01Founders
Build the founder before scaling the venture
Complete the Founder Scan, learn the method through introductory certification and turn weekly evidence into focused action.
Start as a founder
Founder development · €10M+ standard
ScalingFounders
The global backbone for scaling founders.
Diagnose what will happen under scaling pressure—then develop the founder and venture systems required to reach €10M and beyond.
Assessment engine · 64 signals
See the weakest link before it becomes the ceiling.
Eight domains, eight sub-areas each, and evidence behind every score. Colour reveals the system pattern before the numbers do.
CriticalDevelopingStrong
Explore the method Customer Success
7
8
7
9
7
6
8
8
Scaling
9
9
8
9
6
6
9
9
Marketing
9
10
8
8
8
6
9
6
Finance
5
8
9
7
6
6
4
4
Legal
2
4
3
3
2
4
4
4
Team
9
4
4
4
6
7
8
8
Technology
5
4
4
4
4
7
7
5
Operations
3
2
3
7
7
7
2
5
One fixed benchmark
Do not compare startups with each other. Compare each one with the €10M standard.
Venture System
How complete is the company architecture across all eight domains?
Founder System
Can this team sustain execution, learning and leadership under pressure?
Scaling System
Is there a credible, reverse-engineered path to €10M+ revenue?
64
venture sub-areas
100+
target ecosystem partners
10,000
certification ambition
AI-powered platform
Founder development and ecosystem intelligence over time.
One platform · three paths
Choose the role you play in founder development.
02Coaches · Consultants · Investors
Learn to develop founders with one shared standard
A six-session non-founder program for people supporting founders, portfolios and venture-building programs.
Become certified03Network partners
Give every founder a supported next step
Ecosystem facilitators can onboard founder communities, run cohorts and follow anonymised progress across programs.
Explore partnershipFundraising, reversed
Build investor understanding before the raise begins.
Traditional fundraising can take six to nine months after first contact. The Founder Index creates a consent-based, evidence-linked view of founder quality and development before capital is requested.
See how the Founder Index works01
Founder Scan
Repeated Wheel scores, actions and reflections reveal strengths, failure points and trajectory.
02
Investor readiness evidence
Founder development data can sit alongside independent pitch-deck benchmarking without replacing human judgement.
03
Curated Index
Only founder-approved information becomes visible to investors; private coaching data stays private.
04
Progress before capital
Investors can understand development over time rather than judging one meeting or one deck.
90%Fail to scale
~1%Structured support capacity
1%Reach scale
The scale-up gap
The system is not producing enough scale-ups.
Billions are invested in incubators, accelerators and university programs, yet most founders still lack the methodology, measurement and infrastructure required to scale.
Most startups never become impactful scale-ups despite massive ecosystem investment.
Only a fraction of supported founders achieve true scale-up status.
Three root causes
The problem is not effort. It is the missing system.
01
Founder development is overlooked
Programs often focus on startup creation and fundraising instead of developing the founder and a scalable venture.
02
Performance is not standardised
Without shared measurement, support programs cannot benchmark outcomes or systematically improve.
03
Support stops too early
Founders need one continuous infrastructure across Research, Problem-Solution Fit, Product-Market Fit, Stand-Up and Scale-Up.
CertificationFormatPrice
Founder certificationIntroductory method training€297 upfront
Non-founder certificationSix sessions€497 upfront
Certification teaches the method. Club, cohort and 1-to-1 support provide the ongoing environment to practise it.
The Scaling Founders method
Scale the founder before you scale the startup.
Weekly Navigator Tool
Analyse the venture across eight areas with the Wheel of Startup, set three weekly growth actions and journal the learning.
AI-powered Road-to-Skill
Receive personalised development, peer-to-peer connections and active support from certified Venture Building Coaches.
Five-stage journey
Research → Problem-Solution Fit → Product-Market Fit → €350k Gross-Profit Stand-Up → €10M+ Scale-Up.
90-day Cohort Support
Turn the method into a lasting weekly habit.
After introductory certification, Cohort Support repeats the planning and reflection routine for 90 days. It starts with Customer Success, then moves through the Wheel in sequence. Founders score the current system, explain the evidence and commit to three actions. The focus is execution and the customer—not judging a raw business idea.
01
Assess
Score the current Wheel area against the €10M standard.
02
Explain
Record why the score is not yet a 10 and identify the precise gap.
03
Commit
Choose three practical actions for the coming week.
04
Review
Track completion, outcomes and learning with peers and coaches.
Three ways to grow
Choose the support around your ambition.
One method, delivered through the level of support that fits your founder journey.
01Venture Fellows
Cohort Club
€33/ month
Weekly local meetups, stage-matched accountability and three growth actions grounded in the Scaling Founders method.
Learn more02Certified Coaches
Cohort Support
€330/ 100 startups
A 90-day routine with close coaching and weekly checks on each founder’s three actions, built to make planning and reflection habitual.
Learn more03Scale-Up Expert
1-to-1 Support
€2,200/ month
Dedicated expert support for founders working through their highest-priority scaling constraints.
Learn moreThree foundations
Every growth ceiling demands a different founder.
01€0–€1M
Startup
Validate the market and build repeatable customer acquisition.
02€1M–€10M
Stand Up
Move from builder to architect and make all eight systems repeatable.
03€10M+
Scale Up
Move from architect to strategist and delegate execution.
1000 Founder Challenge
Meetups. Support. Action.
Building a global movement, one founder room at a time.
Proposed growth campaign
A focused 8–12 week path to wider founder support.
These are operating targets, not achieved results. Delivery capacity, coach training, onboarding and an initial cohort grow alongside outreach.
10,000founders reached
3,000club members
300cohort
01
Customer success
Improve onboarding and reliable value delivery.
02
Onboarding
Move every participant into the right support path.
03
Data intelligence
Turn repeated founder evidence into useful insight.
04
Outreach
Build trusted acquisition through partner networks.
Local clubs
One method. Practised together.
Join the club nearest to you. Every room follows the same rhythm: assess your venture, commit to actions, meet your peers and ship together.
SUNReflection & brunch
Club Sunday
Complete the weekly reflection, review the Wheel and choose exactly three growth actions.
Method · Reflect · Identify · Commit
MONCoach accountability
Magic Monday
Club coaches check Sunday reflections and help founders close missing or unclear actions.
Method · Action readiness check
TUEOpen meetup
Taco Tuesdays
Founder intros, Wheel debriefs and growth action commitments for the week.
Method · Wheel domain check-in
WEDTech problem-solving
Wicked Wednesday
Founders and technical peers work through product, innovation and implementation blockers.
Method · Technology domain sprint
THUCohort accountability
4×4 Thursdays
Four focused hours, four growth actions and peer review before leaving the room.
Method · Growth action sprint
FRIProgress & office hours
Funding Friday
Celebrate progress, practise the pitch and get direct feedback from fundraising experts.
Method · Fundraising readiness
SATCulture & connection
Social Saturday
Cultural and social activities that strengthen trust between founders beyond the work.
Method · Peer belonging
The weekly loop
Method becomes momentum.
01
Assess
Use the Wheel to identify your weakest domain.
02
Commit
Pick three growth actions for the week.
03
Meet
Show up at your local club ritual.
04
Ship
Execute with peer accountability.
05
Review
Log progress, update VentureID, repeat.
Sunday: founders complete their reflection and set three actions.
Monday: club coaches check completion and help close missing actions.
The method + the club
A global standard, delivered locally.
Scaling Founders defines it
The Wheel of Startup — 8 domains × 64 sub-areas — Founder Readiness Score, VentureID, Navigator+ certification, Founder Index and global benchmarks at scalingfounders.eu.
Club Support makes it real
Meetups, cohorts, founder-to-founder accountability and on-the-ground support that turns assessment into action.
For every domain: Where are you now? Why is it not a 10 yet? What does your ideal 10 look like?
Customer SuccessBusiness Development & Investment StrategyMarketing & CommunicationsFinance & AccountingLegal & RegulationsHR & Team DevelopmentTech Development & InnovationOperations & Systems
Club admission
Built for founders with the potential and intent to scale.
Applicants are considered against four clear criteria. The website application remains a short introduction; the team reviews fit before approval.
A technology-based solution
A scalable business model
A positive-impact mission
A target of 10,000 users or €10M revenue
Weekly
Reflect, choose three actions and work through them with peers.
Monthly
Share a Founder Update on founder and venture development.
Quarterly
Complete the 64-area assessment and meet investors when sharing consent is enabled.
Club activities
Weekly Meetups
In-person rituals where founders share progress, blockers and commit to growth actions together.
Every week
Accountability Cohorts
Groups of 8–12 founders at a similar stage review Wheel scores and hold each other to weekly actions.
Thursdays
Growth Actions on the Ground
Three weekly actions on the lowest-scoring Wheel domain, logged in Founder Bingo and reviewed together.
Log → Ship → Debrief
Peer Collaboration
Warm introductions, co-working sessions, skill swaps and mentor office hours.
Club Slack · Co-work Fridays
What you get at the club
Support that happens in the room — not in a slide deck.
Facilitated weekly meetups at your club
An accountability cohort matched to your venture stage
Growth action reviews tied directly to Wheel scores
Warm introductions to mentors, investors and collaborators
Founder Bingo to track your weekly momentum
Apply to join Built from evidence. Proven through research.
A method shaped by repeated founder development.
A recurring self-coaching practice evolved through years of research, prototypes and founder programs. The method studies how beliefs, decisions, routines and actions connect with venture outcomes over time.
2019
Growth-Hacking Routine validated during a marathon hackathon.
2020
Research completed and the first program prototype built.
2021
Paying founder cohort launched in Portugal; 150 incubators benchmarked and product-market fit confirmed.
2022
Incubator program launched, Dutch Innovation Factory implementation completed and the €10M Scale-Up Plan developed.
2023
Dutch AI seed startup turnaround: funded and admitted to an accelerator in six months; ARR doubled in twelve.
2024
Academic integration through Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship and benchmarking against academic standards.
2025
Impact validated and infrastructure prepared to support 100,000 startups each year from South Holland.
2026
Global launch target: 100 incubators, 200 hubs, 400 accelerators and 1,000 certified non-founders.
Who it is for
Mission-driven founders building for genuine scale.
Solving a real problem through technology
Implementing a scalable business model
Building a mission that makes the world better
Aiming for 10,000 users or €10M annual revenue
99%
of founders have no structured support.
Current incubators, accelerators and university programs collectively reach only a small share. Scaling Founders is built to serve the rest.
Delivery direction
Current focus
Strengthen customer success, onboarding, data intelligence, outreach, coach training and delivery capacity for the first cohorts.
Long-term ambition
Build a trusted global standard for understanding founder development and venture progress over time.
For network partners
A supported next step for every founder in your network.
Onboard your community
Give founders, talent, investors and ecosystem builders a clear welcome and the right path into the method.
Start a conversationRun measurable campaigns
Follow onboarding, participation and anonymised development signals across cohorts without exposing private founder data.
Start a conversationEquip local facilitators
Certified coaches combine a shared methodology, AI guidance and human weekly support for founders on the ground.
Start a conversation