Don't find out you're not fundable in the room.

Eight weeks to build the proof investors test for, then pitch it live to a panel of real VCs, before your round ever opens.

This isn't an accelerator. It's one specific problem, solved well: aligning your goals and metrics to what a raise actually tests for, so your acquisition spend builds the sustainable growth you require and backs your ask.

Apply for a seat

First cohort begins January 2027. Seats are limited and screened for fit.

The Fundable Founder Program is the eight-week cohort where you turn early demand into the proof investors actually look for, so your first raise is a conversation you walk into ready, not one you scramble to prepare for.

8 weeksStart to finish
8 sessions+ a live market test
2 hrs 1:1Coaching, just for you
2+ VCsIn-person, real feedback
Your equity

You keep 100% of your equity.

We never take a cent of your company.

Priced for this stage

Built to be affordable, exactly now.

Just a fraction of the cost of a consultant, advisor, or other fractional operator.

Why this works

Work back from a common goal.

Most founders build two stories, one for the product and one for investors, and only reconcile them right before the raise. This works the other way: from day one you build against what investors test for, so every experiment doubles as evidence for your raise. One motion, one set of numbers, both questions answered at once.

What you're watching now

  • Signups and usage
  • Revenue this month
  • An audience that's growing
  • "People hit the like button"

What investors test for

  • Customers who stick (and don't churn)
  • A channel that works more than once
  • Proof you can reach them affordably
  • Numbers that survive scrutiny
Is this you?

Built for founders at one specific moment.

B2B, B2C, or B2B2C, the program covers all. Shared sessions on the raise and the metrics, plus a track for your model, led by the specialist who works in it, so you're never sitting through the other model's channel work.

"I've got a live product and early traction, customers, revenue, or a first channel, but I don't know if it's the kind investors will believe."

"I'm planning a pre-seed or first real raise in the next nine months, and I'd rather build the muscle myself than hire for it yet."

If either sounds like you, and you've raised only from friends, family, or an angel or two so far, you're the founder this was built for.

Inside the program

Workshops, outcomes, and investor guests.

Each session moves you one decision forward, and you leave every one with something built. Open any session for the format, and the detail.

1 Session 1 · Raise Cycle PlanningAlign your product and raise with investor signals. +
In personVC guest

Hear directly from a Pre-seed VC about the signals they look for. Map your goals and North Star to your raise timeline, then learn the non-negotiables investors test for: sticky customers, repeatability, commercial capability. A venture investor joins in person to tell you how they read a founder's signals, what earns a second meeting and what gets a pass, so everything you build over the next eight weeks aims at the right target.

You walk away withA clear picture of what you must prove to raise, an investor's own read on those signals, and a plan that aligns your product work and your fundraise.
2 Session 2 · Your Desperate WHOProve which customer will actually pay. +
Online

Define the customer who will actually pay, from evidence, not a guess. Build a scored early customer profile from real data, from customer interviews to third-party research, that quantifies the desperation: does it save them money, time, or risk?

You walk away withA scored early customer profile you can act on, and a candid read on whether the customer you think you have is the one who will actually pay.
3 Session 3 · Metrics That Prove ItBuild metrics that survive investor scrutiny. +
Online

Build the metrics that prove your customer to investors, not just to you. Set your North Star and supporting metrics for engagement, retention, and repeatability. Separate the metrics that prove your customer to investors from the internal ones you run the business on, then pressure-test that they measure the desperation you defined.

You walk away withA metric set that ladders to your funding story, and a fast way to prove or disprove your target customer before you spend to scale.
4 Session 4 · Measurement FoundationsOne view of the customer, clean and trusted. +
Online

Turn your analytics into clean data and funnels you can trust. Bring your analytics up to a single view of the customer with real data fidelity, then build the conversion funnels that show exactly where, and why, you lose customers along the way.

You walk away withMeasurement foundations that let you decide with clarity, move fast, and show customer proof to investors.
5 Session 5 · Acquisition Channel TestsDesign a low-cost test with clear success. +
Online

Design a low-cost channel test with success defined before you spend. Examine the channels that fit your motion, from organic and social to outbound, partnerships, and email, and plan a zero or low-cost test tied to your KPIs.

You walk away withA concrete channel test you can launch, with success signals defined up front so you know what "working" looks like before you read the data.
6 Session 6 · In-Market Test: 3 to 4 weeksRun the test, get coaching as you go. +
In market1:1 coaching

Put the test in market, with two hours of 1:1 coaching just for you. Run your test for real, with cohort meetups as needed to read the data together, tune, and optimize as results come in.

7 Session 7 · Acquisition Optimization & AmplificationRead results, optimize, and build toward scale. +
In person

Read your results with your coaches and peers, and decide where to push. Share what worked, what didn't, and what you learned, and get direct feedback from your peer founders on where to optimize, amplify, or pivot, so you leave confident in your analytics and how to cost-effectively drive the growth investors want to see.

