Foundations’ Vision & Mission

Seattle, while excellent for building businesses, lacks the ecosystem necessary for founding them. Foundations, an invite-only community of tech founders, aims to change this by providing the essential scaffolding for the most capable and ambitious local entrepreneurs.

Our vision is a thriving startup ecosystem where established leaders, up-and-comers, and new entrants can connect, share experiences, and grow together.

We’re building a fabric for our startup community that fosters deep relationships and knowledge sharing, crucial for a high-performing ecosystem and anchored by a physical space in the center of Seattle. Our goal is to support founders efficiently, respecting their most valuable asset: time.

The Importance of Community and Diversity

We’ve identified two distinct groups of potential members who want to engage with the community in different ways:

• Founders in Residence: 0 to seed founders who are working torward product/market-fit and are in the first six months of their membership. For founders in residence, the Foundations space is their full-time office.

• Members: Active or former founders and operators who look to Foundations for peer mentorship, the opportunity to connect, and/or the desire to give back to those a few steps behind them on the journey. For members, the Foundations office is their third space and visited up to a couple of times a week.

The Role of Physical Space and Structured Programs

Foundations is located in a 15,000 sf office space on Capitol Hill designed to handle events of up to 75 people. The shared space includes:

• Four meeting rooms, a recording studio, and four phone booths
• A deep-work space and two casual hangout spaces
• An affordable adjacent parking garage
• 50 desks

Structured programs include:

• Member-only events (Friday happy hour, monthly founder fireside chat, product demo days, tech talks)
• Public events
• Mentor office hours
• A founder in residence program where early-stage members can access free desk space and mentorship throughout a 6-month process

Ownership & Leadership

Foundations is designed to support the Seattle startup ecosystem: Full-stop. Our board consists of some of the most respected local founders, VCs, and operators dedicated to our mission. Additionally, 25% of the equity in Foundations is granted to Founders’ in Residence, vesting over 2 years of active membership post-graduation.

The Sustainable and Long-term Approach

Foundations is organized as a benefit corporation with the goal of becoming financially self-sustaining, owned by the community it serves, and with a long-term mandate to evaluate additional mission-aligned revenue opportunities.

Charter

The public benefit purpose of the Corporation is to promote the long-term vitality, inclusiveness, and effectiveness of greater Seattle area technology founders by fostering community, collaboration, and shared learning among startup founders; providing physical and programmatic infrastructure that supports early-stage company formation and growth; expanding access to mentorship, peer support, and capital-readiness resources; and contributing to local economic development and innovation for the benefit of founders, workers, and the broader public.