The definitive guide to help first-time founders shed their misconceptions, get started, and bring their dreams to life.
Embedded Files
The Garage at Northwestern University has helped thousands of students dip their toes into entrepreneurship. As leaders of The Garage, we have witnessed first hand the life-changing effects of acquiring an entrepreneurial mindset and skillset. We've also seen a lot of $#!+ advice on the internet that has misled excited and ambitious first-timers to make unnecessary mistakes with their first ventures.
After six years in operation, Founded shares the real, no B.S. philosophy, lessons, and anecdotes that will inspire and empower anyone starting a new project or business for the first time.
The lessons learned, relationships forged, and confidence gained by creating something from nothing will create countless opportunities for your future - all while working at the intersection of your interests, values, and talents. In this book, you’ll learn how to get started today, avoid the common mistakes of first-time founders, and ultimately become an entrepreneur.
Testimonials
Testimonials
You don't have to take it from us - Founded is based on 6+ years of experience helping student entrepreneurs get their ideas off of the ground at The Garage. Here are a few things our student founders have told us about their experience acquiring an entrepreneurial mindset based on the principles of Founded:
“The advice in Founded is what I wish I knew before starting my first company in college. The early stages of company-building can be difficult, and Founded does a great job of consolidating important pieces of information around customer discovery, product validation, and legal. I would highly recommend anyone even considering entrepreneurship to check it out!”—Sarah Ahmad, Garage alum, CEO and co-founder, Stable (YC W20)
"Founded is the ultimate guide for accelerating your startup's progress! I wish I had this book before launching my startup Amper - it would have set the right foundation and saved a ton of time and mistakes in going from zero to one. This book is a cheat code to making the wild adventure of building your company more intentional, fun and focused!" - Akshat Thirani, founder & CEO of Amper Technologies
"I took an idea that had been in my head for some time and was really able to hone it and develop it at The Garage. Not sure where the idea would be right now without all of The Garage staff. They are tremendously helpful."
"The Garage has been a completely transformative place for me — I was deeply impacted, empowered, and inspired through the mentor ship and programming I have received and it has changed the trajectory of my life completely!"
"One of my biggest goals in coming to Northwestern was to start a business. The Garage helped me get that business off the ground, gave me a "home" to work from, connected me with other resources and other founders, and gave me the mentorship and guidance I often needed!"
"The Garage was a critical part of my experience at Kellogg. It provided the guidance needed to help me pursue my entrepreneurial venture!"
"The Garage was the platform for my most meaningful experience at Northwestern. It allowed me to grow as a person, sharpen my professional skills, and just generally make my life better over the course of my four years at NU."
"My experience working on HotPlate and at the Garage provided me the right tools, skills, and mentorship. It was fundamental in landing my job and figuring out what I want to do next!"
"My growth as an entrepreneur is my proudest accomplishment in college and The Garage was the biggest factor in creating that growth."
"I don’t think I would be at the place where I’m at as a person or in my career had I not joined the Garage."
About the Authors
About the Authors
As founding executive director of The Garage, Melissa leads the team and is responsible for the overall vision for the space, programs, and community.
She brings a decade of experience working for consumer technology companies in Silicon Valley. The culture at The Garage is an aggregation of her professional experiences at Google, YouTube, and consumer startups.
Her entrepreneurial spirit runs deep and inspired her to found her own influencer marketing agency. Today, she helps others fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams. Melissa received her BA in computer science from Dartmouth College. This is her first book.
As the associate director of The Garage, Mike’s mission is to give students the resources, network, and confidence to chase their ambitions without the fear of failure and to empower them to live authentically and do work that is interesting and fulfilling to them.
His unique career spans from working in the entertainment industry in Hollywood; a brief sabbatical to backpack through Europe for a summer; investing in and working with early-stage startups in San Francisco through Sinai Ventures; and now empowering and supporting student entrepreneurs at The Garage.
In his free time, Mike enjoys writing about technology, startups, and media. His writing has been read by hundreds of thousands of readers and published in Business Insider, OneZero, and HackerNoon among others.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse