Planned programs
What the Foundation plans to offer.
Four programs are planned. Each will be described in full, with who it is for and how to take part, before it opens.
Planned
Mentoring and community
A community of young founders and the mentors who help them grow, so no one has to work out the early years alone.
Many of the hardest parts of starting out are not about money: the first hire, the first difficult customer, the first year of doing your own taxes. The Foundation is being built to bring young founders together with mentors who have been through it, and with each other.
- Mentors who have built and run businesses, matched with people just starting out.
- A place for founders to learn from one another as well as from mentors.
- Open to people whether or not they receive a grant or loan.
Planned
Grants to individuals
Grants to young professionals and entrepreneurs, with recipients selected under criteria the Foundation will publish in advance and apply objectively.
Fairness matters as much as generosity. Before any grant round opens, the Foundation intends to publish who is eligible, what it is looking for, and how decisions will be made, and then to hold every applicant to those same written criteria.
- Selection criteria will be published before any grant round opens.
- Every applicant would be considered against the same written criteria.
- No grant is promised in advance; every decision will follow published criteria.
Planned
Forgivable loans
A loan paired with structure and guidance. Any forgiveness would be decided by a committee and is never expected or guaranteed.
Agree the commitments
At the start, the participant and the Foundation would agree what is tracked and when mentor meetings happen.
Track your finances
The participant would keep their income, spending and savings up to date in a personal finance app.
Meet your mentor each month
A monthly conversation with a mentor about the numbers, the goals and the next decision.
A quarterly review
A committee of the Foundation would review progress each quarter and could decide to forgive some interest or principal.
- Month 1Finances tracked · mentor meeting held
- Month 2Finances tracked · mentor meeting held
- Month 3Finances tracked · mentor meeting held
- Quarterly reviewA committee reviews progress and could decide to forgive some interest or principal
- And so onSteady habits, reviewed every quarter.
Planned Loan terms, including the interest rate, eligibility and how reviews work, have not been set. They will be published before the program opens.
Planned, later
Support for young companies
Later, the Foundation hopes to support young companies whose founders fit its mission, for example through loans or small investments made to further its purpose rather than for profit.
A young company sometimes needs patient support more than advice. This would come only after the Foundation’s other programs are running.
- A committee of the Foundation would oversee this support, with regular review.
- This program is planned to begin after the others are running.
Planned, later No companies are being considered. How they would be identified and reviewed will be published before this program begins.
Check back as the Foundation takes shape.
Programs, criteria and how to take part will be published here first, before anything opens.