You walk away withData-backed insights plus peer and coach feedback pointing you toward momentum on product growth and investor readiness.
8 Session 8 · The Investor ReadHear straight from investors on your signals. +
In personVC · legal · banking panel

Present what you built to a panel who fund and support raises, then celebrate. You share what your in-market test actually proved, and a panel of guests from the funding world responds in real time. Venture investors, a legal partner who lives in the deal room, and a banking partner tell you plainly whether your commercial signals look like what they fund, where they'd push, and what would make them lean in. Not pass-or-fail. A straight read from the people whose job is to say yes or no, followed by a happy hour to celebrate the cohort.

You walk away withAn outside read on whether your signals hold up with investors, direct exposure to the funding ecosystem around you, and a clear call on whether to amplify, scale, or adjust before you raise.
Who's in the room

Operators who've built this, and the people who fund it.

Every session is led by two operators who have built and measured this exact work inside real companies. And you don't just hear the theory of what investors want, guests from the funding world join you in person.

Robin Lien
Managing Partner, Velix Group

Go-to-market leader with over two and a half decades across MarTech, data, growth, and lifecycle marketing, including eighteen years at Google plus roles before and after it. Your coach across all eight weeks.

Shanti Punukollu
Managing Partner, Velix Group

Product growth and strategy experience from almost 3 decades at Microsoft, Amazon, and startups, and a current pre-seed angel investor who sits on the diligence side of the table. Your coach across all eight weeks.

Guests we bring to the cohort:

First Row PartnersPre-Seed VC
Cooley, LLPLegal: Deal Room
J.P. MorganBanking · startups
What you'll walk away with

Measurably more fundable, with the evidence to prove it.

We promise what we can control, and we're straight about what we can't. No one can promise you a term sheet. What you can count on is two wins: you leave more fundable than you arrived, with the proof in hand, and you leave with a clear, sustainable growth plan that works within your cost to acquire a customer (CAC).

Investor readiness, improved

Aligned product and funding metrics, a clean narrative, and evidence you can walk into an investor conversation with. When you do, the questions you get back get sharper and more specific.

A tested acquisition channel

Designed, launched, and read. A scored customer profile, one channel test live with clean tracking, and a sustainable growth plan you can keep running within a CAC that works, with an early read on what's repeatable.

In hand, by the end

What this program covers, and what it doesn't

Being fundable has several critical components. Your cap table, your financials, and the legal scaffolding of a raise all matter. What we build in this program is the commercial signal: the strategy, metrics, and go-to-market acquisition that prove customers want what you have and that you can reach them repeatedly. You'll hear from a legal and a banking partner about the other pieces, but building your cap table and financials is not what this program covers.

At a glance

The practical details.

Format8 live workshops, in person in Seattle and online, plus a 3–4 week in-market test
TimeAbout 2 hours a week for 8 weeks, plus the test window
StartsFirst cohort begins January 2027
CohortSmall and screened for fit. Solo or co-founder (co-founders free)
Investment$1,650
EquityNone, ever
Questions founders ask

Before you apply.

How much time will it take each week?+

About two hours of live session time a week, plus a few hours of build time, for eight weeks, with a three to four week in-market test in the middle. It's designed to run alongside building your company, not instead of it.

What stage do I need to be at?+

A live product or usable MVP, some early signal (users, revenue, or organic traction), and a first real raise on the horizon in the next nine months. Pre-revenue is fine if you have genuine traction to build on.

Do you take any equity?+

No. You keep 100% of your company. The program fee is the only cost.

Does it cost extra to bring my co-founder?+

No. We've designed this to be a cost-effective way for a startup to get fundable, and we encourage co-founders to attend together, at no extra charge.

Is this an accelerator?+

No, and we've designed it to be narrower on purpose. An accelerator teaches a broad curriculum: pricing, hiring, legal, ops, a little of everything. We solve one specific problem: aligning your goals and metrics to what a raise actually tests for. Think of us as a booster to your incubator or accelerator, many of which we partner with, not a replacement for one. And where a demo day usually means recruiters or a general audience, ours is the real thing, a working session with a venture investor, a legal partner, and a banking partner who tell you plainly whether your signals hold up.

Is it for B2B or B2C founders?+

Both, plus B2B2C. Sessions on the raise and the metrics are shared, since every founder is tested on the same signals. Channel work splits into a track for your model, led by the specialist who works in it, Robin for B2C, Shanti for B2B, so you're building against your own motion, not someone else's.

What analytics do I need before we start?+

We expect basic analytics to be in place before the program begins, so we can build on real data from day one. Not sure what's right for your company? Ask Robin and Shanti, and we'll help you get the right setup started before we begin.

Will we learn how to use tools and AI?+

Yes. A big part of the program is helping you identify and use the most effective methods, processes, and tools for each step, many of them AI, but not all. Throughout the workshops we'll share what to use, when, and how, at every step.

Who else will be in my cohort?+

A small cohort of founders at your stage, here in the Seattle area. You get real relationships as you grow, because we screen for fit.

What happens after I apply?+

We review every application personally. If it looks like a fit, we'll follow up to schedule a short call to confirm and get you ready for the cohort. If it's not the right moment, we'll tell you plainly and let you know when to reapply.

Find out if your traction is the kind that gets you funded.

You keep 100% of your equity. First cohort begins January 2027.
Apply for a seat

Seats are limited and screened for fit.