – but for many, the autonomy, learning and impact make that trade-off worth it. Further still, progression at startups can be significantly faster than at corporates. This can often offset the salary cut over time.

It is important to go into any career transition with realistic expectations. See here for a 2019 salary report from our friends at Movemeon that provides some helpful industry data.

We allocate placements through a rigorous two-stage matching process that takes into account both the preferences of the Tribe and our placement companies. This happens around half-way through the 3-month period of active learning, once you’ve had some time to reflect on where you might like to do your placement. 

This might mean that you don’t get allocated your first choice, but all of our placement partners have been selected because they are doing exciting and innovative work in their categories – see the programme page for some examples. We’re confident you’ll get a placement you’re excited about.

Yes. We’re passionate about building a community of impact-driven lifelong learners across the startup ecosystem. Over the course of the programme, we’ll run a series of community events with our partner companies to help you build your network.

You’ll also have the opportunity to share placements insights and learnings with your fellow Tribe members during the Friday afternoon training sessions. We consider this one of the most valuable parts of the programme.

Placement projects are designed to be high-impact and of significant strategic importance to our partner companies. The common thread is that they are all designed to deliver on growth. 

For example, you may be tasked with making the business case to expand into a new market, or you may be responsible for securing new strategic partnerships. Alternatively, you may be asked to validate a new product, or bring new operational efficiencies to an existing one.

What’s certain is that you will be given a high degree of autonomy and will need to quickly build cross-functional relationships, both internally and externally.

Yes. You will be paid a £1800 monthly stipend salary by your placement company to cover living costs during your 6-month placement. If the placement turns into a full-time role, you will negotiate your full-time salary directly with your placement company at the end of the placement.

Yes, you will get a normal UK holiday allowance during your placement.